Future nursing student feeling uninspired in CNA job

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Hello everyone,

I'm 26 years old and finally have been in a place to apply to nursing school.it has been a longgg dream of mine to become a nurse. I was accepted into an ABSN program and will begin the program in a few months. I'm extremely excited about returning to school for nursing and even got a hospital job working as a CNA on a meg/surg floor to help prepare myself for working in a healthcare setting. However, I've only had the job for 2 months and I can't say I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm still learning, so a part of it may be nerves from not being fully comfortable in my skills. But in general, I don't think Im liking the hospital setting. It's part time, and I am not "excited" to go to work. Im noticing that I don't find myself interested in the med/surg floor, which makes me more concerned bc as an aspiring nurse, I feel as though I should be in my happy place, being exposed to so many different types of patients and conditions. But I'm not. Many of my friends and loved ones know how much I want to be a nurse and happily ask me how I'm liking my new job, but I find myself hesitating and saying... it's fine... and I bring myself to say I like it. Honestly, ive thought about quitting a few times, or atleast being per diem to give it a shot while I'm in school. It's just frustrating because I've wanted this for so long, and to get a hospital job only to feel ...meh.. is very disappointing. I'm also working another job along with the CNA job to save money for school, which is also taking a toll because I'm extremely tired from working so many hours (no days off).

im just looking for some insight from nurses and/or students who can give me some words of wisdom. I haven't started nursing school and I know I will be exposed to different settings outside of the hospital( which I would be excited for).. so I don't want to stress and think too deeply into things before I even start. This situation just makes me nervous as to whether or not I really want to be a nurse. That was hard for me to say. Please help!

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I too have been accepted to an ABSN program starting this spring semester. I currently work as a physiologist for inpatient OHS patients. I enjoy the job, but I sometimes watch the nurses work and what they do and sort of get the feeling like, "is that really what I want to be doing?" But when I start to think like that, I think back to why I decided I wanted to become a nurse in the first place. What was it that inspired me to want to become a nurse? Things like that really help bring me back to why I want to do what I want to do. As you said, there are so many different types of nursing too, you don't necessarily have to be in a hospital forever. I always just tell myself that it will be 100% worth it, and I know I will enjoy it, and if I decide I want to move forward with my career in a few years, I can go back and get my MSN or whatever I want. The beauty with nursing is that there are a million different routes you can take with the degree. Don't get stuck on just one certain idea! I know I'm not already a nursing student or an RN yet, but hopefully some of this helped. Stay inspired and optimistic as much as you can, and remind yourself why you want to do this! I have faith that it will all work out the way it should for you :)

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Thank you so much Futurenurse0424. It really helps to hear encouraging words from people in the field (or those like you and I who are on thier journey into nursing) I still feel excited to start nursing school, which I'm happy about lol.. but I'm trying to work through my feelings of my current cna job in the hospital. Hopefully things come together with time. And good luck to you in your program!!

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Another thing you should take in to consideration is think about what type of field you'd like to work in as a Nurse would you like to work with the elderly , kids ICU , NICU , be a labor and delivery nursed work in a doctor's office . When I decided that I wanted to become a Nurse I did research on what type of Nurse I would like to become in the future , I think many folks get into nursing but never think about what type of Nurse they would like to be I would suggest watching YouTube and finding some videos on different types of nurses and what they do .

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As a teenager I was always extremely interested in reproductive health. So I felt like I would naturally end up in that area. But overtime , I got very discouraged throughout college and I think I kind of lost sight in why I wanted to become a nurse. But that's makes a lot of sense. I'm just excited to start the program so that I can actually be exposed to different specialities and setting. Doing some research and watching videos definitely can help. I'll start doing that.

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