Thinking of moving from pharmacy to nursing but worried about technical skills

mooshieRN · May 9, 2011

I wouldn't worry so much about the technical skills, those will come in time. If I were you, and I might be a little biased, I would go to pharmacy school, especially since you have already been accepted into such a prestigious school (congrats!). I'm a newly graduated RN living with my boyfriend who is in his last year of pharmacy school. Sometimes I really do regret not pursuing pharmacy instead. My boyfriend has job offers actively offerred at him all the time, while I have been searching for over 6 months with no luck. He easily got a pharmacy internship and has already interviewed for a position when he graduates. Pharmacy is a great career if you like to teach, critical think, and interact with people. In this economy I would choose pharmacy over nursing in a heartbeat. While pharmacy school is very challenging, you do end up with a great career and a ton of job stability. If you really didn't like it you could always go back to nursing school. That said, I don't know what your reason is for not choosing pharmacy school, but you should always follow your heart.

IcanHealYou · May 9, 2011

There are many different types of nursing. However usually as a new graduate , it would be best for you to start off on a med-surg floor. These floors are usually very stressful. You need to learn fast right out of school because you really don't learn the flow of things until yous tart working. You develop your skills on the job and it'll take a little over a year for you to feel comfortable in yoru own skin.

I have a previous Biochemistry degree and I can tell you the level of thinking that you do in those courses are a lot more than you do in nursing. You learn the same things but the application in knowledge is a lot mre demanding in pharmacy. I have a friend that is pharamcist but he works in a retail store. From what I hear a day in a nurses shoe vs a pharmacists shoe is a lot mroe tiring and mentally challenging.

As a nurse ona med surg floor you are taking care of 5-8 patients (depending on the hospital), dealing with ALL their needs. Its customer service at max. The job can be fulfilling but a lot new nurses get burnt very quickly. Your name is called between, MDs, Family members, the pt, escort, other nurses, basically everyone. It can be overwhelming. You need to be organized and prioritize your patient care. It's not easy remembering all 8 or 9 of your patients story (reason for admission, Medical history, plan, and constant orders from MDs). Your time is precious.

Clinical pharmacists is a vital member of the medical team. They round with the doctors and plan patient care accordingly. I see them once a day on the floor but I'm not sure what they do when theyre off the floor. When I go to teh pharmacists in the hospital, their work area is quiet and relaxing (at least apparently). They go to lunch everyday at the same time with no distraction. Nurses sometimes skip breaks... on a 12 horu shift..

As a nurse you need to be vocal. You're a patient advocate, you let the medical staff know what the patient needs. You're recieving and handing off report to change of shift nurses (they're not always nice). You need to put on a smile for patient families even if they **** you off to all hell. Sorry I'm giving you a lot of cons here and deviating a lil bit lol.

But yes you need to learn quickly as a new grad in nursing, you can drown very easily. All technical skills you will work on once you find your first job. All new nusres feel that bit of anxiety and have the worry of hurting their patient. This is why you have orientation. You will be precepted by a senior nurse to help you start applying what youve learning in school to provide safe patient care.

melissaLL · May 9, 2011

Hi tahi193!

well i am a soon to be grad from nursing school! (6 days) My biggest suggestion is to go tour nursing schools. At my school (private 4 year) they have spared no expense for us students! we have 8 dummy people that are electronic and we can do everything from blood pressures to catheters and infuse IV's. We can practice on them at any time and if we want help we sign up and either a upperclassman or a one of our teachers or lab instructors all RN's walk us through the process. we can use the lab anytime. all of our teachers have been nothing but supportive through the learning process. all us nursing students were scared the first time we experienced a new skill, but after practice on our dummies we felt better going out into the hospital and doing them on real people.

as far as you being scared to deliver care even though your not "touchy feely" type of person. i am not a touchy feely person myself, over the past few years i have watched myself and classmates grow and no longer have an issue. as you become more secure in your nursing practice it just comes naturally. i find myself that when i walk onto the floor my brain automatically sets in work mode and i no longer even think about it. when you start nursing school they start you off normally in a nursing home giving basic care, by the end of that rotation (giving baths, and toileting) you become fairly more accustom to touching patients.

and don't be afraid of the learning curve! the majority of students starting in nursing programs start the program with never have stepping foot in a nursing home or hospital before. in our program, all of us nursing students formed a strong bond, we all worked together, studied together and supported each other... because we were all going through the hardest thing we have ever done in our lives together!

hope this helps! good luck on your decision!

tahi193 · May 9, 2011

Wow, you guys. Thanks for all of the great advice. And congrats on graduating, melissa!

So it seems like most of the technical skills are learned on dummies until you get a license/job, which is a relief! It isn't that I can't see myself doing the IVs, etc. with time but I'm glad there is quite a bit of training and hand holding vs. giving you sharp instruments and a patient and telling you to have at it.

Mooshie, that's really interesting about you boyfriend. It seems like in my area of the country RN jobs (though maybe not for new grads?) are EVERYWHERE and pharmacy jobs are scarce. I know a new pharmacy grad who took 6 months to find a regular retail job.

I really like that nurses seem to have each other's backs and are proud of what they do and put the patient first. I worked in retail pharmacy as a tech for a while and I was really turned off by the greed and apathy I saw there. Nursing seems to still have a heart, at least!

Anyway, thanks again to everyone for chiming in. I can't tell you how helpful this is. I come from a family of non-medical people and none of my friends are the type either. Anyone else who has a comment, positive or negative, please feel free to add to this.

xluescluesx · May 9, 2011

I got my degree in biology also with hopes of going to pharmacy school. I found a job in a hospital pharmacy while I was in college and I absolutely hated it. I thought it was really boring. The pharmacists just stand in one spot initialing prescription labels. The techs do all the filling, the pharmacists just checks it, except for controlled CII meds. I decided to go into nursing after volunteering. I would prefer being busy at work and having something different every day. Pharmacists got very little respect from the patients where I worked and got yelled at A LOT, which is probably true for nursing as well. I'll have to wait and see.

Having said that, the pharmacists I worked with all LOVED their career choice, but when I asked why, they all said the same thing, "a lot of money for relatively easy work." You will probably make more as a pharmacist than as a nurse, at least starting pay. Where I live, there's not a lot of pharmacy jobs available due to budget cuts. One of the interns from my job who graduated couldn't find a job for almost a year I think, and he went to USC.

Anyways, I hope you make the right decision. If your heart's not into pharmacy, the money won't make you too happy. I'd say the pros of pharmacy are higher salary, less patient interaction (this is retail, not sure about clinical), stable daily duties with few surprises, and pretty decent hours. Cons: a lot more school, boring, not many options available if you want a change in your work. In nursing, there's a lot you can do, wether it's changing units or going into advanced practice nursing and specializing. You must be a very good student if you got into such a good school, so you shouldn't stress too much about not being good in nursing school. Good luck!