Is Nursing the right choice for me?

[xxlilkacixx]

I have been considering nursing for a few years now and it seems like the obvious choice for me. I want to help people more than anything, I want to make money, and I want a flexible schedule. I'm getting married this summer and I'm worried about the strain of not having as much money since I will have to cut my hours back at work and also the strain of not having as much time with my new hubby. I'm also worried that I will get into nursing and when faced with the "yuckier" aspects of it I will panic, or I won't like it, or I will just freeze. I am so caring so I think I can handle it but I feel like I won't really know until faced with situations. I only want to do the career change once. Is nursing the right field for me?

[meluhn]

The yuckier aspects of nursing are a little unnerving at first and then you get used to it and it really is no big deal. I mean gross things are still gross but you tend to look at them as just another bodily function or disease process. Most nurses can clean an incontinent pt with a giant decub and then go have lunch--even discuss it over lunch with colleagues and it just doesn't bother us. You may become a hand washing fanatic, its kind of a coping mechanism for the hebegebes you get from gross things. Washing your hands makes you feel better about it.

I would say if that is the only thing holding you back then go for it. You will find out in first semester if you can stand it or not.

But honestly, there are so many more things wrong about nursing than the gross stuff--that will be the least of your worries. Long hours, hard work, no breaks, no appreciation, impossibly high standards to meet, impossible pt assignments--those are the real problems in nursing.