Frustrated and confused....

[ALH2004]

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone's doing well! I've been lurking around the board for a while now and I absolutely love but I'm in need of some advice. I started the first day of my second semester of nursing school today and I'm already ready to quit. I know, I know it's only the first day but I've been feeling like this for a while now. I started nursing school back in the spring and I was really excited in the beginning but as time went on my excitment and motivation left me. I thought that maybe it was because I was so tired and stressed and that the summer break would help me out but it hasn't. The day after our finals last semester I felt so down and out about nursing and as time went on my feelings got stronger. I even started researching different medical careers and programs at nearby colleges that I could possibly attend. I always thought nursing was what I wanted to do but now I'm not so sure. I like working with people and I would love to work in the medical field. I've done a little bit of CNA work and volunteer work at the hospital during the summer when I was in high school (I'm 21 now) and I loved it but now that I've seen the "nitty gritty" of nursing I just don't know. I didn't want to quit after one semester so I decided to go ahead with the 2nd semester but I'm just so confused on whether or not I should be here. I observed the other students today and they were so excited and happy to be there (except for another student who is on the verge of quitting as well)but I just don't feel that anymore. I feel like if I quit then I'll be a failure and I don't want to disappoint anyone but I don't want to spend all this time and money on something that I'm not sure about. I've considered changing my major to another medical career but the problem with that is that it will set me back 2 years and there's no guarantee that I'll get in the program on the first try. I'm so confused on what I should do. Should I stay or should I just move on? Any advice would be great. Thanks in advance

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

You're still pretty young (at 51, I can say that, lol)....my suggestion would be that unless you are so miserable you can't get out of bed in the morning, I'd finish this degree up. Get your license. Look at your job options. This will always be something that can't be taken away from you.

With your RN, you will have many health career choices. With many other fields, you are very limited -- as someone told me about the Radiology Tech program I was looking at -- a very low glass ceiling.

If you really don't want to do hands-on nursing, you can get your CRNA, become an educator, get in to administration/HR, become a legal consultant, etc., etc. Have you checked out Johnson & Johnson's website? Right on the front page is a link to Nursing Careers. Crimany, the options are unlimited. You can complete this degree, then go on to other medical careers with your RN.

Ultimately, however, this will be your decision. I think meeting with a career counselor might not be a bad idea and most college campuses have them. Make an appointment and then make your decision. Not all of us are excited and happy to be back at school. Some of us are just determined to be done with it so we can move on with our lives and are doing whatever it takes to get there. Whatever you do, don't make a decision based on what you think others' expectations are for you; that is a guaranteed recipe for an unhappy future.

I truly wish you the best!

[medicalma'am]

I agree that you can find an area that you will love. My SIL works from home for a company that calls patients and checks up with them every day. What a dream job. She really is an encourager to them and can head off medical problems. It is very rewarding to her and she enjoys the relationships she has with them.

[eldragon]

I hear you completely.

I'm in the 5th block of an LPN program and it's been tough. In the beginning it was tough in clinicals because of smells and things, and I didn't feel like I'd ever get used to those things. I was questioning my sanity back then.

But I got good grades and kept on trucking, so to speak.

The third block was really hard, in both clinicals and especially in lecture/exams. Most of my class failed. (2/3). I was left standing but the negativitiy of watching so many of my classmates fail marginally, really did a blow on my motivation to pass the program.

There are some days I really don't want to go to school, and some days I still think I don't want to be a nurse. But I'm not quiting.

[Alternator81]

For what my advice is worth, I would say that your happiness comes first and foremost. Nursing school must be even harder if your heart isnt in it.

**BUT** Just think, if you finish this semester, you will be half way done! All the hard work that you put into your prerequs, and now you are almost half way though.

I really think that you should at least finish this semester before you make any rash decisions. . . If not for you, then for the seat you are taking... Many students who applied and didn't get in would love that seat!

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

I appreciate everyone's responses. I know it's not depression. I've been to the doctor to see if it's that and it's not. And by "nitty gritty" I do mean clinicals. We started doing clinicals half way through our first semester. I guess what I'm trying to say is my heart is not as into as it used to be. I guess I'm just frustrated because I've gotten this far only to now not know what I really want to do. I'm going to continue on with this sememster and see how it goes and then go from there.

I think you're experience a "the honeymoon is over" moment, and I think every nursing student has that. I had mine over the summer. The thing is that usually it will pass. I think many of us are surprised to find out that nursing isn't what we thought it would. For me, once I realized that, I found other things about it that made me appreciate it more. For example, I was shocked to find out how much people can suck sometimes, and it brought me down. But I also found out that there is a lot of brainwork that goes into being a nurse, and I love that part. I love it that no two days are the same. I find it challenging that it takes a lot of practice to learn things, but then when you get it right it is incredibly rewarding.

So maybe try and shift your think. Try to accept that it's not what you thought it would be, but then there are many wonderful things about it that you didn't know before and you like better than you ever thought you would.

Hang in there. You've worked so hard and come so far to give up now.

[MidwifeWannaB]

5 years ago I did exactly what you're considering--right before the second clinical of my second semester I dropped out. I just decided that nursing wasn't what I wanted to do, and I moved on and started working on a new degree, which was also put on hold when I got married and had my daughter.

Now, I'm wanting to go back to nursing school to eventually become a Certified Nurse-Midwife. I am really wishing that I had just stuck with it 5 years ago when I didn't have the added responsibilities of home and family.

My advice is, stick with it through this semester. If you still feel this way at the end, then consider dropping then. And, like others have said, dropping doesn't make you a quitter or a failure. Hang in there!