I am new at this and ready to become helping and compassionate hand to help others

[sethula619]

I am not a nurse or have any experience. My desire and life goal is to become one. A little about myself I currently work at the top telecommunication company in the country. I have a great income; but this isn't my calling I graduated from San Diego state with a degree in public health in 2011 and it's really hard getting my foot in to work in the health field. I have dreams of working in a hospital and I do UNDERSTAND what it takes to become a nurse! I have family and friends who are nurses and sacrificed a lot to be who they are today and I just want to thank you who have made those sacrifices! Pls I would appreciate a response in how you became a nurse or on becoming one and what you had to sacrifice and by the way I am going to start at the bottom and start cna school with my fiancé in a couple days. I know it's not a big step but it's a step closer to my dream!

Cheers

Seth

[Emergent, RN]

That's smart, going to CNA school to test the waters. Good luck, you sound very idealistic and enthusiastic.

[sethula619]

Thank you are you a current nurse if so what level rn, adn, bsn?

[Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN]

I started out as a CNA, because my nursing program required CNA certification in order to be accepted. They have since removed that requirement, which I think is a big mistake.

As a CNA, I learned basic nursing tasks such as turning and positioning, transferring, ambulation, feeding, peri care etc. etc., and being in the health care environment as a CNA gave me an edge over those in my program who did not have that experience (just had the certification but never worked as a CNA). I already knew the basics, from bed baths all the way down to how to operate the bedside table, so I didn't struggle with those things like some of the other students did.

Also, as a CNA, I learned the basic foundation of how to establish rapport with patients. Imagine how uncomfortable it must be to be the patient, having a stranger come in and clean up the BM you accidentally had in your bed. Or, when I did home care, being the stranger that comes into a person's home and helps them take a shower. Establishing trust is key, and I learned this as a CNA.

Fast forward to where I am now, and I'm an ADN RN working in a small community ED, and I love my job.

I've done inpatient cardiac, which I loved the patient population and the cardiac physiology and pharmacology, but I didn't care for working on an inpatient unit, mostly because of how dependent I was for others to do their jobs, and a lack of accountability for those that didn't, and how that impacted the care I was/wasn't able to deliver.

So then I transferred to the ED, a busy regional Level 2 Trauma Center. Every day I hit the floor running and didn't stop until I walked out the door at the end of my shift. Every. Single. Day. While the doctors were very competent and we gave excellent medical care, it was a toxic environment emotionally. I learned so much, and my current knowledge base is rooted in that experience, so I'm glad I did it, although I would not go back there to work unless I was in dire straits and needed to do it in order to avoid becoming homeless or something.

So I left there and took a laid back infusion gig, which was a great break from the intensity of the ED, and I am now really comfortable with ports and central lines and feeding tubes. I was able to take that time to focus on my interpersonal skills, since I did a lot of teaching.

Now, I work in a small community ED, where we do get slammed, but it's not like that every day, and people are actually nice to each other. The medical practice is a bit out dated, and the physicians are not as skilled as the ones I worked with at the other place, which sometimes makes me think I want to work in a bigger ED again, but the atmosphere of mutual respect between doctors, nurses, patients, phlebotomists, rad techs, RT, etc., overrides that most of the time.

The thing is, I would not have gotten this job right out of school; they don't hire new nurses in this ED. So, I had to pay my dues in order to get where I really wanted to be. I guess that would be my biggest piece of advice to an aspiring nurse- be prepared to pay your dues. Don't expect to love the first job you get right out of school. That first year will be hard. Really hard. You will feel inadequate and stupid most of the time. You will cry. You will lay awake at night worried that you might have killed someone. But, if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and always keep patient safety at the forefront, you will eventually come into your own and feel worthy of the title "Nurse".

[sethula619]

Right now currently working at my job; I feel drained I feel frustrated and I feel like I pull my hair: I work as a business consultant for the souther Californian Region dealing with peoples phones and accounts and livelihood. I am grateful for the job I have but it's not my calling. I understand that nursing is not easy and I will have to work and I know that life won't be easy but when is anything! But my dream is to be a nurse by whatever means !!