Noob Question: The Most Technical of Nursing Specialties?

Hello!

I have encountered two types of students in pre-requisites toward nursing or any other health care career (there are many types but just narrowing it down to these two):

1. Students who loved Anatomy and Physiology but HATED Chemistry.

2. Students who loved Chemistry but didn't "LOVE" Anatomy and Physiology.

I'm one of the students who fit under the love Chemistry group. So much so that even though the pre-requisites for a nursing program only require Intro to Chemistry, I want to take all the higher level Chemistry and Biology classes (General Chemistry 1 and 2, Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry). However, the only people I know who will be taking these classes are Pharmacy or Pre-med students.

My question: Is there a nursing career that requires the knowledge of the advanced sciences? I am wondering if nursing is right for me (I took the quiz on another post and got "Diagnostic Radiology" as my top career). LOL

Thanks for reading. =)

Well, I don't fit in either of your groups, I loved chemistry and A&P :-) I'm in my BS nursing program now and am working on a minor in chemistry.

As far as careers, I think my chemistry helps me with understanding my patho as well as understanding how drugs are addressing the patho.

With that in mind though, have you looked at CRNA's?

You could work in infectious disease research.

Or for the Health Department, maybe in the area that researches for and plans for pandemics.

CRNA would be a great career if you love chemistry--they have to take a lot of advanced chem classes.

LOL - when I read the title of this thread, I went on a totally different track. To me, "technical" refers to the equipment you work with - not the underlying knowledge that is needed to care for people.

Chemistry & A/P are necessary to understand the 'phenomonology' of disease and trauma. How can you really 'get' complex issues if you can't understand these subjects? acid-base balance? Hypoxia? COPD? ARF? IICP? CHF? . . . . etc.

Now - technical... that's another kettle of fish. Some nurses (like me) are really attracted to the technology.. IABP, Bi-VAD, ECMO, .... bring it on.

Chem, Bio, A&P, Pharm... any science course you take in nursing really is critical to understanding nursing principles and caring for your pts. We might not be doing lab work or performing diagnostics, but we still need to understand the procedures and the results to how its affecting our pts. I know there are *tons* of nursing specialities, but to me, being a nurse means working closely with patients. It sounds like you may be more interested in diagnostics, labs, or another field thats related to nursing.

It'll take time, but i'm sure you'll find your nursing speciality

Surprising for me, I ended up loving Micro Biology, in my Pharm class I got 100% on the exam that covered micro stuff, I didn't mind the Chem or Organic Chem and I had no focus in A&P. If I took it again right now it would be much different.

After Micro I thought maybe working for the CDC or something would be cool.

WOW! Thanks so much for the replies! ^_^ I now have a lot to Google and research (e.g. getting a minor in Chemistry...didn't know you could do THAT alongside Nursing =DDDDDD, as well as what IABP, Bi-VAD, and ECMO are...infectious disease careers). So much info!

My one meh moment was when I almost fainted (first time in my life, ever) while my Anatomy professor was gutting the cat's neck and then it was our turn...XD

THANK YOU!!!!!!! =D

WOW! Thanks so much for the replies! ^_^ I now have a lot to Google and research (e.g. getting a minor in Chemistry...didn't know you could do THAT alongside Nursing =DDDDDD, as well as what IABP, Bi-VAD, and ECMO are...infectious disease careers). So much info!

My one meh moment was when I almost fainted (first time in my life, ever) while my Anatomy professor was gutting the cat's neck and then it was our turn...XD

THANK YOU!!!!!!! =D

Just wait until you see a placental delivery in person, or an open abdominal hysterectomy. Everyone told me I would feel sick when they cauterized the skin in surgery, but it didn't bother me at all - I found the process fascinating at the cellular level.

There's some cool stuff in nursing. If you love the sciences, I promise there is a place for you somewhere in the field because there are so many directions.