Should I walk away from this?

Published

I am a thrid semester RN student with one semester left to go. I cannot stand being in that hospital. I can't stand the poop, the pee, the baths, the cleaning. I hated every single rotation, except for the OR and for pysch. Everytime I get my courage back and go to clinicals for the next week, I remember that I hate it again and want to walk away. Should I stick it out? Is it worth it? HELP!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

heck no!!

you're 3/4's done, for crying out loud.

don't worry, we've all been there.

but you really need to stick it out.

dang, i HATED 80% of my clinicals.

but still, as a nurse, you really need to adjust to the reality of keeping your pts clean, w/skin intact.

but looking at the big picture, it's such a small (but important) part of the job.

try to take a mental health day, and relax.

you can get through this.

and when it's over, you'll be so happy you did.

wishing you the very best.:balloons:

leslie

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Finish and then look into areas that you like...you mentioned OR, PSYCH...there are a lot of places you can flourish..but like Leslie said, you have to stick it out.

Half the battle is getting through nursing school...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in chemical dependency detox/psych.

Just grit your teeth, and you'll get through it. Then you can go be a psych nurse like me. Still a lot of puking with detox nursing but no heavy lifting or wiping butts. As Martha would say, "It's a good thing." ;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

You are almost done, but you need to think about why you want to be a nurse. Nursing is a caring profession which includes taking care of the entire person. Even if you go to psych or the OR you need to think of whether you actually care about people enough to take care of them. I see too many students that go into nursing for all the wrong reasons and it is a huge waste of money and time. If you are questioning what you are doing now, I'm sure you'll be disillusioned by the profession in a very short time. Just make sure you are interested in being a nurse and all that comes with it. It really doesn't get easier or better it is what it is.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
just grit your teeth, and you'll get through it. then you can go be a psych nurse like me. still a lot of puking with detox nursing but no heavy lifting or wiping butts. as martha would say, "it's a good thing." ;)

couldn't have said it better myself. you will get your shoes and your front hurled on a lot. former psych nurse here... but, as rns, we are not above wiping butts. it is a dignity matter. what is most important is the patient's well being, comfort, dignity, etc. and not the nurse's sense of being above a task or not liking it or the smell it produces. there are things about clinicals that not many of us liked

but we survived. i personally hated cleaning dentures, suctioning and crusty, scaly, dirty feet. and, yes, in psych, you may be mostly immune from poop, icky feet and dentures but not completely immune. keep reminding yourself that it will only get better after you graduate. honest!

kathy

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I felt the same way all through nursing school -- I hated almost every minute of it and struggled to stay in the program. By the middle of my senior year, my irritable bowel syndrome was so bad, there were some days on which I couldn't eat solid food. ....

And then I loved being a staff nurse in a Neonatal ICU where the poop, pee, etc. was all very tiny and well-contained. After 2 years of being a staff nurse, I went to grad school and have had a very successful career. Sure, there have been down days as well as up days, but I've been a nurse for over 30 years now. So, I guess it's worked out OK for me.

Decide if whether or not there are jobs in nursing that appeal to you or not. If there are, then look at school as a temporary thing. School is not forever. Focus on the jobs that appeal to you and simply endure the training you need to go through to get to where you want to be.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in being a Credible Source.

Or you could work in the NICU... very small butts and (for the most part) not very stinky.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU.

I much prefer baby size butts....... That's why I'm still in NICU.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I am a thrid semester RN student with one semester left to go. I cannot stand being in that hospital. I can't stand the poop, the pee, the baths, the cleaning. I hated every single rotation, except for the OR and for pysch. Everytime I get my courage back and go to clinicals for the next week, I remember that I hate it again and want to walk away. Should I stick it out? Is it worth it? HELP!

Your post looks like a good advertisement for requiring prospective Nursing School students to work 40 hour so hours as CNAs before admission.

Like others said, you stuck it out this far, you might as well finish and then look for jobs that don't include the things you dislike.

As an aside, I don't like human elimination products any more than the next nursing student, but really, shouldn't you get used to it after a while?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Stick it...you can always work in the OR or labor and delivery or psych...also registered nurses are being hired in other places than a hospital like clinics,health departments,school,jails,doc offices,GL!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Stick it out, then look for areas that you might be able to tolerate or even flourish in after graduation. And for that matter, even if you end up never working a day as an RN at least you will have that license as a last resort should life go wrong. Good luck.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion