what experiences have you had in the nursing atmosphere before starting school?

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Right now I work at a teacher supply store and I have never worked in a hospital or anything that has to do with nursing. I've been in the hospital before though....lol...who hasnt? anyway, i do not want to quit my job and work in a hospital because they really work around my school schedule and when i start nursing school, i only want to work summers and x-mas break, which i know i wont get starting at a new place and a hospital no less. so is there anyone else who is going into nursing really have no experience like me? i might volunteer at one next semester to kind of get the feel of things...

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

I was a candystriper from age 14 to 17, then a nurse's aide in LTC, then nursing school. Volunteering gives you a taste of hospital atmosphere, but nothing really about what nurses really do. Looks good on school applications too.

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I am in the same position as you Whiteshadows23. I have never worked in a healthcare setting but I think it would be really helpful before I start nursing school. But I've been working at a grocery store for five years now, and they are super-flexible and work with my school schedule and extra on breaks. (I also have worked up to a pretty high paygrade :D).

I tried getting a job in a hospital this summer, but was pretty much turned down for everything because I have no experience. Now, I've seen some new job openings at the hospital and thought about applying, but I'm afraid to give up my stable job for something that I don't know anything about...

I'm hoping to start volunteering soon, but I haven't heard back from the coordinator for 3 weeks, so who knows??

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Specializes in Psych..

I'm in my second year and my only experience in a hospital is doing my clinicals. Sure, if I had been a NA or a volunteer, I might feel more comfortable. But when I checked about doing either of those things in my area, neither of them would work out with nursing school and other parts of my life, so I decided to say no. I'm still making the grades just fine.

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Specializes in neurology, cardiology, ED.

Just curious: A question for all of you who have never worked in a hospital setting, how did you decide that you wanted to be a nurse? I had been in the catering business for 5 years, and was making pretty good money when I started thinking about going to nursing school. But I didn't know if I would actually like the work, so I quit the catering manager job and started back over as a unit secretary for $9/hour. After I had been on the unit for a while, and started to make sense of the utter chaos, I knew I would like it, and that's when I started my pre-reqs, and nursing school applications.

I'm not saying my way of decision making is for everyone, I just wanted to know how everyone else made the big decision.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, ER, Peds ER-CPEN.

I never set foot in a hospital to work until starting clinicals, no CNA/tech nothing and did just fine, if you already have a job that is willing to work around school and clinicals and all it's craziness I say keep it! I worked as unit clerk my last semester and they were pretty good about working around school as the entire unit is self scheduling (within reason) but other facilities aren't so accomodating. As to what pulled me to nursing, the idea that I could have a career that encourages growth and learning, has so many different areas to work was vastly appealing to me and adds to my job satisfaction.

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I had always thought about being a nurse since high school, but didn't think I could handle the responsibility, so I ended up getting my BA in psychology. While working on that degree, even though I LOVED it, I kept wishing I had gone to nursing school. A BA in psych isn't very practical. So when I graduated I decided to go to nursing school with no experience in the area whatsoever. I had only worked as a waitress before this. I felt pretty intimidated when many of my classmates had worked as CNA's and other jobs in the field. I'm now in my second year and doing fine. Those that had previous experience def. felt more comfortable in the hospital, bathing patients, and just interacting with them in general. I was terrified, and felt like a loser when I had to ask for help all the time. But I'm definitely getting better at that stuff, still not as good as my classmates with previous experience. And although they def had/have an advantage when it comes to "aid work," we're all on the same page when it comes to actual nursing responsiblities. Sorry to ramble, the point I'm trying to make is that there are plenty of people who go into nursing with no experience in the area and do fine. In fact, some of the top students in my class had no experience at all before school. Good luck!:wink2:

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I had NO medical atmosphere experience before entering ADN RN program. I have several classmates who are CNAs, but I really can't see where they necessarily have an advantage. Most of them are so acclimated with how they have done things in the past that it is hard for them to change. Granted, I am sure they will be much more comfortable with the environment when we start clinicals, but so far the grounds seems level, so to speak.

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Not a one!!

No medical experience at all . . . unless you include labs for class.

I start clinicals on Sunday. I hope I swim and not sink!!

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