So..heres my story. I always wanted to become a nurse. I love that the job is so versatile and I can go pretty much anywhere in the country and always find a job. I was accepted into 4 different private colleges, all community colleges by me I was put on waiting lists. I went to a really expensive private college and failed patho. I then found this site and saw the worst of the worst. People were scaring me into not wanting to become a nurse. I then got a job as a patient sitter at a hospital. All I was in charge of doing was sitting there watching the patient and I WAS SCARED! All of the nurses were so mean to me. They were all saying why do you want to be a nurse? You are so young there are so many things you can be besides cleaning up after people. This is a stressful job you are so young and can do whatever you want. So, I left the expensive private nursing school. I felt I was wasting my parents money. I studied for patho intensely but, if I were to go out on a Friday night with my boyfriend to say oh a dinner and movie I'd feel SO guilty! It just didn't seem fair. Now, I'm back at a community college and all pre-reqs are completed and I'd love to get in the ADN program but it doesn't seem to be working. I have a 3.6 gpa and it doesn't seem to be cutting it. If I were to get it, I'd only have 30 credits to graduate and all would be part time semesters which would dramatically lighten my load.
Can anyone help me? Do you think I'm cut out as a nurse? I am really scared of messing up on patients, I mean its their lives were talking about. I know we all learn but I'm overly scared. I can probably apply to another school but I'm scared to give it another shot, I know so many friends who have become nurses and I REALLY think I can do it. I just am scared of wasting my parents money, although they support me 100%. I also am scared of everyone saying like nursing school students can never go out and they lose all their friends. It sounds bizarre but its coming from actual nursing students, so is it true? I've been thinking about teaching, a few friends are going into teaching but I've always had my heart set on nursing in the med field, it seems so much more interesting. But, some people claim nursing is yet the worst job, and physically and emotionally demanding that I don't honestly know if I'm ready. But, I just turned 21 and its been my dream throughout high school, I dreamed of being an OBGYN nurse, I'm fascinated with it all. I talked to my counselor she tells me nurses make no money for the BS they put up with and their not "professional." A teaching job she claims is "professional." If that makes sense? I live in Northern NJ, BErgen county and its a very expensive county to live here. A friend of my moms, went back to school at 40 years old and she passed with flying colors and became a nurse here and was making 80k her first year. But, now shes going back for school nurse and wants nothing to do with the hospitals and is going to take a big pay cut. So is nursing really what I want? MANY seem to be running away from it...? advice? :heartbeat
Think about the reasons why you want to go into the field. Do you feel a sense of satisfaction when you do something for somebody else? Or is it the financial rewards and benefits that attract you? Honestly, I believe that nursing is a calling. You have to REALLY want to take care of people...to watch over others..to have that responsibility. The nurses who complain simply went into it for the wrong reasons, in my opinion. If the number one reason why you're going into the field is out of genuine passion for it..then go for it. I'm sure you'll be able to overcome any negative that might come your way as long as your heart is in it.
You'll also make new friends in NS that will have the same fears as you, same schedule as you, and same complaints as you. We vent a lot on this site because it's hard for someone that's not a nurse to understand our frustrations. Same with other professions. I'm sure if you went on a food service site, you'd have disgruntled food service workers.
You have to make this decision for yourself. My experiences in nursing school have helped to calm some similar fears I had - about messing up and hurting patients - when I was entering the program.
I think that your counselor is pretty stupid for saying that a nurse isn't a professional...but a teacher is. Either profession can have unprofessional employees, but neither is defaulted to not being professional in nature.
I am terribly scared of losing friends during NS because of its demand and just not feeling myself like I was when I was in the private 4 yr BSN program. If I went out Friday night with a friend, I'd have a patho test that following tuesday I'd feel SO guilty I'd have to go home AND I'd still do bad on that test.
It is up to you to balance these issues during nursing school. My primary study partner has about a million friends. She goes out on Friday and Saturday nights very often. She exercises 4-5 times a week and works 2-4 shifts a week.
She also studies hard and works her butt off at school. She gets straight B's in nursing school and is on track to do that again this semester. I, on the other hand, am older, have already been out on countless Friday and Saturday nights and many of my old friends are married with small kids. So I don't have any problem studying nearly every day and I get all As during nursing school.
Truth be told, I'd rather be her. The point is that you can balance school and life, but you have to work extra hard at both. It's up to you if you want to do it. The tone of your previous posts suggests you may not want to put in the effort.
wannabeanRN90
111 Posts
Think about the reasons why you want to go into the field. Do you feel a sense of satisfaction when you do something for somebody else? Or is it the financial rewards and benefits that attract you? Honestly, I believe that nursing is a calling. You have to REALLY want to take care of people...to watch over others..to have that responsibility. The nurses who complain simply went into it for the wrong reasons, in my opinion. If the number one reason why you're going into the field is out of genuine passion for it..then go for it. I'm sure you'll be able to overcome any negative that might come your way as long as your heart is in it.