I am 23 years old and just graduated from a university with a 4 year bachelor's degree. I was not sure what I wanted to do with my life while in school, and I majored in creative writing and Spanish. I live an outdoor lifestyle, doing things like camping, rock climbing, and hiking. For the longest time, I wanted to incorporate these things into my career. Anyways, after graduating in May I moved home with my parents and found a part-time job that I'm going to keep until I can get something more reliable..
I was recently talking to a cousin who is a male nurse out in Colorado and I was absolutely fascinated. I had never considered being a nurse, or going into healthcare (mainly because of the amount of schooling involved). After talking to him, it really sounds like a rewarding career choice and I have been giving thought to pursuing that route.
I have a few specific questions pertaining to this, though. One thing is I have always been a worrier. I tend to worry about small things pertaining to my health (as in, swollen lymph nodes, slight dizziness, etc) and think that there is something more wrong with me than actually is. A sort of hypochondriac, you could say, although I don't like to think of myself as that. I don't know how this would affect me in the workplace, or if nurses get sick often due to always being around other sick people, etc.
I am great with people, though, and enjoy helping people any chance I get. Also, I have my bachelor's degree from a 4-year university, like I said earlier, and my cousin was telling me that there are programs that I could take to have "fast-track" to nursing. My only concern would be that I did not take any biology/anatomy classes in my college, for core classes. He was even telling me that there are one-year programs, where the aspiring nurse goes to school from 8-5, 5 days a week, and then is a registered nurse after graduating. He called these people "one-year-wonders" :)
So mainly my two questions are if I would be in a good position (educationally) to pursue this, and if the hypochondriac tendencies would prevent me from excelling in this field. I also want to add that after graduating, I am debt-free (an important consideration these days!)
Thank you for reading this, and thanks in advance for any advice!
Yes, there are several short term, say 1-2 years programs in nursing. There are several diploma and associate courses in nursing. But then I would suggest you to go for an extensive search for finding a good school for that. And regarding hypochondriac nature, most of the students feel the same before doing the nursing course. But gradually they become accustomed to wounds and injuries with practice. So you should not worry about such things and go for you dream career.
Those are some major considerations to take into account. I did not know that you could shadow a nurse for a day; that would be a great idea and definitely give me a better sense of the typical day for a nurse. I have read a few posts on here and the consensus is that nurses are wildly understaffed!! As a member of the general population, I never knew this, and would never have been able to tell on a regular visit to the hospital. I guess I'm trying to say that even though the nurses are expected to do so much, they handled it pretty flawlessly.
I could definitely see myself being happy doing 12-hour shifts. I would rather get it all out of the way in one big chunk, and then have 4 days a week to rest/relax/pursue other hobbies. Not to mention factoring in the commute time. I have a large aversion to vomit, and probably to diarrhea as well (never cleaned up human diarrhea though).
I think maybe I could pursue becoming a radiologist tech, or something like that which would be less involved with the bodily fluids? I was actually talking to a radiologist tech the other day about some of this. This would also keep me from being on the "front lines," in the patient's rooms..I think that would be a major help in regard to my "hypochondriac tendencies". I just need a solid career, and in this day-and-age, my bachelor's degree isn't going to provide me with either. Thank you all for the input. Most of it is scary yet intriguing at the same time. If I do decide to take a program, I will feel comfortable bringing any questions that I may have here!! What do you guys think about the radiologist tech route? Are there other nursing careers which would be less "hands on" than your typical nurse?
By the way, I am trying to pick/choose my words VERY carefully because realistically I know there is no "typical nurse" and I'm not trying to offend anyone!
You sound like me! I went to school for studio art and Spanish. It was a great time, I had a lot of fun, made a lot of friends and gained so much confidence. But in the end, I realized that I wasn't as passionate about it as I needed to be to put in the energy needed to be successful. I needed a career that would allow me to help others, give me more stability, challenge me, and of course, pay the bills!! I'm not a nurse yet, but after a few years of wandering, I'm on my way and I finally feel as if I'm right where I'm supposed to be. I know that it's gonna be totally gross cleaning up bodily fluids, and the politics of working in healthcare are atrocious, and I'm gonna have awful coworkers, bosses, and patients sometimes. But to me, that's LIFE! Once you accept that, you can do anything. I believe the good stuff will make it worth it! So chin up! Good luck to you, whatever you decide!
I know the job market for rad. techs is just as terrible as it is for nurses in my area.
Have you thought about occupational therapy? There aren't a lot of OT schools out there, so the job market is not flooded with candidates like it is in nursing. From what I've heard, OTs don't have any problem finding jobs. You could also become an OT assistant which is a shorter program.
Hey KeepCalmCarryOn, what exactly was your "path" to nursing like?? I have just finished a 4-year degree and don't know what the best jumping-off point from here would be. I'm thinking that bodily fluids aren't my favorites...so I'd be looking into something like radiation tech, for example. I would also consider others, but don't know what else there really is, to be honest! How long have you been in the program? What is it like? How did you ultimately decide on a school? And how much longer do you have to go?
Those are some major considerations to take into account. I did not know that you could shadow a nurse for a day; that would be a great idea and definitely give me a better sense of the typical day for a nurse. I have read a few posts on here and the consensus is that nurses are wildly understaffed!! As a member of the general population, I never knew this, and would never have been able to tell on a regular visit to the hospital. I guess I'm trying to say that even though the nurses are expected to do so much, they handled it pretty flawlessly.
I could definitely see myself being happy doing 12-hour shifts. I would rather get it all out of the way in one big chunk, and then have 4 days a week to rest/relax/pursue other hobbies. Not to mention factoring in the commute time. I have a large aversion to vomit, and probably to diarrhea as well (never cleaned up human diarrhea though).
I think maybe I could pursue becoming a radiologist tech, or something like that which would be less involved with the bodily fluids? I was actually talking to a radiologist tech the other day about some of this. This would also keep me from being on the "front lines," in the patient's rooms..I think that would be a major help in regard to my "hypochondriac tendencies". I just need a solid career, and in this day-and-age, my bachelor's degree isn't going to provide me with either. Thank you all for the input. Most of it is scary yet intriguing at the same time. If I do decide to take a program, I will feel comfortable bringing any questions that I may have here!! What do you guys think about the radiologist tech route? Are there other nursing careers which would be less "hands on" than your typical nurse?
By the way, I am trying to pick/choose my words VERY carefully because realistically I know there is no "typical nurse" and I'm not trying to offend anyone!
Nurses typically are very "hands on". In my opinion, that's the difference between Nurse Practitioners and Physician's Assistants. Maybe you should look in to being a PA...
Koko, I decided to go to my local community college to get my RN after considering many options--including accelerated or 'alternate-entry' BSN programs. Frankly, I didn't want to spend the money for these programs and I didn't want to go back to school full-time. I still need to work right now. Community college is cheap, it's fast, and it places a huge emphasis on clinical practice (the most important stuff!) Right now I am still working on my pre-requisites. Since I already had a bachelor's degree, many were already eliminated (such as math, english, psychology, and my humanities course) So for the past year I have been knocking out my sciences (Anatomy, physiology, microbiology, pharmacology, and a speech class) all while working 25-30 hrs a week and paying it off as I go. By the end of December I will be finished and ready to put my application in, hopefully to start in the Fall 2012 and graduate in Spring of 2014. I will come out debt free and ready to work. A few years down the line I will most likely do a bridge program to get my BSN and then perhaps even go back to school for CRNA. Radiology would be great too and there are some good programs at community colleges, but I have always heard that there are too many of them and work is hard to find...? Of course, they are saying that about nurses now too! Might I also suggest the field of dental hygiene? I thought about doing that as well, mainly because it is more of a '9-5/weekends off' kind of job, which would be nice! Ultimately I stuck with nursing because of all the different paths you can take. There are many different specialties you can pursue and fields to explore, so there is no chance of getting bored! And plus, like AprilAnney says, it's a very 'hands on' profession, which is a must for me!
Rachel White
7 Posts
Yes, there are several short term, say 1-2 years programs in nursing. There are several diploma and associate courses in nursing. But then I would suggest you to go for an extensive search for finding a good school for that. And regarding hypochondriac nature, most of the students feel the same before doing the nursing course. But gradually they become accustomed to wounds and injuries with practice. So you should not worry about such things and go for you dream career.