If you had a reset button, would you choose nursing again?

Published

I often hear conversations with nurses old and new discussing whether or not they would choose nursing as a career again if they had the opportunity. Some even have children in college now whom they haven't quite steered away from nursing, but strongly suggest they may want to choose an alternative career path. For me nursing wasn't my first career choice, but I'm glad I ended up here, and would definitely choose it again,

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I don't regret choosing nursing, although I don't regret leaving either. My 24-year-old son is just about to start nursing school, and I couldn't be any more proud. He'll be an LPN in eight months and is in an accelerated program for RN. He is planning to do grad school as well to become a nurse practitioner. I say more power to him!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU.

Probably not.

I like my job, but it's just too dang stressful. I feel like I am shaving years off of my life by being a nurse. I wish I had done something else, but now that I'm here, it's hard to think about spending all that money and time on another degree.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Absolutely🌟

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

I don't regret having changed to a nursing major in college. Nor do I regret becoming a nurse. However, if you asked me if I would ever leave nursing, my answer may be yes depending on the day/week/month I had. No doubt about it, nursing is a tough career field.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Medical Oncology, ER.

id do it again, but if only i could take the skills/knowledge i have now with me lol.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho.

Yep, but I would have chosen it from the get go rather than nearly 2 decades later.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Intermediate Telemetry.

My answer is yes. But...I went back to school when I was 31, married and had two kids. It has not been easy! If I could do it again I would start nursing school right out of high school, get some floor experience for about 10 years and then get in to teaching. Floor nursing is very hard for family life. The hours, the exhaustion, at times it can be very emotionally draining. I love nursing, every joyful, tearful, stressful, rewarding, happy, sad, moment of it! But my husband and my family are ready for me to get a 9-5 "traditional" hours job and I still love my floor nursing for the moment. I have been a nurse for 3 years and I am learning so much every day on the floor. I started out on a surgical floor and now on an intermediate Med/Tele floor I just feel that the hours and exhaustion are not a good fit for family life at this time in my life. Eventually I will move to another specialty which is the great thing about nursing!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.

No. I would have gone to be a speech pathologist, PT or OT. Normal hours, more respect and satisfaction imho. Nursing has changed way too much and it feels like an assembly line but with humans to me now.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am basically happy with being a nurse; however, often I wish I would have focused on being a veterinarian (of large animals) or pharmacist.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg.

I have a reset button. It is available to me each and every day. One day I used it to change careers to Nursing. Best job I ever had, no plans to hit that button soon.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I would have chosen nursing straight out of high school as a first career and not a second career!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

While although I'm still in school I will say that I've been so tempted by other fields. I love love love biological sciences and chemistry. Environmental scientist and pharmD had appealed to me a lot. When I see or hear about biology majors doing research projects I want to do that so bad! (nurse researcher is really appealing btw!)

And there are times that I feel like nursing isn't as exciting. I mean we had a lab day just learning how to wash hands and put on PPE. (I know it's very important...but..but..we had 4 hours)

But I feel my love and desire toward nursing and have for a while. Different from the science fields - those are exciting and interesting to me, but nursing to me is like a big YES THIS IS WHAT I WANT.

I liked reading other answers.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion