Should I quit nursing school?

[Guest1005095]

I'm in my second semester of an ADN program and just started clinicals in the hospital this semester… and I'm thinking of quitting. I have no problems with the material and do well on the tests, so I have no fear of failing, which makes the decision all the tougher to make. I hate clinicals. I hated clinicals last semester and considered quitting then as well. I'm trying to figure out if I legitimately am not cut out to be a nurse or if I'm just being emotional/stressed/etc. I feel miserable on clinical days and sometimes the only way to get through the entire day is to tell myself that I really could just walk out of clinicals and never return (obviously I wouldn't, but knowing I could” helps me cope). I would like to be an OR nurse (already have 3 years OR experience), but I don't know if I can get through the clinicals to become one. Plus if I can't get an OR job immedicately, I don't know if I could work on the floor until I get one.

Here are the red flags” that make me think I should not be a nurse:

- Being introverted and shy, talking to people constantly is exhausting and sometimes gives me the worst headaches I've ever had

- I'm not excited about clincials/being a nurse as I see the other students are. Shouldn't clinicals be the good part” of nursing school?

- I can't think of a really solid reason I want to be a nurse. I think the pay and job security are attractive, but is it really ok if that's my main motivation?

- I don't have a big heart for patients. I know I'd be good at the critical thinking aspects of nursing and I honestly believe that's the more important part of being a nurse, but I don't really care that a person has COPD after smoking 40 years or that a noncompliant diabetic has sores that won't heal when they won't follow their treatment regimen. I feel like if I'm this disillusioned already, it would only be that much worse when I graduate.

- Everything within me is screaming that this isn't right, that I'm doing the wrong thing.

Maybe part of my hatred of clinicals is that I'm not staff and we're only on each floor for a few days, so I'm not a part of the culture and feel very much like an outsider. I feel very uncomfortable when I'm not working with my assigned patient(s) because I want to be busy and look competent to the staff, which I'm not sure I always do since we are so limited in the number of skills we can do without an instructor (who has to give her attention to 10 students spanning 5 different floors, so I barely bother asking her to observe my skills because it takes so long the nurse does the skill anyway).

I do have a good, steady job that I enjoy (though it can be repetitive and boring), but it makes half as much as nurse, which is the only real thing keeping me from doing that for the rest of my life. It's hard to make the decision to quit when I have nurses at work saying I would make a great nurse and when I'm doing so well on the exams. I've never had a clinical instructor who was concerned about my performance. I'm doing fine, but I just can't stand it. Should I get out while I can?

[LessValuableNinja]

School is temporary. The rest of your life isn't. Well, it is, but it's much longer.

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

- Everything within me is screaming that this isn't right, that I'm doing the wrong thing.

This is the most important part of your post. Friends, family, strangers, advisors can tell you what you should” do. Only you know what is right for you. There are lots of ways to advance your education and earning potential that don't involve doing something that makes you unhappy. And happiness is worth a lot more than money.

[JJL618, RN]

I was the opposite when I was first in nursing school. I loved clinicals, but sucked on the exams. If I wouldn't have failed one class, I would be a nurse today. I'm going back to attempt this again because I have a lot of regrets about not doing this years ago.

I do feel where you are coming from about the patients who I guess you could say are causing their own issues (like the smoker or diabetic you mentioned). I had the same feelings when I was a 20 year old nursing student, so I don't know what to tell you about that. I think if most are being honest, they've felt the same way at one point or another.

[SaltySarcasticSally, LPN, RN]

I think your intuition is telling you that it's not the right choice for you and I think you should listen to it. No use in wasting your time and money if you already know it is not for you.

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

Good day, QuestioningStudent:

This is a difficult decision you have to make by yourself.

Here are some of my thoughts:

• Introvert and shy are two separate things. I am an introvert; yet, I only go shy under very specific situations. Did you know an extrovert can be shy?
  
• I don't know your age, but I've found the energy consumption part that introverts can go through has a cycle/rhythm and if you can find your rhythm, there's less energy expenditure through the day.
  
• School clinicals are only a shadow of the job an RN performs. Before you make the decision to quit, why not set up one to several shadow opportunities where you shadow an RN for 4 to 8 to 12 hours?
  
• Money and benefits are often poor long-term motivators if one doesn't like the work or environment. So hopefully you can review other motivating factors to become a nurse that would be more sustaining factors over time should you stay the course.
  
• As you have self-talk with yourself concerning dealing with patients who may be noncompliant or who may live their life in a way that is contraindicative for healing and growth, ask yourself the important question of "when did I become perfect?" (I'm being serious, not sarcastic).
  

Thank you.

[LessValuableNinja]

This is the most important part of your post. Friends, family, strangers, advisors can tell you what you should” do. Only you know what is right for you. There are lots of ways to advance your education and earning potential that don't involve doing something that makes you unhappy. And happiness is worth a lot more than money.

Depends which "this" isn't right. In context, this statement seems to indicate floor nursing, particularly med surg with diabetic COPD smokers with feet falling off is being screamed at, but that's me trying to interpret within context. In context, it appears to me that while this is being screamed at, it's temporary, and that OP feels OR nursing would be a good fit.

Keep in mind there are many less touchy feely jobs that the RN by your name can help you land, such as: OR, ICU (sort of), pharma rep, medical device rep, work for insurance company, utilization review for org, case manager, etc.

Interested to hear from OP if I am interpreting this statement within context correctly, though. If so, I/others may be able to suggest additional appropriate positions.

[AliNajaCat]

If you really want to go back to the OR (where all your patients are asleep most of the time) and have identified that the best way to do that is with an RN license, then just keep your eyes on that prize.

I swear on my new pink pussyhat, when I read your post I tried to remember all my clinicals in school. I mean, what hospitals, what subjects, what instructors. Of three full years in the BSN program, with 3 days a week in clinical, I can only remember about half of them. The rest i remember what hospital they were in, but no memory of what floor or specialty.

You'll get there. This too shall pass. And you'll be growing varicosities standing around in the OR in no time, LOL. Make friends with the vascular guys first.

[caliotter3]

There is nothing in your post that others have not gone through and either went on to become nurses or quit nursing school to find a different path. The question you need to ask yourself is what will you replace nursing with? If you can find out the answer to that question, you will have the problem under control, that is, as long as your new path does not provide the same sense of unhappiness. They call it work because it is work, not always pleasant. Find work that is pleasant for the rest of your life and you will have it made!

[Julius Seizure]

You sound VERY much like me when I was going through nursing school.

I literally considered quitting every semester once we started clinicals.

Every. Semester.

Even when I graduated, I considered getting a non-nursing job, but it seemed like a waste after slogging through all that school. So I got a nursing job, just to give it a shot.

Turns out.....BEING a nurse is very different from being a student. I actually liked nursing, once I found my niche. It sounds like you already know your niche, so you have a leg up - you know you want to be in the OR.

Keep your eye on the prize. Nursing school sucks. If its a means to the end that you want, then keep slogging through.

[Mavrick, BSN, RN]

WOW.

You have enough cynicism to be a burnt-out crusty ole Bat. You don't like people, you certainly don't like sick people but you like money.

You will be miserable, your co-workers will be miserable and the money will not begin to compensate for all that misery. Cut your losses. Drop out. You have already made up your mind. Why would you follow advice of a bunch of strangers on the internet and go against your gut trying to protect you?

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

WOW.

You have enough cynicism to be a burnt-out crusty ole Bat. You don't like people, you certainly don't like sick people but you like money.

There's nothing wrong with self-awareness. Liking sick people is not a requirement to be a good person. Not everyone is a people-person or enjoys service professions. There's nothing wrong with that. And a lot of people are motivated by money. Nothing wrong with that either.