Quitting nursing school before starting

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I have been pursuing nursing for several years now and worked very hard to complete my prerequisites and spent hundreds of dollars on application fees and transcripts. Now that I finally got into a nursing school for Fall 2010 I have lost the drive to do nursing. I have lost hope because I know people who finished nursing school and can't find a job, I thought there was a shortage of nurses, or has that changed? I see people writing on here about how they're also having a hard time finding a job. To make matters worst I didn't even know that one has to take a pharmacology exam before getting hired, I heard a lot about people taking the pharmacology exam but I didn't know what it was for. I thought exams stopped after the state boards. I would love to do nursing but there's way too much work to be done only to end up with no job after finishing nursing school. Now I'm just frustrated and confused. I don't know where to go from here because I spent so much of the last 3 years preparing for this. If anyone out there has any advice as too what I should do please feel free because I'm ready to drop nursing now. :crying2:

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Specializes in PCU, LTAC, Corrections.

You should not ditch your dream because there is a lack of jobs. the fact is that there are new grads who do get jobs.

I am supposed to start clinicals in Spring 2011. I know that there is a lack of jobs but that is not stopping me from pursuing my BSN.

I plan on being the new grad who lands the jobs. Don't sell yourself short. Reach for your goals.

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Drop nursing and do exactly, what? If you don't have an answer to that question then you are no better off by quitting nursing than completing a program and getting a license. At least with a nursing license, you will have a work opportunity somewhere at sometime. You never know where life will lead you and when that nursing license might be your ticket to financial independence. The economic climate of today will not last forever.

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Don't stop now, the fun and work begins! The people that graduate and got jobs don't have time to be playing around on "allnurses.com", they are out working and living life! The complainers are on the computer whining and spreading rumors of no jobs. I have several nurses as friends. They never complain about no work. My PA friends on the other hand don't have near as many opportunities. I just looked on a website for a Reno hospital. There are many jobs, PT, Full time, per Diem etc... Think positive, you just spent 3 years to get to where you are. The pre-req's are a pretty big step. I didn't know if I could even do them when I started. Now that that is over I have already forgot the pain.

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I have been pursuing nursing for several years now and worked very hard to complete my prerequisites and spent hundreds of dollars on application fees and transcripts. Now that I finally got into a nursing school for Fall 2010 I have lost the drive to do nursing. I have lost hope because I know people who finished nursing school and can't find a job, I thought there was a shortage of nurses, or has that changed? I see people writing on here about how they're also having a hard time finding a job. To make matters worst I didn't even know that one has to take a pharmacology exam before getting hired, I heard a lot about people taking the pharmacology exam but I didn't know what it was for. I thought exams stopped after the state boards. I would love to do nursing but there's way too much work to be done only to end up with no job after finishing nursing school. Now I'm just frustrated and confused. I don't know where to go from here because I spent so much of the last 3 years preparing for this. If anyone out there has any advice as too what I should do please feel free because I'm ready to drop nursing now. :crying2:

Warning! Tough love post follows!:D

Stop your whining! *LOL*

Check out of Pity Me Pines Hotel, and get on with your nursing education. Do not concern yourself about what things may or may not be like in the future. After you graduate and have your license you will be a RN, that is something no one can take away from you (well they can, but we're not on that right now :D), and have achieved something of great personal satisfaction.

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Don't go based on what other people are saying. There are a lot of my friends who have jobs. You should't be worried about the Pharm exam either. You take pharmacology and continue to practice what you learn there throughout schooling, so it's not like it's a subject you only touched on once. You have to know pharmacology your entire career. I've never known anyone who failed one of those hospital exams, I'm sure it happens but I doubt it happens that much.

You won't graduate till 2012 correct? We don't know what's going to happen at that time. There might be more jobs than there are now and there might not be. But you don't want to be one of those people working a desk job and 20 years from now thinking "I wonder if I had gone through with that." Nursing school is petrifying, I have to take 10 Hesi exit exams just to graduate! But you have to at least try. Do you know how many people would LOVE to be in your shoes? Accepted to nursing school. There may not be a shortage but Nursing is STILL a job that will ALWAYS be there, a computer can't do our job for the most part (thankfully!). You might be one of the lucky ones that ends up with a job before graduation. Everyone is different, some people just have the right stuff and some get lucky.

I always thought about having a backup plan if I can't make it through my nursing program. I looked at similar programs and realized that even with my pre-reqs, some would take me three years more of schooling, some more (I was looking into Speech-Language pathology which would take 5 more years of school WITH all my pre-reqs counting cause you need a Master's to get licensed) So I decided I'm going to do whatever it takes to graduate, I may not graduate with a 3.6 and up but I will get through it. Don't let all of your hard work go to waste.

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I would like to thank everyone for the encouragement, keep the advices coming it's helping me alot. :yeah:

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Keep on keeping on. Don't give in to negative jabbering...If you want to help others recover from illness and injury and make a difference keep on going

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Hi ! I am in the same position as you are so I was glad to see your thread - I don't feel so alone! I keep going back & forth with the decision to continue my nursing education or not. The next part of it, like you, is the actual nursing program part & with that will come me having to quit my fulltime good job & a big change financially for my husband & I. That is the hardest part to figure out. If it wouldn't entail that - I would certainly continue on with the nursing plan. I know - it's a hard decision. No one knows the future though - and the nursing jobs availability seem to go in cycles - So, most likely by the time you graduate, the economy and nursing jobs will have returned. Good luck with your decision - go with what your heart really desires to do!

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I have been pursuing nursing for several years now and worked very hard to complete my prerequisites and spent hundreds of dollars on application fees and transcripts. Now that I finally got into a nursing school for Fall 2010 I have lost the drive to do nursing. I have lost hope because I know people who finished nursing school and can't find a job, I thought there was a shortage of nurses, or has that changed? I see people writing on here about how they're also having a hard time finding a job. To make matters worst I didn't even know that one has to take a pharmacology exam before getting hired, I heard a lot about people taking the pharmacology exam but I didn't know what it was for. I thought exams stopped after the state boards. I would love to do nursing but there's way too much work to be done only to end up with no job after finishing nursing school. Now I'm just frustrated and confused. I don't know where to go from here because I spent so much of the last 3 years preparing for this. If anyone out there has any advice as too what I should do please feel free because I'm ready to drop nursing now. :crying2:

Girl, I'm a bit older than you and done a whole lot of living, so let me give you some advice.

Nothing is promised to us in this world. Only one thing is certain, "man born unto woman will die....", everything that happens in between those two events is what makes up life.

Life is too short to spend stressing out about things we cannot control, and on the flip side, looking back with regrets as to "what if I had....". If you want to be a nurse, do what you have to do to reach your goal. There will always be a need for good nurses, and while some of your employment choices in future may not be where you saw yourself as a nursing student, roll with it and view things as a chance to learn and grow.

Yes, as a RN you will be expected to take pharm/med dose calc exams upon applying for any position, but that is something easily prepared for whilst you are in school. Just make darn sure you do well in those areas, and the rest will follow. You cannot shy away from a dream just because you *might* not do well on an exam you have no idea will look like several years from now.

True, just passing the boards in not the end of "exams". There will be continuing education courses, certification exams, and so froth throughout your nursing career. It is all part of being a professional in a career that is always changing. However at least as a RN you will have the benefit of being able to draw from life experiences, which makes things, including future pharma exams a bit easier.

Finally will say if you landed a spot for this Fall in a nursing program, I'd get while the getting is good!:D As the profession evolves you may find yourself wishing to go back to a NP years from now only to find things are harder.

As for not being able to find work post graduation, again don't worry about that now. One thing is for sure, there will be a great need for nurses in the coming years, and while you cannot do much about the employment market, you can do things whilst in school to help your chances. Network, make connections, not only in school, but at clincial sites. When you meet persons already in the healthcare field, let them know you are a student nurse. In short all the things one would do with any other college major to furhter one's chances of employment post graduation, now apply to nursing.

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I was feeling the same way when some of my friends who graduated from ASN/BSN degrees and were not able to find jobs in our area. They ended up working about 40-60 minutes from where they live, but have found jobs eventually. The economy is bad right now, and EVERYONE is taking a hard hit, education, corrections, medical and so on. But that doesn't mean that you should not go to school. You never know, the economy might pick up 2-3 years down the line. Currently I am in the phase of applying to Nursing school and I know how you feel... the fear of investing your time in something that isn't a guarantee, but you never know unless you try. Don't give up.

Good luck.

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Specializes in almost everything.

I would not quit nursing school just because there are a lack of jobs. Who knows, by the time you finish nursing school, the situation could change. Good luck! You have come this far, don't quit now. Yes, you do have a take a basic pharmacology exam at jobs but you will do just fine.

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