8 months until graduation and I want to drop out!!

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Hi i am in need of some serious advice. I am a 21 year old female nursing student at kent state university in ohio. im going for my associate's degree. well this is actually my last year...only 8 more months to go. For 2 years after high school graduation i attended a different college doing my pre-reqs for the bachelor's program. after 2 years they finally informed me there was a 2 year waiting list and you had to have at least a 3.6GPA to get into the program. So i frantically applied to other colleges trying to get into the program. I was SO excited when I was accepted right away to Kent. The first year I breezed through, mostly because I had been a nurse's aide at a hospital for 3 years and it helped me alot. But also during my first year I started to regret going into nursing. I really wasnt interested in it at all, i disliked all aspects about it, i felt like i had no idea what i was doing, and my professors were grumpy and very unhelpful. anytime i was at work at the hospital as an aide or at clinicals i watched what the nurse's were doing and thought to myself "i really dont want to do this." I started to dread going to clinicals and i look like a fool in front of the instructors because i get very nervous and i start to shake and i forget how to properly do things and i make stupid mistakes because my brain just freezes.

well after i made it through my first year i figured i was halfway done and i would just finish with it. But this is my 4th week into my second and final year and i am in serious danger of failing. i absolutely hate nursing and i have no interest in it whatsoever. i feel like i am soo far behind my other classmates, i feel like i have no idea what im doing and i feel so disorganized and clueless. i am supposed to graduate in only 8 months but i feel like i have learned nothing and there is no way i could actually take care of patients on my own. i am so disappointed and frustrated with myself. i have wasted 3 and a half years on nursing and a whole lot of money and i finally figure out that it is not for me at all. i honestly hate everything about it. its so embarrassing when all your friends and family think you are going to have this awesome career making so much money and then you have to tell them that you dont think you are going to do it after all. my parents were so PROUD of me that i was going into nursing.

i really have no clue what to do. if i fail out this year i can always go back next year...maybe by then i will be more mature and responsible and i can get through it even though i dont like it. or i was thinking about going into massage therapy...but then i found out they make hardly any money. i dont know if its worth it to keep trying to be a nurse, i really despise it so far. but if i make it through, i will have a very dependable job and make a lot of money and have benefits. i am so mad at myself for wasting so much time!!!

PLEASE can someone either support my idea of finding a different career, and WHY should i not do nursing

or-

try to convince me to change my mind and stick with nursing!

I NEED OPINIONS PLEASE

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Well I read your post and my heart really goes out to you. First let me say Iam 45 years old, and I have alot of regrets in my life, one being why didnt I go to college when I was younger. The wisest advice From my point of view is please please finish. Even if you dont plan to be in nursing now, at your age, I know your probably wanting to do something you have a passion for, thats how I was, please believe me things change when you get older, get married, and have kids. Good jobs are hard to come by, being a nurse will almost gaurantee a very well paying job. Since you've invested so much time already finish. I know that your feelings might be really strong about quitting, but take a deep breath, regroup and continue.I really believe you will not regret it. Get your license, then pursue other things, If they dont work out, you always have your license to fall back on. People would tell me that when I was younger, but I didnt listen, now I regret it. If you were my daughter Id say the same thing. Please dont' quit,:nono: your at the last stretch, you'll regret it emotionally if you quit:o. think positive!!!!!

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Maybe taking some time off to rest and review your life and goals. Perhaps some of the courses can be put to better use towards another degree? Or perhaps you're just tired and burned out and really don't hate it all that much. Life is too short and nursing too tough to do it if you sincerely hate it.

Best wishes.

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Specializes in Neurosciences.

I am in the same situation as you are with respect to not wanting to complete school with 8 months left. So, why am I not choosing to end my education at this point? So what leads me to complete my degree? I think it is do to the fact that I am HOPING that when is all said and done:

1) I will truly enjoy the field of nursing.

2) As a Registered Nurse I will have a very wide variety of job choices over my lifetime.

3) And most importantly, I owe it to myself to finish school after all the B.S. that I went through to get into a nursing program.

But, every day is a struggle to stay on task. So, I encourage you to search your soul very carefully before choosing to close the door on the field of nursing.

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.

I am sooo sorry that you are going through this. I want to suggest that you go to your school's counseling department and spend some time talking about exactly what happened that "changed" your mind. Perhaps it has more to do with your professors or other factors rather than nursing itself. It also sounds as if you are not being supported very well during your clinicals. A good counselor can help you sort out exactly what you are so fearful about and come up with some strategies to help you. I would find a counselor and stay with it all year. Be sure you have a good connection and trust your gut feelings in your first few sessions as to whether it is a good fit. Counseling is all about the relationship that you develop, so it is important that you like the person. You have spent so much time on nursing. At least go in and talk for a session or two so that you don't feel that you are dealing with this all on your own. You may decide to pursue a different major and that is perfectly alright. Please, don't try to make all those decisions on your own in a fragile emotional state.

:icon_hug: it is all going to be OK, I promise!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I think it is extremely foolish to spend a lot of money on an education that prepares you for a career you will hate. How are you paying for this? Can you financially afford to throw that money away? .... Or will you be paying loans back for years and regretting the fact that your last semester cost you xxxx dollars that would be better spent on a career that will suit you better?

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

trust me i know its horrible that i am throwing away all this money. but i just figured out about 2 months ago that i do not want to be a nurse. before that, pretty much everything we did was aide work which i did great at and am used to because ive been an aide for 3 years.

but this second year of nursing is totally different. we are really learning what it is to be a nurse, what they do, all their responsibilities, etc. ive also been observing the nurses more at work and realizing that it is something i do not want to do.

im paying all my tuition with grants and student loans. i probably have about $15k in loans to pay back. everyone keeps saying that i should have figured this out a long time ago....but it just hit me. last year i had a feeling i didnt like it but i just thought maybe it was because i just didnt like school. but this year i absolutely hate me clinicals, i hate doing assessments, charting, passing meds, etc etc etc. i couldnt have realized it sooner because i never really realized what it was like to be a nurse. also the fact that i feel like im not catching on at all, i feel like ive learned nothing. im not comfortable at all with nursing...i just feel like its not my thing at all.

then my instructors dont help at all. they are very short with you, they act like they hate answering questions. last year a student asked the teacher a question and she said "cant you read??? you spend all this money on your books and you cant even look it up???" we dont spend all this money for school only to teach ourselves from a book. they all get sarcastic and smart alecky with us. all the instructors tell us different things from each other so what is right with one instructor gets us yelled at by another instructor. we never have time in the nursing lab...so they give us a list of how to do a procedure and then they expect us to read it, teach ourselves, then go do it correctly on a real patient.

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Specializes in Neurosciences.

If we knew in the past what we now know today, there would be nothing in life to learn.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

You can't change what's in the past. That's gone. All you can do now is decide whether the investment is worth it to your for next semester.

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
but this second year of nursing is totally different. we are really learning what it is to be a nurse, what they do, all their responsibilities, etc. ive also been observing the nurses more at work and realizing that it is something i do not want to do.

im paying all my tuition with grants and student loans. i probably have about $15k in loans to pay back. everyone keeps saying that i should have figured this out a long time ago....

I'm sorry, I didn't really hear you with my first response. But I would still strongly recommend that you go to a counselor at your school to look at your options and what you would like to do next. Don't beat yourself up so much! Most adults will have at least 3 different careers in their lifetime. Good for you for finding out before you spent years being miserable.

I want you to know that $15K is not THAT much money. Some people actually go to college for an education and NOT for job training. Your education, even though you may not use it for employment is NEVER wasted. It will enrich you forever as a human being. Education is valid and valuable in itself.

Your family and friends may not understand and you will undoubtedly have to withstand some grief about this for awhile. But, as you already know, this is YOUR life and you are the one who has to live it. Be proud that you know yourself well enough and are committed enough to yourself to not put up with a miserable life!! That is remarkable and definitely something you should feel very good about!!

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Wow, I could swear I wrote your post myself....

I am like you. I figured out a little too late that i DID NOT want to be a nurse, and i HATED working in the hospital. I forced myself to finish though because I felt like I had already gone so far. I would STRONGLY encourage you to do the same. As stated in previous posts, this is a great choice to be able to fall back on! You will always be able to get a well paying job which is important.

Please bear in mind also that you can do many different types of jobs as a registered nurse. You do not have to work in a hospital if you don't like it. You can work for a pharmaceutical company, an insurance company, a doctors office, etc.

And...even if you DO decide that you want nothing to do with the nursing field, you always have the flexible option of working part-time or per diem while you continue your education for something else.

Also, don't let the nursing instructors get you down. Some instructors are great, but some have a way of making you feel like the scum of the earth. All the nurses I know felt this way in school. It's normal to feel nervous and like you don't know anything. Your real life training starts when you get a job.

I am currently working as a travel nurse, and while I CAN'T say I enjoy hospital nursing, I do enjoy the travel aspect, the money, and the vacation time I can take between assignments. If you want to talk further, feel free to PM me, and please try to stick it out!!!

Good Luck,

Melissa

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I hated nursing school as well, but I stuck to it because I knew besides patient care and clinical, there are other things. After 3 years of actual patient care, I got out of it and have done case management, research, bed control, liaison work and currently in the biotech world. I am very happy now with what I have done, and I hope you will too.

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