Last semester but.. I Hate Nursing!

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I really didnt know what I was getting into with nursing. But now that i've had more experience with clinicals, i'm thinking this is not the job for me! I can't stand the idea that if I forget one little thing I can kill someone- literally. (And my memory sucks, let me tell you.) When I started this program I really thought there would be more safe guards for when you are set loose to patient care. All through out schooling I would voice this concern, and they would reassure me with "It's ok, you will be trained to handle all of these situations" well here we are, I graduate in 2 weeks and strongly feel I have not been prepared. I am a 'straight A' student and grasp the concepts well, but most of what we are taught has no use in the real world. I am starting to wonder- are there any degrees where I can apply my nursing credits? Or are there at least any jobs in nursing that are relatively low risk?

Specializes in Gerontology/Home Health CM, OB, ICU, MS.
And I stand by the fact that in school nursing, there is always the possibility that at any second, an "acute problem that could easily become deadly" can arise and as the school nurse, you are the first responder. There is no rapid response, no ICU transfer, no more experienced nurse to get help from. If the OP is looking for "low risk" specialties, this is not it. Just because life threatening emergencies are not a daily occurrance does not mean that the school nurse can be unprepared to deal with them when they arise.

Just for fun, google "School Nurse saves student" and see what happens, or read testimonials on the NASN website. BTW, I love it when someone with no school nursing experience tells me about my job. Good times :)

I strongly concur that any job where you work alone as a nurse, requires lots of experience! They may be fun jobs such as camp nurse, school nurse, or home health nurse - but they are only fun if you have the experience & confidence to know when a client is in trouble, & when they are not (most of the time).

Myself, as a summer camp nurse for just 3 months, a camper came down with hepatitis, & if I hadn't had lots of hospital experience, I could have had him hanging out in the nurse trailer with flu signs for a long time.

Nurses - get your experience where there are plenty of doctors and experienced nurses around to help!!! I am a teacher now, and I tell even my CNA students that your 1st job is really an apprenticeship, so work for the best employer possible. I think your first job sets the tone for your career, to some extent - so do well in school so your teachers give you excellent references, & even employment tips.

Or, if the market is really bad & you need to do whatever to make $$ ( and believe me, I know what that is like!), just know that you need to (as soon as possible) work with experienced health-care providers, before you are capable of practicing independently. No one can become confident from school alone, never happens.

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Specializes in Neuroscience.

Don't feel bad, I'm a 3rd semester student, and loathe med-surg, but it's a necessary evil until graduation, and maybe even for my first job just to get my foot in the door for my true nursing passion: psych/addictions & rehab/public health nursing.

Even if you never find your niche in nursing at least you will have the education to fall back on if you ever need it!

Good luck.

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A school nurse is not an EMT. I did not say that a school nurse is a difficult job (it is, but not for the reasons I mentioned. Those are the rare occurrances). I did not say it was not for a new grad (I had less than 6 mos hospital experience before I became a school nurse). I think you need to re-read my post. I was responding to a post that said there are not acute, urgent problems in school nursing. This is untrue. I was also responding to the OP suggesting that school nursing is not for someone who lacks confidence in handling urgent situations, which based on the first post seems to fit the OP.

Not sure why you are debating EMT versus nurse. Completely different settings, scope of practice, and education. An EMT cannot do a school nurse's job in it's entirety, although the training might be useful in the rare emergent event.

You're really getting worked up by this, aren't you?

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

"Sure, a school nurse will face emergencies that require first aid (basic EMT skills), but you cannot argue that the daily activities of a school nurse are as volitile as those of inpatient nurses."

False! You, or anyone who thinks like this, should shadow a school nurse. Not once, but multiple times in order to get a feel of the wide range of care they give to their students. There are kids with complex medical issues nowadays that are treated by the nurse in school. Things can go downhill very quickly (maybe not quite as much as in an inpatient setting, but it still occurs) and the nurse must have the experience and knowledge to respond and care for these students. To be honest, I once believed that school nursing was easy and there wasn't much too it, until I saw everything they had to do. It isn't like it was many, many years ago where they did routine physicals, some testing, and gave you a cold pack for a bruised knee after gym class. I have a lot of appreciation for that type of nursing now. Thank you to all the school nurses out there!

Purple_Scrubs - Don't let others get under your skin. There are many people who just don't understand school nursing.

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Wow, you guys clearly want to turn this into a "my job is bigger than yours" argument, so I'm taking my ball and going home.

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"Sure, a school nurse will face emergencies that require first aid (basic EMT skills), but you cannot argue that the daily activities of a school nurse are as volitile as those of inpatient nurses."

False! You, or anyone who thinks like this, should shadow a school nurse. Not once, but multiple times in order to get a feel of the wide range of care they give to their students. There are kids with complex medical issues nowadays that are treated by the nurse in school. Things can go downhill very quickly (maybe not quite as much as in an inpatient setting, but it still occurs) and the nurse must have the experience and knowledge to respond and care for these students. To be honest, I once believed that school nursing was easy and there wasn't much too it, until I saw everything they had to do. It isn't like it was many, many years ago where they did routine physicals, some testing, and gave you a cold pack for a bruised knee after gym class. I have a lot of appreciation for that type of nursing now. Thank you to all the school nurses out there!

Purple_Scrubs - Don't let others get under your skin. There are many people who just don't understand school nursing.

I did rotate with a school nurse (RN) in community health. She provided (never gave) quite a few medicines. Assisted some kids in checking their blood sugar and giving insulin, i.e. she got the kits out of cabinets for them. She checked urine ketones on one. She provided a several inhalers for asthmatic kids to use themselves. She gave two different kids tube feedings, and ironically I had just stopped one's mom with him in the car the day before and written her a ticket for disregarding a traffic control device, no proof of insurance, and no child safety restraint, and she straight cath'd a spina bifida kid twice so he could pee. Add into that the sundry scrapes and bumps with lots of placebo ice packs. There was no giving out OTC meds like we got when I was in school. Then again, when I was in school, a chronically ill kid didn't go to public school or get medical treatments while there, but the rest of us were all healed with Tylenol and Pepto-Bismol - no matter the ailment. Fevers, pukes, ear aches, and rashes were all sent home. When I asked why she wanted to be a school nurse she replied, and I'll paraphrase but get really close, "I used to work hospice but that got to be too much with people always passing away all the time, and I wanted more time to spend with my kids. I get out of school when they do, and when I'm here I don't do anything! This is the best kept secret in nursing."

All jobs have their pros and cons, and it's certainly worth bragging about when you get a job where you can be relaxed all day instead of running around shooting people up with meds every 30 minutes. I'm not diminishing the role of the school nurse at all. It's great.

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Wow, you guys clearly want to turn this into a "my job is bigger than yours" argument, so I'm taking my ball and going home.

Why? It's a pretty fun spectator sport.

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

Don't think that is the case at all, at least my post wasn't geared towards that lol. There are so many different aspects of nursing and so many different types I think it's all wonderful! I think that the school nurse who posted was simply trying to get her point across to a poster who basically called school nursing a lower skilled nursing job. She is only trying to defend what she does. Yes some of these posts could have been worded a bit better and differently (some less "snarky"), but we all have to remember that respect is very important among ALL nurses. :)

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

"Then again, when I was in school, a chronically ill kid didn't go to public school or get medical treatments while there"

Yup. Same here.

However, while the nurse you shadowed told you that while she was working she did nothing and that was the best kept secret, I am sure that doesn't go for all the school nurses of course. Not everyone feels that way. :) They do see some interesting things now though! Like you said, back then it wasn't at all like it is now.

All of these posts have gone a bit off topic lol, but they are interesting to say the least. It's nice to have conversations about different types of nursing though, rather than arguing or bickering.

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ImThatGuy - I don't know you, but I love you. Are you a Razorback?

My mom (85 years old and still working) is a school nurse. Some of the stories she tells me are amazing. It's a very tough job, especially with the population she deals with.

I hope I'm even half as tough as she is. As a 60 year old nursing student, I have to be!

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Specializes in School Nursing.
You're really getting worked up by this, aren't you?

Lol, not worked up at all. Just think it's important that any students or new grad reading this get a true picture. My district is chronically understaffed with nurses. Last year they hired 5 new grads. Only one is still with us. The others could not take the pressure of being THE nurse when the feces hits the fan. There is a lot of misunderstanding about what school nurses really do. The emergency is probably less than 5% of my job. It's the other 95% that can be tricky.

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ImThatGuy - I don't know you, but I love you. Are you a Razorback?

My mom (85 years old and still working) is a school nurse. Some of the stories she tells me are amazing. It's a very tough job, especially with the population she deals with.

I hope I'm even half as tough as she is. As a 60 year old nursing student, I have to be!

I am an Arkansan and a Razorback fan!!

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