Nurses Insight?

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2016

What questions do you have? What are your hopes for a career in nursing?

BeachsideRN, ASN · Jul 16, 2016

Just a thought - maybe see about shadowing at a local hospital

Panther2014 · Jul 16, 2016

I have so many questions honestly I have them all written in a notebook.

What is a typical day being an RN?

Why did you decide to become a registered nurse?

What advice would you give to a person wanting to pursue this career in your field?

What is nursing school and the NCLEX like?

Did you attend nursing school full time or part time?

Currently in my head it's a career I do want to explore before going all in and looking for a good nursing school. Constantly I have heard from my friends and family that they thought I would be a good nurse but I always ignored the comments till recently when I have buckled down and thought about could I handle it and do I have the personal drive for it. I did an EMT program and found it fascinating and enjoyed working with many types of patients. However could not see myself pursuing a career as an EMT. I think my hopes for a career in nursing is to if I decide have the passion, drive and motivation to work hard through nursing school and see that applied in my future career. I think it would be a career that the learning didn't just stop after school it would be continual throughout my career. I truly take to heart advice people give me so any your able to provide would be appreciated.

Panther2014 · Jul 16, 2016

:nurse:Thank you I will definitely look into shadowing at a local hospital!

bossman · Jul 16, 2016

I have so many questions honestly I have them all written in a notebook.
What is a typical day being an RN?
Depends on where you work. Office nurses work the typical 8-5 in the office M-F. ICU/ED nurses often work 12 hour shifts 3 days a week. Being an office nurse in a clinic is like being a tech that does grunt work. Either way you need to cut out a part of your day to tell everyone else how hard you work and how you don't have time to pee. This is harder in the ICU or ED when you have less time to update your Facebook and may have to do it after you get done with work.
Why did you decide to become a registered nurse?
I decided to become an RN because I am sadomasochistic and I wanted everyone to know about it.
What advice would you give to a person wanting to pursue this career in your field?
Start telling everyone how hard it is early on so they know you pretend to work harder than they do.
What is nursing school and the NCLEX like?
Not bad and really not all that hard. Still tell everyone that it is really tough and somehow you don't have time to do anything else.
Did you attend nursing school full time or part time?
Haha being part time is essentially working full time plus like working another full time job. Full time is like working 6 full time jobs consecutively. There is no one that works harder than us!

I responded to your questions

BeachsideRN, ASN · Jul 16, 2016

I have so many questions honestly I have them all written in a notebook.
What is a typical day being an RN?
Why did you decide to become a registered nurse?
What advice would you give to a person wanting to pursue this career in your field?
What is nursing school and the NCLEX like?
Did you attend nursing school full time or part time?

- currently in school (last semester is fall 2016!) and work as a nurse tech in NICU and ER at a peds hospital

- nursing is my second career (I'm 37). I actually never thought I wanted to be a nurse. I literally said "no" every single time someone suggested it to me because they thought it would be a good fit. I first got a bachelors in chemistry, worked for several years in medical and pharma research; then went on to get a masters in public health to do research for Evidence based practice in oncology. I loved research but the pay wasn't great, the jobs were usually at major teaching hospitals (which are in major cities/urban areas), and research jobs are all dependent on funding so you are holding your breath every few years to see if you still have a job. After I had a baby I realized I needed more stability and flexibility in my work life. So, I started looking at my options. First I thought of PA school because of my background but the local program wouldn't budge on their pre-req policy that courses over 5 years old were no longer valid, I decided that was crazy to retake basically my whole undergraduate degree and maybe get in. So I started looking at nursing school with the idea that I go straight to research nursing or NP - because I "didn't like nursing". Well me "not liking" nursing was the equivalent of a 3 year old not liking some food they never tasted. Because once I finally applied to and was accepted nursing schools I chose the ADN route because it's faster, cheaper, and more flexible with scheduling (all things people with a family need). Once I started my first semester of clinicals I truly fell in love with nursing. I love the critical thinking, the breadth of knowledge that I had know idea nurses had, and the scope of practice of the RN is *way* different that what I thought.

- nursing school is hard. It's harder with a husband and child but totally doable. You have to put in a lot if work. Expect at least 30-40 hours a week studying, doing clinical paperwork, etc.

-my best advice: first, find out what nurses actually do before making assumptions about their job [emoji23] shadowing is great, especially if you get a nurse that will explain *why* she is doing certain things, this shows you how they really use all of their education in practice. Second, find out if your local hospitals (or where you want to go) are hiring ADNs or BSNs. Do not accrue a ton of debt for school - period, no matter what you choose. (I am up to my ears in debt from my masters and it's not a good feeling). Third, remember nursing is a professional career. You don't need to feel some special calling to do it (I certainly wasn't) - but you do have to have compassion and the ability to recognize how to empathize with your patients and families.

BeachsideRN, ASN · Jul 16, 2016

I responded to your questions

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] ::snark::

Cricket183, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2016

Not trying to be nosy but can I ask what it was about pursuing a career as an EMT that you found unappealing? Just asking because although the two careers are distinctly different, there is some obvisious overlap and it may help to know.

A typical day depends largely on what area of nursing you go in to. But it's guaranteed to be crazy busy, stressful, overwhelming, rewarding, heart breaking, interesting, stimulating, mind blowing, exciting, frustrating, etc. all rolled into one!

I don't remember when I decided to become a nurse. My mom used to tell me stories about the NICU nurses that took care of me and as far back as I remember I wanted to be one. I weighed 2lb 14oz at birth (almost 50 years ago) and was in the NICU for 3 mos. I ended up doing oncology instead of NICU but that's a whole other story.

Advice? Run! Just kidding. It's the best job you'll ever hate. Or the worst job you'll ever love. Lol!

Nursing school is hell. Again, just kidding. It is difficult but doable. I did all my prerequisites part-time then my last two years of actual nursing classes full-time. I did it with a husband & two kids and 120-mile commute one-way and managed to graduate cum laude. NCLEX is more stressful than difficult. Not that it isn't hard but if you practice questions and get used to types of questions it helps tremendously.

Hope this helps at least a little. Feel free to ask anything else. Oh and shadowing a nurse is a great idea!

BeachsideRN, ASN · Jul 16, 2016

Not trying to be nosy but can I ask what it was about pursuing a career as an EMT that you found unappealing? Just asking because although the two careers are distinctly different, there is some obvisious overlap and it may help to know.
A typical day depends largely on what area of nursing you go in to. But it's guaranteed to be crazy busy, stressful, overwhelming, rewarding, heart breaking, interesting, stimulating, mind blowing, exciting, frustrating, etc. all rolled into one!
I don't remember when I decided to become a nurse. My mom used to tell me stories about the NICU nurses that took care of me and as far back as I remember I wanted to be one. I weighed 2lb 14oz at birth (almost 50 years ago) and was in the NICU for 3 mos. I ended up doing oncology instead of NICU but that's a whole other story.
Advice? Run! Just kidding. It's the best job you'll ever hate. Or the worst job you'll ever love. Lol!
Nursing school is hell. Again, just kidding. It is difficult but doable. I did all my prerequisites part-time then my last two years of actual nursing classes full-time. I did it with a husband & two kids and 120-mile commute one-way and managed to graduate cum laude. NCLEX is more stressful than difficult. Not that it isn't hard but if you practice questions and get used to types of questions it helps tremendously.
Hope this helps at least a little. Feel free to ask anything else. Oh and shadowing a nurse is a great idea!

I just read your comment about onc/NICU on another thread and thought it was so appropriate and good advice for this thread. Glad you posted.

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Jul 16, 2016

First rule of thumb in nursing (at least one of the first) is that you ask leading questions; not simply those that require a yes or no. Without a question, you get no answer. That being said, what is it that you want to know? :down:

Panther2014 · Jul 16, 2016

Not trying to be nosy but can I ask what it was about pursuing a career as an EMT that you found unappealing? Just asking because although the two careers are distinctly different, there is some obvisious overlap and it may help to know.
A typical day depends largely on what area of nursing you go in to. But it's guaranteed to be crazy busy, stressful, overwhelming, rewarding, heart breaking, interesting, stimulating, mind blowing, exciting, frustrating, etc. all rolled into one!
I don't remember when I decided to become a nurse. My mom used to tell me stories about the NICU nurses that took care of me and as far back as I remember I wanted to be one. I weighed 2lb 14oz at birth (almost 50 years ago) and was in the NICU for 3 mos. I ended up doing oncology instead of NICU but that's a whole other story.
Advice? Run! Just kidding. It's the best job you'll ever hate. Or the worst job you'll ever love. Lol!
Nursing school is hell. Again, just kidding. It is difficult but doable. I did all my prerequisites part-time then my last two years of actual nursing classes full-time. I did it with a husband & two kids and 120-mile commute one-way and managed to graduate cum laude. NCLEX is more stressful than difficult. Not that it isn't hard but if you practice questions and get used to types of questions it helps tremendously.
Hope this helps at least a little. Feel free to ask anything else. Oh and shadowing a nurse is a great idea!

Originally I graduated high school in 2014 then went straight into a 6 month live in fire academy. I loved every second of it turned me into a shy 18 year old into a very confident person. It gave me some tough skin, and helped me to remain calm and think on my feet in stressful situations. The next step after that was EMT school I loved the lectures it all came pretty easy and the clinicals and ride time in the medic was exciting. During EMT school I got a pretty crappy medical diagnosis and had to rethink my future to something that didn't involve running into burning buildings. I couldn't picture a future as just an EMT and not the fire side of things cause that is what I truly loved. So I am just moving forward. It will be interesting going to a more dominant female career (of course their are male nurses too!) verses training and working with all males