Is nursing for me?

[NYCNative21]

Hello everyone,

I'm not really sure how to start this thread other than to start off by saying I am currently working as a paramedic with a Fire Department. At first, before I attained my paramedic my plan/goal was to go to nursing school from a bridge program and achieve my associate's degree in Nursing and then go back to school online to get my Bachelor's in Nursing. After achieving my Bachelor's degree the plan was to do travel nursing since I've always wanted to travel. Well, recently I have been having second thoughts about my career path. Not because I dislike healthcare and the field but because I do not believe my personality matches well for nursing. Majority of the time I am a pretty shy person and it takes me a minute to open up fully to new people and I know the nursing majority of the time requires individuals to be open. Let me give an example. Working as a paramedic you are the ultimate authority on all medical calls majority of the time and sometimes I struggle in that role. Running cardiac arrest's can be a struggle at times not because I do not know what I am doing but rather because in "stressful" situations I can get tunnel vision and sidetrack which I know it's horrible and it's my biggest weakness. In un-stressful situations I'm good. My ultimate fear is becoming too stressed out that I may get tunnel vision and forget a medication dosage or procedure that needs to be done and I end up killing the patient. This has led me to second guess my career choice of becoming a nurse because I am not sure how I can handle the stress of a Trauma patient or Code that comes into the ER and every nurse and doctor running to the room. I may forget or worse fail my colleagues. I love healthcare but I am not sure if loving the field is enough to be a part of it.

Has anyone has similar situations like myself or is it safe to say that this career path is not the right choice for myself and I should focus on changing my path? I want complete honesty. The last thing I ever want to do is harm a patient. Has anyone ever had similar thoughts and if so, how did you overcome them?

Any advice? Thank you to anyone who has responded and read my thread.

[caliotter3]

There are many paths in nursing. Not every one of them requires the level of decision making and action seen in critical care or trauma. Take the time to look at some of the other options in nursing before you decide that there is no place for you.

[TriciaJ, RN]

Have you ever actually killed anyone due to inattentiveness? Unlikely. What you're describing as tunnel vision is likely just you being focused while your training kicks in. It's the same way with nursing.

What I would be more concerned about is your statement that on a call you are often the "ultimate authority". As a nurse you will almost never be the ultimate authority. If you can handle that difference in the scheme of things, you will probably be all right.