Pinkman

I've planned on being a nurse since my freshman year of high school when I wrote a research paper on how it was my dream to be a peds nurse. It's been years and years since then and a couple months ago, I got a job as a nursing assistant on a medical observation unit at a major hospital. I worked nights and hated it. My anxiety was out of control. I even had to leave work because I was having an anxiety attack and couldn't calm myself down. I ended up explaining everything to my nurse manager and she was very understanding and I left the position. Now, I'm in my senior year of college as a Health Sciences major. My plan was to do a ABSN once I graduate but after my assistant job, I thought maybe nursing wasn't for me since I didn't like being a tech. However, I talked to some nurses and they said being a tech isn't really like being a nurse. Yeah, you still have to deal with all the "dirty" stuff but so much more goes with being an RN. Also, another thing is that I'm afraid I'll never be able to see my kids if I'm a nurse. If I work nights, I'll have to sleep during the day and if I work days, I won't be able to drop off or pick them up from school. Basically, my main question is how do you manage family life if you're a nurse? I have one child right now and he's three. I can't imagine having days where I wouldn't ever be able to see him.

I will think about that. I think I need to spend some time shadowing nurses to see if it's something I can do long term. Do you mind giving me other ideas of health careers besides nursing? I know about respiratory therapy but that's about it. I'll have my bachelors in health sciences in a year if I stick with this plan but I'm planning on getting married and having another child shortly thereafter so I can't spend too much more time in school to do something like PT, OT, etc.

That definitely wasn't the mantra on the floor I worked on, unfortunately. I rarely had help from any of the nurses, with the exception of probably one. Anyways, I know I would still have to be doing all that type of work but that's certainly not my main concern.

I figured that much but I know there's all different types of nursing I could get into besides even being at the bedside. My interests are in labor and delivery, ob, and peds. I know I would be dealing with bodily fluids there but I feel like I would enjoy the work enough that it would be worth it. My main issue is family time and how I'll manage.

I got a job as a nursing assistant at a major hospital in March. I went through the orientation and enjoyed it and especially enjoyed our clinical day. My job was 12 hour night shift, part time. However, when I got up on to my floor, things took a turn for the worse. I cried everyday before and after work. I worked on a med-surg observational unit and I hated the work. I didn't mind the patient interaction in fact, I really enjoyed the patients but there was a lot about the job that I hated. I don't want to sound prissy, but I hated the "dirty work". I've never minded blood, guts, all that but dealing with poop and pee is a different story. The 12 hour shift, especially nights, wreaked havoc on my anxiety. I couldn't stand it. I quit because my anxiety was so bad (due to other things as well) that I had to quit. My manager totally understood and wished me well. Now, I'm at loss for what I want to do. I was going to attend an accelerated bsn program after I graduate next year but now, I just don't know. I don't want to have to miss time with my family by having to work weekends and holidays. If I work days, I'll never see my kids and if I work nights, my sleep exhaustion will exacerbate my anxiety. Nursing appealed to me because I considered myself a nurturer and enjoyed the hospital atmosphere. I also thought working 3 12s would be awesome so I could spend more time with my kids. Has anyone else hated being a CNA but enjoyed being a nurse? How do you handle the time spent away from your kids?

I'm currently a Health Sciences student graduating in summer 2016. I'm going into an accelerated BSN program after I graduate. My prereqs are pretty good with the exception of my stats class. I got a C. The rest of my prereqs are A's and B's so I don't really know if it's a big deal or not. What should I do? My GPA is 3.2 and I still have to take Chem 2, Micro, and A+P 2.