I am interested in nursing, still taking pre-reqs, but have a question for all you current nurses out there that have experience in the medical field.
I have been having my doubts about going into nursing. I initially looked into it because of the flexibility it offered, the pay, and because I have an interest in the body, how it works, and the disease process. However, and that is a BIG however, unlike many of you, I don't long to take care of people. The truth is I don't even know if I want to. So, naturally I am a little afraid at this point. I have been pushing onward because I am scheduled to take nurse assisting classes in the fall and am assuming that class would let me know once and for all if this is for me.
For all of you current nurses who see the hospital system and what goes on inside of it, what would you recommend (as a position) for someone that has the following traits:
Introverted
Don't consider myself very social
Not very patient
Like science/health/education
I need flexibility, don't necessarily need full time work at this time, want to have a job that lets me move around somewhat, and is mentally challenging. Specifically, with what I have told you, I am wondering what position you think I would be good at other than nursing, within the medical field. Did any of you describe yourself this way before becoming a nurse and still successfully made the transition? Do you have to be a social butterfly to love nursing? Do you have to yearn to care for people? I don't even have kids so maybe that is part of the problem!! LOL!!
Right now, Radiology Tech is looking good, maybe Surgical Tech, Medical Technologist.......maybe these are less socially intensive? If you could have done something differently, what position in the hospital would you have?
Well, it doesn't pay what nursing does, but it is very fun and can be exciting & interesting. How about a unit secretary or unit clerk. I did that for 14 years and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, I needed to make more money to meet my goals. I had to move on to nursing. Lucky for me that, although I am an introvert, I do love people, so this helps me.
I am interested in nursing, still taking pre-reqs, but have a question for all you current nurses out there that have experience in the medical field.
I have been having my doubts about going into nursing. I initially looked into it because of the flexibility it offered, the pay, and because I have an interest in the body, how it works, and the disease process. However, and that is a BIG however, unlike many of you, I don't long to take care of people. The truth is I don't even know if I want to. So, naturally I am a little afraid at this point. I have been pushing onward because I am scheduled to take nurse assisting classes in the fall and am assuming that class would let me know once and for all if this is for me.
For all of you current nurses who see the hospital system and what goes on inside of it, what would you recommend (as a position) for someone that has the following traits:
Introverted
Don't consider myself very social
Not very patient
Like science/health/education
I need flexibility, don't necessarily need full time work at this time, want to have a job that lets me move around somewhat, and is mentally challenging. Specifically, with what I have told you, I am wondering what position you think I would be good at other than nursing, within the medical field. Did any of you describe yourself this way before becoming a nurse and still successfully made the transition? Do you have to be a social butterfly to love nursing? Do you have to yearn to care for people? I don't even have kids so maybe that is part of the problem!! LOL!!
Right now, Radiology Tech is looking good, maybe Surgical Tech, Medical Technologist.......maybe these are less socially intensive? If you could have done something differently, what position in the hospital would you have?
i'm so glad you posted this thread, thrashej! when you said, "however, and that is a big however, unlike many of you, i don't long to take care of people. the truth is i don't even know if i want to," i can really relate. the list of qualities you used to describe yourself also describe me pretty well. i can be very outgoing and social at times, but i tend to be introverted. i also feel ambivalent about working directly with people all the time. in general, i like people. i can be very supportive and nurturing (my astrological sign, cancer, is the most nurturing sign of all). i have a fulfilling marriage and a few good friends. i have worked hard in the past to bring people together in various social events i have organized for volunteer groups. however, i grew up in an abusive family environment and tend to be wary of people. i also like being alone/staying to myself (studying a lot while my husband works on weekends, for example), more than i thought i would.
however, i am also quite bored of secure (but well-paying) paper-shuffling or number-crunching kind of jobs. it would be nice to actually feel needed and useful, for once in my professional life!
on the myers-briggs, i am halfway between being an 'intj' (the 'research scientist' type) and the 'entj' (the 'entrepreneur' type). according to the book 'do what you are', nurses have the personality type of 'isfj' (maybe also 'esfj'): somewhat similar to intj/entj, but maybe not close enough. not sure.
i don't see the alternatives recommended in this thread as being suitable for me, though, because i'm very burned out on computer work. i was in the web development field for about 4 years; i liked computer work and did well in it. however, the technology was constantly changing and i got tired of that. i needed some time to go to the gym and get back into shape, and to finally have a social life again. the web field was also fairly volatile, and of course, there are far fewer web jobs these days.
i considered becoming a medical lab technician, only to discover that even in a major metro area such as the washington, dc area, salaries for lab technicians max out around $40,000 (according to salary.com, which i've heard is the best resource for salary information). the maximum salary for new rns is around $60,000, with nearly everyone starting out around $44,000 - according to what i have read in other threads on this message board. (that fits fairly well with salary.com's stated median salary of $49,000 for rns.) salary is not necessarily a prime consideration for me (for one thing, i don't have kids and don't want any), but i'm not really that interested in a career where the most i could ever make is around $40,000. (i already make quite a bit more than that now!)
i have read about medical technology and the rhit exam and i might consider that but i just don't know. i really am tired of computer work.
i do know that chemistry and microbiology seem more interesting to me than anatomy and physiology (some of the required prerequisites for nursing school). unfortunately, the various medical programs at the local community college don't have many - if any - courses in common, from what i discovered, so i'd have to make some kind of decision before starting on even the first few prerequisites for a healthcare program. (i already have a bachelor's degree, by the way, so i wouldn't be able to get financial aid for another four-year degree. that's why i'm looking at a local community college for training - at least it's affordable!)
i also have a real fear of being exposed to some nasty disease in either nursing or lab technician work. supposedly, from what i have read, around 20,000 healthcare workers per year are infected with hiv due to accidental needle pricks. someone said that number sounds too high but i'm pretty sure that's the number i read.
sorry i don't have any particular advice; i'm just saying that i can relate to what you're saying and that i'm in the same boat as you are. i guess you can understand my confusion? i really would like a more dynamic and mentally challenging job than the usual desk jobs i've had in the past. i can also see that i might have the capacity to work directly with people, even in stressful environments, more than i even realize. but i just don't know. i have other options - to get back into financial analysis work, to become a paralegal, whatever - but as i mentioned, it would be nice to have a job that makes a more direct difference in people's lives, that requires scientific knowledge, and that offers so much more geographic mobility than nearly every other job on the market.
any suggestions/advice from people would be much appreciated!
Wow! You guys have really given me some perspective. Regarding the nursing research, I suppose I would have to get my BSN to do it, but if it was really my niche, I would not mind going back to school for it. I don't know much about this..just learning!:)
I am glad that some of you have the same feelings, or did have them in the beginning. I was wondering if my experiences from here on out in nursing may change my personality. Do I like blood and guts....don't think so, but MAYBE. Do I like talking to people all day....maybe. I just don't know.
If you all had the opportunity to work only 1 or 2 days per week, do you think you would find nursing as exhausting, mentally and physically?
KM05....your post was almost exactly me! I even have done all those personality tests to see if I can figure out "who I am". Can't remember my letters though. I will have to go back in my book and check it out now that you told me what nurses should be!:) Well, I start nurse assisting lecture in one week!:)
Oh, and KM05......I too like micro and, dare I say it? Chemistry. Sorta. With micro it was a LOVE LOVE LOVE thing, with Chem it was a LOVE/HATE thing.:) What is really cool to me as well is genetics, dna, forensics....all that good stuff. I am the type of person that visits www.chemistry.org all the time, just for goofy stuff. I read the Prescription Drug Reference just for fun, and EVERY little leaflet they give me with my medications from the pharmacy!LOL!! I don't know if I understand it at all, but I am interested. Organic Chem went so far over my head that I had to drop it, but for some reason when I don't have to get a grade in it, I am interested again! Conversely, I don't have a creative bone in my body. Interior design...don't know the first thing. Art? What's that? Weird how you can be so much of one thing and 0 of another. When I take those personality tests I always score very high on the "investigative" aspect of them, and sometimes social, so I may not be as bad as I think in that area. All the things that I think I would be any good at or was ever interested in are in fact on the lists of professions I get out of those tests. Have you done this one:
Ellen_0ncall
9 Posts
Well, it doesn't pay what nursing does, but it is very fun and can be exciting & interesting. How about a unit secretary or unit clerk. I did that for 14 years and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, I needed to make more money to meet my goals. I had to move on to nursing. Lucky for me that, although I am an introvert, I do love people, so this helps me.