Major decision coming soon, seeking advice

[Jonboy]

Hello everyone,

I guess I will start out with a little history of myself before I ask the question. Apologies this could be long.

I love people and I love patients. I enjoy my time that I spend with my patients a great deal and it always gives me the best feeling in the world when a patient leaves my care happy and feeling like during their time with me their life was better (even though it is just a sleep study with possible CPAP titration).

In high school I was looking for a job, basically to get the parents off my back. I was able to get a job in the Dietary Department at the hospital my mom worked at (she's been a nurse all her life). For 5 years I gave dinner trays to the patients. I always enjoyed conversation with them, specifically the elderly. Obviously there were patients that scared me due to their condition, both mental and physical, but I enjoyed the interaction none the less. I have even done two Mission Projects to foreign, 3rd world countries to work at hospitals. I love the hospital setting.

In college the only thing I knew I wanted to do and was good at, was working with people. I went through a few majors, including psychology, but none of them peaked my interest. I tried chemistry and it was great and I was good at it....until I ran into Calc-based physics. Once you add more letters then numbers I get a little lost. 5 years after entering college I graduated with a Bachelor's in Community and Public Health. The disease part of the curriculum interested me the most.

I graduated in August of 08 and was lost after graduation. I didn't know what to do. I was able to get a job in late August as a polysomnagraphic technician, which is basically someone who does sleep studies on people who have apnea, narcolepsy, ect. As I stated in the beginning I love the interaction with my patients, even though its only about 2 hrs total, that is the only thing keeping me at this job (that and the benefits, sigh).

So after mild depression sank in due to the night hours and limited person to person contact outside of my patients I started to think. I want to do something that puts me with people and that is centered around diseases. Due to my constant switching in college, loss of interest, and a few personal problems, my overall GPA suffered. My cumulative is 2.4 with my graduating major GPA of 3.1. I know I have a few hills to climb for either grad school or nursing school but I am will to go through hell to prove myself.

A major decision is fast approaching for me. Either continue in grad school and obtain a Master's in Epidemiology, which would be great b/c it deals wth diseases however little to no patient interaction, or go to nursing school where I can work with patients, educate on diseases, and work for agencies that deal with infectious diseases (assuming of course I go back and get a MS in Epi). Due to my grades I know it may be very hard to get into an Accel-BSN program so I may have to get an ADN from the local community college then go back for my BSN.

Everyone tells me I would make a good nurse. I've been told I'd make a great doctor because of my bedside manner (except I'm not that smart, and now time is a factor so thats out of the question), I guess there is just me left to convince. There are 2 major fears I have: 1) Bodily fluids (blood is no biggy, its the other stuff), and 2) coursework, can I handle the vigourous work (a friend of mine failed their boards a few times, i'm worried) and accept the responsibility of someones life in my hands.

I have thought about this decision for 4 months now. Any thoughts on my situation? I have meeting with the Accelerated Nursing Program Recruiter from Creighton soon, so any prayers are welcome :)

Thanks and again I apologize for the long post.

~Jon

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

I think if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything you truly want to do, even though sometimes it takes some time. Age doesn't make a difference. I graduated from nursing school when I was 42. If I can do it, so can anyone.

Personally, I don't think doctors are smarter than nurses. We just do different things. Nursing school is difficult, in some ways moreso than medical school. If you want to be a doctor though, check into it as well.

I think talking to schools is good, so you can see what their requirements would be for all the options you're considering. Then you can decide which works best for you.

About bedside care and person-to-person interaction...you might be overestimating the amount both nurses and doctors get. With all the work that has to be done, and the number of patients to be cared for, sometimes neither doctors nor nurses get oodles of time to spend with individual patients.

Body fluids are something you get more or less used to with experience. Speaking for myself, I'll never get used to mucus! We just do what we need to do and get through it for the benefit of the patient!

Good luck with your decision. I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers, since I know this is a big thing for you to figure out!

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

Jon -

In reading your post, it seems evident to me that you seem to think you'd be happier in nursing. That being said, I say go for it. You sound like a very caring person who could handle nursing and all that comes with it. I mean as far as bodily fluids go, we all have the fluids that simply gross us out. But at the time you are dealing with it, you kind of don't notice it at the time. You become a bit task oriented and it wouldn't matter if the person way lying in urine or leaked iv... you just handle it.

The course work in nursing school is vigorous, but you can rest assured that it's all relevant to what you will be doing. I can't think of too many classes that i took while in nursing school (ADN level that is, the BSN classes were a little less useful in the day to day... i mean, who really needs studies of Western Civilizations...) that didn't relate do day to day practices. And as far as when it comes to the NCLEX - take your time, relax and read carefully and comprehend what the question is asking you.

Good luck - let us know what you ultimately decide.

[Mark Perry]

I wish you the best in your decisions