Hi there, I am new here and have been reading your boards for the last couple of days. You really have a great site here and I hope to join you all permantly!
My question is this -
When you were deciding what your future was going to be like, how did you make the life altering decision to be a nurse?
The reason I ask this is - I'm afraid that school will be too hard or that I am not smart enough to make it through. Or that I will just not catch on quick enough.
I realize I am dealing with Life & Death situations out there and in some ways that scares me.
In my Heart of Hearts - I am a very loving and caring person. I've always known that I would be in the medical field. Caring for others and making differences in the lives of others is something I crave for. To some extent - I believe it to be my "calling".
Is that possible while at the same time being terrified? How could it be this way but yet scare me to pieces?
I have activated my college application and will be starting in April for just my pre-reqs. I have so many thoughts going through my mind right now it's hard to concentrate. Day in and out I'm thinking about Nursing. I know the job is hard, tiring, demanding, underpaid, etc, etc, etc (there is so much to be said) but to me..... it's all worth it. I love people and would do anything to make the life of someone else or family of someone else be the best that I can.
School and 1st couple of years of working... just scares me to death.
I know I'm not the only one that has ever felt this way. Could someone please shed some light on this for me? How did you overcome your fears? What was the one thing that mattered to you the most that made this decision for you?
Specializes in Acute rehab/geriatrics/cardiac rehab.
I always admired nurses but didn't feel I was smart enough. I went to college and received a degree in another field. Many of my friends in college were nursing students and I was more interested in what they were doing than in my chosen field of study.
After college I married, ended up with five children...all teens now, and I one day happened to mention to my husband that if I had it all to do over again I would have studied nursing. He said why not try now. So I took the prerequisites, survived and entered nursing school.
Not that nursing school doesn't have its cliffhanger moments. Did I pass that test .....am I going to hurt someone accidentally when I have them as my patient....what in the world is this teacher talking about...is it humanly possible to read and study that many pages.... how can anyone take a drug calculations test without a calculator and miss only one problem or none.... how can I handle a patient with over 20 meds which need to be crushed and given through a tube! It's my last semester and yep, I've learned it is possible to survive all the above...... (the patient with over 20 meds, all of which I had to look up the night before for their side effects, etc, ....that patient was moved to intensive care before I ever set foot on the unit the next day so I never had the chance to work with him. I was assigned another patient on the spur of the moment.....(spur of the moment experiences happen a lot as a nursing student and as a nurse...you just learn to expect and be prepared for them).
My med surg teacher told us our first nervous day of clinicals as the students in her care were practically clinging to each other..."Look at it this way, these people need your help and you are going to do what you can to help them".
Nurses help people. They may not always necessarily love their surroundings or the personalities they work with, and the "thank you's" may be few. But I've enjoyed being a nursing student and I think I'm going to love being a nurse.
mom and nurse
513 Posts
I always admired nurses but didn't feel I was smart enough. I went to college and received a degree in another field. Many of my friends in college were nursing students and I was more interested in what they were doing than in my chosen field of study.
After college I married, ended up with five children...all teens now, and I one day happened to mention to my husband that if I had it all to do over again I would have studied nursing. He said why not try now. So I took the prerequisites, survived and entered nursing school.
Not that nursing school doesn't have its cliffhanger moments. Did I pass that test .....am I going to hurt someone accidentally when I have them as my patient....what in the world is this teacher talking about...is it humanly possible to read and study that many pages.... how can anyone take a drug calculations test without a calculator and miss only one problem or none.... how can I handle a patient with over 20 meds which need to be crushed and given through a tube! It's my last semester and yep, I've learned it is possible to survive all the above...... (the patient with over 20 meds, all of which I had to look up the night before for their side effects, etc, ....that patient was moved to intensive care before I ever set foot on the unit the next day so I never had the chance to work with him. I was assigned another patient on the spur of the moment.....(spur of the moment experiences happen a lot as a nursing student and as a nurse...you just learn to expect and be prepared for them).
My med surg teacher told us our first nervous day of clinicals as the students in her care were practically clinging to each other..."Look at it this way, these people need your help and you are going to do what you can to help them".
Nurses help people. They may not always necessarily love their surroundings or the personalities they work with, and the "thank you's" may be few. But I've enjoyed being a nursing student and I think I'm going to love being a nurse.
Take one day at a time.