Do you think I'm overreacting?

HisDaughterJeanne · Jun 28, 2006

You said she was really hard on you when she was your teacher...is this her warped way of trying to motivate you - by telling you that you can't do it? There are people that honestly think that this approach is somehow helping. Personally, I prefer a teacher who is supportive.

You know that you can do it. Don't let anyone tell you different.

Otessa, BSN, RN · Jun 28, 2006

I had some feel like I wouldn't make it through college to be an RN. i was too"naive", I was too "fragile", you name it I heard it. I was never an "A" student but go figure-I passed my boards and 3 of the people who were supposedly "smart" didn't. I have been an RN for 14 years and have worked EVERY aspect: ICU, CCU, ER, Telemetry, Med-Surg, Float Pool and now Quality Improvement. I plan on start my Masters within the next 2 years. Follow your dream.............there is a place for you!!!!!

nursemike, ASN, RN · Jun 28, 2006

FiFi:

Nursing school is very hard. There is a great deal to learn, and in most programs you have to do "above average" just to pass. At my school, other students said you could always recognize the nursing students by their book bags on wheels, and in support classes like Anatomy and Physiology, the nursing students were usually the ones with the look of grim determination. It isn't a field to enter lightly, and that's as it should be. We make decisions that can affect peoples' lives in dramatic ways, and no matter how hard you study and how smart you are, when you walk onto a hospital floor as a graduate nurse, it's pretty overwhelming. With experience, of course, things that once seemed almost impossible become routine--but then guess what! New things arise that seem--well, very challenging, at least. My own experience is still pretty limited, but I gather from nurses I work with that this job never does really become easy. You just get more capable of doing more.

To address your question more directly, nursing requires a fair amount of intelligence and a lot of common sense. I think most BSN programs require a course in Statistics, but not that you become a professional statistician. In my ASN program, the math requirements were pretty easy--high school algebra, and not much really hard algebra, even. Written and spoken communication skills are more important. Nurses do a lot of writing, and while a lot of it is shorthand and jargon, it's important to be able to convey what you mean, precisely. (On more thing about the math: as a working nurse, you will occassionally calculate dosages. As a matter of routine, a lot of the math is done for you, by the pharmacy, the infusion pump, and by handy little charts, but in my first year of nursing, I have done simple math on the back of my Kardex or a paper towel which, though simple, could have killed someone if it was wrong. You don't have to be a math whiz, but you do have to be very careful.)

One of our little jokes at work is, "Hey, it ain't brain surgery!" (I work on a neurology and neurosurgery unit.) Well, in truth, we nurses don't do the surgery. I think most nurses, doctors, and even patients would rather have a nurse with a "B" average, a strong work ethic, and an attitude of genuine caring than one with straight "A's" who was lazy or indifferent. Note, though, that the old saying:"C=RN" is not the mark of someone with a strong work ethic.

BabyRN2Be · Jun 28, 2006

A family friend who also used to tutor me a few years back was talking to my mom about my aspirations to be a nurse. (Sorry if that was a mouthful..lol) And she seems to think that its too much hard work for me,and that its not suited to my personality. Bear in mind she tutored me when I was 13 and again when I was 21,and only in math..my weakest subject,so I feel like she isnt really seeing the whole picture.
Also I never really liked her teaching style..she was always very hard on me. But do you think she sees something that I dont? Its not like I feel that nursing is 'my calling' or anything,but I have committed myself to doing this,despite not having the est luck with school. It hasnt really deterred me that much,but I am nervous enough about the whole prospect as it is. I have some time until I officially have to apply to school..so should I rethink my plans?

Absolutely not!! I had the same thing happen. Someone, a nurse at the college I first went to, put her nose into my business (where it didn't belong in the first place!) and phoned my parents and told them that I wanted to be a nurse. I never forgave her after that. At that time, my mom wouldn't let me be a nurse.

It was very sad to me. I had been on floors as a volunteer and I *KNEW* what nurses did, and that I could handle it. It makes me so mad that I didn't go into nursing first. I wasted a lot of time on a degree that I really didn't want.

Don't do what I did. Finally, after all these years I'm free to go into nursing (with my mom's blessing even) but I feel bad that I didn't do it MUCH sooner.

Only you know you, you know your personality, what you can do, and what you want to do. If you haven't already, see if you can shadow a nurse for a day to see if this is what you want to do. Get a different tutor to hlep you with math (because you'll need it).

Don't let anyone hold you back from doing what you want to do.

Good luck! :)

tryingtomakeit, RN · Jun 28, 2006

Things I wouldn't have done if I had listened to the negative people in my life:

1) I would not have married my husband of 24 years. I married very young and people tried to tell me that we wouldn't make it and that he wasn't "right" for me.

2) I wouldn't have adopted my son when I found out I couldn't get pregnant. People tried to tell me that you just never "know about an adopted child". We adopted him when he was a month old and he is now 11, on the honor role, and an awesome little man.

3) I wouldn't have become an RN after dropping out 20 years ago. I was told that nursing isn't something an "older" person should go into. (I was only 34 at the time!)

These things are just the tip of the iceberg, but the most important. The thing is, if I had listened to the people around me, I wouldn't have the life I love so much.

GO FOR IT!