Not a caregiver type, but considering nursing?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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So, the basics: I'll be 30 in a couple of weeks and earned my Bach. in Journalism in 2001. I haven't used it since and I didn't want to become a journalist (long story). My jobs since then have run the gamut from vet tech to custom framer to online marketing to now I work for a major search engine improving their search results. I've enjoyed most of what I've done since graduation and I actually really like my job and it's decent money for what it is, but it's not a career. Although, come to think of it, I'm not sure I'm looking for a career. I enjoy the freedom of working from home and not really having a "boss". I am not married and have no kids (no plans for any, either), so there are no big distractions to consider. My life is wide open (aside from financial constraints).

Every time I think about doing something different with my life, I keep coming back around to nursing--and then dismissing it because I am TOTALLY NOT the caregiver sort. I don't enjoy coddling people or listening to whinging. I really don't want to be back at the bottom of the totem pole cleaning out bed pans. Others have reminded me that I could specialize when it comes time for an internship or whatever it is nurses do similar to residency after the school bit. I would LOVE the school bit and have no qualms about my ability to perform extremely well--school has always come easily to me--but I would be afraid I'd be terribly unhappy when it came time to actually BE a nurse. Part of the reason I keep coming back around to it when considering life options is that nurses are in demand EVERYWHERE in the world, make a decent living, are surrounded by intelligent, educated, motivated people and do good things for others. My first choice would be to practice outside the U.S., and I am even less familiar with nursing in other countries. I am also concerned with the ick factor. I am not comfortable with gore and the awful things that sometimes happen to people.

So, given all that, do any professional nurses have any suggestions or advice? I am not sure this is for me, but I wonder if there are areas I could specialize in that will work to my strengths? Or rather, I think I just don't have an accurate picture of what nurses do on a daily basis and what options would be open to me.

Specializes in Infusion.

I know quite a few nurses that respect the work of naturopaths. The vast majority of your adult patients do not consider naturopathy. Most have not taken care of their bodies up to the point of being hospitalized and are just desperate to stay alive and are grateful that someone is taking care of them. Most people are not in the hospital for colds and coughs but have either serious illnesses or injuries and require medicine for infection, pain control, and breaking up blood clots.

I too would suggest a week of shadowing. Also, our country treats nurses pretty well. Some cultures see nurses on the same level as maids so keep that in the back of your mind.

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Do you find many patients saying they'd prefer to avoid taking drugs? Are those patients ever referred to a naturopath or someone who can guide them in that direction?

For the most part, no. Some people do prefer not to take drugs, but most of the time, if they are going to a traditional med doc, they are not *that* opposed to taking drugs. MDs rarely advise going to a natural doc and many would in fact advise against it. I've learned from experience not to even mention natural therapies to most docs because they think it's quackery (again, most, not all). Also, keep in mind that so much of the medical industry is driven by the pharmaceutical industry, and they are very anti-natural therapy for obvious reasons. This creates an atmosphere of suspicion towards natural remedies. There is some movement in some fields toward natural therapies, but it's slow going.

RE the demand for naturopaths, I'm not sure about that. I definitely don't know how easy it would be to go to another country with that. Other countries may be more open to natural therapies, but they may have different requirements for credentials.

It's good that you are here and looking around and thinking. Consider it, learn as much as possible, and be totally honest with yourself. In the end, only you know how you would handle being a nurse, or at least, how you think you would handle it. If you have doubts, wrestle with them, and if you can't overcome them, then maybe it's not for you. But maybe you can overcome them. Just be honest with yourself.

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duplicate posting

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For the most part, no. Some people do prefer not to take drugs, but most of the time, if they are going to a traditional med doc, they are not *that* opposed to taking drugs. MDs rarely advise going to a natural doc and many would in fact advise against it. I've learned from experience not to even mention natural therapies to most docs because they think it's quackery (again, most, not all). Also, keep in mind that so much of the medical industry is driven by the pharmaceutical industry, and they are very anti-natural therapy for obvious reasons. This creates an atmosphere of suspicion towards natural remedies. There is some movement in some fields toward natural therapies, but it's slow going.

RE the demand for naturopaths, I'm not sure about that. I definitely don't know how easy it would be to go to another country with that. Other countries may be more open to natural therapies, but they may have different requirements for credentials.

It's good that you are here and looking around and thinking. Consider it, learn as much as possible, and be totally honest with yourself. In the end, only you know how you would handle being a nurse, or at least, how you think you would handle it. If you have doubts, wrestle with them, and if you can't overcome them, then maybe it's not for you. But maybe you can overcome them. Just be honest with yourself.

Some folks though are skeptical because there's very little research to back up some treatments recomended by Naturopaths. The same as an MD won't recommend a more traditional mode of treatment without reading research on it....they may feel that they can't, in good faith, recommend a treatment mode that hasn't been researched and published about in a peer reviewed journal. There would be equal suspicion of any treatment that hasn't been researched, written about and then duplicated elsewhere.

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the essence of nursing is taking care of people who can't care for themselves. if this is not something for you, please do yourself and all patients-at-large a favor, and stay out of the profession. there are other in-demand jobs out there. go do one of those. thanks.

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Some folks though are skeptical because there's very little research to back up some treatments recomended by Naturopaths. The same as an MD won't recommend a more traditional mode of treatment without reading research on it....they may feel that they can't, in good faith, recommend a treatment mode that hasn't been researched and published about in a peer reviewed journal. There would be equal suspicion of any treatment that hasn't been researched, written about and then duplicated elsewhere.

Right, I agree with this. MDs are very analytical and are typically uncomfortable with treatments that have not been researched to rigorous standards. The idea is that medicine should be evidence-based and not at all...what's the word...I guess, not evidence-based, haha. I am a proponent of natural medicine, but too often natural med comes off as being not very scientific, so it's tough to find MDs willing to embrace it. I think if the OP is very into natural med and not traditional med that she/he would dislike the atmosphere of most medical establishments.

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Right, I agree with this. MDs are very analytical and are typically uncomfortable with treatments that have not been researched to rigorous standards. The idea is that medicine should be evidence-based and not at all...what's the word...I guess, not evidence-based, haha. I am a proponent of natural medicine, but too often natural med comes off as being not very scientific, so it's tough to find MDs willing to embrace it. I think if the OP is very into natural med and not traditional med that she/he would dislike the atmosphere of most medical establishments.

I agree, it might not be the best atmosphere for the OP. I was just trying to show another perspective to the anti-natural therapy d/t big pharma comment.

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I think too much of the selfless servitude demanded of nurses has been shaped by the fact that historically, it's a woman's profession. And Lord knows how much gratis servitude men and society as a whole expect of good obedient wives and mothers. I, for one, am thrilled to see the influx of men into the nursing profession. It's going to be increasingly difficult to make unreasonable demands on the nursing staff to be good lil' girls and hop-to without questions or objections, when 25% or 50% or more of that staff are males who simply won't do it.

Motherhood is a calling. But nursing is a profession and a paid service. I am not saying neglect the patients. I am saying do your job and stop being a good little girl and a doormat. Women in business and engineering learned how to do that at least three decades ago.

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Specializes in LDRP.

i feel a lot of negativity in this thread o.O

i understand, other people feel threatened, because they know this is what they want, and they are afraid all the wishy-washy "i kinda want to be a nurse, but i dont know" people are going to take up all their spots... mehh..

i say, do your research.. shadow a nurse, volunteer at hospitals, nursing homes, hospice agencies (sorry hospice is my thing right now, had to plug it ;)), and wherever else there are nurses so you can really get a feel for it.

once you are a nurse you wont really be emptying bedpans all day.. nurses aides do most of that work. dont get me wrong, im sure you'll do it once in a while, we all hate those nurses that are above helping out the aides!! But my point is, nurses do a lot more than give meds and clean up poppy butts. They do therapeutic communication, patient teaching, lots and lots of paper work, assessments, and much more.

in response to your question about specialties, some hospitals have "nurse externships" while youre nearing the end of school, but you can get hired as a graduate nurse once you graduate pretty much anywhere (if they are hiring). most specialties require that you work at least one year on a general med surg floor before you apply, and then that specific unit will give you training in the specialty if you get hired for that position. -- you can also go for your masters and become a clinical nurse specialist in whatever your interest is..

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wide-eyed-

Take what a lot of posters say on here with a grain of salt. If it is something you are interested in, I would recommend talking to nurses in person or volunteering at a hospital. I used this site when applying for schools, but a lot of the time people are greeted at this site with condescension and bitterness. Like you I was a little nervous about some of the bodily fluids that come along with nursing, but the quickest way to get through that is with exposure, no pun intended :) Research different specialties of nursing and you might find one with a gross-out factor that you find more tolerable. Regarding your questions about caring, I think that is a major aspect of nursing. I mean, it is called health CARE. Again, maybe try volunteering. You may surprise yourself just how much you do care for people.

I find it ironic when the OP asked a question regarding nursing and the aspect of caring, some of the responses were anything BUT caring (yet you all claimed it was necessary for nursing). I understand many of you have frustrations, but you are doing no one who is in nursing, or thinking about coming into nursing any favors by responses like that. It has become apparent to me that this site has become partly a place where nursing take out their own shortcomings and unhappiness with their jobs/life on others, and that is just plain sad. If you have a problem with nurses not caring for their jobs then attack THEM, not some anonymous poster on the internet.

And for the last time, there is a nursing shortage, there is just not one NOW. Many of the schools are churning out new grads in preparation of that impending date of 2020 or whatever it is. What would be catastrophic to our health care is if nursing programs lessened their admission rates because some people can't find jobs right now only to find there are no nurses to help care for an aging population. There ARE jobs, you just have to be more diligent and flexible about finding them (like with ANY field right now).

All that being said, I'm pretty sure I'm done with this site. All this negativity is disheartening.

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In some roundabout way this feels like support for my lack of nurturing, even if that wasn't the intent. :) I'm curious, since I am clueless here, in what way you think nurses act like doormats? Can you give me a fer-instance? Is there an expectation of a 'just smile and take it' attitude that you disagree with? In what way would you want to see nurses behaving differently?

I think too much of the selfless servitude demanded of nurses has been shaped by the fact that historically, it's a woman's profession. And Lord knows how much gratis servitude men and society as a whole expect of good obedient wives and mothers. I, for one, am thrilled to see the influx of men into the nursing profession. It's going to be increasingly difficult to make unreasonable demands on the nursing staff to be good lil' girls and hop-to without questions or objections, when 25% or 50% or more of that staff are males who simply won't do it.

Motherhood is a calling. But nursing is a profession and a paid service. I am not saying neglect the patients. I am saying do your job and stop being a good little girl and a doormat. Women in business and engineering learned how to do that at least three decades ago.

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OP, it sounds like you're asking the right questions to scope out your options.

First off, like you, I enjoy learning and school... and so many degree and programs sound so very interesting! But do I then want to go on and build a career in that one specific field? Knowing me? Not so much!

First off, to be valuable as a nurse in another country, you'd need more than a nursing license, you'd need nursing experience. And not just any nursing experience, but experience specific to the needs of where you hope to go and what kind of work is available to foreign nurses. So basically, you first need to build your practice as a nurse in the US and then find a place that wants and needs your skills.

Also know that applying for work visas in other countries is usually a long, bureacratic process fraught with obstacles. It could take a year just to get the paperwork processed. Each country has it's own visa requirements and restrictions in regard to working as foreign nurse. If you want some kind of extended experience abroad, there are definitely other ways to get it than becoming a nurse. For what it's worth, I took the teaching English route to living and working abroad.

So become a nurse if you want to be a nurse and work as a nurse. It's not a very good idea, though, to become a nurse with the main goal of being able to work and live in another country; or even just to have the 3 days on, 4 days off that many nurses enjoy. Because whether abroad or in the US, for much of your waking hours each week, you'd be a nurse, doing a nurse's job.

Key question, do you think you'd like nursing? Are your preconceptions about nursing accurate? Keep getting more info (talk to people, shadow some nurses if you can, volunteer at a hospital, etc) before making any decisions!

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