I'm young and nervous about going into the nursing profession

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I'm nervous because I'm 19 years old and only ever had 3 jobs in my whole life. And I worked all of those 3 jobs within this year and stayed at the 1st one for 1 month and a half; 2nd job for 2.5 months; and the 3rd one for only 1.5 weeks.

So you can see, I am a job hopper and when I don't want to do something anymore I immediately back out of it. It's the same for my older sister, she has had 14 jobs within this year and never stayed at them for more than 2 months, or college (she dropped that within a few weeks too).

So I'm afraid that I will become just like her and back out of the nursing profession because something I don't like about it and I don't want it to be like that.

So how do you nurses deal with a environment that you do not like? What keeps you working at a job for a year or more? It is my ultimate goal to have a job for at least a year but I know that will never happpen.

I still depend on my mother finacially and so does my older sister (21 years old), so we always have a safety net to rely on when we don't want to deal with the realities of the world.

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You may be too far ahead of yourself. If you think you're interested in nursing, take a few per-requisites and see how it goes. Actually getting accepted into a nursing program, getting licensed, and staying at a job (or not) are a long way off.

I did not link "nursing program" ....that was automatic for some reason??

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You may be too far ahead of yourself. If you think you're interested in nursing, take a few per-requisites and see how it goes. Actually getting accepted into a nursing program, getting licensed, and staying at a job (or not) are a long way off.

I did not link "nursing program" ....that was automatic for some reason??

I have. School is the only thing that I like and don't mind being in. I have taken 46 hours of nursing prerequisites already consisting of microbiology, a&p1, organic chem, etc.

I just don't like working but I'm hoping I won't mind nursing work.

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I have. School is the only thing that I like and don't mind being in. I have taken 46 hours of nursing prerequisites already consisting of microbiology, a&p1, organic chem, etc.

I just don't like working but I'm hoping I won't mind nursing work.

Well, that may be why you don't stay at jobs long ...school is your focus? That's not a bad thing. Have you thought about working as a CNA to get a foot in the door and a close-up glimpse of what it's all about?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.

Mama needs a pair of scissors for that apron.

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Well, that may be why you don't stay at jobs long ...school is your focus? That's not a bad thing. Have you thought about working as a CNA to get a foot in the door and a close-up glimpse of what it's all about?

No, I actually have no time to become a CNA but I have done a lot of research on nursing and according to what I learn I should know what to expect in the work profession. But I do really want to be a nurse and it's all I dream about.

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Mama needs a pair of scissors for that apron.

I agree with you.

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I'm nervous because I'm 19 years old and only ever had 3 jobs in my whole life. And I worked all of those 3 jobs within this year and stayed at the 1st one for 1 month and a half; 2nd job for 2.5 months; and the 3rd one for only 1.5 weeks.

So you can see, I am a job hopper and when I don't want to do something anymore I immediately back out of it. It's the same for my older sister, she has had 14 jobs within this year and never stayed at them for more than 2 months, or college (she dropped that within a few weeks too).

So I'm afraid that I will become just like her and back out of the nursing profession because something I don't like about it and I don't want it to be like that.

So how do you nurses deal with a environment that you do not like? What keeps you working at a job for a year or more? It is my ultimate goal to have a job for at least a year but I know that will never happpen.

I still depend on my mother finacially and so does my older sister (21 years old), so we always have a safety net to rely on when we don't want to deal with the realities of the world.

Nursing profession has a quick burnout rate, physical, and emotional. Turnover rate is high, therefore, the profession is always desired, meaning endless employment opportunities for someone willing to do the work. The actual stay at a profession, or length of employment, differs from one person to the next, I've personally left one position for another for the fact of career advancement. If you stick around in one nursing position for too long, in my view you become less desirable. A balance of continuing your education, gaining experience in different nursing specialties, and exploring the vast variety that nursing has to offer, will open your eyes, and doors to where you you would like to be in life. Working for a private hospital, the turn over rate on a med/surg unit was insane, we had more people leave every three months, than they could train and retain, always working short staffed. When I worked for a government hospital, there were nurses that had over 30 years of same unit experience, their reasons for staying are "benefits","retirement', and "age". The government hospital still had pretty high turn over rate for employees, but since landing a position at a government hospital is not as easy, staff was much more dedicated to their employment. The ones that would go ,usually stay PRN (AS Needed employee). My personal reasons for switching nursing positions were career advancement, definitely pay, and the fact that "washing booty the same way, day after day for many years gives you carpal tunnel."

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

At some point, that job hopping will NOT work for you or your sister; you will become more and more risky to hire with that kind of work history. You only "become like her" in this respect if you choose to. And as a nurse you really want a solid work history because there is no nursing shortage. Facilities will likely either go with the candidate who they perceive as reliable (among other positive attributes), than the one who they'll spend 5-6 figures to train before she jumps ship. And if they will take anyone with a pulse, that is not a good place to work. :yes:

You could get your CNA and work while taking prereqs. It's a great way to get your feet wet, get used to interacting with patients/LTC residents, get comfortable performing basic nursing tasks, and get an idea for what the RNs/LPNs do.

Actually CNA work was what got me interested in nursing in the first place. I had the opportunity to take it as a video simulcast class while a senior in high school (RN taught from a remote location, students joined from 5 or 6 area schools). The class was free, and figured it would be an honorable, non fast food job I could do while on breaks from college where I had been a vocal student. I loved the job!! and decided I wanted to continue on the nursing path.

During the course of nursing school, you will have clinical shifts in a variety of settings. My program had us do mostly med-surg clinicals, but we also had experiences in L&D, OR, ED, ICU, LTC, chemical health, perioperative, psych, jail; as well as in the community like schools, private duty, and visiting homecare. You will get an idea for what you like, what you tolerate, and what you hate.

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Specializes in Neuroscience.

I just don't like working but I'm hoping I won't mind nursing work.

What is it you don't like about working? Is it the hours, the work itself, the way people treat you? Answer that, and we can better explain what nursing is and the situations you will encounter. This may help you make an informed decision.

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Specializes in ICU.

I'm 29 years old, and I have a younger sister who is 26. I was the same as you in a sense- I really liked being in school, so I did it for a long time. I did work while I was in school, but it was always lower wage kind of stuff, and I was always living paycheck to paycheck. It didn't bother me as much in my late teens/early 20s, but as time went on all of my friends who were settled in their careers were starting to hit milestones like buying a home, taking vacations, treating themselves to nice things. All things that I couldn't afford without a good job. I finally finished school and let me tell you, being financially independent and having enough money to do things for yourself is amazing. My sister on the other hand never "got it." She routinely works at a job for a few weeks and then she quits/burns her bridges. She is still financially dependent on my parents, and they have completely lost all respect for her as a result, and so have my brother and I. She doesn't even try, and its infuriating seeing her leech off my parents who have worked hard all of their lives to set her up and give her every opportunity. She recently lost her job at a Subway shop for not showing up one day when she got into a fight with her boyfriend. She has no car, a suspended license for not paying a speeding ticket. Bounces back and forth between living with my parents and her POS boyfriend who treats her like crap and kicks her out all of the time. And this is essentially all because she cannot get her **** together and hold down a job, ANY job.

Trust me, your parents do all that they do for you to set you up to have a happy, independent life, not to support you until the end of theirs. Unless your parents are very well off I guarantee that continuing to support you is putting a financial strain on them in some way- whether it be overt or impacting their savings/retirement, etc. This post wasn't meant to shame you by any means, because like I said, it took me awhile to really fully get myself situated too.Plus the fact that you're worried that you will continue this cycle tells me that you really do want to make a positive change and be successful. Nursing can be more than just a job, it can truly be a career. For me it's stimulating and interesting, and theres always something new to learn every day. If you find the right area of nursing I'm sure it will keep you slightly more interested than the average job.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

I think that your mom is doing you and your sister no favors. I applaud you for recognizing that there may be some stumbling blocks in your path, simply because you have been allowed to opt out of your responsibilities. And when I say "allowed," I mean that your mom tolerated and subtly supported the job hopping that you and (especially) your sister have done. At 19 & 21, you 2 should be carrying some (19) or most of (21) of the responsibilities of an adult.

Keep in mind that the low-paying jobs that you have been hopping around at bear no resemblance to a career that you are dedicated to and maybe even enjoy. If you work full-time for years at obtaining your education, you will likely be much more vested in sticking with the opportunities that you find in your career. The nursing job that you attain will matter so much more to you than one where you flipped burgers for minimum wage. Not only that, but when you are in nursing school, one of the first things you will learn is that nursing is a small world. Burning bridges by job-hopping will soon land you into a Do-Not-Hire status.

Having said all that, I must caution you that entering the nursing field is not easy. In fact it can be downright brutal, and I recommend that you read lots and lots here on the forum. Find out what nursing is and what it is not. More than likely, it is not the job that you dreamt of.

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