This site is discouraging me from nursing...

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I am going into my second semester of nursings school in two weeks. My anxiety level is high with all the new things that are going to be thrown at me and since I can't work much/have student loans I am beyond broke (adding to my extreme anxiety).

I often come to this site to find encouragement and remind myself why I am going into nursing but I have found this to be even more discouraging. It seems that almost all the nurses that post on this forum talk about how horrible it is to be a nurse. It is making me feel like all the stress and anxiety isn't going to pay off and that becoming an RN is worse than the hells of nursing school. This site is seriously making me doubt my career choice. Is nursing really that horrible?

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maybe you should stay off this site. I find the site inspiring and very informative.

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Specializes in Hope to be in peds, NICU, or L&D..

I haven't actually started my nursing program yet( 2 days!)! Nor am I an RN, but I did want to tell you to keep with your nursing goal! Yes, every career choice has its pros and cons. I know in my heart that nursing is the career for me. I wouldn't let anyone discourage you especially people you find on the Internet. Just know that you CAN do this!! GOod Luck!

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Specializes in hospice, HH, LTC, ER,OR.

Nursing is what you make of it :)

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I think more often than not, when people post here, they come here to vent. When you're happy, you don't need to talk to anyone about because you don't need comfort. However, when you need someone to understand what you are going through, you're going to come here for comfort. Just a little insight into why this forum may scare you.

As for the money part, you could see if your school offers work-study. I do it and I sit at a desk 12 hours a week and study probably 10 hours out of those 12. You get paid while doing it, so it's a win-win.

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I'm in nursing school too and sometimes I feel this way too esp with the horror stories of being unemployed. However I feel the site mos def outweighs the few cons. It is very insightful n helpful. I say don't take what others write personally cuz sometimes they may want to just vent n not necessarily bash the profession of nursing. I still love this website with all the good, the bad, n ugly lol

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Ask yourself if you really want to be in a profession that cares for other people. If you do, then nursing is great. There are plenty of negatives in nursing. We are overworked, underpaid, stressed, eat our own.....you name it. However, in as little as two years, you can have a career that you do anything. You can continually re-invent yourself. You can move and walk into a facility and get a job. Admittedly, you may have to start at the bottom...but watch the news and see how many new grads complain about not being able to get a job after they graduate and having thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars in school debt. Most places will match your student reimbursement.

Nursing school sucks, no two ways about it. But, once you are out working, you are going to realize how easy it was and how many experiences it gave you. It is hard not to get tunnel vision in nursing school. Just stay on top of your studying, don't slack off. Take advantage of those nurses that like to teach during your clinical rotations.

Realize that you will NEVER stop studying. School goes on forever for the professional nurse.

The thing that keeps me going are the amazing experiences that I have had. I have been on med surg, tele, ED, and flight. I have birthed babies, intubated people, placed IOs, kept people alive, calmed people down...but the most amazing, was helping people die. We are in an unique position. We are able to touch peoples lives in a most intimate way.

What I say to you, and to those nurses that are burned out (I have been burned out and burned in my career). If you don't like the job you are in, then find another job. You might need to make yourself more marketable. This means, take additional courses....ALWAYS. Especially if you want to change specialties......Want to go into L& D?....then take NRP or a clase on fetal monitoring. Want to go to the ER? Take ACLS and PALS. Go to the unit educator and ask them if you can attend their unit specific training. This will help you to stand out.

Finally, there are jobs that take less out of us, but they are not at rewarding.

Good luck

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Ask yourself if you really want to be in a profession that cares for other people. If you do, then nursing is great. There are plenty of negatives in nursing. We are overworked, underpaid, stressed, eat our own.....you name it. However, in as little as two years, you can have a career that you do anything. You can continually re-invent yourself. You can move and walk into a facility and get a job. Admittedly, you may have to start at the bottom...but watch the news and see how many new grads complain about not being able to get a job after they graduate and having thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars in school debt. Most places will match your student reimbursement.

Nursing school sucks, no two ways about it. But, once you are out working, you are going to realize how easy it was and how many experiences it gave you. It is hard not to get tunnel vision in nursing school. Just stay on top of your studying, don't slack off. Take advantage of those nurses that like to teach during your clinical rotations.

Realize that you will NEVER stop studying. School goes on forever for the professional nurse.

The thing that keeps me going are the amazing experiences that I have had. I have been on med surg, tele, ED, and flight. I have birthed babies, intubated people, placed IOs, kept people alive, calmed people down...but the most amazing, was helping people die. We are in an unique position. We are able to touch peoples lives in a most intimate way.

What I say to you, and to those nurses that are burned out (I have been burned out and burned in my career). If you don't like the job you are in, then find another job. You might need to make yourself more marketable. This means, take additional courses....ALWAYS. Especially if you want to change specialties......Want to go into L& D?....then take NRP or a clase on fetal monitoring. Want to go to the ER? Take ACLS and PALS. Go to the unit educator and ask them if you can attend their unit specific training. This will help you to stand out.

Finally, there are jobs that take less out of us, but they are not at rewarding.

Good luck

Well said!

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Thank you! Sometimes it's just nice to hear the positives :)

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I think it's good if you don't go into Nursing. It's a very difficult line of work. Find something that makes good, good money and doesn't require bedpans and working holidays.

I'm serious.

but only you can make decisions about your life.

I do wish you the best.

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I think more often than not, when people post here, they come here to vent. When you're happy, you don't need to talk to anyone about because you don't need comfort.

.

This. Try not to let it get you down!

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Specializes in Med/Surg,Cardiac.

I, as well as many fellow site members I'm sure, entered nursing without knowing exactly what nurses did. Advice I'd give to anyone who hasn't started yet is to ignore dollar signs and shadow nurses for atleast several days.

Nursing is an awesome career that allows you the option to work with a diverse population depending on your specialty. That's the best part in my opinion. Sure, nurses get blamed for everything that goes wrong. But the times when someone genuinely thanks you for being prompt, teaching them something, holding your hand, etc.. It makes those bad moments a little less bad.

~ No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent -Eleanor Roosevelt ~

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