Hello everyone, i am a 16 year old male interested in Nursing. I am currently doing my high schooling online, which allows me plenty free time to research careers and what not that i may be interested in doing after high school. I was interested in Neurosurgery for quite a bit, but felt as though i was more into it for the money and not the job itself. Plus, have you SEEN how much debt medical school students end up in? No thanks LOL. I would like to go to college for Nursing because i feel the job will suit me better. More time spent with patients, flexible schedule, the benefits of travel nursing, as well as good pay. I would much rather spend 2-4 years in college learning to do a job i'll enjoy and still get paid well, then go to school for 14 years, doing a job i only got into for the money, as well as ending up in tons of student debt. Also i have a question. How flexible is the nursing schedule exactly? Is it true that you can work three 12 hour shifts a week or are you always on call? I love the idea of over time as well. If i felt the need to work more, that option is always there for me. Also Nurses have more flexible specialties and what not. Do you love your job? What is your work schedule like? If you could go back in time and become a doctor, would you?
I don't want to become a Nurse and be treated differently and feel like I'm at the bottom of the barrel and what not because I'm not an MD or something lol.
I am also interested in perhaps shadowing a nurse during the summer, so i can get more of a feel of what goes on and what not. I feel like it'll really benefit me.
Please do your best to expose my young mind to the career of Nursing as much as possible, It will really help me with deciding my career after these two years of high school are up, although I'm still pretty set on nursing.
Thank you for your time (:
P.S. i know i still have plenty of time to decide my career but i see no harm in researching what career i want to do after high school, and learning as much about it as i can now, then in two years. I like to know what i want to do right off the bat, instead of winging things. Plus, since i'm doing high school online, i have plenty of time to conduct research. I would just like to hear from the Nurses themselves. Thank you, i hope to be a Nurse one day!
I wouldn't mind working holiday's. Not like i'll have any actual family to celebrate it with anyway. Work, WILL be my holiday lol. It's crazy because it seems like what most people would consider "undesirable" i would honestly love. I wouldn't mind taking night shifts, as long as i love my job and have enough sleep/caffeine to make it through the night. I wouldn't mind working holidays. Instead, i'll be selfless and help the people who cannot spend quality time with their family on holiday's. Oh yes, that seems like an idea of a perfect Holiday to me. Or, maybe i'm just weird lol.
I'm curious about what you imagine the actual work of nursing entails.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I wouldn't mind working holiday's. Not like i'll have any actual family to celebrate it with anyway. Work, WILL be my holiday lol. It's crazy because it seems like what most people would consider "undesirable" i would honestly love. I wouldn't mind taking night shifts, as long as i love my job and have enough sleep/caffeine to make it through the night. I wouldn't mind working holidays. Instead, i'll be selfless and help the people who cannot spend quality time with their family on holiday's. Oh yes, that seems like an idea of a perfect Holiday to me. Or, maybe i'm just weird lol.
Nursing is not as perfect as the people on Yahoo Answers depicted it to be. After working a 12 hour shift putting up with rude patients, family members & doctors the last place you will want to be is at work.
Good for you, putting so much thought into your future now! It's definitely not too early.
Some advice for right now: nursing programs have a significant bio component. My program had two A&P classes, microbiology, and pathophysiology. 4-year universities may have Human Bio as a prerequisite for A&P. If you can take any as an AP class, that could save you time and $$ once in college. You don't need scads of math classes, but I def. recommend a solid foundation at least in algebra. 4-yr schools often (always?) require statistics as a prereq for nursing classes, and if nothing else you'll use basic single-variable algebra in drug calculations.
You should also look into getting CNA training. It probably varies by state, but I took the class when I was a senior in HS and went to work in a nursing home the summer after I graduated. Age 16 and up could take the class, and I did work with a fair amount of 16-17 yr olds. It's a great way to get your feet wet and get comfortable providing compassionate and dignified care. Plus, you make more than minimum wage and have a job that's more rewarding (if more difficult) than flipping burgers.
Here's a link to a comment I posted on another thread, highlighting some of my duties Of course it's not an exhaustive list. Also keep in mind it was addressed to a current nursing student, so there will be terms that might not make sense to you as a HS student. https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/any-big-city-1038494.html
Do you love your job?
Yes!! :)
What is your work schedule like?
I work half time 3pm-11:30pm. My husband is the CFO of a financial firm so obviously the main breadinner, but I wanted to keep working (see my answer to the previous question). I love that I don't have to choose between working full time and staying home with my kids. I feel like I have the best of both worlds this way. Also with working some weekends, it gives me some extra days off during the week so I can take care of kids' appointments and attend school functions. Most bedside nurses who work full time do the 3 12-hour shifts per week.
If you could go back in time and become a doctor, would you?
I don't want to become a Nurse and be treated differently and feel like I'm at the bottom of the barrel and what not because I'm not an MD or something lol.
Nope! I have zero interest in doing a residency. And nurses aren't at the bottom of a barrel at all. We carry out part of the medical plan of care (e.g. giving prescribed medications) but we also develop and implement our own nursing plans of care. Everywhere I've worked, we RNs/LPNs have had good working relationships with our physicians -- and respiratory therapists, pharmacists, dieticians, rehab professionals, etc. There are people with less education and authority such as nursing assistants and janitorial staff...but they're not at the bottom of the barrel either. It's not a single hierarchy, but rather many teams doing their part to care for patients and families.
I also wasn't interested in being a doctor because i feel that they only treat the patients illness instead of comforting them and what not.
I'll tell you a story illustrating this: some time ago I cared for a woman who had been in a car accident with her two children. The kids were transferred to the PICU and she was taken to the OR. Upon opening her up, the surgeons decided they couldn't save her and brought her up to the ICU with her family. The surgeon told the family that we did expect her to pass in the next few minutes, and then left. He sat at the workstation right outside her room briefly, but next time I looked up he was gone. Who was left with that distraught family? Myself and the chaplain. The ICU resident came into the room to pronounce the death, after I went and told her the woman was gone. It was a heartbreaking situation but an incredible honor at the same time.
Nursing school. Would i go there for 2-4 years instead of college or something? How does Nursing school differ from regular college?
Most nursing schools are within a larger college or university (the older hospital-based nursing schools are a rarity today.) You start off taking whatever prerequisites the nursing program requires, and then you are eligible to be admitted into the core nursing program. The big difference between nursing school and other majors is that not only do you have classes in a traditional classroom, but you also have assigned "clinical" days where your group goes into a hospital or other nursing setting (e.g. long term care, clinic, county health dept etc.) and learn real-life patient care.
Nursing is not as perfect as the people on Yahoo Answers depicted it to be. After working a 12 hour shift putting up with rude patients, family members & doctors the last place you will want to be is at work.
I was interested in Nursing WAY before i asked a question on yahoo answers. Yahoo answers didn't change my mind on anything, they just told me about the work schedule of nurses. I am not interested in Nursing because someone on Yahoo answers depicted it a certain way so now i love it or something lol. I wouldn't mind dealing with rude people, there's rude people in every job you can't avoid that. I'll just take their rudeness with a grain of salt, put on a smile, and help them feel better so they could get out of the hospital as soon as possible (:
Awesome, thanks! You answered so many of my questions which only made me excited to finish High school even more (: High school was definitely not the best time of my life. I mean like, fresh man year was okay i guess. I went to public school during fresh man year. But then i left in the middle of fresh man year and have been doing my school online ever since. I am now a sophomore, about to be a Jr. So far high school hasn't been that good for me. Not many friends at home, cannot go outside and make friends since our neighborhood sucks, i guess my only friends are online when i'm playing PS3 occasionally lol. Perhaps during JR or senior year i'll go back to public so i can make friends and go to prom and stuff. So, i really am looking forward to college. I look at college as the time i'll make friends, date different people, and have fun since i couldn't experience any of that during high school. Once these two years are up, that will be the start of an amazing life for me. I know it. (:
Sooo much negativity! Keep your chin up OP, and don't lose that spirit! Don't let other people's "realistic attitudes" bring you down. Nursing is not for everyone, but if you are a caring individual with a desire to help people, then by all means, do what you need to do! So tired of everyone making nursing seem like an utter nightmare when it really depends on your state of mind, and how strong your motives are. Go for it!
Before you decide for sure, I would get into cna work. It's the bottom of the medical field in some people's eyes but being a cna first really helps you to appreciate your coworkers and care for the patients from a whole new perspective. Also, if you can master being a cna you will most likely be a good nurse. Some places of employment will pay for you to further your education as well. That's just me though.
I don't understand why people force themselves to continue with a career they really wont/don't enjoy haha. It simply mesmerizes me. People assume that just because nursing isn't for them, it must not be for any one else. People assume that just because they are a "genius" and nursing school was hard for them, it won't be any easier for another "genius" that comes along. I don't get why Nursing is receiving so much negativity and yet people still do it. What is with that? I would like to know. Very interested to see these replies.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I don't understand why people force themselves to continue with a career they really wont/don't enjoy haha. It simply mesmerizes me. People assume that just because nursing isn't for them, it must not be for any one else. People assume that just because they are a "genius" and nursing school was hard for them, it won't be any easier for another "genius" that comes along. I don't get why Nursing is receiving so much negativity and yet people still do it. What is with that? I would like to know. Very interested to see these replies.
Not everyone is going to love their job. My husband was just laid off & is going to work as a correctional officer. Is this his dream job? No! Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to pay the bills.
la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN
1,260 Posts
I'm curious about what you imagine the actual work of nursing entails.