Dropping out

Nursing Students General Students

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I started NS this semester. I was so excited to start. I am now one month into school I am having second thoughts. I just do not think that I can I am made for this profession. Don't get me wrong - I love to help people I just do not think that I can do it in this capacity. Maybe I had a glamorized view of what nursing is but it is nothing what I expected. I am thinking of dropping out and just continuing to get my bachelors in another field.

Thanks

Tracy

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I started NS this semester. I was so excited to start. I am now one month into school I am having second thoughts. I just do not think that I can I am made for this profession. Don't get me wrong - I love to help people I just do not think that I can do it in this capacity. Maybe I had a glamorized view of what nursing is but it is nothing what I expected. I am thinking of dropping out and just continuing to get my bachelors in another field.

Thanks

Tracy

Hi tracey

I am sorry to hear that you are having second thoughts. I know how you feel as far as having second thoughts, only thing I am not in the nursing program yet. Do you think your feeling this way becuase of the material your learning? Is it to much? I would hate to see you post a thread about you dropping ns , I followed your threads all the way up unitil you got into nursing school. What other areas would most likely take up if you decide to drop? I know I want to help people but what I learn is that you can help people in many ways not just by being a nurse. However I cant shake the feeling of its be a nurse or you wont be able to have a good career,flexibility etc. One of the areas I am looking into is health information managemnet , human resource, as well as other health related fields. This very well may be only a stressful period and you just feel like giving up, but if not and you feel it in your heart that this is not for you only you can come to the descion of what is best for you. I do ask that you think things through please. I hope everything works out for the best. Good luck .

Nicole

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Hi tracey

I am sorry to hear that you are having second thoughts. I know how you feel as far as having second thoughts, only thing I am not in the nursing program yet. Do you think your feeling this way becuase of the material your learning? Is it to much? I would hate to see you post a thread about you dropping ns , I followed your threads all the way up unitil you got into nursing school. What other areas would most likely take up if you decide to drop? I know I want to help people but what I learn is that you can help people in many ways not just by being a nurse. However I cant shake the feeling of its be a nurse or you wont be able to have a good career,flexibility etc. One of the areas I am looking into is health information managemnet , human resource, as well as other health related fields. This very well may be only a stressful period and you just feel like giving up, but if not and you feel it in your heart that this is not for you only you can come to the descion of what is best for you. I do ask that you think things through please. I hope everything works out for the best. Good luck .

Nicole

Hi!

The material is fine - even though it is alot. The main thing that gets me is the touching of the patients. I knew that I would have to do that but I did not think that I would have a problem with it. At times I look at nursing as a good salary and it bothers me that I view nursing that way. I have to make a decision by the end of the week since I have to return the funds to the loan that I have out.

Tracy

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Specializes in acute care.

Let's elaborate on this because maybe someone can say something to you that will cause you to decide that nursing maybe is for you. When you saying touching the patients, what do you mean? Do you fear hurting them? Does touching them make you feel uncomfortable? Is it changing diapers, is it older population that makes you feel uncomfortable or you would feel the same with any population, adult or children?

Hi!

The material is fine - even though it is alot. The main thing that gets me is the touching of the patients. I knew that I would have to do that but I did not think that I would have a problem with it. At times I look at nursing as a good salary and it bothers me that I view nursing that way. I have to make a decision by the end of the week since I have to return the funds to the loan that I have out.

Tracy

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Let's elaborate on this because maybe someone can say something to you that will cause you to decide that nursing maybe is for you. When you saying touching the patients, what do you mean? Do you fear hurting them? Does touching them make you feel uncomfortable? Is it changing diapers, is it older population that makes you feel uncomfortable or you would feel the same with any population, adult or children?

Good Points NYDreamer

I didnt even think to see it that way as well. On my perspective is that sometimes people make a descion and then just come to realization that what they first thought was a good decsion may have not been to begin with. Ok, some people dont feel comfortable touching others which I asume is the case here. Then if so I am sure there are other areas in nursing that are involved with helping but just not bedside nursing. I am just thinking off the top off the top of my head here.

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It's not for everyone. You know yourself better than anyone else does.

Good thing you are finding out now rather than later.

Good luck in whatever field you choose.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

tracy. . .can i make a suggestion? as my back started dying and i knew i wasn't going to be able to work as a clinical nurse much longer i started looking for other options. what i finally settled on doing at first was medical coding. as i worked as a coder (and i got hired right away because of my nursing background) i realized that there was more behind the coding and that was health information management (him). this is the business end of healthcare. all the pre-requisite classes that you had to take to get into nursing are pre-requisite to get into a health information management program. an associates degree will get you into supervision positions in acute hospitals and other large healthcare organizations. if you go on and get a bachelor's degree in this field you will make big bucks and be in top management. him professionals are the people directing hipaa compliance and medical record handling. they supervise the admission departments. the oversee the coding of charts which is the first step in the billing process and that is big because a facility must bill to bring money in to stay afloat. basically, as a coder, we were reading doctors dictations. and, it was fascinating to be at the other end of criticizing how badly some of the docs were at documenting what they were doing. on the other hand, we were learning, from a second hand point of view, about the fascinating world of medical procedures that were being done. there is some real neat stuff that the doctors are doing. our coding and him tests were also critical thinking type questions, but not a bad as in nursing. we still had to understand something about the major diseases but not to the degree that you do in nursing school. we also had to know some pharmacology, but it was basically what major drugs are given for certain conditions and it was only to make sure that the doctors were listing the medical diagnosis so the facility could bill for procedures and other things ordered that were connected to that diagnosis.

something else i learned in studying him is the connection between nanda (ew!) and him. yes, nursing care plans! i see a possible career for myself in this. nanda has actually placed numeric codes on all the nursing diagnoses and related factors. the noc (nursing outcome classification) and nic (nursing interventions classification) also have numeric codes assigned to them. this was intentionally done to make care plans storable in computers since the medical record (chart) is going to electronic storage and a written care plan is required by title 42 (you learn this in him classes) in every acute hospital patients chart. i almost fell off my chair when i discovered this. nurses are never told this, but the people involved with nanda are very much aware of it. there is more to nanda than meets the eye and its not just nursing diagnoses. i've talked with my him instructors about this and believe that there is a new niche for people who are knowledgeable about care plans and medical coding in the teaching of nurses about the construction of care plans for the new electronic charting that is the wave of the future. i just think nanda wanted a piece of the pie and carved out their place in the industry before it is going to happen. nanda advises people in administrative levels over at medicare. they are serious about what they are doing and it is more than just writing the taxonomy of nursing diagnosis.

what i'm saying is there are other healthcare careers you can go into. don't let the formal education you have up to this point be wasted. if you think you can't do the clinical part, look at the other part behind the scenes. there are many different careers within the realm of health information management. i'll bet there's one there that would be just right for you and still keep you in the healthcare/hospital environment. and as medicare exerts a bigger and bigger influence over healthcare practices, and believe me, they are like big brother, the need for all these jobs is growing by leaps and bounds.

http://www.ahima.org/ - the american health information management association. check out the pages on careers in him.

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Thanks everyone for your input. It is just a little depressing because this yet again a thing I start and do not finish. I just know that I will not be able to do the clinical stuff.

I just have to tell my friends and family - which I am dreading. Everyone at work says - oh you are so bright you will be an excellent nurse. I want to help people but I just do not think that this is the way to do it.

Thanks again

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Thanks everyone for your input. It is just a little depressing because this yet again a thing I start and do not finish. I just know that I will not be able to do the clinical stuff.

I just have to tell my friends and family - which I am dreading. Everyone at work says - oh you are so bright you will be an excellent nurse. I want to help people but I just do not think that this is the way to do it.

Thanks again

Hi Tracey

I just want to say good luck with everything .

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Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.

It IS very difficult to get past the "touching" people. I have had a very difficult time learning this and I am 50+. I spent a lifetime staying home or earning my business degree and then sitting (bored to tears) in a cubicle all day.

I did an internship this summer and this helped immensely in getting over my fear of dealing with people in such an intimate manner. I still don't totally love all aspects of it, but now that I am halfway through my 3rd semester, I know I will finish this degree and then have a ton of options as Daytonite points out. I didn't have these options when I was working in the business world and can't wait. I will then have many options for helping people in various ways.

I think only you know what your limitations are. If you honestly don't think you can get past this long enough to get through clinicals in school, then yes, it's time to move on now. But if you think you can work through this at all, I guarantee the time will come where it will be easier, even though you may not grow to love it (the touching). Then you can work with kids, babies, or inanimate objects like Daytonite points out in Information Systems or in a lawyer's office, etc.

Nursing is not only about being at the bedside, however it does involve doing that until you graduate.

Best wishes with whatever direction you plan to take!!

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I had a friend who waited 2 years to get into a nursing program. After 10 days she dropped out. My first and only reaction was to be supportive. It's her decision. Why should she be unhappy going to school and work everyday?? If she changes her mind someday, she can go back to school.

I wish you the best.

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I had a friend who waited 2 years to get into a nursing program. After 10 days she dropped out. My first and only reaction was to be supportive. It's her decision. Why should she be unhappy going to school and work everyday?? If she changes her mind someday, she can go back to school.

I wish you the best.

I waited 2 years to get accepted into a program as well. My biggest fear is letting my family know of my decision. My sister just asked me if I was going to clinical on Saturday and I said yes even though I will not be going. I have flipped flop so many times about my college career that I would have a PhD already.

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