I graduated in December with my BSN, and recently passed the NCLEX. I am sorry to say that after all of my hard work, I am not exactly excited or feeling passionate about nursing. During nursing school there were many occasions where I felt I simply didn't like the job and would hate every day of working as a bedside RN. I ignored these feelings so I could maintain the focus that was needed to get through my Accelerated BSN program. I also worked as a nurse extern/glorified CNA at a teaching hospital during my program, and hated the job 90% of the time. I am now worried about committing to a new grad job that I am not excited about.
I have another bachelors degree and worked in a technical outside sales position for a few years before going back for nursing. At this moment I feel I might prefer to work in that type of position more than working as an RN. My base salary in sales was equal to what I will be making as a new RN and the job is less stressful, smelly, mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting...the list goes on. I remember why I left that type of job, it always felt trivial and I wanted to get more meaning and personal satisfaction out of a job. To me nursing seemed like it would be a challenging and rewarding job, and it would satisfy what I was missing.
I am writing to ask for advice. Could it be that the CNA job I genuinely disliked has clouded my idea of what it will be like to work as a RN? Maybe I am just very burnt out from the nursing school experience. I have felt this way for so long, hoping that something would change in me once I graduated and was working as an RN. I could probably get a medical device/pharmaceutical sales job pretty fast if I wanted to. Or I could take a new grad job, which I would put 100% into and fulfill my commitment(2 years). I am afraid of making a bad decision for the long term, and also for my own personal happiness. If I don't work in bedside nursing now, could I come back to it later? Thank you for any input.
What about putting your sales experience to good use and becoming a pharmaceutical rep?
I do agree, though, about putting in a few years at the bedside. It will help in the long run.
I have personally had a hard time getting a position in acute care, but I am about to start a clinic job, so quite different. I have been doing home infusions, health fairs and working at a freestanding birth center in the meantime. There's a variety available for nurses.
There's people in my graduating class who went straight into research after graduating without working the floor. There's lots more to do besides being at the bedside. Initially I hated med-surg, but now I'm on that floor however it has more post surgical stuff so I'm getting to like working the floor more. Give it a chance.
RunBabyRN
3,677 Posts
What about putting your sales experience to good use and becoming a pharmaceutical rep?
I do agree, though, about putting in a few years at the bedside. It will help in the long run.
I have personally had a hard time getting a position in acute care, but I am about to start a clinic job, so quite different. I have been doing home infusions, health fairs and working at a freestanding birth center in the meantime. There's a variety available for nurses.