Realized floor nursing isn't for me, anything else i can do with a bsn?

Published

Hi all, new to this forum. I'm glad that i came across it. A little background about my journey first. I did my pre-reqs. and enjoyed it!. I fairly enjoyed learning anatomy, microbio lab, human development, nutrition, and so on, I thought these classes were very interesting! I took a few other classes like general bio and chemistry and I thought these classes were even more interesting and also more challenging. I enjoyed spending time in the lab to dissect or conduct experiments. After completing the prereqs and some other classes for my bachelors requirement like history and English (I loved history), I decided to apply to my schools nursing program and got accepted. Before I was an undeclared major. So I was now going into nursing theory and the clinical phase. All of the sudden the excitement for my classes i had started fading. I would go into clinical not feeling very well prepared as my pre-reqs seemed not to have much in common with this new environment i'm in. We were learning skills in the lab while going to clinical although i felt those skills should have been taught before hand. Anyway, I felt like a small bug in a large and vast hospital. I didn't really feel like i fit in. I enjoyed the classroom or the lab more than being in the hospital. I won't go into detail but there were somethings that I did not enjoy doing. I was talking to my friends and they said that i was just probably scared and that i need more real-world experience in order to feel more comfortable around patients. So they told me to apply for a student tech job at our local hospital to immerse myself with bedside care. I told myself to give it a try. I eventually got a job there but I ended up not liking it. 2 semesters have passed and I only have 2 more semesters left and not even a year to graduation. I kind of blame myself for not having shadowed a nurse before considering nursing school. I think i would of went an alternate route. My option now is 1) switch majors or 2) finish my bsn and find a non-traditional career in nursing. Do you know anyone that didn't work at the bedside and did something completely different? I'm willing to go to grad school if that will make me more competitive for non-traditional nursing job? Also can you guide me and list me a few careers that nurses go into that are unique? thanks, that way i can research them

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

OP- to be blunt, you haven't BEEN a bedside nurse yet. You've been a student. They are completely different.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nursing Management.

I agree with meanmaryjean. It's completely different. What about your clinical rotations do you not like? Is it the poop? Interacting with people (said you preferred lab more)?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I agree with meanmaryjean. It's completely different. What about your clinical rotations do you not like? Is it the poop? Interacting with people (said you preferred lab more)?

lol, well since you brought poop, i did have a c-diff patient for the first time and his poop smelled so bad, my goodness, i almost vomited. Even wearing a mask didn't help that much. Yeah i guess im more of the introverted type. I really enjoyed the class and lab setting because their isn't that much interaction with people. I've always considered myself a thinker, i just love to sit there and think but not do much talking. I was always the quiet type. the hospital is too dynamic and interactive for me.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Any job in nursing will require you to have not just the BSN degree, but an RN license. You will need to get that first. There are jobs that don't require one to hold an active license, such as healthcare administration, but honestly if the employer is advertising a position for a BSN.....they mean RN. You aren't likely to be considered for any of that, though, until you have some experience under your best (after all, how can you "administrate" anything you have no direction knowledge in doing?).

You have a long way to go yet. I've never been an advocate for 'sticking it out' no matter what, but you do need to ask yourself what ELSE grabs your interest that is an employable career, and that you have foundation classes for (or are willing to take on so late in the game).

Consider what you want to DO, and then work toward it. Not what you DON'T want to do, and yet keep heading toward it. Know what I mean?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

Switch Majors. The majority of people who work in "non traditional" nursing positions have years of experience at the bedside.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Switch Majors. The majority of people who work in "non traditional" nursing positions have years of experience at the bedside.

i have heard this. I guess whats stopping me is that i'm so close to finishing. Everything out there seems like it requires hospital bedside experience. I was thinking of doing home care but that needs acute care experience. Being 1:1 with a patient would seem a lot better for me as opposed to having 6+ patients. And i have 20k in debt so i think i have no choice really but to finish, pay off my loan and plan my next move. At his point i need a good paying job to pay my loan.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
i have heard this. I guess whats stopping me is that i'm so close to finishing. Everything out there seems like it requires hospital bedside experience. I was thinking of doing home care but that needs acute care experience. Being 1:1 with a patient would seem a lot better for me as opposed to having 6+ patients. And i have 20k in debt so i think i have no choice really but to finish, pay off my loan and plan my next move. At his point i need a good paying job to pay my loan.

Being 1:1 with a patient in a homecare setting WITHOUT sufficient acute bedside care experience should terrify you, not appeal to you! Consider this: you take a job where you are the sole caregiver for that patient for the duration of the shift. There is NO ONE there to ask what you should do about this dressing...whether to give this med or that one.....to clarify instructions....to change the IV you haven't been able to master inserting. Still think it'd be great to be 1:1?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Being 1:1 with a patient in a homecare setting WITHOUT sufficient acute bedside care experience should terrify you, not appeal to you! Consider this: you take a job where you are the sole caregiver for that patient for the duration of the shift. There is NO ONE there to ask what you should do about this dressing...whether to give this med or that one.....to clarify instructions....to change the IV you haven't been able to master inserting. Still think it'd be great to be 1:1?

no im saying it'd be great idea doing 1:1 homecare but i need the hospital experience first. I never said i'd jump right into it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

If you have no choice but to finish why are you asking if you should change majors? You specifically said should I "switch majors".

If you cannot change your major then you will more than likely be doing bedside nursing for a few years.

Maybe you will be one of the 0.0001% who find a job that pays a ton with minimal work.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Another way to look at it: There are plenty of studio art or history majors who do not graduate and get "art" or "history" jobs. They land entry level positions in a variety of fields that simply require a bachelor's, not necessarily a specific major. There is no rule that says a BSN can ONLY work as a nurse or is even relegated to the healthcare field. You'll still hold a bachelor's. If you can't switch majors and spend more time in school for financial reasons, finish your degree and then start looking for work in other fields.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Have you considered the idea of research since you enjoy the lab setting more? Research is a legitimate sub-field in nursing...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion