Is Nursing Right for me?

direw0lf, BSN · Mar 13, 2018

Hi it's nice to see you have passion and excitement right now - but what you have to find out is if these are rose colored glasses you are seeing nursing with or if you'd really like this profession! I will take a stab at your questions but these are only my opinions and generalizations.

1. Not exactly but you can fake confidence and before you know it you won't feel like you are faking it anymore, it will come natural. But to be extremely shy and introverted with patients will not promote trust or help you in getting info from them. But you have a long way to go..nursing school will improve your confidence as you learn and have more and more patient interactions.

2. You are not alone with your patient. You have a whole team. Never never never forget to ask another nurse or anyone else if you are concerned your patient is in any danger so that's why I don't exactly have anxiety about a patient's life in my hands, I know that I'm not alone, many hands around! Don't get me wrong it is a big responsibility, you the individual shoulders too, but I would not call it anxiety imo, yes I've had anxiety about patients who were trending towards unstable but again I know I'm not alone, you won't be either, for the most part.

3. Yes, some schools might be different though. It will benefit you to work as an aid or tech while in nursing school though.

4. Not exactly. You need to be pretty proactive in studying. When you learn a topic in school, sometimes you need to go home and do more research and critically think about that topic, not just the basics you'll learn. And of course hands on experience feels much different than book knowledge.

5. I've read posts like yours before yes!

Maybe you want to shadow a nurse first, to be more sure? You probably are sure and just need a little more info.

idkmybffjill · Mar 13, 2018

First, make sure nursing is something you will enjoy. Consider seeing if you can shadow a nurse somewhere just to make sure it is what you want to do.

1. I think if that's something you are willing to work on, then sure. I'm someone who used to be very shy and not confident. I'm still not super outgoing in a party setting, and I'm a reserved person regardless, but I've gotten to the point that I have no issue talking with patients and establishing a connection with them (and enjoying it). From what I know of nursing, that patient interaction is often necessary, so if that's something you are willing to learn to do well (unless you want to get into a specialty with little to no patient care), then I don't think your current shyness will automatically prevent you from doing that. Confidence comes with practice, I think, so you don't necessarily have to be amazingly confident in things you don't know right off the bat.

3. Many nursing students start out with no patient care experience. Patient care exp might be an advantage in getting into a program, but it's not required. However, if that's an aspect you are uncertain if you would enjoy, I would recommend trying some type of direct care position to see where your interests lay exactly with that.

4. It can't teach you everything. A very common sentiment I've found is that nursing school gives you the basics and the theory for nursing, but you will be learning a lot of actual nursing skills on the job once you become an RN. However, as long as you look to work at a good facility, you shoudln't be "fending for yourself." There will be other nurses there for you to ask questions and resources you can use.

5. Yes. I think I've seen a thread about it like once a week since December. It's fairly common. If you think about it, it's more of a waste to finish a degree that you aren't going to use. Why spend an extra year doing something that you won't enjoy and you won't do anything with? Why waste the money?

kwdamo2016 · Mar 13, 2018

Thank you guys for your response and feedback! Nursing has really just always been something that interested me, but I don't think it's becasue of the pay or anything like that. I really want to do something with my life that involves bringing some type of people help into peoples' lives and I cannot imagine myself working a desk job that has no excitement or variety. I love that with nursing there is always going to be something new to do each day and I'll be constantly learning. I do have some experience shadowing a nurse at a pediatrics clinic when I was a senior in high school for a required internship to graduate, but I never thought to count that as patient experience. During this internship, I saw a little glimpse into what a peds nurse does and since then nursing has just never gotten on out of my mind. I think my biggest probelm is that I am such a over-thinking and worrier, which causes me to constantly question and doubt myself about the life/career choices that I'm making. I know that I am smart enough to be a nurse and I do have the compassion to work with people, but I think I just need a confidence boost. Also, I'm gonna look into more opportunities to shadow nurses just to get the real jiff of what it takes. Thank you again for the response :)

imhorsemackerel, LPN · Mar 15, 2018

1. I am a shy person. But let me tell you. Be open to the experience. I have been blessed to have a relatively small cohort, so by the end of my LPN program I was not as shy. Now in my LPN-RN program, my cohort is even smaller. Confidence in your practice and in yourself takes time. I'm a new LPN in the dialysis setting. There are often many times where I have to refer to the techs and nurses just because I'm still relatively new. But there's no shame to being new! Accept you're new. People make mistakes. Learn from these mistakes, and be open to improvement and criticism. Once you go on the nursing track, you're going to be a student in many ways. So might as well accept the fact that confidence will come with time and experience. Make the attempt to socialize because in the end, you are working with people.

2. I can't speak for other settings, but in my experience the anxiety goes away for a bit. I care for four patients at a time while they undergo their dialysis treatments. I've had patients who were alert and talking and in literally two seconds they pass out. My first reaction is to call for the RN while putting the seat back as far as possible and giving saline. The first time it happened I was lucky I was still training and the tech was with me. But you just have to realize that no matter what setting you are in, if the situation is emergent, you need to take action now. You can't let your nerves paralyze you.

3. Yes, it is fine to go to nursing without any direct patient care experience. I have a few classmates who switched careers. One was a paralegal, the other I believe did business administration. They became LPNs and are now my classmates in the LPN-RN program I'm in. There are plenty of people who enter the RN program without any direct patient care experience. You take a fundamentals class, so this will especially help those without experience. Everyone was once new!

4. Nursing school will teach you enough to be a novice nurse. Once you graduate and get a job, your place of employment isn't going to be like, "Ok it's your first day. You're by yourself. And everything is going wrong. Good luck. Bye." At least, I hope that's not the case! Definitely when you go on that job hunt, do your research first. A good place to work will train you. A good place to start looking is when you go out for your clinicals. Network with the nurses. Introduce yourself, if they're not too busy and they welcome it. Perhaps they may be your future coworkers!

In my job, we had training for 2 months. They paid for our gas, which was nice. And the classes we took were all paid. So while we had lecture, we were getting paid. Sweet deal. Also I never was on my own until the nurse educator signed me off. She had to make sure I was cannulating, starting and ending treatments correctly and safely. Hopefully where ever you go, the facility will go to great lengths to make sure you're prepared. And if you don't feel prepared, you have to speak up to your supervisor.

In LPN school I think we spent like half an hour talking about dialysis. They definitely don't tell you all you need to know because there isn't that much time. Plus, they're also hopefully focusing on prepping you to pass the NCLEX

5. I'm sure there have been people that have done this. If it makes you feel better, I got an associate's and bachelor's in Psychology. I ended up getting my LPN at a vocational school because I couldn't get into this university's BSN program. But now I'm a working LPN getting experience and currently in my college's LPN-RN program. Sure this route was a bit long-winded, but I can't change the past. Sure I can dwell and be like, "If only I did better in this class," or, "If only I went for LPN earlier," but why waste time dwelling on the past when you have so much to look forward to in the future.

I know many times I wonder if nursing is for me. Sure I'm doing well in the class right now, and I'm doing well at work. I'm getting along with my coworkers, and I'm continually learning so much. But sometimes things get overwhelming. But that's the nature of the beast. Nursing will constantly be challenging and stimulating. Sure you can shadow a nurse, but I don't know how beneficial that will truly be. Nursing is such a versatile job and each has its own pros/cons, skill sets, etc.