I have a question..... a serious one. Should I in fact be a nurse? I am a registered X-ray and Cat Scan tech of 10 years. Im almost 30 years old and i am considering Travel Nursing. I also finish Nuclear Medicine school in about 7 weeks. I immediately then will attempt nursing school for the ONLY reason of being a travel Nurse.
I firmly believe i have the skills to be a nurse clinically. Im not quite sure i have the people skills though. Being a CT / Nuclear Medicine tech, i love the fact that i can take solid care of my patients for their exam and send them about their merry way. Im not sure if i could deal with a patient for 8 or 12 hours along with their family, friends, needs etc. I know what its like to be short staffed along with other issues nurses face but im just not sure if i could handle certain issues.
Also.... i hate to say this.... but im an *******. I pretty much care NOTHING about others peoples issues. Dont get my wrong, i LOVE my patients but all the nit picky political ******** of a hospital i just dont get into. I dont care about what he said, she said, hes gay, shes cheating, blah blah blah. I really just dont care. I dont care about nagging family members, i dont care about the reasons you are in my care. I am considered all business to some, an ******* to others. I foc
us on the task at hand and do not care at all about circulating issues around the hospital or patients life other than their care.
I dont brag, but im considered a stellar CT tech and i really think i will enjoy nuclear medicine while in school for RN. This career change is strictly for travel nursing. The field of travel radiology in any field is dried up and i see lots of travel nurse jobs everywhere.
My reasoning for wanting to be a travel nurse is basically this: I want to make good money, housing and car allowance paid, and if i dont like the facility, i can screw in 6-13 weeks. Thats basically it. A good friend is a Travel Nurse and lives in her hometown, takes the housing stipend and pays her mortgage on her home. I want to be just like that since i live in a metropolitan area. If i feel the urge to move away for 13 weeks, the travel company still pays my housing.
Anyhow, this is getting long and my apologies..... but i want to know this. Am i being delerious to think i can be a nurse? Like i said, i think clinically i think i can handle it. Intrapersonally, im not sure. Im all business in the hospital, I dont get caught up in politics and im VERY straight foward even to the point where im not afraid if my truth hurts your feelings. Anyhow, thanks for the input. Unlike SOME (not all) radiology staff, i have the utmost respect for nurses and have thought for a long time now that i will be one some day. Thank you.
I, too am a male (hopeful nurse, ex-cna/emt/paramedic). Minus the muscles.
The phrases, "They are a dying child..." and "When a 20 year old girl is lying on the trauma bed, strapped to a backboard, talking about how she's going to be a nurse too one day, and he arm is completely traumatically amputated and she doesn't fully realize it, she's not a customer" about broke my heart. :redbeathe
It is wondrous that there are still people out there who can elicit such feelings through the use of mere words.
Best regards,
Michael
A South Carolina boy...er...older man. :chuckle
And Kyboy was right.....I have been in his shoes in very similar situations, and the nurse who deals with that has to be compassionate, and not see the 20-yr-old armless girl as a customer.
Ive had virtually NON stop conversation with 2 friends at work whom both are nurses. One is a male nurse (not that it matters). The other has been a nurse as long as ive been in CT. They both come to the conclusion that they think i have the smarts and with some refinement, i can develop a good nursing mentality that enables me to be both straightfoward and compassionate at the same time.
The male nurse recommended once i finish nuclear medicine school, i observe 3 or 4 nurses for WEEKS at the time. Not just a 4 hour shift but for me to come in 2 weeks with one nurse, 2 weeks with another just to see if this is something i can do. Will schools or hospitals even let you do this type of thing??
I really enjoy the healthcare profession and know that IF i want to be a nurse, i will have to develop more people skills than i currently have. I get all sorts of compliments from staff and patients alike with my current job but i dont think that would be the case just yet if i was a nurse. I definetly will take the words you all have given me (good, bad, dramatic, etc) and use them to my advantage.
I think you will do just fine, now that you are aware of what, exactly, you will be getting yourself into, and the changes that will be wrought upon you (whether you like it or not! lol) I believe kyboy said it best. Even the person you described in your OP would have a hard time looking at the situations he described with less than complete compassion.
Ive had virtually NON stop conversation with 2 friends at work whom both are nurses. One is a male nurse (not that it matters).
Actually, it does. Ask any male nurse. :chuckle
The other has been a nurse as long as I've been in CT. They both come to the conclusion that they think i have the smarts and with some refinement, i can develop a good nursing mentality that enables me to be both straightforward and compassionate at the same time.
I hope this is the case as well.
The male nurse recommended once i finish nuclear medicine school, i observe 3 or 4 nurses for WEEKS at the time. Not just a 4 hour shift but for me to come in 2 weeks with one nurse, 2 weeks with another just to see if this is something i can do. Will schools or hospitals even let you do this type of thing??
It's called "shadowing." Ask your hospital if you can shadow a nurse. Their the ones who will be able to answer this for you.
I really enjoy the health care profession and know that IF i want to be a nurse, i will have to develop more people skills than i currently have. I get all sorts of compliments from staff and patients alike with my current job but i don't think that would be the case just yet if i was a nurse. I definitely will take the words you all have given me (good, bad, dramatic, etc) and use them to my advantage.
:DThanks everybody for the kind words, and congrats on choosing to go to nursing school. Nursing takes all kinds, and sometimes who you think you are when you start, will not be who you are when you're done (at least in the professional sense). I remember my second clinical rotation in nursing school. I was in a small ICU, and we were doing bed baths, cleaning patients, changing beds, etc. I remember lying against the wall, talking to a classmate, and talking about how I didn't think i was cut out for nursing. 5 years later, I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else. Nursing has changed me in some ways. Some for the better, and some ways I don't like as much, but it has changed me all the same.
There are a lot of different ways to go with nursing. All I've ever known is emergency care. I started in the ER, and until I get out of grad school, and maybe even after that, in the ER is where I'll stay unless I go into flight nursing. Find your place. There's all kinds of opportunities. Good luck with everything. Remember, these patients are your job security. Some you'll fall in love with, some you'll absolutely curse your career choice for, but you'll come across something new almost every shift, and learn something new all the time, and learn to deal with so many different kinds of people. You'll see people at their worst, and be mindful of that. That patient that is screaming for pain medicine may be the most polite, respectful human being in the world when they aren't experiencing a kidney stone for the first time. I wish you, and all the future nurses on here the best.
Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
basically, i think im compassionate in the sense that i want to do the best job i can do while they are under my care.
"sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it" is how merriam-webster defines "compassion." by wanting to get the job done, you may be dedicated, or even passionate in a sense, but not compassionate.
i will add my 2 cents...i graduated from 4 years of nursing school today. i have to tell you that i wanted to be a nurse with everything i had...left a successful career in business because i could not see people as "customers" and wanted to do something more meaningful with my life. i wanted the chance to be there for people, the privilege of caring for them at the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
and let me tell you...it was that longing to be a nurse that got me through the ordeal otherwise known as nursing school.
i have often said, as have my many nurse friends, that if we were in it for the money, we would be crazy to continue on in this profession. it is back-breaking, gut-wrenching, awe-inspiring, joyful work, and believe me...as someone who left a career more monetarily lucrative in order to be a nurse...there are much easier things you could do in this life to make money than be a nurse. but, i humbly submit, none more rewarding, trying, or satisfying.
so good luck...if you are in it for the right reasons, you will be sure to succeed. i wish you all the success in the world.
I know this thread was not for me, but I just wanted to say that the responses I have read here, especially towards the end, have brought me near to tears and reminded me of why I wanted to go to nursing school and why being a nurse is so important to me. So thank you. I hope to be in that place that you are now, where you can see how great your profession is, and defend it with such loyal love, 5 years from now, once I'm out of school and in the field.
Specializes in Nursing Ed, Ob/GYN, AD, LTC, Rehab.
I think you (OP) may have the wrong idea of nursing. As others have mentioned it is a science and an art. Lets not forget the art of nursing. The art of nursing is people skills, connecting and building trust to help the healing process along. I feel you have the idea that you can be a nurse without the art of nursing and id like to say you cant. In any business health care, retail, etc you have to make the customer/patient feel comfortable and happy with the service. Nursing is a higher level of that where not only do we meet the needs of the patient but really get into the holistic care of the patient. If you do not like the "customer service" part of any job I would sugest you look for a job where you do not have to do this. I hate to relate nursing to customer service, i hope my loose connections there made sense.
I'll try to give my opinion as well, from a man's perspective so-to-speak. As you already know, males generally look at things with a certain amount of logic and rationality, rather than emotion.
Oh, no, he di'nt! He did NOT just pull the male card out!
Ok, ok... I guess you're up against SO many females, you have to at times...
But let it be known, I am FAR more logical and rational than most males I know -- yet emotional enough to be a dern good nurse.
Keep us posted.
TazziRN, RN
6,487 Posts
And Kyboy was right.....I have been in his shoes in very similar situations, and the nurse who deals with that has to be compassionate, and not see the 20-yr-old armless girl as a customer.