How did you KNOW...

You do have to learn to be a nurse... nursing school, NCLEX, license, precepting...all this is learned. I learned how to take vital signs, titrate drips, call doctors, use the social skills to interact with patients, nothing about this is instinct.

Experience gave me the background to use instincts in certain situations. When experienced nurses say that a patient "looks bad" even when the vital signs look fine, there is a place for instinct, but it is informed by what we have seen.

I didn't grow up knowing exactly what I wanted, but nursing came the closest.

Thanks RNperdiem! I'll get it all figured out. I just don't want to make a mistake this late in life. If I do go the BSN route I will be almost 48 when I finish the program. I want to make a difference, even if in a small way... I think that is why I am being pulled toward nursing.

Volunteer first or be a cna or cma to see if you can handle it

I realized I was going to be a nurse when I was wait listed for dental hygiene. Didn't want to wait a year to start a program so I applied to nursing and got in. No visions of being like Flo Nightingale.

That is basically the same boat I'm in! Any regrets so far?

I do plan on that. Thank you!

You absolutely have to learn! I was a second career nurse and went into the field because I was sick of my job being the same every day. I wanted variety and flexibility (haha...how naive I was!)

For the first year and a half, I wondered if I made the right decision. I always seemed to be overwhelmed, had a really difficult time with critical thinking and was afraid of both the patients and the doctors. Now I try to remember that feeling so I can be a good preceptor for new nurses.

Well I truly did not like floor/acute care nursing at all. I'm now in a BSN to DNP program to become a FNP. Unfortunately, the RN is at the bottom of the mountain & we all know what rolls down hill.