Looking for support

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Hello,

My name is Katie and I just joined this sight in an effort to talk to prosprective and practicing nurses. I have been strongly considering starting nursing school, actually I am trying to get into prereq classes at local college right now but I fear I may have started too late and I don't know if I'll get the classes I need this semester. I am almost 25 years old and have been struggling with the direction of my life since I graduated from high school back in 2001. Every year that goes by I get more and more nervous that I am wasting my time. I've definitely come to the conclusion that I don't want to be a career waitress, as I've seen so many people at my home in Maui do. My grandmother recently passed away from cancer and I had the honor of living with her and caring for her in the last months of her life. I was so impressed by some of the nurses who cared for her during her stay in the hospital and especially by the wonderful woman from the hospice center who helped us go through the process of her death. Going through this experience made me realize that my nature could be very condusive to this type of work. Overall I think I am a very compassionette nurturing person who enjoys taking care of others. To me this seems like one of the most important qualities a nurse can have. But I'm scared . I'm scared I am not smart enough. I'm not the most technical person and science and math have never been my favorite subjects. I'm not stupid I am just afraid I am getting in over my head. Anyone out there with similar apprehensions or advice for what I'm feeling? I'm getting to the point in my life where I think it would be better to try anything and fail rather than just stay stagnent as I am. Also, everything I've researched on a nurses lifestyle has seemed very appealing. The ability to travel and find work where ever you go. Overworked yes but decent wages. How accurate is this? From practicing nurses do you feel you receive adaquette (no idea how to spell that) compensation for your hard work? Appreciate any feedback I could get. Thanks.

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.

:[anb]: welcome to all nurses!

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Specializes in Home Health Care,LTC.

:wlcmghrt: I am an LPN now working on my RN. I also an not very good in math or science but that has not stopped me from getting what I want.

I love the nursing profession. If this is what u really want then u can succeed.

Good Luck

Angie

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Thanks Angie,

It helps to hear that. Did you always want to be a nurse? Did you know straight away it was right for you?

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It's never too late to start nursing - you might not get in now - but you will be able to later. Good luck to you!!

:welcome:

:balloons:

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.

Welcome.

I am changing careers into nursing; I start school in a couple of weeks.

I am very good at math and science but didn't always think so. It turned out that I just never really tried very hard but wasn't honest enough with myself to admit it. Later in life, I found motivation to work my tail off and I found that I both liked them and was good at them.

You may surprise yourself if you're so motivated to become a nurse. Take a class or two at the community college and give 'em your all. Only then will you really know what you can do.

Not all nurses are overworked and not all are underpaid. Yes, many of them are but there are nurses working in places with decent staffing levels and pretty good pay. Are nurses paid what they're worth? By market standards, sure. By comparison to their responsibility and their role in getting sick and injured people well again, no. You can earn a good living in some places.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.

Moved to the General Nursing Discussion forum for better member visibility and support from members.

Welcome, Katia.

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Absolutely, you'll never know unless you try. So don't wait, find out, I bet you'll be surprised at how well you can do if you want something bad enough.

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Specializes in Jack of all trades, and still learning.

Katia:

Years experience - zero? OK, not official, but you have an idea of what is involved. You won't be going in with 'rose-coloured glasses' like many of us did, thinking we could save the world. You;ve been through a painful process (((hugs)))

Do it. Try it. We can't tell you how good you will be. Being smart has nothing to do with it. Working hard is what is required! You have the desire. Keep chatting to us through the journey and we will be here for support. :up:

Jay

Mmm...as for knowing whether I wanted to be a nurse...No I didn't. I always wanted to be a primary school teacher. Completed 2 and 3/4 years. Then realised I wasn't good with kids. So I tried nursing, cos I still wanted to work with ppl, and found that was what I wanted! You can have horrible days like any occupation, but oh, the rewards can be so wonderful! You rarely get that in other work I think...

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho/HH/Radiology-Now Retired.

WELCOME, Katia!

The LAST thing I ever wanted to be was a nurse! lol

I'm retired now and as I've written on here before: Nursing owes me nothing. I owe nursing nothing. It served me well. I served it well. We're even.

Am I glad of the experiences? ..... You bet!

Do I regret anything? ..... Of course!

Was it hard? ..... Sometimes, extremely!

Do you need to be an Einstein? .... NO!

Do you need to apply yourself to study and hard work? .... YES!

More than anything, as with everything, BELIEVE in yourself!

Go after your goals.

Strive for your ideals.

Do what's required to bring about the dreams you hold for yourself.

Lastly, and equally importantly, ...... be insightful enough to recognise if/when it's beyond you.

All the positive's in the world will not matter if something just isn't meant to be for us.

No amount of head banging, extra classes, hours spent pushing yourself etc, will alter the direction for you if it's not within your capabilites.

Being willing to try is admirable. So is being willing to accept that some things aren't meant to be.

To try at all is to risk failure. But, risk we must. Because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing.

Now, go forth, strive for what you want and see how it turns out for you!

I wish you all the very best!

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Specializes in cardiac rehab, medical/tele, psychiatric.

Hi and welcome! This is a great site to get input. I can certainly relate to your situation. You want to get ahead in life and don't want to feel as though your wasting your potential. I made the decision to go back to school in my very late 30's..I took all my prereqs at a community college..and math and science were never my strong points..when I did get accepted it took me more than one try to pass the required math test..so there's hope for you !!

The other people are correct..it's had work, but you can do it.

I wish you the best of luck, whatever you decide to do.

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I know exactly how you feel! I'm doing my prereqs right now in hopes of getting good grades, and I'm not much of a math/science person either. I think you should go for it! Like you said in your post, it's better to try and fail than just stay stagnant. I doubt you will fail though, just work you butt off and study hard! You'll never know what you can do until you try, and if nursing is in your heart, you owe it to yourself take the chance. Good luck!!!:balloons:

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