Should I or should I not BECOME A NURSE??!

browsing · Aug 2, 2005

I'm back to nursing, I think. Maybe I'll get a job at a derm. office after graduating. I've thought about that too and sort of forgot about it, but after giving advice about it to someone else it is back on my mind again. I would go into accounting, but what good would it be to get a 2 yr degree from a community college :uhoh3: I'm crossing my fingers that I will make it alive out of nursing school. Wait, I'm just hoping that I will get in :) If I may be greedy I hope I love nursing altogether! My head is like in pain right now.

browsing · Aug 2, 2005

I have a question. I just read a forum where people share their career stories, well more like people coming online to vent, and most of them are about nursing! Why is it that people on that forum is so negative about this profession while everyone here are so positive? I know that that forum is made for venting, but you guys like nursing enough that you don't post on those forums. They post things like I would rather go to Iraq than go back to nursing :stone Negative posts everywhere. Very discouraging. Maybe it depends on the area that you work in? I live in S. Cali and isn't this area a pretty nice place for nurses to work? I'm planning on working in Orange County or Los Angeles.

ErinRNBSN · Aug 5, 2005

I am an RN for last 2.5 years, i think i was probably born for the job. I used to play hospital when everyone else would play house. I have always wanted to help people. i chose the route of nursing becuase i wanted increase patient care, though in college i was set for med school. I love nursing, i am also starting my msn and may teach a few hours a week in a community college skills lab.

Now asking whether or not to do this job, i would say dont do it for money or because your friend want to. if you have the passion for the job, you will love it. Making a difference daily in peoples' lives is a special feeling. But it is tough, especailly when you start,and everyone has rough days. i love it, but you need to have it in you to really and trully enjoy the profession. Good Luck

browsing · Aug 5, 2005

Ok I just talked to a counselor and he thinks I should go for it, even though I told him I don't think it would be for me :uhoh3: He talked about how good the job martket is blah blah blah. And when I told him about my business plan, how I don't plan to stay in nursing forever, he said he thinks it's a great backup plan, that he understands my position. I was sort of surprised because I thought he would suggest other careers for me, but then again I told him there's nothing else that interests me. He kept insisting that I should to their nursing program because my grades are good. I saw pictures of his baby daughter in his office and when he stepped out of the room to get something I wondered if he would give this advice to his daughter :uhoh21: But anyways, I've decided to make my own choices and I've decided to go into nursing for now. I have one semester to change my mind to accounting, but I don't think that will be likely. To tell the truth, I LOVE everything about nursing, except giving injections and dealing with unpleasent body fluids, etc :rolleyes: I'm actually looking forward to the fast paced world of nursing. I really hope that I will get over the "I'm too precious to deal with bodily fluids" mentality and just deal with it. Like grow up and start being independent you know? :rotfl: No more hiding behind my parents. Nothing definitely comes for free. Helping people is a great thing. Work for what you want. Stop choosing the easy way out :balloons:

Godis · Aug 5, 2005

Stick with nursing if you feel a passion for it. The good thing about nursing is that there are so many different areas you can go into. That's what I like, variety. I have changed jobs several times in my nursing career and have not regretted any changes. You are always meeting new people and learning new things. I have been an RN for 25 years and have been a nurse practitioner the past 12.

OOOOk. So I've been "browsing" through this site for quite a bit now and it's starting to annoy me that one day I'm dead serious about studying to become a nurse and another day I start doubting my choice. My class registration date is tomorrow and I'm planning on taking pre-req classes for the nursing program at my community college. I think I'm dreading the nursing school more than the career itself because I can see myself as a nurse even after doing numerous researches on nursing and knowing what it takes to work as a nurse. I know it's not a pretty job, but I still can see myself as a nurse. The problem is, I do not want to go through nursing school. UHHHHGGGG!!!!! :rotfl: It's not because it's nursing, but it's because it's SCHOOL! Writing papers and doing research projects! I don't mind reading and taking tests though. I would love to learn about the human body, diseases, etc and take notes and study them, but I hate writing with a passion. Now don't tell me "Well, other career is no different, you still have to study your butt of" because NO it will not be the same as nursing school. Nothing is LIKE nursing school and I do know that other careers need dedication and hard work in school. Also, nursing school will take so much of my time, sitting through lectures and doing labs and clinicals. I also need to work while going to school and it's tiring me out already just typing about it. Ok, I'm starting to worry as I'm making this thread. Will I like dealing with sick people all the time and sticking needles into them and seeing blood? But I would love to assess people and give them what they need. Uhhg. I've thought about other careers, but nothing beats the nursing salary and job security. I'm sorry, but I have to think about these things too. I need money to live, sadly. I am a compasionate person who cries when I see a person in horrible condition, but will this help me get through nursing school? I'm not going into nursing to make it my lasting career. I'm going in just for a couple of years and then I'm going to start looking into starting a business. I don't know. I don't know if I will even enjoy nursing. Maybe if I was going into a different career I won't consider dropping out of it in a couple of years to start something else. See what I do? How I go from nursing to something else? Well, my ultimate goal is to start a business I want to be my own boss. If I was your family member and just told you all this, what would you say to me? I've actually asked my parents to suggest a different career for me, but that did not work out. Do you guys have any suggestions for me? Seriously, if there was something else that pays as much as nursing right after school, I would go into it. If I like the career. Just throw out a couple of other careers and if I don't find them appealing, I'm going into nursing! :balloons:

Angie_Baby · Aug 5, 2005

...and I have a sister who is a social worker. She too, thought about nursing, and it was the chemistry coursework that made her reconsider. She was able to use her coursework toward her Social Work degree and is doing very well now. She does make a decent living, but knows she has to go on for her MSW to progress. My sister works for Family Services and started out as an eligibility specialist, then moved into doing "intake" or removing kids from their parents and placing them into foster care. Now, she is also working with parents who have lost custody of their children. She is great at it and I admire her a great deal, but it takes A LOT of responsibility and emotional strength to deal with what she encounters. Not that there aren't opportunities to see kids move forward with their lives, but it is by no means "just a job".

Your nursing pre-reqs will serve you well, but perhaps you should consider how they can be used in allied health professions in addition to nursing: pharmacists make terrific money and can have great job flexibility; radiology techs, surgical techs and respiratory therapists also make a livable income and deal with patients without as much long-term contact; social workers in hospitals and occupational therapists help people to adjust to their lives post-treatment. You might also consider something like veterinary technology or dental hygiene. Most vet techs I know LOVE what they do and most dental hygienists make a very decent living and also have a good deal of job flexibility. Majoring in biology or chemistry is a great way to go because it will give you the foundation to pursue any one of these areas.

ETA: I know this post is looong already, but I wanted to add something. I tried taking accounting classes because I thought "hey, at least I could get a decent job" and I stuck it out for a year and was MISERABLE. My mother, an accountant herself, told me I needed to do something else. I just started taking classes in what interested me, and four years later, after physics, and chemistry and genetics and physiology - I was a biologist! And I have been so glad for all I learned, because when you understand how the natural world works, it's the coolest thing in the world!