Surfer3406

Hello all, I'm a 24 year old male server who is contemplating a career in nursing, and had some questions. I've found that the information on this site and its forums has been of a great help with making my decision, though its still up in the air. Anyway, I've spent the large part of my working career in restaurant, and was wondering if the skills i've learned would help in making a smooth transition to nursing. Basically, I know what its like to be on your feet for roughly 90% of your shift. I know what its like to prioritize your actions, ask for help when you need it, deal with possibly some of the most obnoxious people alive (I work at a top fine dining restaurant in Philadelphia, patrons of whom are the richest lawyers, business men and families in town) who can sometimes treat you like you are below them and that you exist solely for their beckoned call. Breaks? Whats that? Time to eat? No thanks, I'll pick at my food in between running around for tables. Sometimes I forget that i have to go the bathroom, always telling myself i'll do it just as soon as I do this one more thing. I've dealt with managers who seem to not care at all about your well-being or helping you out, and that god forbid you tell them you are overwhelmed, you'll only be reprimanded. I'm most pleased with myself when a table makes a point to stop me, and thank me for my service, that they had a wonderful time and everything was perfect. That's all it takes to make me happy. Sometimes I leave work swearing to never return, and others I couldn't imagine any other type of job. Every time i tried another type of job (desk job, slow paced job) I always end up back at a restaurant. I guess its like a show I saw where they asked a navy SEAL why he is a SEAL. his reply was, "I'm good at it. It's what I do." Do you think that these skills would help me making a smooth transition to nursing? I feel that it seems many of the skills overlap, and that these would all be useful in nursing. Sometimes I feel like some of the posts i have read of nurses who truly rue their jobs seem like they come from someone who didn't truly know what working in an environment like this entails, and finds out to late that being in constant motion for ten hours while constantly updating your short-term to do list is not for them. I think i have an advantage there. what do you think? has anyone made this transition, and how has it worked for you? Oh, one more question. Do the nurses who are happy with their jobs (environment, teamwork, etc.) feel that these jobs are easy to come by if you are a skilled nurse? I know not every job is perfect, and I've worked in many restaurants with bad managers, incompetent servers with no teamwork, and stupid rules. But if you have the skills, do you think it's easy to find a good job? I would hate to go through school and work hard to perfect my skills only to be constantly thwarted by unfriendly, understaffed work environments. thanks for any advice, barry