Mesomorph

Hello my ... What do you call yourselves anyway. Informaticists? My story is a long one, but I will keep it short: I went to school, got my BSN and RN, but never practiced as a nurse. I did not feel called to patient care and wanted to get out of that world, but I was at a point in my education where I could not turn back and opted to finish out nursing school, get my degree, get my RN, then move on to something else. I'm currently working for a dialysis company in their tech support department. I've dealt with their (admittedly, horrible) charting software, and basically support the nurses in our nation-wide clinics. I had no tech experience on my resume when I got this job, but I taught myself how to build, modify, and repair computers in highschool and learn fast. On the software-side of things, I can learn just about any program and have in the matter of a month learned how to support all of the software at my current job. However, I'm making peanuts and this job is really not fulfilling. Just hectic, crazy, mindless work really once you learn the programs. Just repetitive monkey-work. I could be making double what I'm making working as a nurse and triple what I'm making in nursing informatics (without any patient care! Yay!). I'm not a programmer, but I understand that nurses in informatics aren't all programmers either. I'm thinking this may be a great niche for me, but I don't know much about it! Here are some of my qualities: - Excellent with computers - Very fast learner - Organized and thorough - Complex thinker, Creative - Can see the big picture and how all of the little details work together to form the whole... - Natural system builder: good at finding problems and discovering solutions - Work very well autonomously, but interact well with others (great people skills, but can be left alone and stay on task) Might this be a good field for me? What do you all do on a day-to-day basis? Vanderbilt has online classes I can take and it's not far from my house for when I have to attend (They say I'd only have to show up on campus 3 times a semester). I'm thinking seriously about doing this, but I'm apprehensive. I only want to invest in this if I think it'd be a reasonable good fit. Any and all help/advice is appreciated! Thanks!

I've always enjoyed physical fitness and really value taking care of my body. I was a competitive gymnast but in the process of gymnastics ruined my wrist. A few months after having to retire I was stretching splits and must've not warmed up properly because I just tore the crap out of my legs. Hamstrings... adductors... I felt horrible the next day. (I guess getting 3 hours of ******* sleep throughout nursing school wasn't conducive for healing... -_-'...) Anyway, here I am years later... A guy who used to be able to do left and right split to the ground. I could do middle split within a foot to the ground (to go farther would force me to dislocate my hips and I didn't want to do that). Even light stretching feels like tearing instead of stretching. Massaging it in hopes of restoring muscular mobility feels like it's tearing. I'm so frustrated . I don't know how to restore that flexibility again or if it will ever be possible again because every time I try to stretch, even if it's light, it feels so wrong... like I'm doing more damage instead of actually stretching. It's really upsetting to me. I want my flexibility back. Both sets of adductors are messed up, but my left is worse than my right. My hamstrings are similar, but my adductors are far worse. It's like I'll stretch, stretch a bit more, stretch a bit more, then BAM I hit that point and all of a sudden what was a stretch feels like tearing. It'll feel awesome up to that point then it just feels horrible. What can I do to recover from this? Do I need to buy some kind of goofy thighmaster device to strengthen my adductors for a couple months before stretching them again or what? I'm all ears. I desparately want my flexibility back.

A year in the hospital = not happening. I'm not saying that to be stubborn, but I'm being realistic... I'd rather work at Walmart than in the hospital, so if no one can present some viable options then I will have to look elseware, but I just wanted you to know that there will be no "gritting my teeth for a year" or whatever. I did that for 2 years in nursing school and got to the point of having suicidal ideations so I can assure you I will not be working in a hospital. That being said, continue brainstorming please everyone! :)

Hey everyone. I could write a novel on this subject but I'm going to try to be relatively brief and you all are welcome to ask questions as necessary. The Good: -Graduated from Nursing School May 2008 with a BSN -Passed NCLEX first try November 2008 and am now an RN -My college education is totally payed for -I'm a male, which is probably good as far as marketability The 'Bad': -Nursing school ruined me as a person and I just now feel like "me" again. -I have no desire whatsoever to dive into nursing as a permanent career and have been pursuing photography, but the economy is garbage and full-time photo jobs are very very difficult to come by. I will never accept nursing as "me" or my "identity". -I have about $1,000 in my bank account and it's dissappearing fast. -I'm to the point where I'm desperate enough to consider nursing again. At this point you're probably thinking, "Hey man, if you're not passionate about nursing then you don't need to be in it!" To an extent, I totally agree, which is why I've avoided it. I cannot stand hospitals and cannot take the stress or miserable hours in nursing. But, I need money... I'm hoping some of you might know of a job where I can use my nursing degree, but where I'm not going to be overwhelmed all of the time.... Maybe some job where all I have to do is start IVs all day or something? I question the amount of knowledge I've retained since I graduated... I'm definitely not going into ICU or ER, and I really have no desire to work in a hospital period... Does anyone know of a job that, while perhaps monotonous is rather "safe" and "easy"? ...A job that isn't some holy grail that I have to have 15 years of experience and a gray head of hair to have? Thank you!

Yeah, but that would be a nursing job where photography is an asset. I want a photography job where nursing is an asset.

That's a wonderful service. My hope is to find a paying job, but that's something that I might consider doing in the future as a volunteer, or something that, were I hired on staff at any given hospital, I'd be more than happy to do for parents of infants who didn't make it.

Hm... it seems babies/peds would be my strongest selling point. I'll focus on that as I try to find/create a position for myself. Thanks! If anyone else has any input I'd love to hear it.

No prob. And yeah. Nothing has every grossed me out in nursing. I could deal with the poop, blood, sputum, etc. I also gave the most excellent care I could and feigned compassion if only to help the patients, because whether or not I liked my job and regardless of what I thought about how their foolish lifestyle got them in their poor condition, I still wanted to give them excellent care. What you said about finding your niche is actually the exact statement that kept me going. But, when push came to shove, I didn't like any of it, not ER, Med-Surg, ICU, Pediatrics, Management, nothing. Granted, I haven't tried everything, but anything that's great to get into is probably going to require at least couple of years of scooping poop. I also needed repetition and instruction when it came to clinicals, something I didn't get much. Whatever you do, try not to let nursing make you feel stupid by knowing the fact that it makes everyone feel stupid. I know I'm not stupid, but man did I feel dumb during nursing school.

Virgo, I think everyone in nursing goes through the 'OH MY GOSH I CAN'T DO THIS!!!" phase. When someone like yourself expresses doubts about nursing the typical response is "Keep going! It'll get better!!!" At least, that's what my instructors and other nurses told me. Personally, I think that 1) That is a falsely-reassuring statement. Better is very subjective. If by "better" you mean becoming more proficient skills and somewhat more confident in general, then sure, but if you mean the work situation itself, then no, it doesn't get better. You will always be stressed, overworked, underpaid, and in a disgusting, germ-ridden environment (if you're a floor nurse anyway) and it only gets more stressful when you're let off your leash as a student and expected to be competent on your own. 2) It can lead people who aren't right for nursing to stick with it anyway. Case in point. Me. You're reading the words of a guy with a BSN who just passed the NCLEX last week. I have absolutely no intention of working as a nurse EVER even if photography (my chosen profession) doesn't work out somehow. I am so averse to nursing that I don't even want to think about it as a backup. I'd honestly rather work in another job with half the pay just to avoid it. My story is this: After 4 or 5 other, totally-unrelated majors didn't feel right I considered medicine. Nursing seemed good so I set my mind on that. I've got a lot of interests and have been gifted with the intellectual ability to succeed scholastically in whatever I set my mind to. But, therein lies part of the problem. Just because you're intelligent enough to succeed in nursing doesn't mean you should stay in it. I bet you're smart enough to finish school and go on and become a nurse, but you're unhappy! I HATED nursing school. Every minute of it. Every clinical. Every half-baked crappy test question rationale that apparently makes sense in an alternate reality. Every day waking up on 4 hours of sleep. It was the most unhappy time I've ever been through. When I was halfway through I was seriously considering quitting, but I only had one year of school left, and everyone around me told me to keep going. In my specific situation, I do think it was wise to finish. What would I get for quitting? 3/4ths of a degree and a lifetime worth of regret. However, finishing didn't change anything, nor did passing the NCLEX. I don't like nursing and I never will. That last year was the hardest year of my life... Spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially... It destroyed my confidence and ruined me as a person for many months afterward. For the first time in a couple of years I actually feel smart again. It doesn't matter how smart you are, nursing will make you feel downright retarded. Heck, I'm in Mensa and I felt like an invalid 24/7. So, if you aren't the drama-inclined compassionate brainiac that gets a rush from helping 300-pound gorillas to the crapper, then I would advise you to run far far away and choose a different career! Most people will probably read this and see a lot of bitterness, and yeah, there is some, but I really felt like I was misled and lied to in nursing school. The idea of "it gets better" is a falsehood. My friends who stuck with nursing don't feel that way. One hates it and wishes she could do wedding planning. Another (she is VERY intelligent) is questioning if she should just quit and find whatever other career she can. Another two are just very unhappy in general and wish they could wake up and actually not dread going to work for once. Only one of my friends actually loves it, and there was no question in my mind that he was built for nursing. I'm not trying to get you out of it, but I'm not going to spread fairy dust and unicorns like most people did for me, so think long and hard and don't let people make you feel bad for opting out if it's not right for you.

Well, I just passed the NCLEX. All I got was a small letter from Pearson-Vue... No framable certificate? No card? No nothing? If that's all there is, then that's kind of lame for $300... Taking the NCLEX was a deal I made with my parents. But, I have no desire to practice as a nurse, not even as a "backup" as many people have mentioned. I promised my parents I'd pass it so I took it and did. Now I'm pursuing what I actually want to do (photography) professionally and am loving it. I was wondering if it were possible to combine my expertise... Do hospitals hire photographers on staff? I figured being an RN certainly wouldn't hurt my resume. I'd love to photo surgeries, wounds, babies (and for the babies that die, I figure parents would like GOOD photos to remember them by, not point-and-shoot, blurry, off-color, horrible photos by someone who can't even hold the camera steady). ... ever heard of or seen a hospital photographer? ...or do hospitals normally outsource temporarily for stuff like that? Thanks :)

I'm just contemplating if it's even worth taking the NCLEX if I have no intention of being a nurse. If the title RN would stick with me, I'd take the test, but if not, I don't see the point in wasting the money. I'm kind of at the point where I realize I don't want to do nursing, no matter what the area, but I'm not foolish enough to drop out of college after investing all of this time (Just 6 more months!!!) ...I think I might go into computer programming... Hm...

What about the RN portion of it?

...just indulge me. Lets say I finish nursing school, pass the NCLEX, but never actually go on to work as a nurse. Will I hold the title "RN" for life, or will the title expire? If so, when? If it expires, what will my new title be? In other words, if I'm [Name] RN, BSN and it expires, what does it become?

Well... after I get my RN it looks like it's time for a career change.

I'm a senior nursing student (I know this isn't the nursing student forum.. hear me out...)... and... I just feel like I chose the completely wrong major. I'm not touchy-feely, I'm not inspired by nursing, and as a rule I really don't like interacting with people much. The thing I like is medicine and body systems. My original goal was to become a CRNA, but I'm just not sure I'll measure up. I don't know if I want to subject myself to 2.5 years of misery, knowing it's 2x harder than nursing school after I've already found nursing school to be miserable in itself. My friend told me about Nursing Informatics, and that sparked some excitement, but after reading up on it, it looks like you either have to be a programmer (which I'm not), or someone that's into research/management/ teaching or something... Plus... most of them seem to want you to get clinical experience, which I'm not keen on getting, seeing as how I'm struggling to find any area of nursing that I even might enjoy. My ideal job would be sitting behind a computer working at... something... without having to interact with many other people and without having to worry about killing someone! I type 105 words per minute and I usually pick up on computer systems pretty fast... I taught myself how to build and overclock computers... I don't know... Any ideas? I just don't think I'm built for nursing. All of my peers are all like, "Man I love this clinical" or "I cannot wait to go into _____" while I'm over here struggling to find something that I can even tolerate, let alone love. Sorry to sound negative... it's discouraging feeling that you might've wasted $1,000s and two years of your life on something you don't even want to do.

Haha... My first clinical I had the nursing instructor that everyone said was hardcore (EVEN THE TEACHERS)... Needless to say it was traumatic. Just try to relax... even though that's probably impossible. It's so easy to get tunnel vision at first... It's like your brain shuts off and you can't think logically. It's disorienting to boot, so you don't know where stuff is and they expect you to know it. -Don't let nurses push you around too much -Don't let them make you feel stupid for not knowing something you've never been taught... What are we... psychic? -Don't let them make you feel stupid for not knowing where something is... You've never worked on this floor before -Do read and pre-clinical materials they give you so you are dressed appropriately and prepared -Don't freak out! Your patient will NOT die. It is not the end of the world even if you screw up. If at all possible, work as a PCT, CNA, or whatever the heck your local hospital calls it next summer/winter break. It helped huge. Just being in a clinical setting and being around RNs all the time helped me realize how POINTLESS some of the stuff they have us do in clinicals is! So now, after working last summer, I can do all of these over-the-top things to please my instructers, but I have the peace of knowing that it will not always be like this, whereas before I thought the world would end if I didn't make the frickin' corners on the bed perfect (psychotic foundations bed-making lady).

:-S... I don't have time for all this... Man, I wish I'd have figured out I had a problem prior to nursing school. At least there is a sleep clinic in the hospital where I do my clinicals.

Nope, I remember in health assessment that my tonsils were not visible upon inspection.

Thank you :). I was reading about that. I am actually in excellent physical condition though, so it's not obesity. Hm... Also, I was reading about the types of apnea... Mine might be central rather than obstructive, or possibly mixed... The reason I think it might be central is because I have noticed my stimulus to breath stop during the day as well. I hope there is a sleep clinic closeby. I wonder if you always have to go to a doctor first... I'd rather just go straight to the clinic.

I'm a nursing student, and last semester I was ALWAYS tired and had constant cramps in my back and neck. I finally determined it was my matress, and with the aid of my parents bought a memory foam topper (not a mattress... a topper that is meant to go ON a mattress). Even with just 2" of foam on a board, I sleep MUCH better. The foam is amazing. However, I still need more sleep than most people. I have always been of a "special" physiology. All of my neurochemicals are off haha... I have ADD, Tourette Syndrome, Depression on and off, and Sinus Arrythmia. I wouldn't doubt if my breathing patterns are irregular as well. Although, its' obviously hard to assess my own breathing patterns, I have noticed times during the waking hours where it seems as though I have been sitting there focusing on something without breathing for a long time. I woke up multiple times last night for seemingly no reason. I went to bed at 12 midnight, then woke up at 4AM, 6:30AM, 7AM and I think again at 9AM. I was very careful to look at my clock each time I awoke. I wonder if I have sleep apnea and that I might not be getting the deep/REM sleep I need?

So here's a little preface to bring you up to date before I ask my question: I'm in my senior year of nursing school and basically... it royally sucks. I hated the last two semesters and I'm already frustrated by this semester. Whereas I was making 99s in highschool and straight As in my private university classes (where an A was 95+ in such courses as statistics), I am now consistently below-average in nursing school, and I'm left asking myself things like, "I've always done well, why am I bombing now?" ... and... "My IQ is 160+ yet I'm doing horrible... am I just incompatible with nursing?" and... "Will I REALLY like "real nursing" once I'm out?" I am NOT lazy... To the contrary, I try very hard. However, I have tourette syndrome, ADD (which isn't a factor if I like what I'm studying), and have always seemed to need a solid 8+ hours of sleep or I'm just mentally dead. When I finally find time to study I'm too tired to remember/comprehend the material, and I can't take stimulants because that would exacerbate my currently mild tourette syndrome into a much worse state. It's like I am the square peg, and nursing school and everything it entails is a round hole. Trying to learn and implement all of this nursing process hullabaloo is akin to forcing clay through a sieve. The ENTIRE reason I got into nursing was to become a CRNA. I originally planned on becoming an anesthesiologist, but I found the nursing route to be a wiser choice since it is faster, there is higher demand, and the skillset is pretty similar to anesthesiology. Although money is a factor, it's not all about the money for me and that is not the sole reason I want to be a CRNA. I prefer my patients to be unconscious, I don't like dealing with their emotional needs, and I like to be specialized and to focus on one patient at a time so I don't have a million different aspects to my job description (not to say that being a CRNA is simple. You all know better than I do). Everyone that's known both me and a CRNA has said that I am built for it... that I have the drive for it, the mind for it, and the personality for it, but if I struggle through nursing school only to find that being a CRNA isn't all that different from being a nurse, then it will be a devastating realization. Don't get me wrong... It's pointless to stop now... I'm getting my RN, but I've NEVER wanted to stop at RN. I've worked as a tech and I see what they do and there is nothing about lifting and dressing and wiping and comforting a 300 lb. stroke patient that appeals to me. It's just not how I'm built... I mean I have mercy on them as a human being but as far as my ideal job is concerned, that is not it. So my question is this... Is being a CRNA drastically different from being an RN? This is my hope... I've been talking to one of my friends... She feels the same way... We do not feel that "calling" at all... We've been discussing medical school as a future possibility (read: improbability)... Oy. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this.

So far, every family member of a CRNA I've met or everything I've associated with CRNAs has sounded like something I want to do. I'm still in school to get my BSN/RN, and I saw my first epidural today in my L&D clinical. It was utterly fascinasting! I can't wait to do them myself someday :). Also, (and I hope this doesn't sound bad) but I tend to be more task oriented than people oriented, and actually like solitude... does that sound about like you all? My personality type is INTJ. In addition to this, I've been struggling with feelings of inferiority in nursing school. I go to one of the best nursing schools in the nation (our 1st-try NCLEX passing rate is 99-100% every year) and it is INCREDIBLY HARD. To make an A our average has to be 93+ in any given class. I'm someone who's always had a variety of interests. I write and play music on the piano... I build, modify, and overclock computers... I am an avid photographer and artist... I love the outdoors and love biking and playing sports... I love gymnastics and write poetry sometimes, and have been blessed with expertise in all of these areas. My interests go on and on... but I've found that for some students, their primary focus and main skill is "nursing". Their whole lives are dedicated to nursing. They eat, drink, and breate it. They read articles about nursing news and procedures in their spare time. One girl like this consistently makes 98s and 100s, as I struggle to make Bs (and possibly an A in pharm). I honestly don't even understand how that is possible. ...and nursing is just **part** of my life... it is a career... not a life mission to which I dedicate my all. Like I said, I'm diverse... I love it, but not like they love it (and frankly can't fully comprehend how one can be so consumed by a single subject matter). Also, I'm someone that is used to being at the top of my class, and now I'm in a class with people who were all in the top of their class.... and I feel like crap. If I'm not "best of the best of the best" will I still get into CRNA school okay? I have yet to make a C in any of my college courses, including nursing school, and have a decent GPA (3.45), but I'm just not used to being average or below average in so many courses, and am concerned about my entrance into CRNA school after I get a year of experience in an ICU. Encouragement? Same story for you? I'd love to hear it... I'm kind of in the dark as to what to expect in the future. I've heard it's a lot harder than nursing school... Which sounds.... impossible.... But I'm determined to become a CRNA.

MORE PEOPLE THAT POST THE BETTER! I need statistical data for a project I'm doing on touch-typing, and input from as many people as possible on here could really help me out. You would greatly help me by answering the following: 1) Do you have the ability to touch type? (Type accurately without looking at your fingers on the keyboard) 2) If not, how do you type? - How many fingers - Weird tricks you use, etc. 3) Would you say that you are happy with your typing speed? If not, why? 4) Please post your average words per minute (WPM), or, if you don't know it, please take this quick test. Simply click "> Start Typing Test" then click the "Begin >" button after the applet loads. Afterward, post your NET score (not your gross score). Thank you Thank you! :)

Yeah, I'm about done with my OB rotation. I swear guys, I will have the most screwed up sex life ever when I'm married haha. I have been so wronged in so many ways by nursing school X|

I found a very fascinating site you all might be want to see. I learned some interesting things based on what the women there wrote. Areolar changes tend to be normal with pregnancy-related developments, and breast-sag is normal for those that 1) have large breasts or 2) that have gained and lost a significant amount of weight. Very interesting! Might help those of you feeling self-conscious about your breasts: http://www.007b.com/breast_gallery.php