I get worried about my career choice....

[ThePrincessBride]

So, I'm a nursing student, but bear with me.

I am nervous and am wondering if I'm picking the "right" career. As a student, I have struggled with learning skills (d/t anxiety) and am having to retake a class. Hey, it happens, and some people need a second round to succeed. But that isn't what is worrying me. What is getting me scared is the fact that I hear so many new grads having a hard time finding jobs and seasoned nurses say how much they hate their profession. I work as a PCA at one hospital, so I have so relevant experience and I work as a sitter in another (still trying to apply for a PCA job there...don't know WHY I haven't gotten one). I see some unnecessary drama, but I feel that drama is everywhere, but...it seems to be amplified in the nursing profession, perhaps due to stress?

As a nurse, do you regret going into nursing? If your daughter told her that she wanted to be a nurse, would you discourage her? Why? What other field would you recommend for her to pursue?

If you love nursing, what field are you in? What is your favorite field of nursing? What is one you would tell new nurses to avoid like the plague?

And will this shortage of nursing jobs ever go away? Or will it always be hard for new grads to gain that golden one year of experience?

[timmedico]

I think you have your foot in the door. In my nursing school, nearly everyone that is in your position (already having been employed by a hospital) got a job after graduation. :) I'd say you're in better shape than most.

[SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS]

I would recommend nursing if I had a daughter who had the aptitude for it. Yes, I do love what I do and find it rewarding.

I did not like it at first and found nursing school difficult and stressful. My first few years in nursing rivaled any of the stories that new grads and new nurses post here. It took awhile to find my groove. I now work in ambulatory/clinic/chronic condition nursing and can't imagine liking any job more! It is very rewarding, to me. I think there is a fit in nursing for just about anyone.

[ashleyj2011]

What is getting me scared is the fact that I hear so many new grads having a hard time finding jobs and seasoned nurses say how much they hate their profession.

I can relate to this. I also recently read an article on Yahoo (however credible that may be...) that listed Nursing as #2 on the list of the most miserable professions. In addition, two BSN nurses who are my age have warned me to "think hard" about becoming a nurse before committing to it. One of the girls took a hefty pay cut for a non-healthcare job, just to get out of nursing. All of these things, along with all of the talk on AN makes me wonder if I should rethink my decision to apply for nursing school. (I am hoping to start Spring 2013).

I highly recommend nursing as a career. I'm a second career nurse. I was 32 when I graduated from nursing school, passed NCLEX, and started working med-surg at a local hospital. I love nursing and I have no regrets about it. Being able to do something were I feel I am making a positive difference in the work, helping other people in a tangible way, and seeing the gratitude of patients and family members is a priceless experience that I wouldn't trade for any other profession. My job is also flexible, it pays well, and it can't be automated our outsourced. I don't have children but if I did, I would steer them towards a career in health care (nursing or something else), regardless of gender, throughout their childhood.

That being said, I am not sure if your post reflects doubts about nursing or doubts about life choices and becoming an adult in general. Maybe I am wrong, but your post reads as if you're young, late teens or early 20's. It is normal to have a lot of anxiety at that age and feel confused about who you are, what you want to do with your life, etc. Emerging adulthood is a really hard period in life, and that difficulty is what resulted for me in a useless liberal arts degree and string of low-skilled, miserable jobs as receptionist and later a human resources recruiter. It took time and maturity for me to figure out who I was and that I wanted to be a nurse. So I think your first step is to think about how much of your anxiety is related to nursing and how much is about emerging adulthood.

33762FL, Despite my above concerns, I think you may have perfectly described my situation. I am mid-20s, finished my B.S. in Biology in 2010 without any solid career plans. I went into college as pre-med wanting become a MD, but when I realized that I no longer wanted to attend medical school, I didn't really come up with an alternative.

Two years later, I am working in the legal department of a large corporate office. I make a decent salary, though it is not as much as an RN makes in my area. I don't dislike my job, but I can't see myself staying in this position for much longer. The work is too easy and is the same basic tasks from day to day. Every time I look into other career options outside of healthcare, I always come back to it. I worked as a Pharmacy Tech in a hospital throughout college and loved the environment, so I do have a little bit of healthcare experience upon which to base my desire to work in healthcare.

I think at this point I am just feeling a lot of nervousness about quitting my job to go back to school, taking on student loans, having to find a new part time job, and all other things that go along with big life-changing decisions. I suppose these fears are normal, but it's hard to shake them! Any thoughts or suggestions?

[acosenza2]

I graduated from nursing school in May and have been working in a LTC facility for about 2 months. It is hard work but I love it and I think that has as much to do with the work as it does with the culture of the facility and the nurses that I work with. The key to getting the experience is to find facilities that are willing to hire graduate nurses and for me I found that in a LTC facility. Is it what I want to do forever? Absolutely not, but this facility has rehab patients, ventilator patients, dialysis patients, and some seriously ill folks where I can gain valuable experience.

The thing I love about nursing is that you can do just about anything and at the end of a very hard day I keep that in mind. If I ever think being at the bedside is too much I know I can move to a different facility, bedside, specialty etc etc. I currently only have my ASN, but I am planning to get my BSN and eventually my MSN because I already know that I do not want to be 50, 60 or how whatever my age busting my ass as a unit nurse and will eventually move on. I have even considered getting a Doctorate in Nursing as well because the more nurses getting more advanced degrees will help to move the profession forward and open up more opportunities to myself.

I remember having doubts as well while in nursing school, but that is because nursing school sucks, your instructors are not always nice and you are terrified of making a mistake and if your school was anything like my school that mistake could result in a "needs improvement" on your evaluation and the administration has been known to kick people out for a "needs improvement" on a skill. I have discovered that the real world is not like that. Sure I am still afraid of making a mistake, but that makes me a cautious and skilled nurse. Being a fairly new nurse there are things I have not seen, but that just means that I ask a more experienced nurse, the supervisor, or the charge nurse and they either know it or we figure it out together if they are not familiar with it either.

The point is this, we have all heard that nurses eat their young, and when I was in nursing school I met some of those people and I steered clear from them because I was not about to get into a ******* match with some bitter nurse with a chip on his/her shoulder. Out in the real world I find that nurses are not eating their young because we are seen as their colleagues, part of the team, and if we don't work together it quickly becomes a disaster for everyone on the unit during that shift.

Get through nursing school, you will find a job that will give you the experience, and always remember that you have options and it does not necessarily have to be in a facility giving beside care. Nursing is dynamic and the possibilities are nearly endless.

And to answer your other question, I have a son and I would certainly tell him that nursing is a great career to enter into. If I have daughters I will tell them the same. I would not go into a career that I would discourage my children from entering.

[Flo., BSN, RN]

I left nursing. For me, nursing was a nightmare. I had wonderful managers and supportive coworkers but the pressure of the job was just too much. I hated the feeling of being pulled in a million different directions at all times and the constant need to prioritize with the fear of a law suit looming overhead.

I went into teaching kids with special needs and I love it. As a bonus I even get to utilize my nursing knowledge.

If you are suffering from anxiety during nursing school, I highly recommend that you see a therapist. He / She will help you to learn coping methods which will help you now and in your future career. A Lot of colleges provide onsite counselling, you may want to explore that option.

Do you enjoy your PCA / sitter job? If you dread going into work then this might not be the career for you. However if you look forward to work then keep at it.

Best of luck with your decision.

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

I like being a nurse and am glad I went into nursing.

I would never want my daughter to become a nurse, the care is too personal and I don't want her to be treated like garbage.

I would recommend medical-surical nursing to new grads. :)

[NayRN]

This site tends to be just like those thorn-in-our-side patient satisfaction surveys in that people tend to complain more than praise. I am certainly no exception-I complain a lot. However...

As much as I hate waking up at 5 am (or 5:30;) I am usually happy about going to work in itself. Better yet, I am proud to say "I am an RN."

For no matter how challenging, frustrating, difficult, rewarding, thought-stimulating, maddening, heartbreaking, and eye-opening as our chosen profession can be, there is nothing else quite like it in the world.

It opens doors, it makes me think, it makes me care, it makes me see the world differently, and no matter how much I have inherently tried to resist, being a nurse has changed me.

I have become somewhat jaded, yes-towards the learned helplessness and the general human condition of some of our unfortunate patient population.

I have also become more patient, more understanding, more willing to listen, and more grateful for every day I am given with my family, my friends, my health.

I have done things I thought I couldn't, and done them well. I have seen things I never knew existed, and I have learned things about myself that I may have never otherwise discovered.

No, nursing is not as glamorous as it may sound to a bright-eyed teenager choosing a career to "help people." Neither is social work, neither is the Peace Corps.

Sometimes it's down and dirty, swallow your pride, suck it up, put in your time and deal with it kind of work.

That's what makes for an interesting life.

My 7 year old daughter says she wants to be a nurse like mommy and a princess when she grows up.

I told her the sky is the limit.

She wasn't sure what that meant, so I told her that if she wants to be a nurse like mommy, and a princess, we could talk to mommy's boss about letting her wear a crown at work.

She seemed happy with that solution.

[ncat]

that is a tough question. though i am still not old enough to get my-even-early s.s. i do not think based on seeing the economy and the trend health care is going that nursing would be the right choice. realistically--our world is a tech world and that is where there is financial growth and value in education seems to be. then i am guilt ridden to say that about a profession that has given me soo much in skill,i have a bsn, experience and so on. i have mentored many a new nurse and love to share that love of nursing with them. for some reason i turn on when i am with a new nurse and glow about it:) i have tried to leave the profession a few times-actually took classes and got certifications and it seemed...to have a sort of emptiness. i return to nursing. i would tell my daughter everything-from my view of negative and positive and then i would tell her to listen to her heart. be happy and go where your heart tells u to go.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

If nursing were as bad as the threads on this site make it out to be, there wouldn't be many nurses left practicing. We post about our bad days and our frustrations because that is what is interesting and that is what we fell complelled to talk about. A thread entitled "Had a okay night" or "Sure passed a lot of pills" would be pretty boring. We tend not to post about the routine or the mundane.... for obvious reasons.

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

Practically speaking, yes, I would still be a nurse if given the opportunity to start over again, and yes, I would encourage my kids to be nurses if that was what they wanted (but they don't). I say practically speaking because, let's just be honest here, aside from the pleasure that can be derived from helping someone less fortunate in need, what other job will pay you in the neighborhood of $30/hour with benefits and you only have to work three days (albeit loooong days) a week? There is a security to nursing that I would sorely miss if I were to choose a different occupation, plus, I truly do love helping people.

I would be lying if I said I didn't care for the schedule, money and benefits. I like the idea of not having a typical 9-5er job in Corporate America (modern day slavery, imo).

Nursing interested me for many reasons, mostly b/c of its flexibility and career options. Even if I decided I disliked nursing altogether, I could work for a pharm. company or as a clinical instructor.

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

I highly recommend nursing as a career. I'm a second career nurse. I was 32 when I graduated from nursing school, passed NCLEX, and started working med-surg at a local hospital. I love nursing and I have no regrets about it. Being able to do something were I feel I am making a positive difference in the work, helping other people in a tangible way, and seeing the gratitude of patients and family members is a priceless experience that I wouldn't trade for any other profession. My job is also flexible, it pays well, and it can't be automated our outsourced. I don't have children but if I did, I would steer them towards a career in health care (nursing or something else), regardless of gender, throughout their childhood.

That being said, I am not sure if your post reflects doubts about nursing or doubts about life choices and becoming an adult in general. Maybe I am wrong, but your post reads as if you're young, late teens or early 20's. It is normal to have a lot of anxiety at that age and feel confused about who you are, what you want to do with your life, etc. Emerging adulthood is a really hard period in life, and that difficulty is what resulted for me in a useless liberal arts degree and string of low-skilled, miserable jobs as receptionist and later a human resources recruiter. It took time and maturity for me to figure out who I was and that I wanted to be a nurse. So I think your first step is to think about how much of your anxiety is related to nursing and how much is about emerging adulthood.

I'm 21 years old, but I feel older (I'm in my fourth year of college!) and I'm not that sparkly new 18 year old fresh from high school. I have a lot of anxiety in general, but I think a lot of it comes from nursing school. My program is known to be one of the more intense programs, and the instructors aren't the most pleasant people to be around, sadly. But I do work in the hospital setting, and I enjoy working as a PCA...on most days (there are some days that really challenge me, but don't we all?).

I do worry about making the right decisions, career wise especially.