Second career nurses: what if you ended up not liking nursing?

[Infofreak411]

I a firm believer that learning something in a classroom environment is totally different than actually applying it.

I have an interest in nursing, and have had it for some time. I like learning all of the nursing/ medical theories, am a pharmacology nerd, love anatomy, micro, patho, etc. Additionally, my desire and compassion to help people with physically and mentally is above and beyond.

However I am afraid that if I were to graduate nursing school and started actually practicing nursing that I wouldn't like it like I did when I was studying it, I'm afraid I wouldn't be good at it and would be fired and or burnt out and make an error in my work. I know that if you get let go of one nursing job your chances of getting another are like zero. I see all these stories on here of people who are miserable, burnt out, stressed and urge people to do a different career and it worries me. I'm afraid I will be one of those people but I feel as though I have know way of knowing until I actually am doing it. I wish there was someway to predict ahead how I will be!

I already have a degree so the though of going back for nursing to end of not liking that makes me feel like I'd be a failure.

Anyways so what happens if you go back and get a second degree in nursing and find you don't like it. What do you recommend?

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

I am a second degree nurse, earning my degree in 2012. I was a lot like you in the beginning, researched every facet of nursing I could. Still, nothing prepared me for what I was in for. Nursing school does not teach you about multiple discharges and admissions while still safely caring for your patients, they don't teach you about core measures, they don't teach you about a lot of things.

Also, I recently left a job at one of the best hospitals in my area (my dream job) because the personalities on the unit were awful. The nurses were fantastic, but the PCAs and unit secretaries not so much. I had critical VS go unreported (70s/50s), blood sugar levels were not reported either. One PCA even decided she did not have to chart VS until the end of her 12 hour shift. I witnessed a unit secretary have major screaming matches (sick patients would come out of their room to see what was going on) with a PCA simply because the PCA asked for some help with something easy. When asking a PCA to do something, there was always an excuse why they could not help the nurse or patient. I decided no amount of money or prestige was worth enduring that sort of behavior from people who are supposed to be professionals and it wasn't worth losing my license because someone "forgot" to report such critical values (even though they charted they informed the nurse).

Now, the place I worked before this hospital was amazing, and I am returning there next week in a charge nurse position. It will be great to be back home, even though it is a small community hospital.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

It seems these best hospitals are more a marketing marvel and tech dream and less a great place for nurses to actually work in. These are business pro's who know how to make a profit for the CEO and do it by decreasing pay, benefits and staffing ratios, but use marketing and lots of technology and dream doctors to make it seem like one of the best hospitals. Best for whom? Ok they have the technology and the doctors, but patients come to the hospital for the nursing care!

Where I live, the Children's Hospital CEO bragged in the paper how proud he was that they have less nurses per patient than any other hospital. Seriously, I'm not kidding you, granted he didn't phrase it like that some spin on how they don't need as many nurses as they are so efficient, but I wonder what the nurses that work there think about this. Did they read the article, do they know that staffing is better at other hospitals across the nation. Perhaps not, as how many people read the news anymore. Granted this article was several years ago, but I just thought wow what a thing to brag about. Unreal!

The top two hospitals and medical college in my area are known for laying off their senior staff. How do I know this because I've worked with staff that have been laid off or driven out from these healthcare systems and now work agency and pool.

One of the hospitals fired a cardiologist for bringing up some quality problems at a national conference. The hospital felt it was a fireable offense to air their dirty laundry even though it was done to improve national healthcare standards. On top of being fired the cardiologist still had a non compete clause in her contract that wouldn't allow her to work within so many miles of that place, leaving her with very little options other than relocating!

[technofreak]

Nursing was my second degree and I abhor it. I'm currently going for yet another career. My family thinks I'm nuts, but I owe it to myself to not be miserable. I plan on working for the next 30+ years, so I want to make it count.

I did my research, and no research prepared me for the reality of nursing. Nursing must be your calling or you will not do well. I wish you luck, but I personally would tell you to become a PA, if you want to have patient contact.

AN is unique in that I see a lot of people truly enjoy what they do. In the real world, its not like that. Most people love nursing because it has earned them a spot in the middle class and affords them the opportunity to be with their kid/family for the majority of the week. It is very flexible. But I have yet to meet 5 people that truly enjoy the profession for the act of nursing itself...that I truly believe (most of it is lip service). Oh and all that talk about there's so many different avenues/units/options, I wouldn't hold my breath, and those positions require years of tortuous days at the bedside. Not worth it. Please, please, please take your time to decide. This is a big decision.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

I think what has helped me to know with 100% certainty that this is for me is that I have continued to work in my "former" career while in nursing school. I work in retail. I have perspective. I hate customers. I love patients. People who are sick have WAAAAAYYY more sway with me than indignant customers with rich people problems who think I should bow before them because they spent $1500 on a handbag. A person who is angry and wants to yell at me because they don't like the way I moved their brain dead baby while preparing him to go to surgery for his organs to be donated? Fine, darling, scream away. Seriously. Nursing is stressful with a purpose. It's an inherently frustrating, terrifying job. But to be frustrated and stressed in retail? Absolutely unacceptable. Give me the stress and terror of nursing any day. I will always feel like I'm doing something way more for society than the current nonsense that's paying my bills (barely).

Sometimes I'm afraid I can't take it and nursing will not work out. But, this is my second chance. It has to work out and I know it will. Everything has been smooth sailing since I started the program. It's been terrifying but it's all been for good reason and for an infinitely more satisfying reason. Retail will never be that.

[Infofreak411]

I've been working for years and have gained maturity, I'm just one of those people that are lost

[Infofreak411]

I think what has helped me to know with 100% certainty that this is for me is that I have continued to work in my "former" career while in nursing school. I work in retail. I have perspective. I hate customers. I love patients. People who are sick have WAAAAAYYY more sway with me than indignant customers with rich people problems who think I should bow before them because they spent $1500 on a handbag. A person who is angry and wants to yell at me because they don't like the way I moved their brain dead baby while preparing him to go to surgery for his organs to be donated? Fine, darling, scream away. Seriously. Nursing is stressful with a purpose. It's an inherently frustrating, terrifying job. But to be frustrated and stressed in retail? Absolutely unacceptable. Give me the stress and terror of nursing any day. I will always feel like I'm doing something way more for society than the current nonsense that's paying my bills (barely).

Sometimes I'm afraid I can't take it and nursing will not work out. But, this is my second chance. It has to work out and I know it will. Everything has been smooth sailing since I started the program. It's been terrifying but it's all been for good reason and for an infinitely more satisfying reason. Retail will never be that.

Why does it have to workout?

[seconddegreebsn]

I am someone coming from another career, new nurse with less than a year's experience and...I don't really love it. I'm invested in sticking it out (hey, student loans) but I'm very happy I have a back up option because there is no way in hell I will be on that floor five years from now. Unlike my previous career, I do appreciate that there are options, but I'm in a super saturated market that makes those options not very accessible. I never considered becoming a stay at home mom until I became a nurse but I'm nearing the point where working part time might be the only way to keep my health and sanity.

There are some real ugly truths I think I glossed over before getting into nursing: lateral violence is real, people will throw you under the bus for no reason and will do so without thinking twice, management is awful and will try their damndest to work you near to death, patients and their families can be incredibly abusive. Sometimes I go a week without hearing the word "thank you." Sometimes my job is rewarding but quite often it's not. It's a job, and there are definitely easier ways to make money. If you have a bad temper, cannot stand getting yelled at or spoken to like you're an idiot (by your boss and by your patients), if you have a low frustration threshhold or cannot tolerate very high stress I'd say reconsider. If the thought of having to read a script and getting yelled at over not having gourmet sandwiches on hand makes your blood pressure rise, I'd say skip it. That's sort of where we are right now in nursing and it's a rough place to be.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

Why does it have to workout?

It has to work out because this is kind of my last chance to really get on with life and do something substantial. It's personal circumstances so, yes, in my situation, it MUST work out. There is no turning back.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

I've been working for years and have gained maturity, I'm just one of those people that are lost

And for me, life is kind of too short to be lost. Let's get on with it and have an awesome time doing it. If it doesn't work out (which it kind of has to, at least for a good while), then move on to the next thing.

[ontheway2crna]

Just take a leap of faith and go to nursing school.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

27 threads asking the same type questions. Do NOT become a nurse. Feel better? Less stressed?

[spacecheetah]

I'm just now taking pre-reqs and applying for nursing school later this year, but I'll chime in b/c I've had to make the same decision of whether or not to start a second career.

I do not have a degree, though, so for me it's a little different.

I've been considering nursing school on and off for about 5 years. I didn't want to start it and then quit. I've done enough of that in my younger years, and I don't do it anymore. If I do something, I want to be as sure as I can be, and 100% committed.

I'll skip all the personal stuff about what I do for a living, my job searches, etc. It's kind of pointless for the purposes of this post. Suffice it to say I do not make much money. The median income for an RN in my state (TX) is more than twice what I currently make.

The dreams and passions I grew up with had nothing to do with healthcare. I didn't finish college because I was going to be an actor/comedian and writer and "you don't need a degree for that." Haha! Yeah right. I've turned my writing into some dough. But truth is: most of my psyche is preoccupied with making ends meet. I usually work at least one other job besides this one at any given time, whether it's retail during the holiday season, a blogging gig I've kept for a few years, or dialect coaching at local theatres.

I have done some professional work locally, onstage and voice-over. I'm not auditioning much now because I work too much at my hovering-around-the-poverty-line job. Also can't afford new headshots.

I'm not whining. I chose this. I'm just stating the facts.

But you know I've spent a helluva lot of time accepting that at this stage in my life I'm probably not going to make my passion my profession. And that's ok. It really is. Like Mike Rowe said, "When it comes to earning a living and being a productive member of society – I don't think people should limit their options to those vocations they feel passionate towards. I met a lot of people on Dirty Jobs who really loved their work. But very few of them dreamed of having the career they ultimately chose."

(Also I have friends who made their passions their professions, and their passions turned into, well, jobs. Meanwhile they have to hustle constantly to make ends meet and live without benefits of any kind unless they are married to spouses with good careers. Most of them aren't. There are 10,000 frustrated actors waiting tables with bad teeth driving 1996 Saturns for every Ben Affleck. And the sad truth is, some of them are better actors than Ben Affleck.)

So I decided to make the choice I feel is smartest, which is to choose a profession based on job growth and a favorable income potential to education cost (including time) ratio. And I decided the two smartest choices were healthcare and STEM fields. Healthcare is more my speed, and within healthcare, nursing (after years of research and thought) feels like my jam. I know myself well enough to know I have the intellectual capacity and work ethic to become a nurse. I genuinely enjoy challenging work environments and interacting with other human beings. (Yes I know there are other healthcare careers I could pursue but this post is long enough w/out going into "nursing vs. INSERT HEALTHCARE CAREER HERE.)

I did not grow up feeling "called" to be a nurse. I made the decision deliberately and finally decided it was a good choice for me and to go for it.

I have no way of knowing how well I'll do. I'm not a psychic. But I know myself pretty well. I like my chances of being successful in school and in a career. I have no illusions about the fact that I may have to relocate or take a job outside my favorite specialty to become employed. I have no illusions that I might find the specialty I currently am fascinated with and enamored of (psych) might not be the same one I fall in love with during clinicals and decide to pursue. I realize that nursing is a JOB. Parts of it will suck. Welcome to Earth.

I am 35 years old, and I know that an actual career in nursing for me, even if it involves a shortage of jobs, wiping some butts, getting screamed at, etc., is a better choice than hovering near the poverty line at a job that has no growth potential whatsoever.

So I guess the question you have to answer for yourself is not: will I like it? Because you have no way of knowing. But: is it a smart decision, even if I DON'T like it? (It is, for me.) The other question to ask yourself is: if I decide I hate it so much I'm not going to do it anymore, can I go back to what I'm doing now? Yes, you will be out much time and money. It's a risk. Life is full of them.

Life is also full of doing stuff you don't want to do. I do it every day. All adults do. I'm choosing to trade some of the stuff I do right now that I don't want to do (sell my belongings to make rent; eat peanut butter for dinner; sew up the holes in my $10 leggings so I'll have something to wear) for other stuff I probably won't want to do in the future (put tubes in people's orifices; move to states with inferior BBQ; watch human beings suffer and not be able to help them as much as I wish I could).

Decide whether the risk makes sense for you, and if it does, take that risk.

And Godspeed to both of us. :-)

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

I think what you are looking for in life is happiness. I think you have this idealized dream of what nursing is. I think you think it's going to be this hugely rewarding, challenging job that you will leave very happy at the end of the day and feel somehow fullfilled in life. I think you're not happy in your life right now and the first thing to blame it on is the job. Am I right about any of this?

Life is what you make it. You choose to be either happy or sad every, single day. A job is somewhere you go to get paid. It's good to like what you do, but your job does not define who you are as a person. Take some real time and evaluate your complete life and why are you unhappy? Is your current job sucking the soul out of you? Are you not making enough to pay the bills?

Every morning, I wake up happy. I wake up with a positive attitude and I do not let other people bother me. I go to school and go about my day. When I come home, my day begins with my family. The day that just happened whether is was good, bad, or just irritating stays outside. But even like today at my clinical, I had an extremely negative, burned out nurse, who hated her job and the fact that students were there. I was happy and positive the whole time with her. I came home and left whatever happened at the door. I have too much other stuff in my life to worry myself who are perpetually unhappy. Maybe she was just having a bad day and needed some kindness. I gave her some.

I just hope you can understand what is going to make you happy and realize your job does not define who you are as it is just a part of your day. Nursing is like any other career. You will have good days and bad days. You will have great people to work with and not so great people to work with. You will have happy patients and very angry patients. You will see people at their most sick and vulnerable. You will have family members treat you like crap because deep down they are scared about their loved one being sick. People in general can be difficult to deal with. It's not sunshine, butterflies, and unicorns. And that is how you have to approach it. Not with some romanticized notion of what nursing is.