Having trouble with a decision

Nurses General Nursing

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:chair: ok nobody yell at me please! i have posted on and off a few times now that i have been taking prerequisites for ns. which i have been, up until this semester. i took a & p i last semester and made a c in lecture and an f in lab. i had originally signed up to take it again, but then i chickened out and switched my major to accounting. :D the truth is, while the accounting is something i know (it was most of my previous job) it doesn't challenge me for the most part. what originally drew me to nursing was the flexibility of being able to do many different things over the course of my career and having the ability to constantly engage my mind and think on my feet. being able to help people is not bad either :D. i think what bothers me about becoming a nurse is the politics. i'm not very adept at dealing with politics be it office, hospital, whatever. i tend to be too plainspoken and it sometimes gets me in trouble. so my question to all of you with more experience is how do you deal with that every day? this question is to most important to me because i do think i want to be a nurse and i think i could be a really great one, if it wasn't for my lack of diplomacy(for lack of a better word).:lol2: i just don't know that i can pursue the nursing profession not knowing how to deal with politics, because i feel that there is so much of it present. i have even had friends that are nurses tell me that i shouldn't go into nursing strictly because of the politics. anybody have any suggestions, comments, or anything else to add? thank you all! i'm going to go hide now! :chair::D

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

I cannot imagine a profession in which you would not have to deal with conflicts, teams, personalities, etc. I assume that is what you mean by "politics". Nursing is no better or worse than other professions in that regard

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Specializes in Home Care.

Office politics are everywhere, whether it be nursing, accounting, in the military or working at McDonalds.

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i agree and understand that there are politics everywhere, no matter what field one pursues. i guess i always thought there would be more politics in the nursing profession than others because of the higher stress levels and the higher probability of burnout, if that makes sense. i don't know personally, since i am not a nurse. i have worked as an aide/tech before, and from that viewpoint it seemed there was. that's why i posted the question, so that i could make an informed decision. i appreciate the responses, please keep them coming!

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Specializes in LTC.

How do I deal with politics? I don't. How do I manage that? I work agency. :yeah: (But I don't recommend working agency until you have a SOLID year of experience under your belt). And other posters are right: politics happen in every field, not just nursing. It's human nature, unfortunately, to be clicky and mean sometimes.

In all honesty, I feel the best way to avoid "politics" is to keep your mouth shut and be as diplomatic as you can. Of course, it's not an easy thing for some of us, least of all myself, LOL.

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Specializes in mental health, military nursing.

Maybe you should think about taking a leadership class. You don't get to have "a lack of diplomacy" until you're in charge - until then, there are other choice words to describe that kind of attitude. People skills are important - it's not quirky or cute to suck at them.

And a C/F in A&P? Ouch. Unless those grades were due to some catastrophic event in your life, perhaps accounting is a better choice. Nurses need to have a solid, working knowledge of anatomy and physiology.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to discourage you from nursing! You have some tough decisions ahead.

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Maybe you should think about taking a leadership class. You don't get to have "a lack of diplomacy" until you're in charge - until then, there are other choice words to describe that kind of attitude. People skills are important - it's not quirky or cute to suck at them.

And a C/F in A&P? Ouch. Unless those grades were due to some catastrophic event in your life, perhaps accounting is a better choice. Nurses need to have a solid, working knowledge of anatomy and physiology.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to discourage you from nursing! You have some tough decisions ahead.

I was looking for advice about how to deal with it so that I can be better. I'm fully aware that it's an area I need to work on. I did not say that I have a complete lack of people skills, but thanks for pointing that out.

And the C/F in A&P was totally because of me. I know that I messed that up, but I have the option to retake it for a better grade. I'm not sure what else to say.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

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How do I deal with politics? I don't. How do I manage that? I work agency. :yeah: (But I don't recommend working agency until you have a SOLID year of experience under your belt). And other posters are right: politics happen in every field, not just nursing. It's human nature, unfortunately, to be clicky and mean sometimes.

In all honesty, I feel the best way to avoid "politics" is to keep your mouth shut and be as diplomatic as you can. Of course, it's not an easy thing for some of us, least of all myself, LOL.

Apparently it is. lol Anyway, thanks for your reply and I will definitely consider it.

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i just don't know that i can pursue the nursing profession not knowing how to deal with politics, because i feel that there is so much of it present. i have even had friends that are nurses tell me that i shouldn't go into nursing strictly because of the politics. anybody have any suggestions, comments, or anything else to add? thank you all! i'm going to go hide now! :chair::D

don't let nursing politics alone dissuade you from the profession. i'm not a nurse myself yet, but as others have noted, i'm sure that there aren't any more politics in nursing than in other career fields.

here are a few ideas off the top of my head you can try:

1. the scariest things are often that which we don't understand. knowledge is power! check out your library for self-help books on how to deal with (or even thrive in) career politics. glance over them for some tips and try them out whenever you can. practice makes perfect, you know
;)
.

2. shadow a nurse at a nearby hospital and see for yourself what it's really like.

3. get your feet wet by being a cna first. (edit: oops, just saw in one of your posts that you've already worked as an aide. disregard, then.)

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