In desperate need of advice. I'm currently a sophomore in nursing school at one of the top 10 universities for nursing. I thought I was extremely interested in nursing, but being in nursing school has kind of crushed that for me. My professors are extremely unprepared for all of our classes, don't even seem interested themselves, and have stated they "didn't even want" to be a professor, but there was nobody else to take that position. My university is definitely cutthroat and I can tell they are still in the weed-out process with the students.

I'm starting clinicals this week, which I'm super excited for, but one of my classes this week literally lectured us for two hours on all of their nursing horror stories and the terrible patients they've encountered. They've told us about how we should expect to have patients who are rude to us, will cuss us out, and how some may even get physically violent with us? I understand they want us to be educated on both the good and the bad parts of nursing, but suddenly I find myself questioning if this is truly the profession I want to be in. 

I'm hearing more and more stories of nurses and nursing students who have lost their passions for nursing. I guess I'm just curious as to what made you all stay in nursing and if nursing school gets any better than what I'm currently experiencing or what I can have to look forward to. As I'm sure many people can imagine, being a 20 year old in college leaves room for a lot of confusion on what I want to pursue in life.

kbrn2002 said:

That being said...Nursing is not the way I'd counsel anybody to go nowadays. If you want to stay in the health field there are many options besides nursing. Most have better hours, better treatment by management and patients and equal or often better pay. 

Hey! Current nursing student here. I am interested in health care and have no intention of changing my route any time soon, especially after working so hard to merely get into a nursing program. However, I know that bedside nursing is not my end goal and I will most likely go to grad school at some point to advance my career, or simply switch to a different career within the field. I am curious, what are some examples of the non-nursing options that you are referring to in your post? 

3 hours ago, kbrn2002 said:

Physical Therapy, the schooling for the PhD degree isn't too much longer than a BSN degree. The demand is high and the pay is better.  My son is a travel PT and makes a  mid  6 figure annual income.

Occupation Therapy, Ultrasound and X-Ray techs are also in demand with good to very good compensation for the time/cost of the degree.

Medical coding/billing can be done remotely and also has good to very good compensation for the time/cost of the degree.  My daughter-in-law chose that route because she can work remotely so it doesn't affect their travel plans. She's married to my travel PT son.

Anything in IT with a focus on health care software is also very lucrative and is a high demand field.

There's also dieticians, lab techs, pharmacy techs and if you are willing and able to devote a lot of time to college a pharmacist. The demand is beyond high with excellent compensation.

About the only non nursing medical field I can't currently endorse is social work as they are as overworked and to my admittedly little bit of knowledge as underpaid or even more so than nursing. 

With the possible exceptions of Nursing informatics and possibly medical coding/billing non of the options I thought of off the top of my head are anything you could easily transition to from nursing. They are all separate career paths with their own education requirements with little to no crossover from nursing.

There are however a LOT of non-bedside nursing careers. However most of them would require a fair amount of nursing experience to be considered a qualified candidate for the job. If you proceed with a nursing degree there are certainly other employment options you could consider in your future.

I appreciate the detailed response! I've looked into a lot of these careers and they do indeed seem to have a good return on investment. I'm not 100% sure what my plans will be after being a nurse for a few years, but it's good to know there are a lot of options out there.

Specializes in Nursing student.

If you think nursing school is bad, wait until you start working.

Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
On 1/14/2022 at 6:29 PM, Tegridy said:

Yeah I never understood the mentally unfit part. If they are unable to function as a human being they should be in a long term psych facility. deinstitutionalization may not have been the best idea ever.

Except that it costs about a quarter of a million dollars a year to house someone in a long term psych facility and the process is onerous at best and takes years. Even mentally ill people have a constitutional right to freedom. This does not mean we should be OK with being assaulted. I have more to share but I'm getting ready for work. Will check back in later.

Hppy

Specializes in CEN, Firefighter/Paramedic.
On 1/20/2022 at 11:49 AM, kbrn2002 said:

Physical Therapy, the schooling for the PhD degree isn't too much longer than a BSN degree. The demand is high and the pay is better.  My son is a travel PT and makes a  mid  6 figure annual income.

A BSN is 4 years, where can you get a DPT in a time frame that isn't too much longer than 4 years?

 

Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
FiremedicMike said:

A BSN is 4 years, where can you get a DPT in a time frame that isn't too much longer than 4 years?

Ever the independent fact checker I found this on the Web

Noodle. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2022, from https://www.noodle.com/articles/doctor-of-physical-therapy-program-length

Nursing school and actual nursing are two completely different animals.

Major differences: I "missed" an antibiotic. I hung it, but to my horror at 630am when I went to hang the next one realized forgot to roll down the roller clamp, and the saline infused instead. I was SO upset worried I'd get in huge trouble but my boss was like "you self reported, write an incidents report, it's a learning experience I bet you'll quintuple check from now on. Endorse to AM shift to have pharmacy change the time " school? I'd likely have been failed. 

Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
On 1/12/2022 at 11:28 AM, ks__102 said:

horror-stories-make-me-want-to-leave-nursing.jpg.516d813b7331735e4bbc79f5e94327ba.jpg

In desperate need of advice. I'm currently a sophomore in nursing school at one of the top 10 universities for nursing. I thought I was extremely interested in nursing, but being in nursing school has kind of crushed that for me. My professors are extremely unprepared for all of our classes, don't even seem interested themselves, and have stated they "didn't even want" to be a professor, but there was nobody else to take that position. My university is definitely cutthroat and I can tell they are still in the weed-out process with the students.

I'm starting clinicals this week, which I'm super excited for, but one of my classes this week literally lectured us for two hours on all of their nursing horror stories and the terrible patients they've encountered. They've told us about how we should expect to have patients who are rude to us, will cuss us out, and how some may even get physically violent with us? I understand they want us to be educated on both the good and the bad parts of nursing, but suddenly I find myself questioning if this is truly the profession I want to be in. 

Now that we are still in a pandemic, I'm hearing more and more stories of nurses and nursing students who have lost their passions for nursing. I guess I'm just curious as to what made you all stay in nursing and if nursing school gets any better than what I'm currently experiencing or what I can have to look forward to. As I'm sure many people can imagine, being a 20 year old in college leaves room for a lot of confusion on what I want to pursue in life.

I would tactfully point out to the dean what these harebrained instructors are doing during their paid duties.  It's unprofessional and demeaning for the students.

Specializes in Former NP now Internal medicine PGY-3.
hppygr8ful said:

Except that it costs about a quarter of a million dollars a year to house someone in a long term psych facility and the process is onerous at best and takes years. Even mentally ill people have a constitutional right to freedom. This does not mean we should be OK with being assaulted. I have more to share but I'm getting ready for work. Will check back in later.

Hence why I said may not have been. I assume the ways the old inpatient psych facilities were ran it wouldn't cost so much. I'm thinking more as giant facilities where they are housed fed, given their depo shots. Probably better than being homeless. I'm all for freedom but where the line is drawn for being able to make self-decisions may not make freedom the best option for those who cannot function at all in society. 

Specializes in Former NP now Internal medicine PGY-3.
C_M_L_R18 said:

Nursing school and actual nursing are two completely different animals.

Major differences: I "missed" an antibiotic. I hung it, but to my horror at 630am when I went to hang the next one realized forgot to roll down the roller clamp, and the saline infused instead. I was SO upset worried I'd get in huge trouble but my boss was like "you self reported, write an incidents report, it's a learning experience I bet you'll quintuple check from now on. Endorse to AM shift to have pharmacy change the time " school? I'd likely have been failed. 
 

Who hasn't forgotten to prep and hang an antibiotic. So easy to miss. I've done it before. Believe I forgot to mix the rocephin or something like that. 

Specializes in CEN, Firefighter/Paramedic.
hppygr8ful said:

Ever the independent fact checker I found this on the Web

Noodle. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2022, from https://www.noodle.com/articles/doctor-of-physical-therapy-program-length

Not to be contrary just for the sake of arguing, but that website says 4 years plus 3 years. 

I personally feel 3 years of doctorate level work after obtaining a bachelors in a "STEM" program with at least a 3.0 GPA is a significantly more difficult path than a BSN

Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
3 hours ago, Tegridy said:

Hence why I said may not have been. id assume the ways the old inpatient psych facilities were ran it wouldn't cost so much. Im thinking more as giant facilities where they are housed fed, given their depo shots. Probably better than being homeless. Im all for freedom but where the line is drawn for being able to make self-decisions may not make freedom the best option for those who cannot function at all in society. 

I live across the street from a state hospital that was closed in the '60's and is now condos, restaurants, businesses, etc.  There are still a few buildings left to renovate and I wish one would have been preserved for those who couldn't function independently but needed minimal supervision.  They had their own farm and those that were higher functioning were free to leave and were just part of the town, as they should be.  Now they sleep in the nearby woods.

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