Entering the adult world : (

ZanatuBelmont · May 21, 2009

I am in my final year of nursing school and I'm 20yrs old. I feel a lot of pressure entering such a strenuous career such as nursing but Ive been able to stick it out and its not too bad. I just feel weird that all the people my age are out having fun all the time (partying etc..) and I'm the one in school studying all day. I just hope all this hard work pays off. Also, being thrown in the adult world with real life and death situations is a lot of pressure also, and many of my friends and people my age do not face these predicaments. This is my 1st post and have been lingering this site for months I just needed to vent how i felt, sorry. Please feel free to leave feedback advice and tips would be truly appreciated.

Hello, I enter the nursing world in eight weeks and I feel your pain. I am also young, 21, and yes, most of the people our age is out having fun. But here is how I look at it: you can party now, and be broke and finish school when you're 30, or be broke now and have money and party when you're 30. Which is it? A lot of people our age will be kicking themselves in the butt for waiting so long to start/finish college.

As for the fear regarding real life and death situations, all we can do is strive to be the best nurse possible. We can do that by diligently monitoring our patients and always know the drug before you give it. One practice of mine that I intend to do for a long time is look up my drug and write important things about it in the patient's MAR for that shift. That way, when I give the medication, not only will I be able to answer questions for the family about what I'm dosing their relative up on, but I will always be prepared.

So yeah, I feel your pain and fear, but we can do it. Just be strong and stay on top of things. Never let someone make you feel dumb for asking a question-in the end, it only matters how the patient turns out.

elkpark · May 21, 2009

I remember feeling those same concerns many years (decades) ago when I was in nursing school. One of the things that helped me stay calm and not freak out :) was to remind myself that hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people before me, in exactly the same situation, successfully made the transition to competent, safe, practicing professional when the time came, and, therefore, I probably would be okay, too -- people that knew a lot more about this than me had set up "the system" and it seemed to be working okay. :)

Best wishes! :specs:

llg, PhD, RN · May 21, 2009

I applaud you for having such a wise and mature perception of the situation. That will serve you well in your ongoiong transition to adulthood.

So many young people don't recognize that the transition from student to professional nurse involves more than just learning the technical skills, book knowledge, etc. ... It is also a transition into the adult work world in which you adult colleagues will expect you to be a grown up and deal with serious issues in a mature way. While I am sure you will experience a few "bumps in the road" -- as we all do -- I believe you will do fine because you know what you are getting into and seem prepared to face those things. I hope you feel free to come back here to allnurses any time you would like to talk about it.

I can recommend a book that you might enjoy reading (after you have finished studying for the NCLEX or if you need a break from that). It's called "Ready of Not, Here Life Comes" by Mel Levine. It was written for parents and educators and talks about the transition from adolescence to adulthood -- and how some young people struggle with that transition because adolescent culture does not develop the skills needed to succeed in the adult world. It's a serious topic, but easy reading. You might enjoy it -- and it can definitely be helpful to you. I think you will see that you are ahead of the game when you compare yourself to the young adults he describes in the book.

Good luck to you! I hope to see you again here at allnurses.

schroeders_piano, RN · May 21, 2009

I was a RN before I legally could drink. It was hard making decisions that could alter a persons life. An experienced nurse gave me the best advice ever, "Take a breath, remember what you were taught in nursing school, and if you still don't know then just ask." There are a lot of stories of nursing eating their own, especially new grads. From my experience, there is always at least one nurse on the unit that will take the newbies under their wings and really guide and show them what they need to know. Try to find that nurse. Over time, as you get more experience, it does get easier (not the actually work load just decision making).

As far as the partying goes, I never went out partying the whole time I was in college. It wasn't until I started working that I did. A group of nurses together at a bar is a blast. What I noticed was those friends of mine who drank there way all through college was now sitting at home because they couldn't afford to go "party" anywhere because they either were unemployed or working for low wages. I on the other hand, had a good paying job where I had 4 days off each week.

Piggvomit · May 29, 2009

Hope things get better for you brother

mcknis · May 30, 2009

As a young new nurse (21yo and out of school about 1 yr) i know your pain, frustrations, annoyance with others, etc. I was and still am in the same boat as you and believe me, it does pay off. It is obvious that it pays off by looking at the the older nurses on here and seeing how far they have come. Some started out as LPNs at the age of 18-19, and others started out as RNs at 20-21-22 years of age. Some of us start out young, while others come to the profession after being in many other fields some 20-30 yrs down the road. Although frustrating seeing your peers (or high school peers) go off and drink and waste their lives away, you'll realize when you are 21 or 22 that you have just made $40,000+ in your 1st yr of your career, and that you have made it (you are better off). Just take things easy, and you'll be just fine. Realize that there are others in the same boat and that you can always come here and talk, vent, whatever, and that there is probably someone you can talk with at your job.