How much medical experience did you have before entering nursing school?

[Aly529]

Hi everyone.

Btw, I love this site. It's given me tons of info and the work done by nurses is amazing.

My question is how much medical experience did you have before entering nursing school?

I am very capable individual with common sense, highly interested in being an RN because it's a good career where you learn tons, help people, deal with different situations under pressure (I like being busy) and overall seems like an interesting profession.

I am always the one watching medical shows and googling things I don't understand. My family calls me to ask my "opinion" on what I think something may be. I do research and gather facts and tell them what I think and what they need to do next and I usually learn a lot. Thank God for the internet. I'm also the one finding myself helping family with meds or post surgery care. No, I'm not trying to be a fake nurse. lol I just enjoy helping and learning.

Now, with that said, I am also scared to jump into this totally different field. I am almost 27 and have worked basic office jobs, mostly customer service related. On one side it's good because I've been exposed to different people, cultures, etc and am confident that I can deal with even the most difficult person. One the other side I have no experience in the medical field and although I believe in "everything is hard until you know it" I am scared.

Is this normal..to be slightly overwhelmed?

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

]My question is how much medical experience did you have before entering nursing school

I had about 8 months of experience as a direct care staff member in a group home.

And it wasn't even recent experience. I last worked as a direct care staff member in 2001 before accepting a significantly higher-paying job as a factory worker. I remained at the factory for three years before taking the plunge to enroll in an LVN/LPN program in 2004.