please help, I'm not sure if I can do nursing school

[foxglove_the_bat]

Hi everyone, I'm sure you get asked things like this a million times. But before I sign up for an LVN program I want to make sure it's right for me.

Well I love helping people and worked as a dental assistant for about five years, I wanted to better myself and do more for patients so I took my prerequisites and got accepted into a dental hygiene program. Well the first semester is almost over and I won't be coming back for the second semester. I can't seem to do the fine hand movements associated with the scalers. So one of my teachers suggested I should instead go for the school's LVN program. But if I can't do dental hygiene do I really have what it takes to be an LVN? I always thought nursing was a lot harder. I'm really unsure what to do. I don't want to be a just a dental assistant anymore, but I'm not sure if I'm capable of doing nursing. I don't want to start another program only to not be able to "grasp" it as it were. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Glenna, LPN]

If you are really unsure about going into the nursing feild I would go for your CNA. It doesn't take very long to get through and you will be able to work and get an idea as to what you would be doing as a nurse as you will be working side by side with them.

When I was working as a CNA I realized how much I really wanted to become a nurse. I was unsure of myself if I was making the right career choice or not. I later got my CNA 2 and worked in a hospital for three years and I really really loved what I was doing.

I hope this gives you some ideas. It helped me when I was unsure about the nursing world and no idea what I was getting myself into.

[NurseCubanitaRN2b, BSN, RN]

I was a CNA for many years before college and after I graduated from a 4 year university. I left the health care field when I went to college and eventually came back to it because I loved and missed it so much. As the previous poster stated do your CNA. You will know if nursing is right for you. Sometimes I really miss that direct patient care that a CNA does.

[AZMOMO2]

Youtube some clinical nursing skills, like IV placement, foley insertion, dressing changes, injections, blood draws, etc... If those sound like things that you would think about doing up close and personal to someone then give it a go. There is so much out there to research before you jump into a program. If it was just the fine motor skills then you should be fine, I mean starting an IV is pretty hard, but there is usually someone there to help with those hard sticks anyway.