Is nursing still right for me? HELP!

[DGStudentRN]

OK rant, apologies in advance lol

I am currently in the second half of my nursing degree. When I first chose to do nursing out of school, I had never been more sure of anything in my life. I was excited, passionate and ready to embark on this journey. I chose to do a general nursing degree with the hopes of exploring midwifery afterwards, where my true passions lay. I always knew that the general nursing degree wouldn't excite me as much as midwifery but I didnt expect this. I feel burnt out, incompetent and anxious. When I am on clinical placement, I have good patient rapport and am efficient but I still feel totally incompetent in my skill set. Not to mention the idea of being responsible for people's lives, health and wellbeing TERRIFIES me and does not excite me at all. What if I make a mistake? I would never forgive myself. Placements have been long and exhausting, with little feeling of satisfaction. That being said, I have only been placed on general medical wards so far, which I am CERTAIN is not my passion. I am worried that I will burn out before I get to start midwifery.The idea of a graduate year petrifies me. Additionally, I was always a good student in school, hard working and who got good grades. This has not been the case in nursing school. I struggle to put in effort, to stay motivated and my marks have been average. I was always told to chose a career that I loved and there were many elements of nursing from the outset that suited my personality type and appealed to me. But the responsibility of the knowledge and riskiness of the skills is really daunting. And I am so afraid to be left without a pathway and feel even more lost if i give up. People always have told me that I would make an incredible nurse and they can really see me in this profession - I really WANT to love nursing, but I'm so scared that I'm just not cut out for it. Should I still stick it out? Where do I go from here?

[verene, MSN]

I think much of what you are experiencing is completely normal, and many nursing students go through this process. You are at a point where you are both aware of the high responsibility and the fact that you are a novice who is still learning huge amounts - this is a hard place to be. I will say with experience some of the anxiety does go away.

I have also heard from many previously straight A students, that nursing school was the first time in their lives they've struggled to get As, and that many found their motivation slipping - this is normal! As long as you are still learning, still growing and gaining skills, not having an A in every single class is ok.

Finally - what is your self-care like? If your program is anything like mine it will be talked about a lot, and yet somehow the program makes it difficult to achieve. Are you getting enough sleep? Eating nutritious food? Getting enough exercise? Having time for the activities that refresh you (e.g friends, hobbies etc)? When I started losing motivation I intentionally started spending less time studying and a bit more time at the gym and on my hobbies - it actually helped my grades improve and I felt less burnt out.

The only one who can firmly decide if nursing is for you or not is you. I think look back on what drove you down this path - can you find those interests again? I wrote down why I was going to school and my dreams for the future when I started - having that list to refer to on the days where I was feeling burnt out helped to find the spark again that allowed me to keep going. It's also okay to realize that not every area of nursing will appeal to every nurse or nursing student and some clinical rotations will just a be a slog, while others are amazing!

[carti, BSN, RN]

Do you want us to tell you that you aren't made for nursing so it will help you quit easier on yourself? If so, then go ahead. There is 100 threads asking this same question. I just hope if you ever change your profession and you start to struggle, you don't think the same question. Life is about adversity and how you react when you are at the bottom.

[Nunya, BSN]

Your post could have been written by me! I wasn't too thrilled about school, my grades weren't as good as previously and I studied A LOT more, and I wondered if I really wanted to do nursing the rest of my life. And then I got my first job and after a period of adjustment I knew I was in the right field! Plus my backup was to major in English and I wasn't sure I could get a job in that without a Master's ?