How do you know if Nursing is right for you?

Nursing Students General Students

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I'm currently one month into my Bachelor Degree of Registered Nursing, enjoying it so far but we're still on the very basics so I really can't determine anything yet. The only trouble is I'm a bit of a worrier (it's just part of my personality!) and I sometimes question whether I'm suitable for nursing. So my question/s is:

  • What do you think makes a good Nurse?
  • How do you know if you're suited to Nursing?
  • How do you know if you'll be happy in a career in Nursing

I think my biggest issue is that I'm not an overly confident person (plus the worrying side to my personality) just means I happen to second guess myself quite a bit and my biggest fear is spending years doing a degree and getting into a professional that I end up hating!

Sometimes I'm confident in my choice to become a Nurse but I have to admit when I see posts on the internet (or on here) saying: "You're either a natural or you're not!"; "It's a job you either love or hate!" (and don't even get me started on those "Nursing is the worst thing to ever happen to me, it's the worst job on the planet" posts haha) it just makes me worry because what if I'm not a natural or what if I'm one of those people who "hates" nursing?

I got into nursing because I enjoyed the health science field, wanted a job/degree that combined both theory and practice, wanted a job with a lot of variety, a job where I was kept on my feet (I like working hard), and most importantly I wanted a job where I felt fulfilled (as in making some kind of difference to the world).

Personality wise I'm a hard worker, I'm compassionate/kind, I'm pretty intelligent/switched on, and I'm down to earth. With that being said I do have my flaws, I'm a worrier, I don't have very high self-esteem, I'm not an overly confident nor outgoing person, and I'll admit sometimes when I'm working in customer service some people just get on my nerves haha

I guess I'm just anxious that my flaws will mean I'm not suited to Nursing. Can someone be a good Nurse even if they're not a really confident/outgoing person? Can they be a good nurse even if they're not a people-person 100% of the time?

Sorry for the long message, as you can tell I'm a bit of an over-thinker too haha But I greatly appreciate any information and advice you give me as this is a very important decision to me! :)

It would really help me if you maybe described your personality, what area you work in, and if you enjoy your job/studies (if you have the time that is). Just so I can maybe get a glimpse as to if the personalities of Nurses are varied or if it seems like only a certain kind of person is suited to it!

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

I'm not going to say that you are or aren't going to be a good fit or that you'll like nursing. This is entirely up to you and how you feel. In my case, nursing is simply how I choose to express who I am, or more correctly one way that I choose to express that. I really enjoy it, but you might be able to make some more sense of this if I use an analogy...

If you enjoy traveling, you can choose to engage in that travel by driving around in your car, an RV, take a train, boat, or an airplane. You like travel, but you choose how to do it. Same with patient care.

There are lots of people that do nursing purely for financial reasons, and that's absolutely fine, as long as patient care isn't impacted. You don't have to love the job to do it very well.

The hard part for you is that you're in the very early parts of nursing school and it takes a while for the process to work and allow you to settle into the role of student nurse and start learning the very basics of nursing. For now, just do your best to go with the program and allow the process to work. You'll know for yourself at the end of your first year or so if you can at least tolerate being a nurse.

Me? I wake up every morning that I'm going to work and think, "cool, I get to go to work today!" Many people aren't that lucky. If you find yourself in that same position as I'm in, congratulations! You've found where you need to be.

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Specializes in ICU.

Confidence in nursing is important but it can be learned. Everyone has the jitters at first but you ease into it and gain confidence. You just don't want to show your lack of confidence to your patients. You need them to trust you. So always wear your game face to the patient.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Nursing is very hard for anyone who is not comfortable with very high levels of accountability. If making decisions is not your strong suite, it may be very stressful. There are soooo many different health care fields, many of them also have minimal patient contact - such as laboratory science, and a more defined and structured scope of practice -- which may suit OP better than nursing.

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Thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my post!

I think you're right about me just having to wait and finished my first year of schooling to see what I think of it and if it's suited to me.

I would love to be in that position (that's really what I'm aspiring for, hence why I'm thinking into this quite a lot, I don't take the decision lightly). You're very lucky to enjoy your profession so much! :)

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Thanks for your good advice, normally I do naturally become more confident through experience, though that takes time unfortunately haha especially as I'm still pretty young too

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Specializes in NICU.

Being a "worrier" can be a good thing in nursing. It will cause you you to be aware of what you are doing and ensure that you are doing it correctly, as long as worrying doesn't cause you to constantly doubt yourself. Being overly confident can lead to mistakes which can affect patient care.

There is no ideal personality type for the perfect nurse. I'm an introvert and thankfully neonates are not big on conversations and don't care that I am an introvert. I find it easier to be less of an introvert when talking to the parents when you are passionate about your job.

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I appreciate you taking the time to reply but I didn't really say that I am "not comfortable with very high levels of accountability" nor that "making decisions is not [my] strong suite". I understand where you might have gotten that idea from but the only reason I'm second guessing myself and being a tad indecision is because this decision will affect me for the rest of my life. A career you're going to be doing for the next 4 decades isn't really something you should choose lightly (at least in my opinion) which is why I wanted to ask around to get a better understanding of the job and what it takes.

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Thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my post!

Your post comforts me a lot, so I really appreciate it. And I guess you're right about the confidence side to things, I never thought of it that way :)

It's also good to hear you're an introvert too, I'm not sure I would completely describe myself in that way but I know I can certainly be a bit shy and not being the most outgoing person in certain situations, so it's a relief to know that not all nurses have to be bubbly/loud-mouths and you can be on the shy-er side while still being good at your job :)

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

If you end up going through school, get your first job, and hate it, look for another job... you might find that you fit in there. If after a few tries at it and it's just not working well for you, stick with it long enough to allow you to retrain for another field and move on. Almost anything is tolerable if you know where the end-point is.

Seriously, the people you work with will make a big difference in how you perceive the job.

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Thanks again for the advice. I think what comforts me most in this decision to choose Nursing as a career is the variety in it. Even if I dislike/don't enjoy one area of Nursing I can simply train up and find an area I love! :)

And I totally agree with you about "Almost anything is tolerable if you know where the end-point is" . I think planning out obtainable goals/back-up plans is the best way to go(for someone with my kind of personality anyway haha)! Even if I go through school, graduate, and get a job, possibly disliking that one particular area of nursing won't be the end of the world if I can just retrain/move to something else :) Thanks again!

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Specializes in NICU.

Learn everything you can about what it is like to be a nurse on the different units while doing your clinicals. It will give you a good idea of where your interests lie, so you can focus on those areas when you graduate. If you have an interest in a specialty that you don't have a clinical rotation in, then call the nursing care manager of the department and set up a day of shadowing a nurse.

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