Not Sure If Nursing Is For Me!

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Hello everybody,

I really need every helpful feedback on this issue. I'm so confused and troubled.

I've been dreaming and thinking about being an RN for a long time. I even got hired last month as a PCA. Yesterday was the first day I shadowed a PCA, and, it was a nightmare. Before I start working as a PCA, I was thinking that I'm going to learn many clinical skills like: EKG, IVs, Phlebotomy,...etc.. But what I saw yesterday was the most disgusting thing that ever happened to me. Bedbaths, wiping butts, basic care..etc..

I work in a Medical Renal unit, and almost all patients are very old, unable to move or speak, and severly obese and smelly. I was about to throw up many times, and I can't get rid of the smell even after 36 hours.

I don't want to sound selfish here, but guys, being a CNA is a very hard job and not everybody can do it.

I went to medical school in my home country for many years, and I was not disgusted by the dead bodies, by dealing with patients for taking medical histories, recording signs and symptoms, or even in the surgery room, where there was a lot of blood.

I was truly hoping to be a nurse anesthetist. But after what happened yesterday at my job, I'm starting to believe that I can't be a nurse ever. I don't think I mind doing basic personal care once in a while, but I can't imagine doing it for living.

I know many nurses in the outpatient clinics that don't have to do that kind of annoying stuff. Can't I just work in an outpatient facility where I don't have to deal with patients that are staying for a long time?

I now feel so sad that my dream of becoming a nurse is going away.

Please help me.

Thanks

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Specializes in Neonatal ICU (Cardiothoracic).

I worked as a CNA and PCT for a few years while completing my nursing degree. While unpleasant at times, it allowed me to learn clinical skills and provide comfort to patients while giving me a decent paycheck.

While you do have to sometimes (often) do personal care on your patients, there is much more to being a nurse. Plus you will usually have PCTs like yourself to delegate to.

If this issue is something you will never overcome, perhaps nursing is not for you. You don't have to like doing it, but it is a necessary part of being a nurse. A nurse who ignores this part of patient care is a terrible nurse.

Best of luck, as you find your path...

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Old, smelly, sick people are a big part of those getting medical care.

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Old, smelly, sick people are a big part of those getting medical care.

Thanx. Great advice.

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Specializes in He who hesitates is probably right....

D.C., Nobody (I hope) enjoys dabbling in feces, blood, urine, sputum, pannus cheese, etc.

Nursing is patient care, and these things must be dealt with. It will get easier. Try mouth breathing. On the SICU that I work in, the RNs (and our CNA if we have one) generally help each other out if one of the patients takes the browns to the superbowl. If one of us calls a code brown, other RNs swarm the room with bedding and patient clean-up supplies. Nobody is stuck with a big mess, and the patient is cleaner/drier faster. I had a patient last night that was sedated and on tube feedings. About every third hour, the poor man would have a large liquid bm, and I'd enter his room to find him looking like a piece of human fondue. A team effort by myself and my fellow RNs kept the patient more comfortable, and kept the gagging to a minimum. We even had brownies with our 3am coffee. Give it a chance, I think you may find that you can handle the unpleasant as well as the not-so-unpleasant.

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Specializes in Home Health, Long-Term Care.

I do long-term care in a nursing home with a lot of the same things. At first I thought I couldn't do it, but after a while it's not so bad. Essentially that is part of the job, and I'd be letting my employer down if I didn't do that job.

I feel for ya, I come home after work at night and my first move is to head for the shower and get all the workday grime off, before going to bed or doing anything else.

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Thank you guys for all the feedback and support.

I never had any problem before with blood, urine, feces, dead bodies, sticking needles, etc....

The problem is that I've never given basic care before. For example, I can handle all the bodily fluids in the lab easily, but Wiping somebody else's behind is what I can't get over.

For the last five days I've been trying to decide what I'm gonna do about my future career, and whether I can be a nurse or not.

I was a good student at medical school in my country. I still need help to decide whether nursing is for me?

I also was thinking about being a radiological tech, It's a decent job and also is on demand. But school admissions here are so darn competitive. Now I don't know how to get into a radiology school in my states " VA, MD. DC".

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you.

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I was being serious, you know, and I wasn't trying to be snotty. The patient population is old, sick, and often obese and/or stinky. Pretty much anyone capable of caring for himself is an ambulatory surgery unless they're a trauma victim. And pretty much everyone taking up a hospital bed is almost total care.

While I find it fulfilling and sometimes intellectually challenging, a lot of the day is spent doing icky stuff for often icky folks.

Radiology pays pretty well. So can lab tech or respiratory therapist, as well as physical therapist.

If you already have an undergraduate degree with a lot of science classes, which you must if you were in medical school in your country of origin, you should have no trouble getting into school.

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If you already have an undergraduate degree with a lot of science classes, which you must if you were in medical school in your country of origin, you should have no trouble getting into school.

Thank you for the advice.

Admission to medical school in my country does not require an undergraduate degree like here in America. You go to medical school immediately after high school. But you have to be the best in your highschool to be accepted in a medical school, which usually takes about 7 years to graduate.

The problem is that in the community college near me, about 300 people apply for the radiology program every year, but only 50 are accepted. I'm already done with all the prerequisites. Why don't they take me? I hate that, and I need to get into a rad school as soon as possible.

Also, I found this website http://www.academyofultrasound.com/ and they seem to be an online radiology school. Is it a good idea to get an online rad degree?

Thank you all

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Also, I found this website http://www.academyofultrasound.com/ and they seem to be an online radiology school. Is it a good idea to get an online rad degree?

Thank you all

Not here. They aren't accredited.

http://www.academyofultrasound.com/index-3.html

Can you afford a private school? The waiting lists aren't as long.

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Not here. They aren't accredited.

http://www.academyofultrasound.com/index-3.html

Can you afford a private school? The waiting lists aren't as long.

Money is not the problem, I can always take loans. The issue is that admission my community college is too compititive for me to get in. Imagine that there is only space for 30 new rad students every year, where more than 250 students apply.. I don't mind being on a waiting list, but there is no such thing here.

Also, I don't mind going anywhere for school. I can travel anywhere.

where can I get a list of radiology schools?

Thanx

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Specializes in None yet, but O.R. intrigues me.

You will have to provide that type of total care more on some units than others. Medical floors generally have more patients that can toilet themselves than surgical floors, particularly surgical ICU units. I work in the PACU. It is my first job so I have nothing to compare it to but many other nurses who have been around the block say the best thing about it is that we see many patients for short periods of time rather than the other way around. In one year I have had to contend with one code brown.

Being a tech you will be doing some of the things that nurses have to do as well, such as cleaning up patients, that's true. However, you are going to do it much, much more often than you will as a nurse, I believe. So don't lose heart.

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