I'm young and nervous about going into the nursing profession

[Dlansey]

I'm nervous because I'm 19 years old and only ever had 3 jobs in my whole life. And I worked all of those 3 jobs within this year and stayed at the 1st one for 1 month and a half; 2nd job for 2.5 months; and the 3rd one for only 1.5 weeks.

So you can see, I am a job hopper and when I don't want to do something anymore I immediately back out of it. It's the same for my older sister, she has had 14 jobs within this year and never stayed at them for more than 2 months, or college (she dropped that within a few weeks too).

So I'm afraid that I will become just like her and back out of the nursing profession because something I don't like about it and I don't want it to be like that.

So how do you nurses deal with a environment that you do not like? What keeps you working at a job for a year or more? It is my ultimate goal to have a job for at least a year but I know that will never happpen.

I still depend on my mother finacially and so does my older sister (21 years old), so we always have a safety net to rely on when we don't want to deal with the realities of the world.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I don't see how nursing would work out for someone who "doesn't like to work."

[middleagednurse]

Nursing school and nursing jobs are HARD work and require a huge amount of commitment. But do you want to be financially dependent on your mom forever? At some point you have to take responsibility for your life. Hard doesn't equal quit.

[DeeAngel]

Given the job hopping history, under no circumstances go into nursing without working as a CNA first. I see too many young nurses who didn't do that. They work for a few months and then quit, never to work as nurses again. You need to know what nursing is like before you commit to the education to become one. If you hate being a CNA you will also hate nursing school.

[BSN16]

nursing is a profession that requires good work ethic...just keep that in mind

[Dlansey]

I don't like working at minimum wage jobs like retail and resturants that deals with a lot of customer service. Though I know the nursing profession can as well, but I would rather work in the medical field.

[Libby1987]

I don't like working at minimum wage jobs like retail and resturants that deals with a lot of customer service. Though I know the nursing profession can as well, but I would rather work in the medical field.

I'm just going to straight up say that you need to work out your tolerance and work ethic before even remotely considering nursing.

That said you sound like you have some emotional maturity despite your background, which is promising.

[Dlansey]

I don't see how nursing would work out for someone who "doesn't like to work."

I don't like minimum wage jobs. That type of work.

[foggnm]

At ages 16-21, I think I probably had at least 10 jobs, so don't fret. It is a time of your life you find something you can live with as you're probably not going to 'love' your job. You might however try to focus more on getting good pay (even if that means manual labor) than having a job you like. As far as nursing goes, I routinely try to talk young people out of the profession of nursing. I went back when I was older and knew what I was getting in to and why and now often still regret that decision. However there are lots of job options in nursing and paths for non-clinical careers. Likewise there are tons of non-nursing healthcare careers that offer a lot of the same employment opportunities without the downside of nursing (doing the grunt work). If you are really to be happy in the profession of nursing in the long run you have to understand yourself and the profession. Go volunteer at a hospital or hospice company and stand on your feet for 12 hours and help a person do everything in their day (eat, take meds, bathe, walk, sit/stand, etc). And imagine doing these things under a time constraint with multiple patients. Now imagine doing that every day as your job for 10 years and if that sounds awesome and rewarding to you, then nursing is a good fit. However if you are creative, a problem solver, a thinker, someone who likes complex situations and real intellectual challenges, autonomy and decision making, then nursing may not be a good fit. If you want to show up to work every day and basically be told what to do by a doctor's order set, then nursing is your job. Whatever you decide, don't do something stupid like take out $60k in loans to pay for a degree. Go to a community college, work while in school, get exposure to healthcare and see what you like. Come out of college with no debt having a fair idea of what you really are willing to tolerate at work is the key. I say this from experience. Know yourself first, your strengths, your desires, your personality and what type of career environment will challenge you without being incongruent with who you are.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

You're 19 so you have only had jobs, not a career. You are way to young to be concerned about being labeled a "job hopper." When you find that job that you like you will most likely stick with it. More important at this point is how seriously you take school. As long as you are attending when you are supposed to, studying like you need to and maintaining good grades that is a much better indicator of how you will behave professionally than leaving a few entry level jobs.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

I don't like minimum wage jobs. That type of work.

I hate to burst your bubble here. But, as a full-fledged RN, you ​will empty trash, wipe up urine, blood, feces, pass meal trays, feed patients, be spit on, s***on, hit on; bathe, dress, and walk patients, cater to the visitors, families, provide customer service with a smile while you are being threatened with ass-kickings, and lawsuits; and you will work over just so that you won't miss any ass-chewing that's due you. In the midst of all of that, you will get a chance to pass a pill or two and actually make somebody feel better than they did before they abused you so, and you shall not expect a 'thank you' or a 'sorry I was such a b**** to you'.

^^^^And this was the best day of your work week because everybody lived to do all that crap to you. As such, your $30+/hr will still feel like minimum wage as what we do always tend to exceed the hourly rate of pay.

Every day won't be this gruesome, of course not. But there will be extremely few days, or shall I say hours, that you won't have to perform "a minimum wage job" task as a nurse.

[FutureNurseInfo]

Hey,

I could have read all of the comments already written but then thought there would be no point to it. You may have already gotten a response or advice you needed. From what I have read I understand you are 19, and many people at that age have no clear idea what they want to do with their lives. That is normal. However, you are grown enough to realize all adults have to work and have to do so diligently. In your case neither you or your 21 year old sister have committed to working diligently. I am sorry but I feel like the both of you take working as a joke. You are quite lucky that you are still under your mom's wings to be financially supported.

Also, having done well in sciences is not an indication you can succeed in nursing school nor become a great nurse.

My only advice to you is if you truly believe you WANT to be a nurse, realize that before you can become one there is a long and very arduous road ahead full of hard and stressful work in school. Then, becoming and working as a nurse is even a harder work. So, before you dive into this "world", understand how hard it is. I would hate for you to have gone through the school to just realize nursing was not for you because your heart was not in it.

[Dlansey]

At ages 16-21, I think I probably had at least 10 jobs, so don't fret. It is a time of your life you find something you can live with as you're probably not going to 'love' your job. You might however try to focus more on getting good pay (even if that means manual labor) than having a job you like. As far as nursing goes, I routinely try to talk young people out of the profession of nursing. I went back when I was older and knew what I was getting in to and why and now often still regret that decision. However there are lots of job options in nursing and paths for non-clinical careers. Likewise there are tons of non-nursing healthcare careers that offer a lot of the same employment opportunities without the downside of nursing (doing the grunt work). If you are really to be happy in the profession of nursing in the long run you have to understand yourself and the profession. Go volunteer at a hospital or hospice company and stand on your feet for 12 hours and help a person do everything in their day (eat, take meds, bathe, walk, sit/stand, etc). And imagine doing these things under a time constraint with multiple patients. Now imagine doing that every day as your job for 10 years and if that sounds awesome and rewarding to you, then nursing is a good fit. However if you are creative, a problem solver, a thinker, someone who likes complex situations and real intellectual challenges, autonomy and decision making, then nursing may not be a good fit. If you want to show up to work every day and basically be told what to do by a doctor's order set, then nursing is your job. Whatever you decide, don't do something stupid like take out $60k in loans to pay for a degree. Go to a community college, work while in school, get exposure to healthcare and see what you like. Come out of college with no debt having a fair idea of what you really are willing to tolerate at work is the key. I say this from experience. Know yourself first, your strengths, your desires, your personality and what type of career environment will challenge you without being incongruent with who you are.

Good advice.