how do you know if your cut out for nursing?

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im currently at a community college doing my pre-reqs for nursing. i have been reading these forumns for a few months now and sometimes i just get so lost and have no idea what you guys are talking about in "nursing language" like when you say medical terms like "coded" or when your talking with codes and everything. should i have some prior knowledge of medical terms and abbreviations before i start school?:confused:

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Don't come here!!! Actually, you will eventually learn all of the terms you need to know. Not to worry!

But this is not really a good place for you at this time. Most of us come here to 'vent' or complain, or ask for support. You need to realize that people who are happy are not posting nearly as often!

Study hard, get good grades, take care of yourself.

Best wishes!

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You should seriously consider taking a medical terminology course before starting in the nursing program.

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Specializes in Emergency Medicine.

Cut out for Nursing?

Can you run around 8-12 hrs. on your feet day in and day out?

Can you go long periods of time without peeing?

Are you use to inhaling your food without chewing?

... so many things. I'm just scratching the surface.

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You are way over thinking the whole thing and stressing yourself out. That is why the call it school and getting an education. You will learn the terminology in school. In the meantime you can look up terminology on the Internet or buy a used medical terminology dictionary and educate yourself.

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Specializes in Trauma, Emergency.

do you have your NA yet? i didn't know too much medical terminology until I took my NA course and got certified. I know some programs don't require that you have your NA before you enter your program, but take it from me: even if they don't require you to be an NA before starting your RN program, try to take the course and get certified and work as an NA first. You have enough to worry about when you start clinicals that you don't want to have to stress your first patient interaction then too. NA class and experience will really familiarize you to the terminology so that this site doesn't seem like greek to you.

side note: take the stuff you read with a grain of salt. i'm still a student in clinicals and i don't hate nursing "yet." :lol2: the paperwork...i could do without it.

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I'm working on pre requisites right now too and am taking a med terminology course next semester. I'm mostly taking it bc I want to get a hospital job like unit secretary while I'm in school but they require a med term course to apply.

I get confused reading on here sometimes too but honesty I use it as a learning opportunity. If you google what you don't understand and put the words "nursing abbreviation" after it, you can figure most of it out! I have learned all sorts of cool stuff since I started reading here :) good luck!!

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Specializes in wound care.

first off nobody is ready for nursing school , its hits you unlike any other college course , its hard, fast , more information than anybody should be expected to learn plus group project community project clinicals ect ect , its just like a tornado, you have to hold on and try not to get blown away

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Specializes in Government.

I'm still trying to find out if I am cut out for nursing....25 years later. It is my experience that the ones who ask the question have the right frame of mind; it is the students who didn't ask I worried about.

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Specializes in Rehab, critical care.

You will learn everything you need to know in school. Well, scratch that. I shouldn't say everything, but if you attend a good program, you will be prepared to function as a novice nurse when you graduate. While I still had (have) a lot of learning to do, I feel as though I had a good foundation. Attend a school that will give you just that, and being a new nurse won't be such a culture shock. (Make sure the program has sufficient clinical hours where you are actually doing nursing work, not just observing. Granted, you will spend time observing (like maybe on a home health day or community day), but that shouldn't be the majority of your education. And, there really is no way you can know if you will do well as a nurse; you just try it, take a chance, and hope for the best (and obviously do your best providing good care, etc, and always strive to continually improve). You could try shadowing and working as a CNA first, though. Good luck!! :)

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
im currently at a community college doing my pre-reqs for nursing. i have been reading these forums for a few months now and sometimes i just get so lost and have no idea what you guys are talking about in "nursing language" like when you say medical terms like "coded" or when your talking with codes and everything. should i have some prior knowledge of medical terms and abbreviations before i start school?:confused:

Don't let our "lingo" freak you out. There is lingo used here that even I have to ask...What's that?:confused: The slang and "nursing terms" come with exposure. Many people know some medical terms by watching TV shows although those shows do VERY LITTLE in representing nursing in it's actual light.

If you have spare time....;)....a medical terminology course would give you a leg up in understanding what is going on around you. web3.uti.edu warn you local terms also come into play when addressing medical terminology whether or not the regulatory agencies like it or not. Many times you can google the word and get the meaning with in the context of the sentence.

CODED, Code Blue, Dr. Stat, All Dr's stat means for the most part cardiac arrest. Here is a list of some slang terms that may help you some funny some serious......don't sweat the small stuff. Get good grades, work hard and you'll do fine.

Doctors, nurses, and other health-care professionals need to communicate with each other quickly and effectively. They also have a sense of humor, as you'll notice in the following list of slang terms used in hospitals.

  1. Appy: a person's appendix or a patient with appendicitis
  2. Baby Catcher: an obstetrician
  3. Bagging: manually helping a patient breathe using a squeeze bag attached to a mask that covers the face
  4. Banana: a person with jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes)
  5. Blood Suckers/Leeches: those who take blood samples, such as laboratory technicians
  6. Bounceback: a patient who returns to the emergency department with the same complaints shortly after being released
  7. Bury the Hatchet: accidentally leaving a surgical instrument inside a patient
  8. CBC: complete blood count; an all-purpose blood test used to diagnose different illnesses and conditions
  9. Code Brown: a patient who has lost control of his or her bowels
  10. Code Yellow: a patient who has lost control of his or her bladder
  11. Crook-U: similar to the ICU or PICU, but referring to a prison ward in the hospital
  12. DNR: do not resuscitate; a written request made by terminally ill or elderly patients who do not want extraordinary efforts made if they go into cardiac arrest, a coma, etc.
  13. Doc in a Box: a small health-care center, usually with high staff turnover
  14. FLK: funny-looking kid
  15. Foley: a catheter used to drain the bladder of urine
  16. Freud Squad: the psychiatry department
  17. Gas Passer: an anesthesiologist
  18. GSW: gunshot wound
  19. MI: myocardial infarction; a heart attack
  20. M & Ms: mortality and morbidity conferences where doctors and other health-care professionals discuss mistakes and patient deaths
  21. MVA: motor vehicle accident
  22. O Sign: an unconscious patient whose mouth is open
  23. Q Sign: an unconscious patient whose mouth is open and tongue is hanging out
  24. Rear Admiral: a proctologist
  25. Shotgunning: ordering a wide variety of tests in the hope that one will show what's wrong with a patient
  26. Stat: from the Latin statinum, meaning immediately
  27. Tox Screen: testing the blood for the level and type of drugs in a patient's system
  28. UBI: unexplained beer injury; a patient who appears in the ER with an injury sustained while intoxicated that he or she can't explain

http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/healthcare-providers/decoding-28-medical-slang-terms.htm

But I wouldn't get too obsessed.....the voacbulary will comn with experience. Good Luck in school!

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Don't worry about the terminology. That will be the least of your worries in school and beyond. They will probably spend a few weeks at the beginning covering all the terminology/abbreviations.

What I would strongly recommend is getting your CNA license and getting a nurse assistant/tech job - like now! It's extremely difficult to find nursing jobs as a new graduate without previous direct patient care experience. I think nurse recruiters will view direct patient tech experience as much more relevant than being a unit secretary when it comes time to apply for RN jobs.

A lot of nursing faculty are not aware of how incredibly difficult the job market is right now for new grads, and they aren't emphasizing in the schools the importance of tech jobs. I'll be graduating very soon and I have been keeping a close eye on which grads have been getting hired the past few semesters - it is the ones with tech experience, and 80 to 90% of the time they're getting hired in the facility where they're already teching. It is not uncommon to hear of 2010 or even 2009 new grads who lack healthcare experience to be still unemployed - even in large metro areas with tons of hospitals.

Try really hard to get hired as a tech in a facility where you could see yourself wanting to be a nurse after you graduate (all the better if it is a facility that plans to expand and hire more). Do whatever it takes to network your way into that facility and get hired as a tech. It usually takes a lot more than just applying online. Have any friends who already work in a hospital or facility you're interested in? Have them politely but persistently recommend you. Call and ask to speak with the manager of a unit you're interested in. Ask the manager if you can come and shadow a nurse or volunteer. Then as you get to know the manager a little, indicate your eagerness to work as a tech. It really does work that way! If you're already a tech in a hospital/facility, you have a thousand times bettter chance of getting hired there as a new grad RN than if you're just dropping a "cold" application as you graduate with no experience. If you don't get a tech job before starting nursing school, as soon as you're in a facility for nursing school clinicals, always be networking and tactfully seeking out opportunities to get your foot in the door (the shadow-a-nurse request usually works really well then!)

Then, once you are a tech, work your butt off and show them why you're an asset to the hospital. Have a positive attitude, do all your trainings on time without needing to be reminded, and show up to all of your unit meetings. That's my biggest advice to anyone entering or considering nursing school.

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