nursing career without touching people

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I am about to graduate with my BSN and I absolutely do not want to be a nurse that has patient contact. My second semester of nursing school I had an exposure at clinical and I have since been diagnosed with PTSD and OCD. I have been taking medication and I am currently going to therapy but I am absolutely terrified of anything relating touching people of any nursing tasks. I was wondering what I can do with my degree that would not entail touching people (preferably office work) with no experience. Thank you so much

Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

Ditto what Esme and xtx said. We do see lots of "made up" posts. Then the OP never comes back. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way. I just couldn't understand how you got through school w/ those problems. PTSD can be very debilitating. I saw a therapist for about 5 years to deal w/ it. There is hope! I wish you the best. I would tell you to PM me if you want, but you have to make 15 posts before you are able to. 13 to go! Wishing you the best.

Sharon

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Thank you again for your suggestions. I have looked into teaching and I liked the idea of Informatics. I had so much passion and eagerness when I first started and after this exposure it was like a light switched in my head. I do touch people in clinical and I can "get through the day" but I really want a career where I am not terrified of even the simplest of tasks. I am working hard to get through this and I really do hope that someday I will be strong enough to return to what I initially loved to do, however, with graduation coming up in a couple of months I wanted options until I get "healthy" again. I should have been more clear in my original post (this was my first time). Thank you again for your support and suggestions.

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Well, shoot. I'll be honest, OP, I thought you were a troll. My apologies. I hope you are able to find some solace and can continue on as you wish.

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I can only imagine how hard it would be to be a nurse without touching anyone. What about furthering your career at this point to your Masters degree, such as in Nursing Informatics? You might be able to stay on the computer side of it. I don't foresee a time when computers and Nursing will ever be separate from each other. Good luck with it all.

Thank you for this suggestion!

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Someone mentioned coding...that is a possibility. The RN would probably not mean much but knowing medical terminology and procedures will help.

Or, continue with school and get a teacher's certificate to teach Health, or maybe biology.

How ironic is it that the OP is getting slammed by other nurses, who should know better than anyone that PTSD is a real disorder. Sure, the OP could have changed majors when this came up, but I would guess she was hoping to overcome the challenges. Since she is still working on that, she is trying to find some way to use her degree and have an income....and we slam her for that? I guess it would be better for her to file for disability since she is psychologically unable to work in her field. Would we be acting the same towards someone who was unable to work due to major depression?

I will never understand how nurses (making a broad generalization here) are so mean to each other :(

Thank you....you are right I did not want to give up because I hope one day I will be able to be comfortable again. Again thank you

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I, too, apologize. I assumed you were a troll.

I wish you a very long, rewarding, and happy career in nursing. I hope the best for you.

Good luck. :)

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Specializes in Cardiac, PCU, Surg/Onc, LTC, Peds.
Thank you....you are right I did not want to give up because I hope one day I will be able to be comfortable again. Again thank you

You go girl! It sounds like you're extremely motivated to begin your career in a field you love. Take care of you

1st and you'll be able to use this experience to be that much more of an empathetic nurse who truly understands the hurdles of mental disorders.

I hope all the members who posted rude and demeaning comments will take a moment to realize the impact of their comments. While this is an anonymous internet forum there is still usually a real person with feelings on the receiving end, troll or not shouldn't make any difference. If people thought it was a troll why even comment?

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Specializes in Intermediate care.

Im still amazed by this question. its like

"I want to be a math teacher but i really don't like math or children. Is there anything else i can do with that degree?"

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Im still amazed by this question. its like

"I want to be a math teacher but i really don't like math or children. Is there anything else i can do with that degree?"

My understanding is that she didn't go into nursing with the PTSD/OCD....she got it FROM nursing school exposure.... it's a valid issue. What if someone was training to be a flight attendant on 9/11....would it be so nuts to be afraid? Different situation - same principle :)

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Specializes in hospice, ortho,clinical review.

OP I'm sorry you were treated so harshly. It was never that way years ago. I myself only check the general thread scanning to see if there's something I can help someone with. Anymore I do that less and less, I see why people have left.

I do clinical review work for an imaging company. I worked about 1.5 years total between LTC and hospital, so I would take all of those that say you need at least X amount of years bedside or you won't be considered with a grain of salt. I rather enjoy being able to have a life outside of nursing. (that was one of my big reasons for being unhappy at the hospital).

Even though I had zip experience with the patient population that I deal with, I'm willing to do the hard work of learning as much as I can about it. Are the nurses that have that hands on so much better? I'm sure here they'll say they are, though their compassion is coming out in spades :rolleyes:

There are other options out there, and you never know until you try and be willing to work hard. Best of luck to you.

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My understanding is that she didn't go into nursing with the PTSD/OCD....she got it FROM nursing school exposure.... it's a valid issue. What if someone was training to be a flight attendant on 9/11....would it be so nuts to be afraid? Different situation - same principle :)

Thank you and yes this is exactly what happened. I tried to rely to your message xtxrn but I am still figuring out this site. Thank you for your support.

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What kind of nursing interventions are you really hesitant to do? Does it include ALL contact with people? It's definitely something you need to speak with to a counsellor or something. A lot of new graduates are finding it difficult to find a nursing job. I can't imagine how extremely difficult it would be to get a nursing job with the "no physical contact" requirement.

I can't really think of any nursing jobs that does not require you to touch people or had experience touching people. Maybe working as a public health nurse - concentrating more on health teaching or health promotion. How about policy? I know someone who went straight to policy from Nursing school but she's one in a million type of gal.

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