I'm having doubts about nursing... :(

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Okay everyone, I am just starting my second semester of nursing school and I just had my first day at orientation on the med-surge floor that I will be at this semester. This is my first semester doing clinicals.. Long story short, I absolutely hated it. But there are several factors that may have affected my experience with it. Because it was orientation we were not set up with computer access so some of us were set up to shadow an RN, and others were set up to shadow a CNA. I got set up to shadow a CNA, I felt so unfulfilled.. We literally changed sheets, and cleaned poop the whole time. I was envious of my other classmates that got the opportunity to shadow nurses. The whole day I kept thinking to myself, am I really busting my a** in nursing school for this? It was extremely disheartening and discouraging. I went home almost in tears. Now let me back up and acknowledge the fact, that YES I WAS WITH A CNA, and I am sure it is much better actually shadowing a nurse. I was able to pop in and tag along with other classmates, but even then it was kind of boring. I know I should probably give it another chance but it was not a good first impression at all by any means.

I guess I just thought it would be more exciting... I would be able to use more of my nursing skills. I just don't know if I will ever like the med-surge floor.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
You love to troll people, don't you? You sound so smart!

Interesting that someone whose first thread was so negative is accusing someone else of being a troll. Especially a nursing student whose head seems to be screwed securely on her shoulders and whose posts are thoughtful, helpful and wise.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I have to say, I'm a little horrified at the way the OP was treated here. Come on, everyone. What's the purpose of this forum? Support and advice. Some of the comments here were truly mean. And for those of you who were helpful: good work! Ok, OP, chin up. First days are totally overwhelming and rarely an accurate representation of future experience. Try taking this one day at a time and don't give up. Yes you are meant to be here and I think you will derive a lot from clinical. You aren't against wiping up poop but you also didn't spend every waking moment studying to only do that. This is very reasonable. You will encounter many intelligent, caring and reasonable nurses in your profession. Please don't let whatever happened ^^ up here in the comments scare you. It was abnormal behavior.

This is not a support group. It's a great place to get good, helpful advice but if all you want is "support", sticking to the student forums may have been a better choice. Experienced nurses will give you great advice, but emotional support -- unless it's emotional support of someone who displays a fabulous attitude -- isn't a thing.

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.
I got set up to shadow a CNA, I felt so unfulfilled.. We literally changed sheets, and cleaned poop the whole time.

Let me guess, somehow you have it in your mind, nurses don't change sheets, and clean up poop? As an RN on a cardiac telemetry unit, I've had shifts that outside of assessments, med passes, and charting, I spent hours (the one evening was 10 PM to 2:00 AM the next morning -- JUST changing sheets and cleaning up a patient who kept defecating themselves) just doing what you referred to as CNA work (as if it is beneath a nurse to do such work).

I do hope that as you go through with your journey, you re-orient yourself to the reality nurses face... nothing is beneath a good nurse in providing proper care that is safe and effective. Don't be one of those nurses who delegate what you believe is beneath you!

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Let me guess, somehow you have it in your mind, nurses don't change sheets, and clean up poop? As an RN on a cardiac telemetry unit, I've had shifts that outside of assessments, med passes, and charting, I spent hours (the one evening was 10 PM to 2:00 AM the next morning -- JUST changing sheets and cleaning up a patient who kept defecating themselves) just doing what you referred to as CNA work (as if it is beneath a nurse to do such work).

I do hope that as you go through with your journey, you re-orient yourself to the reality nurses face... nothing is beneath a good nurse in providing proper care that is safe and effective. Don't be one of those nurses who delegate what you believe is beneath you!

A phrase I've grown to hate: "CNA duties". There is no such thing. They are all NURSING duties. Some of what we do can legally be delegated to a CNA. IF there is a CNA to delegate to. Otherwise, we have to do all our own stuff. There is nothing worse than a nurse who believes certain things are beneath him/her. And if a student steps onto the floor with such a mindset, it needs to be promptly corrected.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

Sorry your first clinical wasn't up to expectations. It's actually a GOOD thing to follow a CNA for a while, changing bed sheets and bed baths really are skills that get overlooked often in nursing education... it's fundamentally part of the job. That said, clinicals are not generally fun (at least that was my experience). Just soak it all in, some are better than others.

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It probably wasn't fun to shadow a Cna and maybe med/surg isn't for you. I had a student with me the other day and I asked her to help my tech change a patient. When they got done she told me thank you for having me help him. I had no idea how to manipulate a patient in the bed to change them. You will have to do that on occasion. Nursing school is about learning skills and patient care. After school you can figure out where you will hopefully shine. We all had to do it so just pull up your pants and deal with what you are given.

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Specializes in ER - trauma/cardiac/burns. IV start spec.

Nursing is kind of like police work, 90 percent routine and somewhat boring with 10% sheer hysteria. Are you an adrenaline junkie? Are you wanting something exciting? You may need to either rethink you profession or look into other departments. Like the ER, I worked in one for 9 yrs, 4 months and 17days and it was 75% hysteria and 25% boring. It is way too soon for you to be deciding on which floor/unit you want to work in but that being said when I started nursing school I always intended to work in the ER. I was one that liked the aspect on not seeing the same patients over several days. I still ended up knowing some of the patient by their first names. TV and movie nursing is not real

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I completely understand what you are saying. I just graduated (albeit an LPN program not an RN) and 90% of the time we were paired with CNAs and changing sheets, feeding people, changing them, getting them dressed etc. Now granted this is stuff you may need to do one day it leaves you feeling like the day was a waste of your time, let's be honest how much practice do you need feeding people as opposed to taking vitals, passing medication, giving injections, assessing patients, changing dressings etc. What one of my teachers said is it basically boils down to two things, liability and willing nurses. Both of which I can understand you've got 30 patients to take care of and x hours will the students just be getting in the way and making your day harder? Will they just stand back and see how things are done? Will they get you in trouble for doing something that is safe and correct but is not in facility procedure? Will you do something that will harm the patient and get the hospital and/or school sued?

Look at it from both sides and you begin to get a better understanding of why it is the way it is.

Long story short(er) if you don't feel as if you are gaining anything ask one of the LPNs or RNs if you can watch them do something most of the time I got a yes and stood back and observed. And sometimes I got to do something I wasn't expecting, and at times ready (mentally) for, my first time assisting with a catheterization will never be forgotten.

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If you think you are going to learn everything about nursing after one day of clinical , you have no clue !!!! I've been a nurse for 9 years and learn something new every day. You should have learned that toileting and cleaning up patients makes them feel comfortable and human and promotes skin integrity. Instead, you rather vent aka complain about following a CNA. Well that should be the requirement !
In all schools I applied to, CNA is one of the criteria they look for.

've been a CNA for over 6 months. I'm waiting patiently to be accepted in the program; and/meanwhile, I do need to redo some of my humanity and social science courses because these are dragging my GPA down.

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med surge clinical

Sorry but there will be a lot of clinical days you will not be thrilled with. They can't put everyone every time where YOU would like to be. Clinical sites are hard to come by and are acquired way in advance to your arrival. Next time you will probably be with an RN and you still may have to clean poop. If you really want to be a nurse.. hang in there, school is not forever.

T:nurse:

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Quite a few on this site can be harsh and unsympathetic; I've had my own experience with a post and people belittling my feelings.

I'm sorry you are feeling this way and I hope that you find the inspiration you are needing. I believe everyone questions at some point early in their journey if this is really what they wanted. Don't get discouraged or let one day mold how you feel about the future! I know it's easier said than done but just keep your head up and don't let anyone talk negatively to you just because you're doing some reflecting and soul-searching!

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Specializes in ICU, CVICU, Surgical, LTAC.

Dear OP,

I appreciate you being so brave posting this as it was quite sincere and heartfelt. I can assure you that you are not alone in the way you feel. I don't think you feel as if cleaning poop is beneath you but you probably were just more shocked at the experience than anything else. I have been in the nursing field for 10 years now and it is truly a rewarding career. But I admit I remember having your exact same "come to Jesus moment" during my first clinical experience. Now that I am a Nurse Practitioner I realize the value of taking care of patients holistically, from there basic self care needs all the way through performing their physical exam and establishing their plan of care. I encourage you to stick with nursing because if you do I believe you will be able to find your passion within our amazing profession. I should mention that yes there are many nurses in various specialties that clean poop as part of their roles but they do so much more than that too. They truly impact their patient's lives. I encourage you to read the book "NURSING 411: The Ultimate Career Guide for Busy Adults". It goes into detail about various careers in nursing that many people never knew existed. I know I didn't for sure when I started out. More than that it is an inspirational book that talks about how you can really improve your life and find true enjoyment in the nursing profession. Good luck to you and please feel free to pm me if you need support on your journey. I truly love to mentor! Take care.

Salimah Jones APRN, FNP-C

~Founder of The Nursing Guide~

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