I know I will be given negative feedback for this ...

NursKris82 · Oct 3, 2008

Have you just began nursing school? I'm asking because first semester is very basic and general, but as you advance in school and learn more you learn a lot more about disease processes and how they fit in with symptoms and labs and meds and so on ans so on. You can also go into a more acute field like ICU. If you want to go beyond an RN you can go for a NP then you can do more practioner work. Do what you feel is best, but just keep in mind there's a lot of different areas and levels of acuity and room for advanced education. Hope that helps.

iamhere · Oct 3, 2008

Yes, this is my first semester.

I hope so! I was really excited when my professor said next semester or year we get to scrub in and watch some abdominal surgeries.

I was/ am afraid, either my drive for nursing totally is gone or maybe like you said maybe something a more specific unit would spark my interest. We'll see soon, hopefully.

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Oct 3, 2008

There is no reason for negative feedback. If you dislike nursing, don't waste your time in school. I really had no clue about what nurses did until I started clinicals. Turns out, I liked it, it was a good fit. It's not for everyone.

Do keep in mind that I was in school with a couple of students who were older who had started nursing school when they were younger and dropped out just due to not being ready to settle down and concentrate on school. Please note, I am NOT saying this is the issue with you. But consider how hard it is to get into school before you drop out.

If OR nursing sounds interesting I might would stick it out until you are sure about that. Really great thing about nursing is that there are so many different areas of practice. But if you've found nothing that interests you when you get close to finishing, don't put yourself through the trouble of finishing and preparing for NCLEX exams.

TopazLover, BSN, RN · Oct 3, 2008

Congratulations on doing well.

I am glad you are interested in why. There is a huge world out there for nurses who have that interest. How about continuing to NP? Diagnosis and treatment all the time. As you are just starting, recognize that you will get more in depth education in the whys of what you see each day. You may look back at this post and wonder how you are making it.

Critical thinking skills are required of every nurse. That means understanding what is going on in the body and why, and then making informed decisions based on your evaluations of the situation.

It is wonderful that you recognize the problems of feeling, perhaps almost bored? with the beginning nursing.

Best of luck. Don't be too quick to make decisions. Enjoy the ride.:)

allnurses Guide · Oct 3, 2008

The profession is also in need of nursing researchers, that may be the route to go for you. Hang in a least the whole semester and see if something doesn't catch your interest a little more.

1Life2Give · Oct 3, 2008

What can you do to jump start it? Well...

Take a look at what you're working for. You will be able to comfort people in all stages of distress. Either in an ER/ED setting where lives hand in the balance or in an L&D ward where new lives are just beginning. The docs make their rounds, discuss dx and tx with the patients, make every attempt to soothe them, then move on to the next pt. YOU are the one who will be there for 8, 10, 12 hours or more to bring some beacon of hope to ill or injured people's lives.

Or, how about thinking of the road ahead. As mentioned, you can work toward any rewarding specialty. NP, cool... Nurse Anesthetist, cool... (or you can remain an RN generalist and reap just as much emotional reward).

In my very humble opinion, you may just be going through the "blahs" and be a bit bored with school right now. Same thing happened to me in X-ray school years ago. Once I got out of school though, something clicked; I understood that I was a professional caregiver. Made me feel pretty good about myself and what I was doing. I hope that you will stick with it and have that same "click" that I did.

southeastbends · Oct 3, 2008

I know totally how you feel. I get very frustrated by the term "nursing diagnosis" as I feel as though it limits our scope. I am a caring and nurturing individual, however, I really am interested in the disease process as opposed to just being tagged as the "healer." This is not to say nurses are solely healers, but I would love to be instrumental in the diagnosis and be able to form conclusions based on data/observation. Because of this I am going to continue my eduction to either NP or PA. :nurse:

Practicalone, LPN · Oct 3, 2008

I know totally how you feel. I get very frustrated by the term "nursing diagnosis" as I feel as though it limits our scope. I am a caring and nurturing individual, however, I really am interested in the disease process as opposed to just being tagged as the "healer." This is not to say nurses are solely healers, but I would love to be instrumental in the diagnosis and be able to form conclusions based on data/observation. Because of this I am going to continue my eduction to either NP or PA.

Not sure where you are from, but I'd go fo the NP, here they can practice on their own and PA's have to be under a doc.

GOMER42 · Oct 3, 2008

Yes, this is my first semester.
I hope so! I was really excited when my professor said next semester or year we get to scrub in and watch some abdominal surgeries.

As a student, you won't be scrubbing in-- only observing.

My_brain_hurts · Oct 3, 2008

I would say give it a chance, stick it out for a little longer. Here's my story. During my first semester of nursing school our clinicals were at a VA hospital in what was basically hospice care. Hospice was about the farthest thing from the kind of nursing that interested me at the time (more of a "get'em in, fix'em, send then on their way" type). I remember our first few days of clinicals and standing there watching the LVNs and RNs go down one hall and up the other, passing meds, changing beds, pushing PCAs for pt's too sick to use it themselves (should have been in pain drips then I think). Anyways, I was standing there thinking "Oh my goodness I've just made the BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE!!!" WHAT AM I DOING IN NURSING SCHOOL!?!?!?" and right then and there seriously thought about quiting. It also didn't help that one from our clinical group did in fact drop out after about three weeks.

Long story shorter, I stuck it out and realized there was more to nursing than hospice at the VA :) I realized that I loved OR and ICU nursing. I'm now a happy -- though new and still on the wrong end of the learning curve-- RN working in an ICU. I can't imagine what else I'd be doing if I hadn't gone to nursings school. So stick it out a little longer. There are so many different things you can do with a nursing degree, bedside or far far away from the bedside. I know people with BSNs who work for companies that do pharm. research. They help monitor the sites where the studies are done, check records and books, help start up studies at different locations, etc. Pretty cool if you're into that kind of thing, and not at all like bedside nursing.

My_brain_hurts · Oct 3, 2008

Oh yeah, I also went into nursing knowing I would want to go back for NP as soon as possible. Look into the different advanced practice options and tracks of education. That also helped me stick out school because I knew in a few years I'd be back in school for NP. . . although it's funny how things work out because it's looking like it may be CRNA. . . interests change after exposure to different areas of practice. Good luck and don't let anybody tell you that you can't go into the specialty you want right out of school. I KNEW med/surg wasn't for me. I went right into the ICU after graduation. I was luck enough to find a really awesome unit full of people who are truly there to help you succeed. We hear such horror stories in school about nurses "eating their young", and I'm not saying it doesn't happen some times, but I know it doesn't have to happen. Pay attention to the nurses in your clinicals, ask questions, ask about orientation for new nurses in the hospital. I knew from clinicals that I wanted to work where I work now. Totally awesome co-workers make all the difference! :typing (This little dude has nothing to do with my post but I like his little typing hands. . . yeah, I need some sleep)