Getting discouraged...Encouragement or Reality Check?

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 18, 2011

I think you need a little of both -- encouragement and a reality check.

1. Encouragement -- You seem to be reasonable in the way you are thinking about nursing. You're getting some volunteer experience. You understand your work hours a new grad will probably not be the same hours you see in the PACU, etc. I think your thoughts of becoming a nurse are not crazy.

2. Reality check -- You are $20,000.00 in debt from your last educational program. You need to pay that debt off before you incur more educational debt. Cut back your expenses dramatically NOW and make big push to get that debt paid off in a year or two. (Live like a college student -- in a small apartment. Don't go out to eat at restaurants. Don't take a vacation. Don't buy new clothes. Cut back on entertainment expenses. etc. etc. etc. LIVE REALLY CHEAP -- and pay off that debt before you do something really stupid and jeopardize your financial future.)

There is nothing wrong with delaying your nursing education long enough to secure your finances first. Use the year or two to keep volunteering and learning more about nursing careers. Then, when you are financially ready to return to school ... you'll be ready in every way to succeed.

Good luck to you.

SnowShoeRN · Aug 18, 2011

After college graduation, I traveled abroad and was inspired by the healthcare professionals I met who worked for Doctors without Borders. I began volunteering at my local hospital- the PACU adult and peds. I love it. The nurses are all so intelligent and it feels like I'm making a difference (even if I am only bringing a patient a blanket or changing linens, etc). I've heard from nurses that this a "dream" nurse job (Mon-Fri, less patients, etc) so I know the real world of nursing may mean night shifts, running around like crazy, TONS of hard work, etc- but i'm not scared, I know I can do it!
My Questions:
Am I crazy for trying to go back to school?
Why do so many nurses (on this site) seem to hate their jobs?
Is it any easier for a BSN grad to find a job than a ADN grad? Esp. in middle TN (Nashville area)
Any advice on schools/getting into programs in Nashville?
Any advice on getting a job in a hospital or patient care setting in Nashville?
Any encouragment?
THANK YOU!!!

The first part of your post struck a chord with me. I went to nursing school with the hopes of joining Doctors Without Borders, or Peace Corps, or something like that. But for me, personally, it's been very difficult. Life keeps happening and these dreams have been postponed, postponed, postponed again. I'm still hopeful, but it helps not having any expectations. If there is anything this profession has taught me, it's that "Man plans, God laughs" as my mother used to say.

That being said, I don't know you well enough to say whether or not you're crazy. :) But it seems like you really want to do nursing. I went to school, honestly, with the attitude of "Meh. I'll try this. If it doesn't work out, I can do something else." And I too had 20,000 in loans from my previous degree. So I got a bunch of scholarships, worked 3 jobs doing crappy retail-type stuff, child care, and EMT stuff, went to school part-time, and paid for every semester by check. No loan from nursing school for me! It was hard, but I managed.

I think nursing, for many of us, is easily a love/hate relationship. I can't speak for everyone on this site, but there is a lot about nursing that they don't prepare you for in nursing school: The sometimes extremely poor staffing ratios and resources; demanding parents/family, patients, and co-workers; all the red-tape required to work at any large organization; the sheer stress of even a relatively easy shift (not to play the martyr card, but I tell friends "A bad day for you is misplacing a file. A bad day for me means someone dies."); the often abhorrent lateral violence; and the physical toll this profession takes on our bodies (heavy lifting, quick often hardly-nutritious snacks or meal-breaks, and working night shift for example). That being said, there is A LOT of reward that can come from this job if you make it happen. I still can't find any other job where you get to combine so many things: Analysis, knowledge, creativity, compassion, patience, flexibility, education...and where you have a myriad of employment opportunities from bedside nurse to legal nurse consultant to case manager to educator (the list goes on...) if you put your mind to it. I also love my schedule. Sure, the nights can be hell on my body, but I frequently have up to 8 days in a row off without it affecting my normal schedule (ie, I don't have to "take time off"). And while the pay *could* be better, I don't know any of my other friends who left college to make $45K a year in their first job.

I can't speak for the BSN/ADN conundrum. I have a BA in another field and had a bunch of EMT/first aid-type experience when I started, but I am constantly surrounded by people with their BSN's and have been told that this or that place only hires BSN's.

But I don't know anything about Nashville other than the fact that I'd like to visit someday! :)

Hope some of this has helped. Good luck!