Feeling Lost

[EquinoxSolstice92]

I don't know where else to turn to. I may not make any sense here so please bare with me. I'm currently an LVN who's working full time at a skilled nursing facility. I work the graveyard shift. I plan on going to school to become an RN but... I don't know if I can handle this much longer. Nursing is not my passion and I don't really like this job. I don't hate it as much as I used to but I still feel like I'm lost in life.

I'm planning to go back to school this year (hopefully), but how am I gonna manage to work and school at the same time? How can people go to nursing school and work at the same time?

Once I get my RN license, I feel like I wanna quit altogether. I...I'm still trying to figure out what I wanna do in life because I KNOW for a fact that I don't want to be a nurse forever.

Sorry if I'm not making any sense but I feel like I have no direction in life. I feel like such a mess on the inside. I may wear the scrubs and have a nursing license but that doesn't mean that I'm well put together. I need to get my **** together.

[kaylee.]

If you are pretty sure you dont want to be an RN then for your sake dont go through the hassle of going back to school for it!

I see it as not the worst situation ever. You are currently employed. Take the time thinking hard about what you do want to do. You are working and making money while you do it.

Once you decide, there are definitely options for part time school for many career choices. Start thinking outside of heathcare.

Yes this may be backtracking but do it now and move forward. You will have to suck it up with this job in the mean time but if you need the money and know it will be temporary, then it can motivate you to make it through.

Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT go to school for your RN until you are absolutely sure that that is what you want to do with your life. Nursing school is exhausting, grueling, expensive, and all-consuming, and that is in the best of circumstances. Add in a full time (or even part time) job and all of that multiplies. It sounds like you have a lot of soul-searching you need to do. Can you sit down and make a list of all of the things you dislike about your job? Then try and figure out if they are job-specific, or nursing specific. Perhaps you are working in a place that is not a good fir for you. One of the wonderful things about nursing is the flexibility in work-environment options. Also think about why you became a LVN in the first place. What drew you into nursing? If it was as basic as money and job security, those are not good enough reasons and there are plenty of other jobs that offer that. Think about your clinicals- was there one (or two) particular areas you liked significantly more than others? I know for me, the ONLY clinicals I liked were Maternal and Child Health, and Pediatrics. I know that once I became a nurse, those were the only two areas I was willing to work in and I stuck to my guns and have had amazing and fulfilling work experience since becoming a nurse in 1995.

Anyway, just some things to think about. Life is too short to be stuck in a job that you hate. Do some research on-line, maybe talk to a life coach. Also look into your own personal stuff going on and see if that might be contributing to some of your attitudes/feelings about your current situation. Good luck!

[freesia29, ASN, RN]

I feel kind of the same. Unsure about going back for RN, but for me it's because of my health. RA and getting sick all the time. I would love to work in mother/baby unit. And they don't hire LPN's anymore. But at 46years old and autoimmune disease, I am scared I won't be able to get through 12 hrs shifts.

I agree a life coach or therapist, anyone who can help you decide. That is what I am going to do.

Nursing homes are tough.....I only made it 6 months then went into clinic nursing.

Hang in there!