I don't want to be a nurse!!

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My parents are coercing me to majoring in nursing. I am currently a high school senior. I really do not want to be a nurse but of course my parents want to be a nurse because of the pay, job security. If I do have to be a nurse I'd want to be an informatics nurse but I heard you need experience in the ICU first. Ugh I am really going to hate my life for the first few years after college. I would much rather be an accountant or biomed engineer but nooo only nursing field has jobs available according to my parents. It's completely unfair. What can I do to cope? Has anyone else been in a similar situation and how did things turn out for you? What other options are there for new grad nurses?

Look into a Health Care Informatics degree, you do not have to be a nurse to do this and it is an up and coming area in health care right now with the Affordable Care Act. I was a bedside nurse for 16 years and I loved it, my parents wanted me to go to nursing school when I graduated High school too, but I had other plans (get married/have a baby). I started working at a hospital as a unit clerk and realized that maybe I did want to be a nurse, so I went to school and graduated at 27. I now work in nursing informatics as an educator and wish I was back at the bedside many days. Good Luck!

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Specializes in ICU, Telemetry, Cardiac/Renal, Ortho,FNP.

I've heard of a lot of "don't be a nurse" advice so far but I would say...consider it even if you don't want to be a nurse. Why? Why not? Do you think you know EXACTLY what you want to do in life right now? Maybe you do then I'd say pursue that. Otherwise, don't turn a deaf ear to your parents. Everyone on here is a nobody to you. We don't know you and do not care as much about you as your parents. The last thing they want is for you to be miserable so their advice is worth thinking about. Remember, your first few years in college it won't matter anyway b/c you'll be studying general coursework everyone has to do. That's a lot of time to find out what you do like. Nurses work in every field so it doesn't always involve direct patient care but having that experience is valuable. Anyway, give yourself a break here. Life isn't decided the moment you leave high school but you DO need a direction and your decisions change so be flexible. Don't shut any door especially the ones "mom & dad" open up for you. College is expensive so if they don't want to support a jaunt into a "French" as a major for someone who won't leave the country one can certainly understand their point. At any rate, you may find you have several careers and degrees before you know it. Don't sweat it, consider it, and appreciate that your parents love you enough to help you decide. Some parents don't give a **** and expect you to figure it all out without any tools to do so. Good luck.

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Plainly and bluntly put, life will be miserable if you spend it doing something you don't care about or aren't passionate about.

And if you have no interest in nursing and decide to pursue it, your life will be

A B S O L U T E L Y miserable. Nursing isn't something you want to get into half-heartedly.

With that said, there may be some area that may interest you, like informatics as you said. But if you can't see yourself doing this for an extended period of time (years) then do something youll actually enjoy.

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Specializes in Pedi.
I'd probably do a slightly different version of this plan. Find a 4-year university program that only accepts nursing students in their junior year. For the 1st and 2nd year, students take pre-requisite classes. During those first 2 years, take the classes you need for the major of YOUR choice -- letting your parents think that you will enter the nursing program in your junior year. Let them pay for those 2 years while you continue to be "open minded" about possibly going into the nursing program, but also exploring some other options with your choice of courses that you take. Don't force the confrontation. Remain open-minded and encourage them to be the same as you keep the possibility of your entering the nursing program in your junior year open while taking a variety of courses.

When you hit junior year, that's when things will "hit the fan" -- and you'll have to declare a major for real -- either enter the nursing program or continue in the major of your choice. If you parents refuse to pay for a major other than nursing, then you'll only have to pay for the final 2 years on your own.

Or do this and then tell your parents you didn't get into the nursing program.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

This is a growing pain for you. Time to put on the big-person pants and decide what is BEST FOR YOU and the HECK with what your parents want.

That may mean paying your own way, but in the end, only YOU can make yourself happy. Your parents don't get to live vicariously through you.......you are free to choose.

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Where are they getting their information that accounting has no jobs?? Every young accountant I know is well employed, making good comfortable money, and telling me their companies are hiring but they find it hard to recruit people to accounting. No glamour in accounting.

I know a guy who went to my (expensive, private) college, majored in math, graduated early BECAUSE HE ALREADY HAD A JOB OFFER, did his CPA certification, and less than a decade later he's making six figures.

I'm.. I'm just saying. I kinda wish I wanted to be an accountant.

Honestly though if your parents are anything like mine, they'll need to see some cold hard facts about the job market in the field you want to go into, and some hard facts AGAINST what they think is right. Show them numbers about how much nurses make, how it can be hard to get a job in a saturated area as a new grad, the , the liability, the problems with nurses wearing down physically or mentally or contacting a disease.

Maybe you can compromise with your parents and do CNA work while in college. It's not a long certification, and you'll get some really valuable work experience. If you hate it-because you're already dead set against nursing and you know you'll hate it- that might be what convinces them you're responsible enough to make your own career decision. Coming home miserable everyday because you hate nursing related work might be what's needed to open their eyes.

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I have been a nurse over 20 years. My mother did the same thing to me. Don't do it, nursing will crush your soul. I am pretty much dead inside, have tons of health problems and hate my life.

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You can show your parents job listings for the career your want (search Indeed.com), and explain that many hospitals hire within.

For example, accountant listings in New York, NY have 2,200 job listings. There are 2,900 listings for a registered nurse for the same location. That's not a huge difference.

And biomedical engineering is one of the "in" careers now. Just google "bio-medical engineering on the rise" or something to show your parents articles about it. You can even look at college sites you possibly will be attending for the career info and statistics, some have "what can you do with this degree" info.

This. And all the other postings about being 18 and being an adult and all. It seems like your parents are looking out for you in the only way they may know how to. Giving your side and information about what you really want may open up some serious conversations. Nursing was always this big deal in my household about stability and being a good needed field, etc. Times are a changing, tho. Also, nursing is hard. You have to want to be a nurse, have some sort of passion for it, to keep above water. Even then, it's hard. Much luck to you and your future.

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Specializes in critical care.
I have been a nurse over 20 years. My mother did the same thing to me. Don't do it, nursing will crush your soul. I am pretty much dead inside, have tons of health problems and hate my life.

I think we found a new motto for AN's desktop banner.

All joking aside, I wish I could hug you. I do hope you find small ways to remember joy from time to time.

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Get into a college with a nursing program and take your first year of core classes - which are nonspecific to nursing. Get good grades and enjoy yourself. Reassess after freshman year.

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My nephew's girlfriend has a similar problem. Her parents wanted her to be a teacher, they said because it would always be a good job, she would always be able to find work, and it was respectable. She went to college to become a teacher. She took teaching classes, she student taught at different schools in the area. She hated it all. Her heart wasn't in it. She wanted to be a horticulturalist. She stopped taking teaching classes and started taking horticultural classes. Her father disowned her. He stopped paying for her college (well, he stopped helping), she wasn't allowed to see her siblings, she couldn't go home for holidays, he even took her off his insurance, even though it didn't cost him any more to have her on it than it cost for her siblings. She persevered, got her horticulturalist degree, and now has a very good job doing something she loves. While my nephew, who graduated with a teaching degree, is having a difficult time finding a position. BTW - her parents are okay with it all now, and the relationship is much better. Do what YOU want to, and do what you think you will be able to do for the next 20 years or so. Having a job or career in a field that interests you doesn't guarantee happiness, but it sure helps.

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Your first two years in college are core courses that are required for pretty much any job. So you have 2 years to get your parents to understand you don't want to be a nurse. In that time, most students change their majors at least once. Find something you would rather do.and present the information to your parents, including average pay, hirability, etc. Good luck.

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