I don't enjoy nursing school, and I've only been in for two months. Its gotten to the point that I have no motivation to study. Prior to school, I didn't stop to consider the tough job that nurses have, and the extent of the responsibility. I've only had one clinical day and it was, in my mind, a disaster. The attraction to the field was the nursing shortage and the security of a job (I've been in the corporate world which is unstable).
When I started, I envisioned an doctor's office job or an patient education job. Are they hard to find? And at my age (almost 40).
I just don't think that hospital nursing is my thing. And I think that a person should be really committed in order to be successful at nursing school.
I find it remarkable that a mature adult would choose a career and invest in a college education without giving serious consideration to the type of work required by that career.
I find it remarkable that anyone here is surprised that students are surprised by how hard what we do is. I had no clue. I sort of stumbled into nursing. My job had been outsourced, I had a lot of biology credits, and I thought, "Well, I like science. Maybe I'll like nursing." Got into nursing school on my first shot, no prior health care experience, and my! Was I surprised at my misconceptions about the field.
I do agree that the OP should finish out the semester. But learning something about oneself in the first term is a good thing, worth supporting, not mocking.
OP, MA is a good thought if you want a doctor's office. Legal secretaries make a fortune and are always in demand. There are other jobs out there for you.
I don't really know anyone who enjoyed nursing school. Nursing school barely resembles in any way shape or form being a real nurse. For me nursing school was 4 semesters of waking up every day feling like vomiting, GERD attacks, and anxiety attacks--but I made it and I really like being a nurse. I think it is better to have a realistic attitude about nursing. I meet so many delusional people who think nursing is something its not-I have heard nursing likened to being a glamorous role with them starring, a mother theresa role with them saving the world from suffering, and for others a power role with them using their wits and superior intelligence to rise up in the field. If you like helping people, can handle the responsibility of monitoring multiple patients health status, have decent computer and language skills, and have good common sense you will make a great nurse..we all doubted our ability and our will to get through nursing school while we were there--but I know very few people that made it through the program that regret it and hate being a nurse.
There is no nursing shortage and NO job security. Can you find a job? Depending in where you live, probably, but perhaps not the shift you want. Nursing school is aweful, working as a nurse is extremely filled with responsiblity and stress, if you don't love it, find something else. Do what you love.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Hello,
I don't enjoy nursing school, and I've only been in for two months. Its gotten to the point that I have no motivation to study. Prior to school, I didn't stop to consider the tough job that nurses have, and the extent of the responsibility. I've only had one clinical day and it was, in my mind, a disaster. The attraction to the field was the nursing shortage and the security of a job (I've been in the corporate world which is unstable).
When I started, I envisioned an doctor's office job or an patient education job. Are they hard to find? And at my age (almost 40).
I just don't think that hospital nursing is my thing. And I think that a person should be really committed in order to be successful at nursing school.
JX
If this post is real and not a hit and run.....here is what I think.
First, let me say my first semester in nursing school was spent in a large LTC facility on their "medicaid/medicare" section. I saw bedsores you could put two fists into and visualize the coccyx itself. I was sixteen/almost seventeen (child prodigy) years old. I wanted NO PART of bathing, cleaning and hosing out these holes to keep them free of stool. I wanted to quit right them and there. My heart broke for these abandoned, ignored souls and I wanted no part of it!!!!! In my day, the pay sucked so there were no illusions there. Even I knew at 16 the enormity of being responsible for the care of others. Thank God for my instructor who saw something I didn't and talked me out of it because I really had always wanted to be a nurse. It's been 32 years.
I had no delusions about looking pretty 9-5 in a doctors office answering the phone, and yes those jobs are hard to find, don't pay well (when compared to acute care pay) especially when you consider the amount of money you are going to cough up for your education and then again for you licensing test when it's all said and done, as well as being hard to find......for a nurse that is. At your age/experience level, I would have hoped you would have done more research about what a nurse is responsible for before jumping in feet first and not relying on some made for TV characterture to guide your judgement.
Oh....and the nursing shortage? There is none. It's a bunch of figures based on the potential retirement of "Baby Boomer" nurses which won't happen now that we have all lost or pants in 2008 in 401K's and the passing of a mandatory staffing bill that will never come to pass nationwide....at least not the foreseeable future and a shortage trumped up by hospitals to get VISA approved for foreign nurses from "approved areas" (approved by the government of course) of the world to ease (cheapen) the demand.
I'm sorry (genuinely) that it isn't what you though it was......try medical assistant or pharmacy techs if you wanted healthcare without bedside exposure...good luck.
Nursing school is horrible, even the good programs, but the "horrible" is necessary. They are designed to put you through all kinds of "tests" (not just academic ones) to see if you are able to withstand the rigors of the nursing field. I hated nursing school for the most part, but I just did what I was told and I did very well. Getting a job as a new grad is hard, yes, but it's done. First year might be tough, after that it's downhill.
I also went back for nursing (PARTLY) for better pay, more career options, some job stability (as much or more as anything else right now...). I worked for 3 months at a job I hated but then I just accepted a position as a Hospice Case Mgr. making about $60,000/year + car allowance. That is more than TWICE what I was making with my Master's degree a few years ago, so yeah...it was a good choice and definitely got me into a better career path. Nothing wrong with that being one of your motives for choosing a profession...nobody works for free, we SHOULD get paid well...we are professionals. I really don't buy it when people say "I'm not into nursing for the money", at least to some extent. Most people go to work for money, not to fill their leisure time because they are independently wealthy and bored.
Having said that, you ARE going to work hard as a nurse, no matter what area you are in. If poop, pee, and wounds are not your thing, there are plenty of other options, but none of them are easy necessarily. If you enjoy teaching per se, there might be better options for you, as some others have stated. And as someone who also has an education degree, I can tell you that those degrees are WAAYYYYYY easier to get than a nursing degree.
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
Aw honey, I hate that you feel so unmotivated right now.
I will share with you that my first semester of nursing school was a big burly smack down of reality. I. Hated. It. I doubted myself, doubted my choice, doubted my endurance, doubted damned near everything that I had worked for.
Since I was under 'contract tuition forgiveness' with another hospital after I graduated, I knew that I had to stick it out or pay back thousands of dollars that I didn't have. While it wasn't the most glorified motivation for finishing, it sure did feel like the best option for a poor student like me!
I slogged through the first semester...miserably. When the second semester rolled around, I prepared myself for more of the same. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I LIKED what I was learning. The meat and potatoes of nursing was FINALLY being taught! I really sunk my teeth into the material and began to enjoy my clinicals. Not to say that my remaining semesters were all rainbows and unicorns, but they were far better than the first semester.
My advice to you is to finish out this semester and start your second one...with some hope. If at the end of your second semester, you still feel as you do now, then go ahead and quit the program.
Give it some time. Regret is a difficult pill to swallow at our age.
I find it remarkable that anyone here is surprised that students are surprised by how hard what we do is.
Not to start an argument ... we have both been here on allnurses too long for that ... but I didn't say I was "surprised." I said it was remarkable -- worth noting. I also pointed out that other posters had similarly entered nursing school without doing much research on nursing careers. So, I wasn't "surprised" by the OP's comments. I just thought that it was an aspect of the situation worth discussing ... worthy of being remarked upon.
The word "remarkable" doesn't mean "surprised." Sadly, I have seen too many posters like the OP to be surprised by her comments.
I didn't stop to consider the tough job that nurses have, and the extent of the responsibility.
This is why I think it is best for nursing programs to require students to obtain CNA status before being accepted. Its a short program (at least in my area - 1 semester) and you are immediately immersed in the basics of nursing care which will always be part of your job as a bedside RN. For me, it was a quick way to see if I was truly cut out for the nitty-gritty aspects of the job and then go from there to LPN & RN.
I was considering becoming a nurses aide before entering RN classes, but the courses do not transfer at my college. They do, however, give an extra point on the competitive selection score and another one for 6 months experience in the RN program. Should I become an aide first? I have given this so much thought I am scared I might get in my own way. Registration starts November 7, so any quick, helpful advice is soooo appreciated.
This thread makes me a little nervous that I will not be cut out for the field, but in my heart I believe that I am.
Nursing assistant courses will not ever transfer to a nursing degree. Your decision to become an NA prior to nursing school should be based strictly upon wanting to gain some perspective of the real world of nursing (by observation) and upon possibly gaining that extra point for your admission score.
I'm actually in the identical position, though for different reasons. I already have a BA, though after graduating in 2006 and having a pointless degree, I couldn't get any kind of job that wasn't part time and minimum wage. After a few years of this (and a daughter), my parents recommended nursing school. I worked in the veterinary field for 2 years and enjoyed the medical science aspect of it, but hated the gossip and cliques that runs rampant. My parents kept telling me nursing wouldn't be this way because nurses have degrees, etc etc, so I (apprehensively) went forward with this course of action.
I loved my prereq science courses, had great teachers, and was excited to have the science base expanded in nursing school. The program I'm in has great reviews/rapport. I haven't been to clinicals yet, but every day in the program has been a disaster. My professors brush me off, I won't get my questions answered, and I'm getting horrible grades. Anything I bring up that's science related is "outside the scope of nursing practice." Furthermore, the professors have been trying to convince us that doctors are idiots/nurses are superior since week 1 of the program. And the program is testing on subjects we've never talked about before in order to teach us about these subjects (professors admitted to this).
I made it into the program, so despite the absolute hate the professors brought out in me, I'm gonna finish. But I'm not going into nursing after I graduate. I want to be in the health care field, but I hate having my knowledge restricted based on some stupid "scope." I will probably work in the field part time while getting the prereqs needed for med school (still toying with the idea, though I'm craving this the more I think about it), but that's it.
I've enjoyed my fellow students and nurses are 100% essential. But it's teamwork, not about who's better than who. Ultimately, wanting to go the MD route for me is due to wanting to take a science/physiology approach rather than a caring/compassion approach. Nurses care, monitor, and gather information. Doctors utilize that information to draw conclusions/make decisions about physiological wellness. I want to utilize, not be bedside. *shrugs*
Thanks for your replies. My ultimate goal is to become a SANE or Forensic nurse, as the analytical and medical sides both interest me. But I am concerned with the difficulty RN's are having finding jobs right now (and probably will be by the time I would graduate). I am very anxious about entering the nursing field altogether, considering the cost in time and finances vs. the likelihood of employment.
There is none. It's a bunch of figures based on the potential retirement of "Baby Boomer" nurses which won't happen now that we have all lost or pants in 2008 in 401K's and the passing of a mandatory staffing bill that will never come to pass nationwide....at least not the foreseeable future and a shortage trumped up by hospitals to get VISA approved for foreign nurses from "approved areas" (approved by the government of course) of the world to ease (cheapen) the demand.
SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN
10,263 Posts
I find it remarkable that anyone here is surprised that students are surprised by how hard what we do is. I had no clue. I sort of stumbled into nursing. My job had been outsourced, I had a lot of biology credits, and I thought, "Well, I like science. Maybe I'll like nursing." Got into nursing school on my first shot, no prior health care experience, and my! Was I surprised at my misconceptions about the field.
I do agree that the OP should finish out the semester. But learning something about oneself in the first term is a good thing, worth supporting, not mocking.
OP, MA is a good thought if you want a doctor's office. Legal secretaries make a fortune and are always in demand. There are other jobs out there for you.
:)