I recently talked with a longtime nurse about my past career path. I worked for a behavioral school as a teacher, where students came when they were not capable of functioning in a regular school environment due to emotional disorders. It was quite a traumatic experience in that we had to restrain students, often multiple times a day, in order to prevent them from hurting themselves or others. We maintained a school full of students that should likely have been hospitalized without the use of medicines, and only the use of our bodies as restraints.
On top of this, in the years prior to working there, I lost a brother (he was a drunk driver), was abused by a stepparent, had an 11-week premature baby, filed bankruptcy, got a divorce, and moved to a town where I knew no one.
All this to say, by the end of my 3rd year at the behavioral school, I had a mental collapse. Over the next two years I was in intensive therapy and finally got meds right. It’s been 6 years and although I can’t say I’m 100%, I can say my life has completely turned around and I’m a class away from applying to Cizik.
When I spoke to this former nurse about my nervous breakdown, and the fact that my areas of interest were ER, NICU, and psych, she told me I wouldn’t be able to handle it. She said, “Everyone wants to go into surgery, or ER or psych and no one ever stays bc it’s so hard and it’s so stressful...”
I am realistic and understand what is on TV medical dramas is not how things go down. But I do think with my life experiences comes a sense of understanding and empathy that will help in whatever area I choose to work.
Do you think her assessment is correct? Do you think that my “reaction to working in that behavior school tells <me> how well <I’ll> do in psych or ER?” Her direct words.
