Male RN student here

[JamesMC]

Hello all,

I've been reading a lot of topics on here that have deemed quite useful, so I figured why not join and ask some questions of my own.

First of all, I'm 19 years old and going to school in the northern Florida region.

I'm finishing up my last prerequisites this semester and start the program in the Fall semester.

To be honest, I never really considered Nursing as a career till recently, but I have always considered the medical field as an option. A friend of mine is in the program right now, so she fills me in daily of whats it like. The more prerequisites I breeze through with high grades , it intrigues me even more and only fuels my desire to do this job.

Now, I know that nursing is an extremely stressful job, but I dont want that to be the reason I dont go through with it. I've got some uneasy feelings that go through my mind from time to time, but as I've read this seems to be pretty normal. I feel this is the right job for me though, I've ran through my options and it only seems right.

I was pretty much raised by mum and brothers due to an ugly divorce and rarely got to see my dad, but they both are caring people in nature and in turn, I believe this is what led me to be as sensitive and caring as I am (but not to the point of unreasonably sensitive). I've watched my mum bust her ass off in the hospitals and also been in quite a few due to health issues and all of it just intrigues me.

So with that all said, are these uneasy feelings normal? They occur rarely, but when they do it makes me nervous.

I'd like to hear your experiences and how you dealt with the stresses and difficulties.

[Batman24]

NS is stressful. I think your feelings are perfectly normal. You are a young guy and you could really use this degree to do so many things as time goes on. You might work in bedside for experience and down the line move into management, administration, etc. You will have a lot of options open to you after you graduate and work in the field for a bit. You might even want to go into forensic nursing or legal nursing if those fields interest you. And if down the line you do decide this isn't for you then you move on and do something else. Best of luck. :)

[wlb06]

They are normal, go for it bro.

Once you start, stick with it and finish though and you wont regret

[JamesMC]

Thank you for the encouraging words. Batman, I definitely agree with all the above you listed and that is another reason why I initially chose this field. Opportunities seem endless and ultimately, I would like to be in the administration area, as well. But then again, things may change from now to then, but they seem promising now.

[Batman24]

Glad I made you feel a bit better, James. Feel free to PM me any time. :)

[rngolfer53]

Yes, nursing is stressful, and hard work. You need a thick skin, too. It can be very rewarding and frustrating, all in about 2 minutes.

It's not, or at least shouldn't be, a job as much as a profession. You must be in tune with the idea of always learning, both in formal and informal ways. There's plenty of intellectual challenge in nursing.

Probably more so than in other areas, the first year or so in nursing is a challenge. New nurses are too often given inadequate orientation, and then thrown out to sink or swim. I think this is s-l-o-w-l-y starting to change, but it'll take time.

If you are interested in eventually moving into administration, there is a huge need for nurses with floor experience and good business management education and skills. Get an MBA at some point.

As others have mentioned, nursing is a very broad field, with myriad nooks and crannies for just about any interest from epidemiology to management to geriatric care.

Best of luck to you.

[Magsulfate, BSN, RN]

I agree with the other posters. Also, there is a huge need for male nurses all around. This profession is not just for women. Men bring a lot to the table. Besides being strong, some pt's need a male for any number of reasons to take care of them.

It is scary thinking about nursing school, heck,, when I think about going back to school it scares me to death and I'm already a nurse. Just hang in there,, and my favorite quote from my father.. he used to always tell me this when I was in nursing school....

"The time will pass whether or not you are in nursing school,, so you might as well stick to it, before you know it, you will be a nurse"

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

Doubts are completely normal. Just stick to it and you will reap the rewards. You sound like a good students and this is a great profession. Nursing school wasn't THAT stressful and my first year in nursing isn't turning out all that hard either like people have posted here so don't worry about that. :)

[JamesMC]

Thank you all very much for the quick and informative responses.

I don't think it should be TOO stressful per se, but more along the lines of nerve racking as I'm sure most of you guys experienced that. I'm a fairly calm person to begin with and usually don't let stresses, like school, run my mentality. Let's just hope that applies to nursing school, as well. The more I think about it, the military aspect of this job is really appealing to me. If I weren't already more than halfway through school, I'd probably be in the military now. The discipline and security are highly appealing to me.

Any one got any experience with the military after getting your RN degree?

3 options appeal to me: Traveling nurse, administrative position, or the military.

[rngolfer53]

Any one got any experience with the military after getting your RN degree?

3 options appeal to me: Traveling nurse, administrative position, or the military.

No personal experience, but I would strongly consider it if I wasn't as old as I am--mid-50s.

A few years ago, my next door neighbor was getting his FNP education with the Navy. He loved his career.

A good friend from nursing school was in the reserves, and recently decided to continue his military career, largely d/t education benefits for advanced practice studies.

Natrually, I'm sure there are nurses that hate the military as well. Like most places, the quality of your experience depends largely on the specific people you work with. A good team and manager makes up for a lot of negative factors.

[chicookie, BSN, RN]

NS was very stressful. So much that it made me sick. Gave me stress induced IBS. blah.

My suggestion to you is that really listen to your body. Take breaks and take it easy. You can get through it.

As for the feelings. 100% normal. Just take a deep breath and everything will be ok! =)

[JamesMC]

Thank you :)

Yea, as for military, it's been something on my mind, so I reckon when I graduate I"ll give it a shot. And after I serve my time and don't like it I'll move on to traveling nurse.