How to handle nursing field.. very long post

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Hey guys!

I am 18 years old and I got accepted into a nursing apprenticeship. So I am taking classes in the summer and the program sets me up with CNA training in August and then they place me with a job if I pass my CNA in September. They are also paying for my first semester of community college.

Its been day 2 of the program and it is just orientation and what we will be doing in the next couple weeks. It seems very stressful. The people are very motivating and I am excited to start but I am very stressed. Im just looking to see how any of you nurses managed your time and what was your motivation in moving forward and getting the work done. I am fresh out of high school so this program definetely put me in check. It showed me how responsible and how seriously I need to take this. Im just very nervous at how well I will do because I had to write a 3 to 5 page paper last night for homework and same goes for tonight so it is alot of reading and writing.

I am 18 and its summer so I have temptations to go out with friends and boyfriend to have fun but its just very hard to balance it. I know boyfriends will come and go but this one means alot and we have been going out for over a year. My couselor told me that once I get a head start on my future you will have better boyfriends and better friends and have a job. I understand what she is trying to say but I just cant put it into reality because I really dont want to lose my friends and boyfriend. I need advice about this situation as well.

Do you think I will be able to survive? I want to become an RN eventually and then further my career somehow but im not quite sure yet. It just seems all jumbled right now and its really worrying me. I know medical field is something I want to do and nursing seems pretty clear to me as well because I want to be able to help others and make a difference.

Please share your experiences and what you have become and how you managed your time and how to manage time with loved ones :eek:

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Specializes in home health, dialysis, others.

This program is about 8 weeks. Buckle down, and get through it. The best things come with effort, not with playing. There will be plenty of time to play after the work is done.

If this guy really cares about you and your future, he will support you - maybe stopping by with a pizza one night, or helping you study something.

You are only at the very beginning of your life. Best Wishes!!!

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, ED, Nurse Instructor,.

Some of us had to learn the hard way. By living and learning at the same time. While in school I had my priority together but I didnt have them in order. So when things got hard in school I had to make some changes. One change I had to make was losing a boyfriend. After the lost stress just fell of my shoulders. Things became easier to do and I was able to accomplish things in a positive feeling. I am just speaking about me and no one elses experiences.

You are 18 years old. You are use to having fun with your friends. Right now you are making very grown up decisions with your life. I am impressed. Some of the decisions you are going to continue to make are going to become harder and harder. This is apart of life. My mother always told me if it is too easy it is not worth it. You are going to have to figure out what is important to and for you right now. You are making decisions for your future. You dont want nothing to get in your way especially things you can prevent from happening.

I believe the counselor is trying to help you open your eyes to see where things may head down the road. It may not happen just this minute and it may never happen. Are your friends and boyfriend very supportive. I know you stated dating him over a year. That is good and dandy but is he willing to be there for you. I dont know how serious you both are. This is something you and him have to talk figure out. You have you head on right and try to keep it straight. Good luck with all of your decisions.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

I remember feeling extremely overwhelmed in orientation for nursing school. And I was 30 at the time, not 19.

Buy yourself a good dayplanner or a white board that has a calendar on it, and just write everything down. After a while you will develop a routine, and it will get easier, I promise!

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Some of us had to learn the hard way. By living and learning at the same time. While in school I had my priority together but I didnt have them in order. So when things got hard in school I had to make some changes. One change I had to make was losing a boyfriend. After the lost stress just fell of my shoulders. Things became easier to do and I was able to accomplish things in a positive feeling. I am just speaking about me and no one elses experiences.

You are 18 years old. You are use to having fun with your friends. Right now you are making very grown up decisions with your life. I am impressed. Some of the decisions you are going to continue to make are going to become harder and harder. This is apart of life. My mother always told me if it is too easy it is not worth it. You are going to have to figure out what is important to and for you right now. You are making decisions for your future. You dont want nothing to get in your way especially things you can prevent from happening.

I believe the counselor is trying to help you open your eyes to see where things may head down the road. It may not happen just this minute and it may never happen. Are your friends and boyfriend very supportive. I know you stated dating him over a year. That is good and dandy but is he willing to be there for you. I dont know how serious you both are. This is something you and him have to talk figure out. You have you head on right and try to keep it straight. Good luck with all of your decisions.

Thank you so much for your response. I dont want to make a stupid decision because I want to be placed in a good hospital in NJ. I know that whoever sticks around throughout my schooling is really there to support me. Its just a stress factor that I go to my friends or boyfriend when im stressed and they take my mind away from things for a while. My head kills me everyday because I am so stressed and I just want to do good in my future. Its very tricky also being the 1st and oldest in my family to create some sort of path and become a role model for my younger family members. And the fact that I am the first one in my family to do healthcare so I have no one to stroll me along the way. I just hope I can become a great nurse like one of you and give someone the same advice you just gave to me.

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Specializes in PACU, CARDIAC ICU, TRAUMA, SICU, LTC.

You will learn throughout your life that those friends who stick by you are the friends you will want in your life for a long, long time.

You are being given an opportunity; grab on to it. Stick to your plan, it will be worth it in the long run. As "klone" suggested get yourself a day planner; it just might help!

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Just because you are going to be super busy does not mean you can not have some time with your boy friend. You just can not have as much time. Every two or three weeks or so, plan a date. Better yet reward yourself for doing well in school. If you get an A on a test, plan some time with your friends, just realize you can't be with your friends and boy friend every day and every night. This kind of planning and using self control is what an adult does to keep their life on track. You can do this. Just set your priorities and be good to yourself. You are good to yourself when you do your school work diligently, when you get a good night's sleep, and also when you enjoy two hours of watching a movie with your boy friend. You deserve it.

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You mention feeling stressed a lot. One of the best ways to deal with stress is a good, solid exercise program. It may seem like it is taking you away from your work, but your body and your mind need it. So put an exercise plan into your daily schedule, even if only for half an hour. You will see the difference.

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, ED, Nurse Instructor,.
Thank you so much for your response. I dont want to make a stupid decision because I want to be placed in a good hospital in NJ. I know that whoever sticks around throughout my schooling is really there to support me. Its just a stress factor that I go to my friends or boyfriend when im stressed and they take my mind away from things for a while. My head kills me everyday because I am so stressed and I just want to do good in my future. Its very tricky also being the 1st and oldest in my family to create some sort of path and become a role model for my younger family members. And the fact that I am the first one in my family to do healthcare so I have no one to stroll me along the way. I just hope I can become a great nurse like one of you and give someone the same advice you just gave to me.

Your are very much welcome. I am also the first one to graduate from college in my family. The first one to be a nurse in my family. I understand the pressure. Family/friends have to realize we are human and too much pressure is not good for no one. I continue to further my education to better me. I dont have a family of my own yet, maybe near future. I understand you may need to release some stress. I am not going to tell you dont hang with your friends. Everyone need a friend of some kind. You can go out once or twice a week for a few hours a dinner, movie, clubbing, or whatever can help you release some of the stress you have build up. Just make sure you have time for YOU.

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I am 32. I was with my first boyfriend for 6 years from the age of 15 to 21. I did manage to go to college and get my BA, but I regret a lot. I wanted to do healthcare initially, and changed my major because it was too hard. Now I realize that it was too hard because I didn't commit the time. I know I was young, and wanted to hang out with my friends and boyfriend, and I do have good memories, but it really affected my career path. I really thought that I loved my boyfriend (hence the 6 years), but I came to realize that I wanted MY life back. I left him when I was 21, and it was a huge relief.

Fastforward, after having different jobs that I didn't really put my heart into, I ended up meeting my husband 4 years ago at one of those jobs. He encouraged me to go back and do nursing since I always talked about it, and I am starting nursing school next month.

Let me just say this. I am not saying you should leave your boyfriend, but you are young, and it seems like you really, really have a good head on your shoulders. You have a great opportunity, and now is going to shape the rest of your life. You can get ahead now, and be enjoying life at 32 and be established in your career....or you could be like me starting nursing school at 32. Believe me, I had good times, but my first boyfriend is a speck in my past. I feel like I wasted a lot of time and energy. I hope my advice helps. It's all about perspective. How I wish I would have buckled down when I was 18 and followed my dream. Good luck to you!!

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Okay, this is what I think. Judging from your writing skills, I think you have the smarts and maturity to get through any program you wish. Nursing school is hard and a lot of work, sure, but it's not impossible. If you pay attention and do the work you'll pass, no problem.

HOWEVER. I think you're struggling with a lot of ambivalence. Ambivalence about growing up, taking charge of your future, being an adult. I had the same problem so I can relate. I was very focused on my friends and boyfriend because it kept me in a holding pattern, it was familiar and it was safe. Going to school, dealing with unpleasant and uncomfortable situations, was scary.

These are normal feelings a lot of people, especially females, deal with. My advice is to keep plugging along. Don't let anyone tell you you're too young or you're "not ready." No one feels ready for huge, life-changing events. You get ready by doing it, not by feeling it.

You do have added pressure of feeling like the role model to your younger siblings. No help from me here - being the oldest in the family can be very stressful for that reason. But I believe you can do this. I have faith in you. Now, you just have faith in yourself.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

Hi-- I started nursing school at 18, too and I do remember how I felt eons ago. The summer after you graduate from high school historically is a period of time that many people extend the party until fall, especially if they are starting college at that time, kind of like a last hurrah before it's time to leave your youth behind,(you aren't, really) and what you are feeling is so normal!! :).

If you take the long view, an opportunity to change your future for the better probably is worth the two months of being less carefree than your friends are, but they will be exactly where you are soon enough, so that may help when you are feeling blue.

On top of that, the things very much emphasised in nursing school are what a huge responsibility it is, how serious it is, etc can scare the daylights out of new students of any age if they are unfamiliar with working in healthcare. Orientation tends to dump everything you are expected to have learned right in your lap, but the reality is you will do it step by step, issue by issue, lesson by lesson. That really is doable.

As everyone else has said, starting now won't mean you must have NO social life!! Yes, late weeknights will probably have to go, but if your boyfriend really cares about you he will support you and figure things to do that work for you both. If he decided to enter an apprentice program or the military or whatever, I imagine you would be happy to delay some of the fun stuff to support his goals.

Anyway, best wishes to you, I think you have what it takes to succeed. :nurse:

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