First post here. I'm going to be giving you all a lot of information here. I have read tons of threads on this board to help me make a decision, but I figured I would try and get some advice tailored towards my individual situation. I'm a 26 year old male who is considering nursing as a career. As of right now I work at a local department store in Illinois. I know I don't want to work retail my whole life, but I have never really known what exactly I want to do with my life. Well, that's not actually true. I'm an actor and that is probably my one and only "passion", but I know I will make a poor living pursuing that as a full-time career. I want to find a career where I can make a comfortable living. I've considered nursing because of the following:
1. I like helping others.
2. At the end of each day, I could go home knowing I made a difference in peoples' lives.
3. I could work 3 12-hour shifts a week, giving me 4 days a week to enjoy acting as a hobby.
Here are a few things that have been holding me back:
1. Worried about catching diseases. I must admit, the horror stories I have gathered from these forums, as rare as they may be, tend to freak me out a bit.
2. I am an introvert. I am not very talkative. I pretty much only say something when I have something important to say. I'm not much for small talk. With retail I am very kind and friendly with guests. I help them find what they need and go all out to make sure they leave satisfied, but I can't really keep a conversation going with fellow employees or anything like that. I'm worried this will affect my performance as a nurse.
3. I'm not really passionate for nursing itself. Just helping others. I see many of you say that you have wanted to be a nurse for as long as you can remember. That is not the case with me. I only want to be a nurse because of the 3 reasons I listed above.
4. Getting sued. I'm not sure how often it happens, but that's always something to worry about.
For the past 5 months or so, I've been spending almost all of my free time trying to figure out what career would be best for me. So far, nursing seems to be the best match. Although, as you can see, I still have doubts. Any and all advice is appreciated.
