KateMLS

Some good advice here. My question is, do you like oncology nursing? If so, you might find working as an infusion nurse in a physician's office just the thing. Based on the experiences of colleagues who do this, they really get to develop relationships with the patients and the patients come to rely on "their" nurse. If you're not so sure about oncology, hospice care is also an alternative. It takes a special, caring person which is what you sound like to me. The great thing about nursing is that there are many options and no one will fault you for finding the one that fits you best. Good luck!

Sorry you find me negative. But I read all the posts and you have been consistently defensive and dismissive. That's far more negative than suggesting you get some career counseling advice. Perhaps you doth protest too much.

My experience has been that almost every nurse has something that just makes his or her skin crawl. But you express hersitation about virtually everything that is involved in the day-to-day care of sick people. No matter what your background you will have to learn to deal with these things and to keep your feelings about doing so off your face and out of you body language. And, you'll have to do it without making comments while you're doing it. My gut feeling is that you are floundering around trying to find a way to make something work for you and have latched onto nursing as a panacea for all that hasn't come together in your career life thus far. It might work, I don't know. I would strongly suggest you consult a career counselor at a community college. You seem to assume 20 year old science classes will count now, they probably will not. You need a real picture of what is expected prior to getting into a program and what will be expected once you are in. You dismiss the very real situation new grads have been and continue to experience relative to new grad positions. You assume because you are working in a facility, they will hire you as a new grad and hire you into the area you want to be in--maybe, maybe not. Frankly, being stubborn and dismissing people trying to give you good and honest information does not bode well for success in nursing.

Over 30 years out of nursing school and I am still shy and quiet in most social situations. More than anything else, I believe the thing to remember is that in nursing it's not about you, it's about the patient. Keep saying that "it's not about me."

Absolutely, list them both and the work experience. You might also want to think about the transferable skills you gained from your earlier degrees and work experience. Those can be highlighted in your cover letter.

Lolita Kitty, part of me desperately wants to get you a cup of tea. It doesn't cure much but does go a long way toward soothing the nerves. You've been an RN slightly over 3 months, you have worked as a new grad about the same length of time; I'd be surprised if you were not overwhelmed. No matter what anyone says or thinks, nothing but nothing prepares you for the actuality of really working as a RN, fully responsible for everything. For anyone who says they did this in some form as a student the question to be answered is this: was there anyone else responsible for the patients or you. Since you were a student, at the very least your instructor was responsible for you (that's the legal side of being an instructor). When it's you and only you it is very different. It takes time to develop effective time management skills. It takes even more time to feel and respond to the rhythm of a particluar unit or specialty area. Nurses are incredibly good at beating themselves up over the slightest deviations from perfection in all things. Be gentle with yourself. You are leaning. Right now, and for the next several months, making it through each day is success. I promise you, the day will come when you are able to spend some quality time talking with a Pt, when you can make a joke and have time to listen to the laughter and really see the smile. Once that happens, then evaluate if you're in the right place. Be well, be kind

A good career counselor will not tell you that you are unsuited to any job or profession. A good career counselor will help you discern what is right for you. A good career counselor will help you learn what strengths and weaknesses you bring to any job or profession. A good career counselor will let you know how your personality type will mesh with the majority of those in a particular profession. Sometimes the timing is off. But, if you want to be a nurse, the only person who can stop you is you.