No sick adults please.....can I still be a nurse?

Nomijen · Jun 22, 2011

Yes I am in NS. Have you started yet?

I guess for me, I didn't *hate* anything I have done so far. In fact the 2 weeks we spent in the nursing home were my favorite. I do LOVE people, and I have empathy and sympathy as far as the eye can see. Do I want to do some of these things as a career day in and day out? No. But they are not completely intolerable, in fact, I am the annoying Ms. Sunshine of the group and I think everything I am doing, seeing, learning now will make me an awesome, kick ass trauma nurse one day. I want to be the best hiney wiper, brief changer and bed bath giver in the universe. That is how I intend to master everything, paying my dues and learning from the bottom. (no pun intended lol)

I love the poster before me who said, keep your mind open. I would add to it, keep your attitude open as well. Cognitive reframing lol...if you need to look at each client, each skill and imagine how it will apply to Peds, then so be it. The amazing nurses who went before us, and designed these programs have added each piece for a reason. Honestly, 2 years is a short short amount of time for the responsibility we are given as RN's. You are literally learning to hold lives in your hands.

There is no way around, you must go through.

Best of luck to you :)

mom22many · Jun 22, 2011

I would like to be a CNM, but i have great compassion for anyone old or young that needs care. If we open our minds the world can be a humbling place, Everyone has a story and i find as much as Nurses teach, they learn from everyone they care for. Peel away the life circumstance of a person and we are all the same, flawed with the same ending~I hope you find grace and strength to get through your program~

27400 · Aug 5, 2011

I have been a peds nurse for the last 11 years (now teach med surg and peds, both theory and clinical).
What many new nurses fail to realize is that peds IS med surg. While the variety does not exist as much as it does in adult nursing, they are the same disorders, same skills, same physical nursing care. I have worked with many Peds Princesses in my day, who thought they were the cat's meow b/c they did not have to pay their dues in M/S. The very same nurses had no idea what to do with the post chemo kid with hemorrhagic cystitis who needed a CBI (to name one instance).
Now that I do most of my clinicals in M/S, I can honestly say that caring for adults is so much easier! Don't get me wrong, I love kids, and being a peds nurse. But it is a challenge (I think that is why I enjoy it, especially doing clinicals with the students). You need to be creative, negotiate, bargain, and deal with the families. Very rarely does a kid want the interventions you offer them. And many of the parents have the "do you really need to do that to my child" attitude. So yeah, while the diapers (and output) are smaller, the bedbaths are a walk in the park (unless you have a comatose or delayed teeneager), and there are a lot less meds (in general peds, that is), it is psychosocially draining and challenging.
I cannot speak to OB, except for this one thing: 20 years ago, I could have written your original post (except for the 4 kids). I so badly wanted to work in OB. Now, I have absolutely no interest in it (and never really did once I became a nurse).
Keep your mind open... and your distaste for MS as far away from your patiets (and instructors) as you possibly can.

You hit the nail on this one! Sometimes the psychosocial or "emotional" aspect of nursing can be the most draining part... adults and peds alike. I'm a new grad and never worked in peds but I've volunteered in many day cares and the amount of time you spend time explaining to a child AND their parents why "something needs to be done over another" (whether it's simple, like hand washing or something life sustaining, like medication) is soooo--for the lack of a better word--annoying. You really need to have patience. I'll give you an example: Let's say an adult patient does not want to take his medication. You ask him why and he says because it's against his certain belief/values. You as a nurse, knowing that this patient is alert, oriented and sound, take his word, document it and follow any policy regarding patients refusing medications. Now let's put this in a peds perspective: The child refuses to take the medication through a needle and syringe. You as the nurse ask why? The child says "because it will hurt." Even though you tell the child that it will only hurt a little and that they need this because they will get even sicker, the child still refuses. What do you do next? You still have other patients to see and one of them needs to go for some testing.

I find that the children aren't only your patients but their parents too. I already have difficulty spending a lot of time with my adult patients to provide emotional support when I want to due to a hectic schedule, I don't have time to coddle and sooth every time a patient is receiving some sort of medical/nursing intervention. Anyway that's just my two cents on peds. As for NICU and MAT, I haven't really thought about it but I'm pretty open for any opportunity that comes my way. Peds is the last thing I want to do, to be honest. Before I started nursing school 4 years ago, I thought I would hate working in an LTC facility, but you actually meet the most interesting people who've gone through a lot. You hear the most interesting and funniest stories! I would so rather do long term care than peds. any day! With that being said, I still want to get my first job in a hospital because at this point in my career, I still have a young body that can do heavy lifting and speed walk from one side of the unit to the other.

going2BaNurse2014 · Aug 5, 2011

You're gonna have to suck it up until you get where you are going.

Exactly! If you are truly passionate about nursing then you will overcome whatever hesitation, fear, or anything that you might not enjoy doing. You'll be fine, just imagine your patients are your mom or dad, or one of your kiddos, and give them the kind of care that you would expect and want them to have.

NeoNurseTX, RN · Aug 5, 2011

I hate peds clinicals. Adults were okay. I'm a NICU nurse now and wouldn't have it any other way. (But we float to PICU and the peds floors which is just a nightmare to me because I don't really know how to deal with sick kids.)

BBRANRN2013, ASN, RN · Aug 5, 2011

Most hospitals in my area want u to have at least 2 years med/surg experience before you can work in Labor and Delivery. So my thought is you have to take what you can get to get the experience you need. My life long dream is to work in Labor and Delivery. I have had four children myself, one of which was in the NICU. I would love to work in one of these areas but at this point I know I'm going to have to start somewhere else. I have been putting apps in for a Personal Care Tech at my local hospitals (i found one in Labor and Delivery) I hope they call, that way i know that I can gain some experience on this floor. As far as NS goes, I am in my 3rd semester, the first two clinical semesters wree spent at a Rehab hospital (great patients), this coming semester I will be at a local hospital, and then next semester I start my OB/Labor and Delivery Rotation which is only like 15 weeks. I can't wait to start that semester. I so look forward to it. You have to take the good with the bad. If you don't like older adults I don't know how you would get thru all the rotations. Most older patients are very friendly and love Nursing students. I would take a chance and just do it.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Aug 5, 2011

when i was nursing faculty we knew that every year about 80-95% of our incoming class would want to be "mother and baby nurses" or pedi. it's understandable, because like the op they are all familiar children through babysitting, having their own, or having been patients of pediatricians once:d. some were horrified that they had to pass all areas of nursing practice to earn their degrees and sit for the nclex. they really thought that all they would ever see was sweet babies and mommies with newborns, no sick people, nothing but easy stuff. they really didn't have a clue about what nursing was. we could count on about 25% leaving in the first three weeks when they learned how hard school is, how much science they had to master, and that sometimes, well, **** happens and nurses do clean it up. or the sight of actual naked bodies horrifies them. or something.

well, fortunately for anyone who isn't a normal mom with newborn, most nurses matured past that juvenile stage and ended up in other areas. this is not to say there should be no respect for pedi or l&d-- as some of my colleagues have pointed out, you need excellent medical and surgical nursing assessment, psychosocial, and emotional skills to enter those specialty areas; my hat's off to 'em; neither one was for me, personally, once i got out of high school and actually entered the college nursing program. as people mature in general, growing out of their immature visions of life, so do nursing students as they pass through college.

so, op, eventually you will be experienced enough to choose one of the myriad nursing opportunities in the world (especially if you have planned ahead and are in a bsn program). one might be "no sick adults," but...maybe not.

:twocents: i always tell students to ask every nurse they see in any clinical or non-clinical setting why they do what they do...and why they don't do what they don't do. you choose.

"oh, mother-baby nursing-- what a great way to get a new family off to a good start, sharing labor as a supportive couple, establishing breastfeeding, everyone's happy, hardly ever anything sad there, except for the fetal demises and massive infections and we shunt them off the floor to med.surg anyway..."

"oh, my god, mother-baby? puhleeze. tits and fundi and peripads and intrusive mothers-in-law and barfing teenage fathers and 15-year-olds who don't know what "lady partsl delivery" means, and crack /fetal alcohol babies that get abandoned in our nursery and if i never see a birth plan written by a spoiled rich woman again it will be too damn soon."

see what i mean?

ReinventingMyselfAgain, MSN, RN · Aug 6, 2011

Grntea, I seriously love your post. The "not so happy endings" are the main reason I'd never pursue a career in maternity. I've seen too many kids who were survivors of these types of situations, and it's heartbreaking

shortnorthstudent · Aug 6, 2011

You can get through nursing school if that's what your passion truly is. However, in today's world, sick people have babies. Patients with heart conditions, high blood pressure, renal disease, pneumonia, c-diff, cystic fibrosis, etc. You will be caring for sick patients, not just happy healthy moms laboring and deliverying 40 week perfect babies.

In addition, if you work in a large peds hospital, you will have adults for patients. Our peds hospital has lots of patients who have conditions that originated when they were children/babies that they still receive care for from pediatric doctors as adults. And, even the peds patients generally have parents with them. In peds the parents are a very important part of your care.

The ideal that we imagine prior to starting school isn't necessary the reality of caring for patients. You can get through it if you really want it. But, you will learn in the process that nursing means caring for all patients regardless of race, age, gender, illness, etc.

PinkNBlue, BSN, RN · Aug 6, 2011

I hear what you're saying FLHusker. It's all relative. The skills you learn in Med Surg during nursing school are skills you'll need regardless of the floor you end up on. My passion is OB; interestingly enough, I did not enjoy my OB clinical (but I do work in OB). That is my suggestion to you.... find yourself a job as a tech in L&D or Postpartum. Showing them your work ethic before you're a nurse can usually get your foot in the door so when you graduate, they're more likely to take you as opposed to someone outside of the hospital.

I agree with the poster that said 'if you have any compassion, you'll do fine'. Just get through Med Surg and then find the specialty you want. I've had many people who give their unsolicited advice about going straight to Med Surg before a specialty because of the skills. Do what you're passionate about. You will not lose skills, you'll gain new ones that you'll use more often. Life's too short to do something you don't love. Good luck to you. :)

sandyfeet · Aug 8, 2011

Now that I do most of my clinicals in M/S, I can honestly say that caring for adults is so much easier! Don't get me wrong, I love kids, and being a peds nurse. But it is a challenge (I think that is why I enjoy it, especially doing clinicals with the students). You need to be creative, negotiate, bargain, and deal with the families. Very rarely does a kid want the interventions you offer them. And many of the parents have the "do you really need to do that to my child" attitude. So yeah, while the diapers (and output) are smaller, the bedbaths are a walk in the park (unless you have a comatose or delayed teeneager), and there are a lot less meds (in general peds, that is), it is psychosocially draining and challenging.

I am working with mentally ill children this summer, and I agree with the sentiment from nurse educate 100%! It becomes all about the family. Everyone has opinions on what to do for their child, and the child will follow their parent's lead if the parent thinks you are doing something wrong or unneeded. I have always loved working with healthy kids in things like summer camps, etc. But that is nothing like taking care of a sick child!

I'm not trying to discourage you from Peds, but just give you a realistic view of what to expect. Working with adults has been so much easier, at least for me. Maybe you are great at negotiating with people, feel strong in coming up with creative solutions, etc. But for me those things become exhausting, and they are the reason I am NOT interested in Peds.

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Aug 8, 2011

You will be very miserable the next 2-4 yrs in nursing school then.

No one can whip out their crystal ball and tell you how you will do in nursing shool, so my answer is...............guess you will have to find out when you get there.

Good luck!