Guest1005095

Yes, I did. I now have a bachelor's degree in accounting, which is a much better fit for me.

Arapahoe Community College has an ADN program

Thank you everyone for all the feedback. I did decide to leave nursing school. I talked to some classmates and my family and I really just feel like nursing is not for me. It was a difficult decision because I know I'd be good at the critical thinking aspect of it, but that's not the only thing that makes a good nurse. Fortunately I worked while taking pre-reqs and received tuition reimbursement (just for the pre-reqs), so I don't feel like I'm overly invested or losing too much. I appreciate receiving feedback from you guys, I just wanted as many peoples' thoughts as possible, as I didn't feel comfortable talking to my instructors (and yeah, maybe I should have talked to them too). Thanks everyone!

I'm in my second semester of an ADN program and just started clinicals in the hospital this semester… and I'm thinking of quitting. I have no problems with the material and do well on the tests, so I have no fear of failing, which makes the decision all the tougher to make. I hate clinicals. I hated clinicals last semester and considered quitting then as well. I'm trying to figure out if I legitimately am not cut out to be a nurse or if I'm just being emotional/stressed/etc. I feel miserable on clinical days and sometimes the only way to get through the entire day is to tell myself that I really could just walk out of clinicals and never return (obviously I wouldn't, but knowing I could” helps me cope). I would like to be an OR nurse (already have 3 years OR experience), but I don't know if I can get through the clinicals to become one. Plus if I can't get an OR job immedicately, I don't know if I could work on the floor until I get one. Here are the red flags” that make me think I should not be a nurse: - Being introverted and shy, talking to people constantly is exhausting and sometimes gives me the worst headaches I've ever had - I'm not excited about clincials/being a nurse as I see the other students are. Shouldn't clinicals be the good part” of nursing school? - I can't think of a really solid reason I want to be a nurse. I think the pay and job security are attractive, but is it really ok if that's my main motivation? - I don't have a big heart for patients. I know I'd be good at the critical thinking aspects of nursing and I honestly believe that's the more important part of being a nurse, but I don't really care that a person has COPD after smoking 40 years or that a noncompliant diabetic has sores that won't heal when they won't follow their treatment regimen. I feel like if I'm this disillusioned already, it would only be that much worse when I graduate. - Everything within me is screaming that this isn't right, that I'm doing the wrong thing. Maybe part of my hatred of clinicals is that I'm not staff and we're only on each floor for a few days, so I'm not a part of the culture and feel very much like an outsider. I feel very uncomfortable when I'm not working with my assigned patient(s) because I want to be busy and look competent to the staff, which I'm not sure I always do since we are so limited in the number of skills we can do without an instructor (who has to give her attention to 10 students spanning 5 different floors, so I barely bother asking her to observe my skills because it takes so long the nurse does the skill anyway). I do have a good, steady job that I enjoy (though it can be repetitive and boring), but it makes half as much as nurse, which is the only real thing keeping me from doing that for the rest of my life. It's hard to make the decision to quit when I have nurses at work saying I would make a great nurse and when I'm doing so well on the exams. I've never had a clinical instructor who was concerned about my performance. I'm doing fine, but I just can't stand it. Should I get out while I can?