would you have continued thru nursing school if you had shadowed first?

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I often wonder if I would have gone on to earn my ADN had I been able to shadow an RN for a few weeks and had really 'seen' the job/requirements/stress. I'm one of those optimists that went into school thinking nursing would be like it is on TV shows :) And I just wonder..how many students would have continued on in school had they really been aware of what the role involved.

Specializes in Pediatrics.

I was able to shadow nurses on both telemetry and ICU floors for an entire year before entering nursing school, as part of volunteering requirement for some schools. This made me want it even more and was extremely grateful to gain the experience and familiarity of being in a working environment.

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Specializes in Hospice.

I worked as a cna as part of requirement to be considered for my bsn program. That gave me a decent idea of what to expect. I think every program should require it.

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I never shadowed. I hope and pray not to regret spending 4 yours in Pre-medicine and changing it to nursing. I hope I like nursing as my future career. I believe I am going to be fine, because I can only picture myself working in the hospital environment. I actually love nursing now more than I used to, I think it's because I understand their role better by reading the nursing books. Both doctors and nurses role is to take care of patients,so as long as I can take care of patients I'll be fine. You can always go from a RN to a M.D, you just have to believe in yourself and have patience.

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As a tech in a 500+ bed hospital I have much respect for the nurses I work with. I *was* a nursing student just a few short months ago but I quickly decided I could never do the job they were doing. I like my job as a tech but I would loathe my job as an RN.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

Personally, my experience as a CNA has fueled my desire to become an RN and made me only more determined to work hard so that I can see that goal become a reality.

!Chris :specs:

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I'd encourage anyone considering a new field to get as much info as they can about the realities of the field. Shadowing by no means gives you the whole picture, but it's better than nothing! And shadowing more than one person at more than one place would be even better so you're not unduly influenced by one exceptionally bad or good experience.

I had shadowed and volunteered. I saw that floor nursing didn't look like my thing. But the nursing school recruiters emphasized that one didn't have to work bedside, there were primary care nurse practitioners, diabetes educators, occupational health nurses, etc. Their jobs looked more up my alley.

Our nursing instructors did say encourage us to start in med surg, saying that if you could make it there, you could probably make it anywhere. They didn't say that if you *couldn't* make it in acute care bedside nursing, that your opportunities could be severely limited. I know some nurses build great careers without any traditional acute bedside nursing experience, but it's not the norm. The majority of opportunities for nurses are at the bedside or require bedside experience.

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Yes, because even as a student I was naive about the bad aspects of nursing. The bad being BAD mangement in every place I have worked. All facillites are worried about is the alighmighty dollar. I can't take care of my patients. I went to school to TAKE CARE of my patients. This is only getting worse, every single year it is getting worse. I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. And if you speak up about it, you're fired. If a patient complains, you're fired. We just lost several good nurses over pt complaints. Management could not even back these up, and the only reason the pts would have for the complaints is staffing shortage.:twocents:

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I often wonder if I would have gone on to earn my ADN had I been able to shadow an RN for a few weeks and had really 'seen' the job/requirements/stress. I'm one of those optimists that went into school thinking nursing would be like it is on TV shows :) And I just wonder..how many students would have continued on in school had they really been aware of what the role involved.

Even better than shadowing, put in some time as a CNA working right alongside nurses. Nothing shows you what it is like to be a nurse like getting yelled at by one!

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I worked 10 yrs as an RT, alongside nurses throughout the hospital. So, I knew what I was getting into when I went to nursing school.

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I decided to become a CNA before I went further into nursing. I am glad I did because I found out that I would not make a good nurse. I plan on going into a different field all together.

CNA and nursing are two VERY different things. You should actually try interviewing a nurse before giving up altogether.

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I probably would have changed to another health field. After 10 years I am stressed out and almost burned out. There are days that I love it, but yesterday was a day I would have liked to thrown down my badge and quit.

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Specializes in Global Health Informatics, MNCH.

I was a project manager for an EHR implementation before becoming a nurse. I spent almost a year shadowing nurses and still decided to do it.

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