Insight from current professionals

[OChealthcare01]

Hello all,

the intention of this post is to turn to current RNs for advice on my decision to pursue nursing. For the past couple of years, I have been completing all of my nursing pre-reqs along with other general education classes. In addition, I was fortunate enough to obtain a position as an intern at a local hospital where I had the opportunity to provide direct patient care while assisting the CNAs, RNs, physical therapists,etc. I currently also work as a patient sitter at the same hospital I did my internship. Through all of my classes, volunteering and position as a patient sitter, I have been exposed to so much and have truly developed a passion for helping others and the field of healthcare.

My original major was nutrition as I wanted to pursue a career as a clinical nutritionist; however, as an attendee of my school's RN program information session one semester, a career in nutrition seemed so boring compared to all the avenues you could take in nursing and the impact you could have on others. So, a decision to switch to a major in nursing was decided and I haven't really looked back since. Now, three years later, classes complete and applications submitted to nursing schools, the reality of what I am about to embark on is starting to hit me and making me think, "Can I REALLY do this??" Sure, although the human body is an amazing machine and the idea of helping someone preserve their dignity and improve their quality of life when their machine is malfunctioning would be very rewarding, I am not quite sure if I can handle the emotional demands that nursing requires. Throughout my internship and also as my role as a patient sitter (although limited in direct patient care), I noticed that my personality is one that worries over literally EVERYTHING I do for patients. I over analyze everything to an unhealthy level and I am always letting my anxiety control my thinking and making me second guess everything that I do for patients. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the feeling I get when I get to help someone and hear their gratitude, but alot of the time, I am so anxious that I am going to do something that will hurt a patient. If I have these feelings about assisting people with their ADLs, how in the heck am I going to feel comfortable and not over think every medication I give or every IV I start, etc. These feelings were always brushed to the side as I continued to push forward through classes and get to a position where I could finally apply to nursing schools. Now that I am in the said position, I have been having serious concerns about my severe anxiety and my comfort level when it comes to providing care and if these are things that will ever go away even with experience.

I'm not sure If I should just stick to my original nutrition major as I do have passion for that field and I believe the stress would be far less than that of an RN as a patient's life is not directly under your supervision. I know this decision is ultimately up to me, but I just want some insight about what your feelings were before you started nursing school? Did you doubt yourself? Did you feel or do you always still feel like you are not confident in the care you provide? Can an extremely anxious and emotional guy like me handle the demands it takes to attend to multiple patients at their bedside? If you read all of this post I thank you for taking the time to hear me out and give me some advice.

Best,

Troy

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Hi, I've moved to allnurses Pre-Nursing Student forum as area for this type inquiry.

There are similar threads here that might provide you some support.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Consider some combination of nutrition and nursing-- certified diabetes educator, bariatrics, pediatric GI, underserved population clinic that sees a lot of malnutrition in children, cardiopulmonary rehab, acute burns... all of these have heavy nutritional components and you could make a real difference.