vtjane

Thanks for the help and advice from everyone, I'm going to start looking for a CNA program near my home now. =)

Hello, I might be crazy but I need some advice. Long story short I think I would make an excellent nurse, but I have some major obstacles (potentially deal breaking ones) to get over first. Brief background about myself - I graduated with a BA in Sociology from Virginia Tech in 2006 and am now looking into being licensed as a CNA to see if I might be able to eventually cut it as a RN, learn more about nursing, and get some hands on experience before looking into obtaining a BSN. I'm a very visual learner - if I see things first when I read about them later it would then make more sense, so I think this route would be best to prepare me to go back to school. My one concern with going CNA -> BSN is that in my area there are a lot of (part-time) openings in nursing homes but not hospitals for CNAs and I know being a CNA in a hospital would probably get me more varied hands on experience and since I would want to be an RN specifically in a hospital setting going this route might not prepare me in the way I would hope. OK, so I enjoy taking care of people and I have always been interested in medicine and anatomy, but it wasn't until a few months ago that I even considered nursing as a career. I never seriously considered nursing even though so many people over the years have told me I'd be a great nurse (caring, patient, attentive, critical thinker, etc.) because of a couple major concerns. I'm looking for advice from current nurses / nursing students / anyone who might have some insight or advice about these concerns (read the bold titles for the abridged version of the post - it's really long). concern #1 : Issues with needles: I have done a lot of research on the subject and many people have said "it's better to stick then be stuck, just think of a happy place (distraction methods) etc." but I am to the extreme where I've almost always fainted every time I've had my blood drawn or been given a shot. I've tried to watch videos to see if it would help me get more comfortable with that whole situation but it's still a little hard to watch. I honestly don't know if I'd be capable of setting up an IV or drawing blood without getting really squeamish (maybe in time it would get easier ... or after training it wouldn't be as bad but I'm still worried). Something I wanted to know specifically about that would be is there a) something during school in your training that specifically helps you get over issues like that (other than just practice practice practice?) or b) is there something I could do now to prepare myself or even to test myself to see if I would be able to handle these situations before going through more schooling? Another concern relating to that is that I know some schools do have you practice giving shots to fellow students (not all do) but if I did go to a school where they did that and opted out of being someone to be stuck during a class like that, would that forgo my learning opportunity that day or would I most likely be able to practice on a fake arm / body like with other procedures in nursing school? --> This concern brought me to the conclusion to not get my BSN right away but to look into being a CNA, the training isn't long or normally that expensive but would it even be worth going into with these issues? I know CNAs sometimes need to remove IVs or draw blood .. so I'm a little concerned. concern #2 : I have a crying problem and can be 'jumpy': I'm the person who could go to a complete strangers funeral and be balling my eyes out even if no one else is. I'm not sure what it is but despite how hard I try to hold my emotions in I always sob uncontrollably at funerals (in real life or on the TV ....) because I will think about the family and friends of the person who died and how sad they'll be, or I imagine that person being my mom / grandparent / family member and lose it then. I know most programs probably have some part of some class devoted to helping you figuring out how to cope with these situations, and I know after time you normally become hardened to these situations (or at least are supposed to), but can really emotional people make good nurses? I don't have issues with depression or mood swings or anything like that, I just see people that are hurting and I really feel for them and it becomes very clear by my reaction. In the same light though it helps me better put myself in that persons shoes to see how I can help them whether it be listening to a story that they might want to tell, or assisting them in any way I can. I'm also slightly jumpy - not sure why - but things like if people step on bubble wrap or pop a balloon when I'm not expecting it, it normally makes me jump. =-/ So I know those are 2 huge issues, there are other minor ones that I would deal with as well, but I kind of wanted an inside opinion of whether or not someone with these types of concerns / issues would be able to succeed in a nursing career or career or not, any feedback about any of this would be really appreciated thank you so much, and I apologize that this is a long read (I have a lot on my mind - and have done a lot of reading and video watching about "days in the life" etc.). No one in my family is in any kind of medical field but I have looked into volunteering at a hospital though I'm still working on the logistics of whether or not I should start taking pre-reqs etc. Thank you so much for your time!! :redbeathe