LDRPHOPEFUL

Thanks for being kind with your reply, I was afraid people would be brutal with me :) Years ago (maybe 2005) our health council had nurse shadowing. I shadowed for 9 straight hours in a busy L&D unit. I will never forget the experience. I hung out with the float nurse and I saw so much, and it confirmed my love of L&D. Seriously, one of the most memorable days of my life to this day. I was supposed to be there for about four hours, but she told me I could stay as long as I wanted (the time flew by). I witnessed several lady partsl births, a c-section, a catheter insertion in a mom in preparation for a very pre-term induction (I forget her diagnosis), as well as newborn assessments. It was a whirlwird of activity and it was exhilerating! What I do recall is that the float nurse was simply extra help, meaning I didn't get to see her work through the nursing process. We literally went from patient to patient non-stop. It left me confused, because I knew in my heart that I wanted to work in that area, but still didn't know what a nurse did exactly (and I wasn't any closer to knowing if I could do it as a career). Not long after that I shadowed for a few hours in the Level III NICU at that same hospital. I love the idea of working NICU, but I didn't have anywhere near the same excitement as I did after my L&D experience. I also volunteered in the Mother/Baby unit at another hospital, but spent the majority of my time answering the call lights, so not much exposure to the nurses at work. One time I walked past a room and the mom asked me to come in. She proceeded to ask me for breastfeeding advice, and it was the highlight of my time spend on that floor, even though I had to tell her that I couldn't help her and would get her nurse for her! I wish I wasn't so afraid of failing, I would just attempt it and at least have no regrets for a missed opportunity!! Thanks for your help :)

So let's say I decided to just give nursing school a try; would I know pretty quickly if I wasn't cut out for it? Thanks for sharing your wisdom with me :)

HouTx, thanks, by the way :)

I have wanted to be a nurse since I was tiny. It's written in my school memory book year after year in the "what do you want to be when you grow up" section My mom passed away only recently. Unfortunately for me, I grew up in a home that didn't value education and the pursuit of dreams. Status quo was good enough, and that meant we lived with, and relied on my grandpa as a means of existance. My mom and dad are both deceased (ages 61 & 55 respectively) and I have always wished I would have been pushed to reach my full potential in life. Deep down I want to be amazing, but most days I try to accept the fact that I was given the task of breaking a cycle of dysfuntion so my three boys can have lives I only imagine exist in this world. That's a tough pill to swallow though.

First, THANK YOU :) CPM's are illegal in my state, unfortunately. I have thoroughly researched becoming an IBCLC and I called the hospital systems within an hour or so radius of my home (I'm between two major cities) and they all say the same thing, they prefer RN's (majority REQUIRE an RN, some said RN or dietician and most recently I saw this opening "A nursing degree or other health degree is desirable, prefer a Masters Degree if not a RN trained as a LC"). I have looked into Union Institute's Maternal-Child Health LC program, but it's hard to justify the money for a program that may not result in me getting a job. One hospital explained that there is always a pool of RN's to choose from when they have a job opening for a LC. The fact is, I want that hands on experience during L&D as a nurse, a doula wouldn't be enough for me. Ultimately, I would love to be a midwife and deliver babies! It all comes down to bridging the gap from where I am now, to being in the delivery room helping bring babies into the world. Unfortunately the gap is nursing school!

I'm going to acknowledge up front that this may be a stupid question, but I'm asking it anyway. I'm really struggling with my decision to attend nursing school. I memorized my way through my science prerequisites. Quite literally the professor had an accent that I'm pretty sure no one could understand, and her lecture was simply reading her PowerPoint to us, nothing more. She told us on day 1 that anything in "bold" on her PowerPoint would be what we would be tested on. I got two A's and two B's (A&P 1, 2 & 3 plus Microbiology) simply by relying on my short term memory. Any topic that was remotely difficult I just skipped or I memorized just enough to pick out the answer on the test, but I couldn't tell you anything about it now. Retaking the courses is not really something I'm interested in due to time and money constraints, not to mention I think I hated the majority of the material. I really think I hated so much of the science that I can't even imagine getting through nursing school. But it's strange because I know I don't hate all science (I really enjoyed a lot about micro); maybe I just hate the overwhelming amount of information. Having said all that my basic question is this: surely I can't just rely on my short term memory to get me through nursing school, right?? It frustrates me to know that everything I'm passionate about in life requires an RN license (L&D, lactation consultant, Neonates), yet I don't feel like a true nursing school candidate and I certainly have reservations about making it through nursing school. I used to think I was too dumb, now I know it's a lack of determination and a lot of fear. I am fairly certain that I will be accepted to the BSN program I'm applying to in the near future (I was already accepted once, but declined). These schools think I have knowledge that I just don't have. I know you might be tempted to say that I know more than I think, but I really don't, I didn't truly learn the material. Could I possibly learn/re-learn the material as I go through nursing school? I keep running from this career but it keeps chasing me, and the thought of giving up on the dream breaks my heart. Just how much science do I need to know to start nursing school? My one saving grace is that my school requires physiological chemistry before you begin nursing courses, so if I really apply myself maybe that will give me that foundation I'm lacking. I don't even think I realized what nurses did until my mom was in the ICU recently. I had no knowledge of the nursing process, and in reality, I still don't. Maybe a kind soul out there could summarize that for me too?! In case I haven't sounded foolish enough, I'll really hit it out of the park now...I know I have the compassion and diligence to advocate for my patients and deliver care using nursing skills, but I don't know if I will have the basic knowledge to assess and diagnose. I fear that I just can't/won't grasp the intricate processes (Krebs cycle, anything related to chemistry, and on and on) to ever know what I'm doing. I used to think that being a nurse meant you provided care based on what someone else (MD, policies, etc.) told you to do. Thanks for taking time to read this, I appreciate it!

GREAT idea! Though I am guilty of adding to the negativity in here, I find myself wishing I could hear more positives about Nursing as a career. I can do this because: I know I was born to be a L&D nurse, and possibly even a nurse-midwife! I will be great at this because I am compassionate, observant and diligent!

I have until August 15th to apply for Spring 2014 clinicals in a BSN program. That makes me nervous just typing it!! I will need to take four courses this fall (August 2013) before I can begin clinicals, which means I will get my letter (acceptance or rejection) halfway through the semester. I can't imagine how I will get through the courses if I am rejected, that would be brutal, so here's hoping I don't have to worry about that I have a lot of anxiety about this process, but I'm trying to force myself to take it one day at a time! I did get accepted to this program in October 2012, but decided to decline the offer and wait until my youngest goes to Kindergarten this August, so that makes me feel hopeful that I can get accepted again (but it's not guarenteed). Best wishes to all of you on your journeys!

YES!!! I've been considering registering on here, but after I saw your post I knew I had to respond!! I can SO relate to disliking the prerequisite courses. I've done all my A&P and micro, and while I can't say it was completely uninteresting, I really despised the workload, which left me questioning my ability to get through nursing school. Plus, I was able to get good grades purely by memorizing, and now I'm concerned that I won't be able to build on the material because I don't remember it. My husband always tries to reassure me by telling me that if it's something I truly need to know, then I will have the opportunity to learn it again. He's highly educated, but I still don't believe him. I go back and forth so much on whether I can do this, and if so, whether I really even want to, but then some days I feel such an intense drive to do it. It's so frustrating to me, because I know deep in soul that I was meant to help women during labor & birth and with breastfeeding. I've been accepted into a BSN program about an hour from my house, but chose not to attend until my youngest starts Kindergarten this fall (which meant I lost my spot). I will be applying again (by August 15) to start clinicals in January 2014. I will need to take four courses this fall, and I am nervous about that too!! I haven't taken a full load since I was actually college age and childless! I have to take STATS (serious YUCK), physiological chem + lab, lifespan development and human nutrition (last two should be fine, chem is a concern). I just can't imagine making it through all four of those, but I've also been a SAHM for 11 years, and I'm trying to tell myself that I WILL have a lot of time to dedicate to the coursework. I know it will be a good warm-up for the nursing courses. I want to want this, I want to just be confident and go for it, so like you, I've told myself that I need to take the first semester of nursing courses and see what happens. I hope that I fall in love with it and that alone will motivate me to finish. I know that if I don't try it, I will always wonder what if. I have researched (multiple times) every career known to man, and I keep coming back to nursing. It's the only way to be where I know I was meant to be. Having said all that, I too would love to hear from someone who went through all this doubtfulness and fear, but pushed through and is now loving being a nurse.