Some serious questions

AGal110 · Jan 9, 2009

Also, if anyone could recommend a way to "test drive" the nursing thing, like if there's anything I can do for work/volunteer work in a hospital to get the feel of it, that'd be great too. Thanks.

CHATSDALE · Jan 9, 2009

you could become a cna and that would put you in the midst of the nitty-gritty but yes there would be a lot of poop to clean

there is nothing wrong with wanting job stability but i wonder if you are really aware of the difficulty that nursing school is all about

it is hard work and when you finish you will probably find yourself in debt d/t school loans etc and it is hard to work part time and also support yourself and pay off loans

give your future some deep thought

AGal110 · Jan 9, 2009

Thank you for responding :) Any insight to the specialties and the job prospects out in LA?

I've no doubt it's hard work but I enjoy hard work and I've been in college for about 3 years altogether and I'm good at school, so that part doesn't worry me. Also, the school I go to is very very affordable - so much so that I don't even need loans to pay for the schooling, so that's not an issue. I'm also working part-time right now, for rent and food and whatnot, so I'd already be used to that as well.

Just mostly wondering how likely it'd be for me to find something out there, semi-quickly, that would be flexible enough for me working part-time.

AGal110 · Jan 9, 2009

PS - how do I even go about becoming a CNA?

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Jan 9, 2009

Well, if fecal matter is an obsticle for you, the CNA route IS NOT THE OPTION YOU WANT TO TAKE. I was a CNA for years before becoming an RN and keeping people clean was job #1 everywhere I worked.

You can get hired part time right out of school. Thats not a problem. Just be sure to take the NCLEX right after school ends. I know a lot of people who are nurses but their spouse is the primary bread winner. The part time nursing is only to supplement the budget.

As far as if you can support yourself on part time hours or not goes.......no one can answer that except you. Different people, different lifestyles, different income needs. And the variables like taxes, cost of living where you are at, your wage etc........no one knows these except you. I know I was working part time, but almost full time hours as a CNA while in school. I made budget cuts a lot of people would not be willing to do (no car, no cable television, only the absolute necessities) and still had a very rough time of it. BTW, it is not easy working and going to nursing school. A lot of people are forced to do it, as I, but it is no picinic. Nursing school is not something you just........do on the side in your spare time. It will dominate your life. Well, it did mine anyway.

Flare, ASN, BSN · Jan 9, 2009

1. i really don't want to wipe butts. will i absolutely have to wipe butts? i don't mind cleaning up puke every now or then; i don't mind blood. but poop... not so much.

sorry - but most floor nursing jobs come with at least some exposure to poop. granted, there are places where you encounter less poop, but in nursing poop happens... by the way - as hard as it is to believe it, you do get used to it

2. i see there are tons of specialties in nursing. for all i know, the specialty that one chooses can make it just as hard to find a job as a nurse as it is to find one as a hygienist... so, does it really matter what you specialize in? or is it more like, when you're starting out, you just kind of do whatever you can take?

you can get really specific in a specialty or you can spend an entire career in a float pool or on a med/surg floor. most nurses start out doing med/surg and end up transferribg to another floor for a different type of experience. your options with nursing are pretty much always open, because if you don't like what you are doing, you can always move on. as far as finding jobs in a specialty - some are easier than others.

3. the pay for a hygienist out in la is usually around $38-50/hour. that is perfect because i will be going to school while working; so does a nurse's pay allow for only part-time hours to be worked, and still make enough to make rent, pay for school, food, etc? remember, i have no one else to count on for financial support except for possible financial aid.

i worked per diem for a really long time making great money but i didn't get benefits with it. i can't say whether or not you will be able to support yourself, as i don't know how nuch your expenses are each month or what your entire situation is.

4. can i even be a part-time nurse? i know i could, but how likely is it that i might get hired, fresh from school, part-time? this is a huge factor for me; i need the part-time and flexibility.

again, i worked per diem for a really long time (right out of nursing school)

5. i currently live in nyc and would be finishing nursing school here should i choose to switch, but i really would like to move to la asap after finishing school. i'm thinking i'd have to become registered in ca as soon as i move, but would that affect my ability to find a job at all?

so the main things are, will i get hired part-time with a decent starting salary in ca?

i live on the east coast as well, so i can't tell you much about the west coast job market. but you'd have to apply for reciprocity once you moved to cali unless you wait and take your nclex in california.

NursKris82 · Jan 9, 2009

I am good at school too, but a nursing program is completely different. Your whole life has to revolve around this program- they choose lecture, lab and clinical times and you fit the rest of your life aroound it. One poster said nursing is not something you just ...do- I agree. It's not like taking core classess at all. It's much harder and much more time consuming. Also, check into the costs- normally nursing schools are more than core classes because lots of fees and things are attatched, plus lots of books that cost lots of money. Nursing is flexible and is a good job option but nursing school is hard and to get thru you really need soemthing driving and motivating you, my love for nursing is what drive me. God bless on whatever decision you make.

wanderlust99 · Jan 9, 2009

YES you will have to wipe butts as a nurse.

You'll probably get poop on your scrubs at one point too.

And blood.

I got some blood on my shoes a few months ago that won't come out.

Also, nursing is similar to waiting tables.

I would do what you're passionate about.

NurseKatie08, MSN · Jan 9, 2009

hello, this is the first day i've stumbled upon this site and i've been on it for literally 10-ish hours reading different posts. i have a few (or a lot...) of questions about nursing that i would love to be answered. seriously, i will be so appreciative of anyone who tries to help; i've been driving myself crazy today with some of this. here goes, might be long...

currently, i am in school and have another semester of core classes until i enter dental hygiene. i don't really want to be a hygienist, or a nurse, or anything... the problem is i don't really know what i want to do. there is so much in life that interests me that i can't imagine just doing one thing my whole life. there are a few things i know i want to do, at least in my spare time - photography, ceramics, design/sew some clothing of my own. while i've always been drawn to these things, i don't like the idea of not having job stability or any guarantee that i won't be starving on the streets (i have absolutely no outside support financially). which is where the health professions come in.

nursing is not just something to fall back on for financial security or because you don't really know what you want to do. i question whether or not you are aware of how difficult nursing school is. nursing school itself is a full time job--you don't get a lot of choice about your schedule, and you have to make your life work around school, not vice versa. i think you need to do some serious thinking about what you might want to do.

i've always kind of thrown the idea of hygiene and/or nursing around, mostly for something to do so that i can pay my bills while pursuing the things i really want. please, no one be offended; i have vast amounts of respect for what you all do. my mom is a nurse and a damn good one at that and one of the best people i know. it's just that i don't feel like it's my "calling." (i honestly don't feel like anything is my "calling", haha) i do know that i could be a good nurse... i really care about people, i can relate and connect easily, and i really enjoy trying to cheer people up, etc. but i don't want to wipe anyone's ass or clean up their crap.

hate to break it to you, but cleaning up stool is a fact of life in the nursing arena.

the reason i'm doubting dental hygiene at this point is because, mainly, i hear it gets ridiculously repetitive; and even though i don't want to do one thing the rest of my life, that idea just kind of creeps me out. also, it is becoming very hard to find a job in the field, contrary to what you might have read or heard. i do, however, enjoy cleaning my own teeth and teeth don't gross me out, and the part-time aspect is soooooooooooooooo incredible to me as i want to do it while going back to school for art or sociology or something. and they make good money. but i'm really afraid i won't find a job. the place i want to attend school for the art or whatever is near la, and that's pretty much my only option. so if i can't find a hygiene job there, i'm back to waiting tables (aka wanting to kill myself).

now nursing seems much more promising when it comes to finding a job. i'll just get to some of the questions i have right now, thanks for anyone who took the time to read this.

1. i really don't want to wipe butts. will i absolutely have to wipe butts? i don't mind cleaning up puke every now or then; i don't mind blood. but poop... not so much.

yes, you will absolutely have to wipe butts, clean puke, blood, and all other varieties of bodily fluids. the difference is, those of us who truly want to be nurses are able to do the job, look past the momentary displeasure it brings, and think about how embarassing it must be for the patient that we have to do this for them.

2. i see there are tons of specialties in nursing. for all i know, the specialty that one chooses can make it just as hard to find a job as a nurse as it is to find one as a hygienist... so, does it really matter what you specialize in? or is it more like, when you're starting out, you just kind of do whatever you can take?

you can specialize in whatever interests you. i just started my first rn job in september, and i have been working on the rehabilitation unit at a local nursing home.

3. the pay for a hygienist out in la is usually around $38-50/hour. that is perfect because i will be going to school while working; so does a nurse's pay allow for only part-time hours to be worked, and still make enough to make rent, pay for school, food, etc? remember, i have no one else to count on for financial support except for possible financial aid.

completely depends on your area of the country, what the cost of living is, and what facilities offer. why don't you check out the regions tab, and ask nurses from your area.

4. can i even be a part-time nurse? i know i could, but how likely is it that i might get hired, fresh from school, part-time? this is a huge factor for me; i need the part-time and flexibility.

many nurses i know work part time or per diem. some of the people i graduated school with are struggling to find full time work because of the new grad glut in our area.

5. i currently live in nyc and would be finishing nursing school here should i choose to switch, but i really would like to move to la asap after finishing school. i'm thinking i'd have to become registered in ca as soon as i move, but would that affect my ability to find a job at all?

the nclex is a national exam. you apply for registration to whatever state bon you want to be registered in, but you can sit the exam anywhere. i.e., i am registered in ma & live in ma, but could have taken the boards in nh if i chose to.

so the main things are, will i get hired part-time with a decent starting salary in ca?

i know there are more questions but after writing this novel some of them have escaped me. i'll add more when i think of them. thank you so so so so so much.

nursemike, ASN, RN · Jan 9, 2009

I'm not 100% sure, but I think you have the option when taking NCLEX of choosing where you want to be licensed. NCLEX is the same everywhere, but there may be other requirements you'd have to fulfill, as well, in your state of choice.

I congratulate you on your honest self-assessment, and I know the feeling. In my youth, I wasn't at all sure what I wanted to be when I grew up. So I did some other things before the idea of nursing school occurred to me (would have been very nearly the last thing I'd have wanted to do in my 20's!)

I don't see anything in your post to absolutely rule out nursing as an option. Well, an aversion to poop comes close. In hospital work, it's pretty unavoidable. But, as noted, you can get used to it. Might not be as much an issue as a nurse in a doctor's office or outpatient clinic, but some employers would want you to have some hospital experience before they'd hire you. It typically doesn't pay as well as hospital nursing, at least where I live.

Before I became a nurse, I worked as an orderly, taking patients to tests, procedures, PT, etc. I assisted nurses and aides with getting pts in and out of bed, turning them for baths and/or bedpans. I got to interact with patients a good bit and saw up close what nurses do. It was a pretty good introduction, although I've found actually being a nurse is rather more intense than it appeared. Still, the job only required a high school diploma (or equivalent) and the ability to lift. I was more "hands-on" than some of my peers, a few of whom dreaded "patient contact" and were amazingly successful at ducking it.

(At the time, we had some housekeeping duties, as well, and it usually didn't bother me to work with someone who prefered to do that side of it. I enjoyed messing with the patients, so that's a lot of what spurred me into nursing.)

I don't think nursing has to be a calling, or a lifetime commitment, but it is a pretty big undertaking. Having a nurse in the family should be a pretty good resource for learning what it's like. My nursing school wasn't competitive--we could all fail or all make A's, so you didn't have to hope anyone else did poorly to improve your own grades. In fact, there was a lot of cooperation. People studied together and helped each other out as a matter of routine. But we were definitely driven. Nursing students were notorious drudges who would fight tooth-and-nail over the difference between a B+ and an A-.

By comparison, working as a nurse almost makes school look easy. In school, the biggest pressure is that if you mess up, you can get kicked out of the program, or at least have to repeat a semester. At work, it's possible to mess up and kill somebody. For the first year, or more, you feel completely incompetent and inadequate. If you're lucky, you have good nurses around you to back you up, and doctors who'll understand if you page more than you should, but it's still pretty brutal. It's nice, though, when you start to settle in and realize that you really did learn a lot in school, and even start to see how to apply it. But I know very sharp nurses with decades of experience who still find it to be hard work. The more you know, the more there is to do.

So, the field has a lot of positives, but it does take a pretty serious commitment. Whether it's worth undertaking that commitment for a temporary job is something you'll have to decide. And then, of course, there's always the risk that you'll find along the way that you really love it, and you'll be stuck. That pre-nursing job I took was supposed to just be a foot in the door--I really wanted a job in Facilities. Now look at me.

llg, PhD, RN · Jan 9, 2009

I'm missing something here. ...

Why don't you work in a field that matches your interests? You seem to be drawn to the creative arts -- photography, etc. Why not become a professional photographer, designer, buyer, or something like that? Then you could actually enjoy your work and probably become good at it.

If you pick a career path in which the work itself doesn't interest you, you are setting yourself up to be unhappy for a long, long time. Pick a career path that matches your interests so that you at least have a chance at being happy in your work.