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Discussion

Is nursing still for me?

I have been an LVN for 7 years. I was 22 when I started & I will be 29 this year. I know I'm not old but I feel like maybe I should pursue another career or something. I just had another baby & I am exhausted. My husband has been amazing & has taken the night shifts so I get to sleep at night.

I find myself being super tired in the morning if I get less than 8+ hours of sleep. If I don't take anything to help me sleep I don't sleep well. If I do take anything to sleep I am groggy the next day. I am usually dying for a nap & hoping my son will let me sleep for at least an hour, if not more.

This leads me to my question. Should I pursue the bridge program? If I'm this exhausted now, what will it be like when I'm in school & once I start work? Will my body be able to handle the long nights of studying & the 12+ work shifts?

I constantly feel like I'm on the verge of a seizure (I have epilepsy & bipolar disorder) & thankfully I haven't had a manic or depressive episode yet (knock on wood!).

What do you guys suggest? My mom is so gung ho on me studying to take the TEAS test to get into the bridge program but right now I feel like the walking dead & I feel like I shouldn't have a reason since I sleep at night.

Featured Replies

You just had a baby. Of course you're exhausted. Give yourself some time.

Congrats! Do you know it takes a full year for your body to recover from childbirth? Of course you are exhausted.

It's up to YOU, not your mother, to decide your future.

  • Author
You just had a baby. Of course you're exhausted. Give yourself some time.

Thank you. I didn't know if it was foreshadowing my nursing future.

  • Author
Congrats! Do you know it takes a full year for your body to recover from childbirth? Of course you are exhausted.

It's up to YOU, not your mother, to decide your future.

Thank you! I didn't realize it took a year to recover from having a baby, maybe because with my first I recovered so quickly. But I wasn't as sick with my first either. During this pregnancy I had gallstones, gestational diabetes & preeclampsia. With the first pregnancy I had no issues.

I also had my gallbladder removed less than 2 weeks after having my baby. So not only am still recovering from having my son but from having my gallbladder removed; March was an exhausting month!

I do want to become an RN, but at the same time I want to do what's best for me mentally & physically.

If you're not ready, wait. If you jump in before you're mentally and physically ready, you'll most likely do poorly, and that will seriously damage your confidence.

Take time to heal from both having the baby (congrats!!) and the surgery.

I will say though, that I'm the same when it comes to being sleepy and having a hard time physically. I am working through it, and slowly, my body is adjusting. I really do think that aspect is all in training your body.

Good luck girl!

Awww, OC (((big squishy hugs))).

Here's my two cents: I think you are an amazing nurse, and you would be an amazing RN. You give excellent advice and feedback on threads time and time again, and you have a big heart.

With that being said, give yourself time to heal. You have just a "wee" bit to recover from (like childbirth wasn't enough, you just HAD to through in an additional surgery in there, didn't cha?:sarcastic: Overachiever!). You're exhausted.

You need to give yourself more credit; I think you'll know when the time is right. And I think that it will be right for you someday. I absolutely believe in you. From a fellow manic depressive, you got this! From the tone of your post, you know it's not right now. And that's cool; your mind and body is telling you, "nope!" Enjoy your family, feel freedom from that gallbladder (or lack thereof) and know in your heart that you'll get there.

  • Author
Oh Cheerios! Congratulations on your new baby boy! Give yourself some time to recover and then revisit the question to see how you feel about it. I think you should continue to pursue it, but I can't decide for you, love.

Good luck, God bless, and give him lots of smooches from me!

Thank you! I want to continue, I just don't want to push myself too hard & then regret it. I also don't want to end up in the same situation I am now. I turned down a great job right out of nursing school & took horrible job after job horrible. Never lasting very long at those jobs. I feel like becoming an RN is my chance to start over & I don't want to make the same mistakes.

  • Author
If you're not ready, wait. If you jump in before you're mentally and physically ready, you'll most likely do poorly, and that will seriously damage your confidence.

Take time to heal from both having the baby (congrats!!) and the surgery.

I will say though, that I'm the same when it comes to being sleepy and having a hard time physically. I am working through it, and slowly, my body is adjusting. I really do think that aspect is all in training your body.

Good luck girl!

That's what I'm afraid of, if I'm not 100% ready that I will ruin myself. As I stated in the previous post I job hopped from nursing home jobs to PDN jobs. Both jobs I hated & despised. I have only held 1 job in my nursing career that I was at for almost a year. I don't want the same thing to happen when/if I become an RN.

But I'm glad to hear my body will adjust when I start working again. That takes a weight off my shoulders.

  • Author
Awww, OC (((big squishy hugs))).

Here's my two cents: I think you are an amazing nurse, and you would be an amazing RN. You give excellent advice and feedback on threads time and time again, and you have a big heart.

With that being said, give yourself time to heal. You have just a "wee" bit to recover from (like childbirth wasn't enough, you just HAD to through in an additional surgery in there, didn't cha?:sarcastic: Overachiever!). You're exhausted.

You need to give yourself more credit; I think you'll know when the time is right. And I think that it will be right for you someday. I absolutely believe in you. From a fellow manic depressive, you got this! From the tone of your post, you know it's not right now. And that's cool; your mind and body is telling you, "nope!" Enjoy your family, feel freedom from that gallbladder (or lack thereof) and know in your heart that you'll get there.

*hugs*

Awwwwww! Thank you so much, that means so much!!!!

Lol. I'm waiting for something else in my body just to give out. My husband said, can we just take you to the hospital & take out anything else that you don't need or might give out? Hahaha!

Yeah, I can tell my body is telling me to slow down. I know deep down I want to go back to school but now isn't the time to think about it. Because my mom said I should start preparing for the TEAS tests I can't even focus on studying for the TEAS test when I'm so deleriously tired & focused on my newest addition. I'm so afraid of having a seizure or a depressive or manic episode. Maybe when my second starts sleeping through the night I'll start studying, but until then I just need to focus on myself. I actually kind of miss my gallbladder. Not having it makes eating difficult as most things give me raging diarrhea.

I agree with the others to wait a bit before jumping into school. Your body has bee through a lot with the pregnancy and then the surgery. With the accumulation of issues, your body needs time to heal. So, I say, sit back and enjoy those babies and let your body have time to heal. Give yourself a year and then decide about going back to school.

  • Author
I agree with the others to wait a bit before jumping into school. Your body has bee through a lot with the pregnancy and then the surgery. With the accumulation of issues, your body needs time to heal. So, I say, sit back and enjoy those babies and let your body have time to heal. Give yourself a year and then decide about going back to school.

Thank you. I was worried I wouldn't be the same after this pregnancy & I was making a huge mistake by going back to nursing. I really do want to go back to work not just for me, but for my family. We can't afford to live on my husband's salary. But I need to take baby steps to get back to nursing.

Nursing isn't a glamorous or even desirable profession IMHO. But if you do decide to continue just know there are lots of less physically stressful nursing jobs out there both for RNs and LPNs. Clinic work, school nursing, insurance work, case management, telephone triage, etc all offer better schedules and less 'running.' After doing 12 hour hospital work for 7 years I found I always felt tired (and unlike you have no family). Now that I'm on a M-F schedule I sleep awesome, have more energy, have a better social life, have more energy for sports and outdoor activities, AND get holidays and weekends off! I make less money but cannot imagine going back to the irregularity of hospital shift work. You could also transition to another non-nursing healthcare career that isn't as stressful.

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