pre-nursing student, switch or stay?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Goood morning, afternoon, evening... whatever time it is where you are.

And happy Mother's Day to all the lovely moms.

I'm 18 years old, currently in my freshman year second semester as a pre-nursing student. In addition to some general education requirement classes for my university, I've taken Psych, Sociology, Anthro, Anat/Phys 1 and 2. However, I have most prerequisites left to take (including Microbiology, Essentials of Gen Chem, Essentials of Org Chem, and Human Growth and Development). Registration for Fall2011 is on Wednesday and I'm a mess just thinking about it!

I don't know if I want to continue with nursing... My plan was to get into the program and graduate as a BSN nurse with the ultimate goal of returning to grad school for my masters for NP. Like too many people I want to go into Peds, or OB/Women's Health. Not because I think working with babies and children will be rainbows and sunshine, but because I'm genuinely interested in those specialties.

But for some reason I keep thinking that I should look into something else. I've been researching Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy because I've observed these professionals at work and I really enjoyed what I saw. The amount of one on one contact with the patient is unmatched by nursing and I'm not too sure that would change much with advanced practice nursing.

And then something else tells me I should go for teaching. I just finished an internship where I taught health classes at a highschool every week and it was a little challenging yet amazingly fun. But if my studies were to go this route I'd have to decide on a major and pick one of the three different education minors.

I just need some advice, opinions, experiences.. any input would be greatly appreciated.

I know that ultimately I should follow my heart, but I feel my heart is torn between all the options I have.

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Specializes in Perinatal, Substance Use Treatment- Outpatient.

The thing you have to remember is that no matter what you decide to go into, we are lucky to live in a society in which we can change our careers two, three, four times. I'm 29, have a bachelor's degree in Arts Administration, worked for a few years out of college and then decided that I wanted to become a nurse! Don't worry too much about the future, figure out which of your options will make you happy right now and go for it. If in a few years you find you'd like to go a different route then you can. Also, if you enjoy teaching, don't forget the you can always become a nurse educator! Good luck with your soul searching!

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.

Obviously, the right decision is the one that appeals the most to you, your interests, and is the decision that you feel comfortable with.

That being said, nursing is such a broad scope of practice that you really can't understand without studying it and practicing it. Nurses are teachers. We teach our patients about their condition, what we are doing and why, about thier medications, how to take care of themselves, what to watch out for, and on and on. The teaching is never the same. We also do a lot of the tasks that OT's and PT's do. (Especially in rehab). We help the patient learn or relearn to bathe, dress, eat, walk, we teach them how to use crutches or canes, we do range of motion exercises. There is so much that nurses do in so many different areas, it's impossible to list it all. The great thing about nursing is that you can move from specialty to specialty. You can try peds or OB and then move to ICU, ER, rehab, home health, respiratory, psych mental health, etc. It never has to be the same if you don't want it to.

Of course, I'm biased. I love nursing. That's my perspective. Maybe you should try shadowing a nurse and an OT for a day and see what you think?

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jcadler82,

What made you decide to go for nursing? How did you know it was for you?

What would you say about your experience so far? Is it everything you thought it would be?

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ashepherd,

What is the best way to go about asking to shadow someone?

On another note, I see you've listed your specialty as PICU. What is your typical day like?

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Specializes in Perinatal, Substance Use Treatment- Outpatient.

Well, it wasn't an easy decision for me. I felt really lost for a long time, unsure of what I would be able to sustain me and fulfill me career wise. I tossed around a lot of ideas, some of them crazy, and researched EVERYTHING and read about as many things as I could in the different areas. And then I just prayed, a lot....and jumped! I chose nursing, feeling in my heart it was the right thing, and put all my eggs in one basket. I quit my job, moved home with my parents, and applied to one, very competitive program. If I got in, it was the right choice, and if I didn't get in I'd reevaluate. I got in! Now I know not everyone can do this or has the support system to make such decisions, but it worked for me! I actually just found out that got accepted and don't start until October, so I can't say anything for sure! But I'm very excited and feel that I can be a strong nurse and make a difference in people's lives.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
The thing you have to remember is that no matter what you decide to go into, we are lucky to live in a society in which we can change our careers two, three, four times. I'm 29, have a bachelor's degree in Arts Administration, worked for a few years out of college and then decided that I wanted to become a nurse! Don't worry too much about the future, figure out which of your options will make you happy right now and go for it. If in a few years you find you'd like to go a different route then you can. Also, if you enjoy teaching, don't forget the you can always become a nurse educator! Good luck with your soul searching!

Exactly jcadler.

Op, you don't have to stay in one field forever. You can get a BS in Nursing, and for grad school, you can go into Physical or Occupational Therapy (most Physical Therapists and OT jobs are required to have a master's degree anyway).

I can't tell you what to do, but if I were you, I'd pursue a BSN. Nursing is a great base career, and it is very flexible in terms of hours so that when you are off getting a master's in PT or OT, you still have something to fall back on.

Best of luck!

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.
ashepherd,

What is the best way to go about asking to shadow someone?

On another note, I see you've listed your specialty as PICU. What is your typical day like?

I think the best and simplist way to ask to shadow is to call a local hospital/rehab facility and tell them you are interested in peds nursing/OT and ask if they would allow you to spend a day or half a day shadowing one of their staff. Most places are fine with this and may ask you to come in a little early to fill out some confidentiality paperwork.

I am actually a graduate nurse starting my PICU job in a few weeks. From what I have been told, it is a busy unit, the nurse patient ratio is 2:1, the patients are anywhere from infants to age 18. There are several respiratory cases (really bad flu, pneumonia, RSV, etc.), traumas, post-op cardiac surgery, cancer, infections, and pretty much everything in between. The nurses have a lot of input regarding the care plan and the doctors actually consult the nurses frequently when making a decision. I'm not sure exactly what the typical day is like yet, but there are some great threads in the PICU forum about it.

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