Thought I would like nursing...now I don't know

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Hi everyone! I am an ADN student 6 weeks short of finishing my second semester and I am very confused about what to do. I decided to go to school for nursing because I like helping people and definately hate an office job (had one for several years). Here's my problem....I don't know if this is what I want now that I am doing it. I hate clinicals (so far we have only done med-surg, ER, IMC) and dread going to them everyday. I am one of the few students in my group who actually tries to implement a plan of care and I find that so many patients are not willing to help themselves!! I am trying to help these people and they get mad at me, or won't do what they need to, their families are so demanding & some of them are just down right mean! And alot of the nurses where we are doing clinicals are mean and very discouraging....a few of them actually put their hand up in your face if you try to ask them something and they are busy. I wonder if I might like a specialized area, but I won't get to start that until next semester. I am just afraid that I will stick with it and be miserable, then I won't feel like I am doing anything good for my patients or for myself. The few students in my class I have discussed this with are all telling me not to quit, that I am a straight A student and only have a year left...but just because you can do well at something doesn't mean it's what you are meant to do. I don't know...maybe it is just school burnout...I feel like I have lost all my motivation. Any advice would be appreciated...thanks for reading my long post!

Specializes in Telemetry.

nursesrmofun, i understand they might be trying to concentrate but normal decency tells you that you don't treat people this way. puting a hand in someone's face is down right rude and showes a level of contempt that no one deserves!!

but did you ask any nurses about the pros and cons of the job before you entered nursing school? it is not an easy job and it often seems like your don't get enough thanks. you have to get satisfaction from within and/or from a job well done, imo. i like prioritizing and organizing my work and, yes, helping people. however, the patients aren't always aware how hard our job is and sometimes are too sick to care! i love nursing, but it is a tough job. as for the nurses who put their hand up when they are busy, they may be trying to concentrate. try not to take it personally.

lastly, clinicals are not the same as working once you've graduated and are actually a nurse. once you get a job and learn some things on the job, you may settle into it. you have some thinking to do. good luck.

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.
NursesRmofun, I understand they might be trying to concentrate but normal decency tells you that you don't treat people this way. Puting a hand in someone's face is down right rude and showes a level of contempt that no one deserves!!

So sorry that you disagree. The problem, as far as I'm concerned, is that I don't know the circumstances of what happened. I do not know what the accused nurse was or was not doing before, at, or after the moment in question. I was giving that accused nurse the benefit of the doubt. You obviously see it differently. If we assume that all there was to it was a hand in the face *for no reason*, then yes, it was rude.

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.
LOL Lady...I knew I had to respond when I saw that one! No, I have not quit yet, studying myself to death! I would like to thank everyone for the encouragement, it is nice to know that others have been where I am and pushed through it...that is what I intend to do. I am looking forward to trying my hand at some specialties soon, I am on the floor for 3 more weeks and then I go to ER, GI lab and ambulatory care, so it will be nice to get off the floor and hopefully get a lot of practice at IV sticks!! Sorry for the patients, lol. School is so dang stressful, especially since I have 2 nursing tests this week on Thursday, Psych nursing and Med-surg....the teachers said it was impossible for either of them to move their test. Our third tests in each class fall on the same day too, a month from now! I think they are trying to kill us!! Plus I have to write a process paper for each class due in a few weeks, put together a reminiscence therapy for pts with dementia by this Wed! That is probably why I am on mental breakdown right now! Again thank you everyone for your support! I'm sticking around..they can't get rid of me that easily!!

You will get there! :)

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Thanks Toni! I am still alive....barely....looking up abnormal labs for patients tomorrow.... To clear up the hand in the face "controversy" I will describe what happened. Nurse was at the nurse-server (where chart, ect is) which is outside the patient's room.....I think she was getting a piggyback ready, ie flushing the tubing....I came up and said "Can I ask you a question?" in response I got the hand in the face and the "I don't have time for you, ask your instructor" Granted, I understand she was busy, but she could have said something different or at least not thrown up the hand. She also refers to all the female nursing students as "pumpkin", but not in the nice way....in a derrogatory kind of way. LOL I am on her floor for the next three weeks!! I will just blow her attitude off this time, I am not going to let her bad attitude cause me to have a bad day!! Thanks again everyone for your support...hubby just got home with Wendy's (yum, home cooking HA HA) and I am starving!

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.
Thanks Toni! I am still alive....barely....looking up abnormal labs for patients tomorrow.... To clear up the hand in the face "controversy" I will describe what happened. Nurse was at the nurse-server (where chart, ect is) which is outside the patient's room.....I think she was getting a piggyback ready, ie flushing the tubing....I came up and said "Can I ask you a question?" in response I got the hand in the face and the "I don't have time for you, ask your instructor" Granted, I understand she was busy, but she could have said something different or at least not thrown up the hand. She also refers to all the female nursing students as "pumpkin", but not in the nice way....in a derrogatory kind of way. LOL I am on her floor for the next three weeks!! I will just blow her attitude off this time, I am not going to let her bad attitude cause me to have a bad day!! Thanks again everyone for your support...hubby just got home with Wendy's (yum, home cooking HA HA) and I am starving!

Thanks for the info. Yes, sounds like she is just a mean, or maybe burned out, nurse that doesn't want to be bothered. There are *a few* out there. But you are right to let it roll off!

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Specializes in Home Health, Primary Care.

I personally think, with this new info, that that nurse was indeed rude. Don't let her get you down. Chow down that Wendy's and relax.

Lata dudette..

T

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hi everyone! i am an adn student 6 weeks short of finishing my second semester and i am very confused about what to do. i decided to go to school for nursing because i like helping people and definately hate an office job (had one for several years). here's my problem....i don't know if this is what i want now that i am doing it. i hate clinicals (so far we have only done med-surg, er, imc) and dread going to them everyday. i am one of the few students in my group who actually tries to implement a plan of care and i find that so many patients are not willing to help themselves!! i am trying to help these people and they get mad at me, or won't do what they need to, their families are so demanding & some of them are just down right mean! and alot of the nurses where we are doing clinicals are mean and very discouraging....a few of them actually put their hand up in your face if you try to ask them something and they are busy. i wonder if i might like a specialized area, but i won't get to start that until next semester. i am just afraid that i will stick with it and be miserable, then i won't feel like i am doing anything good for my patients or for myself. the few students in my class i have discussed this with are all telling me not to quit, that i am a straight a student and only have a year left...but just because you can do well at something doesn't mean it's what you are meant to do. i don't know...maybe it is just school burnout...i feel like i have lost all my motivation. any advice would be appreciated...thanks for reading my long post!

hey! i know the feeling! i just graduated last may. i hated the clinicals and i often wondered if this was what i wanted. i still wonder the same question, but everyday makes me glad i did finish and become a nurse. we had some really mean nurses on our clinical floors just like what you are going through. you know the saying - nurses eat their young? well in some cases its true. i started work at the same hospital that i done my clinicals in and those hateful, snotty nurses act the same way to everyone-even their co-workers! so don't let them discourage you!!!!:nono: nursing school is very hard and it sounds like you are very interested and care about it, but in the same sentence-(for me anyway) nursing school didn't prepare me for the real world of nursing! it is nothing like nursing school prepared me for. my advice to you is finish school, your doing great!! when you start working as a nurse it will be different, in some ways not better and other ways a whole lot better. most of the time for me it is a whole lot better! i hope that my information has helped you in some way. take care and keep up the good work!!!

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Hi love. I hated clinicals, dreaded them every week, felt ill, and was miserable the entire time i was in the hospital. By the sam tolkein i hated my first job on a med surg floor. The thing is there are SO many areas in nursing, you can do nearly Anything!! I found that i am a great fit in a specialty area, in a regional burn center. It took a wee bit to find a perfect fit but i love it!! Let yourself try some other areas of nusing hon there is so much you can do!! and dont be too discouraged, everyone is miserable in nursiong school and wants to quit, probably the worst time in my life!!

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Don't let it get you down the reality of nursing is a shock, but the benifits are well worth it. I have been a nurse now for 19 yrs. I have had the opportunity to travel just about any place I wanted to go. I have done just about all areas of nursing. Nurses have the ability to keep trying new areas till they find what they like. If a nurse gets burned out its because she settled for something that didn't make her happy. Your not stuck in the hospital, or with direct patient care if you don't want to do it. Just look for a diffrent avenues in nursing, its there. The pay is great the benifits are good and the hours can be as flexible as you let them be. Think outside the box in nursing and it can give you every opportunity that is available. Nursing school is just that school, but once you get out and get a year of nursing under your belt , the world opens up to you. Just hang in there:)

Hi everyone! I am an ADN student 6 weeks short of finishing my second semester and I am very confused about what to do. I decided to go to school for nursing because I like helping people and definately hate an office job (had one for several years). Here's my problem....I don't know if this is what I want now that I am doing it. I hate clinicals (so far we have only done med-surg, ER, IMC) and dread going to them everyday. I am one of the few students in my group who actually tries to implement a plan of care and I find that so many patients are not willing to help themselves!! I am trying to help these people and they get mad at me, or won't do what they need to, their families are so demanding & some of them are just down right mean! And alot of the nurses where we are doing clinicals are mean and very discouraging....a few of them actually put their hand up in your face if you try to ask them something and they are busy. I wonder if I might like a specialized area, but I won't get to start that until next semester. I am just afraid that I will stick with it and be miserable, then I won't feel like I am doing anything good for my patients or for myself. The few students in my class I have discussed this with are all telling me not to quit, that I am a straight A student and only have a year left...but just because you can do well at something doesn't mean it's what you are meant to do. I don't know...maybe it is just school burnout...I feel like I have lost all my motivation. Any advice would be appreciated...thanks for reading my long post!
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Hi everyone! I am an ADN student 6 weeks short of finishing my second semester and I am very confused about what to do. I decided to go to school for nursing because I like helping people and definately hate an office job (had one for several years). Here's my problem....I don't know if this is what I want now that I am doing it. I hate clinicals (so far we have only done med-surg, ER, IMC) and dread going to them everyday. I am one of the few students in my group who actually tries to implement a plan of care and I find that so many patients are not willing to help themselves!! I am trying to help these people and they get mad at me, or won't do what they need to, their families are so demanding & some of them are just down right mean! And alot of the nurses where we are doing clinicals are mean and very discouraging....a few of them actually put their hand up in your face if you try to ask them something and they are busy. I wonder if I might like a specialized area, but I won't get to start that until next semester. I am just afraid that I will stick with it and be miserable, then I won't feel like I am doing anything good for my patients or for myself. The few students in my class I have discussed this with are all telling me not to quit, that I am a straight A student and only have a year left...but just because you can do well at something doesn't mean it's what you are meant to do. I don't know...maybe it is just school burnout...I feel like I have lost all my motivation. Any advice would be appreciated...thanks for reading my long post!

:uhoh3: What I thought would happen in school and what the real world is like is so many porificecs in distance is unimaginable! YOU CAN make a difference, don't let what you SEE in clinical influence you! WHAT you get in clinical is often Not what you experience in the REAL world. What you ARE experiencing is how things would run IF we had the staff, the resources, and the technology to do the things we Want to do!

Talk to the nurses you work with. The biggest stigma we have is in communication...what We think is important, what the Dr. thinks is important, and often times, what the hospice thinks is important. This all becomes clearer as you go further in your studies, but now it's all rigamorale.

The biggest hurdle you have to go over is how to get along with everyone. You can have your own opinions but you have to know how to put them aside to Give the most to your patient. NEVER be judgemental, you'll feel bad later.

A you go along in your career, you'll learn coping measures and how to get by. WE DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING, WE TAKE CARE OF PEOPLE NEEDING CARE! W aren't doctors, we don't have the answers, and then again, what Dr. has ALL the answers?

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Nurse was at the nurse-server (where chart, ect is) which is outside the patient's room.....I think she was getting a piggyback ready, ie flushing the tubing....I came up and said "Can I ask you a question?" in response I got the hand in the face and the "I don't have time for you, ask your instructor" Granted, I understand she was busy, but she could have said something different or at least not thrown up the hand.

This could have been handled nicer for sure, but I would write this off to someone having a really really bad day...and would try very hard NOT take it personally. Hang in there. There are good and bad in every group: stick with the good 'uns. ;)

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I have been a nurse for 20 years and my advice is to finish your degree. I HATED clinical and thought I would never be able to actually handle the job. I had nightmares about it though I also got all As. I did a four year degree at University of Hawaii and it was hard being a new grad. Many RNs are quite mean to students and new nurses, I eventually went to telemetry and then ICU as I could see floor nursing was just overwhelming and the number of patients makes it almost impossible to do a good job. Anyway, I still think nursing can be scary sometimes and always a challenge but it is a steady profession with decent pay (I make almost 50 dollars /hour on evening shift in a telemetry unit in California) and unlimited opportunities. I have done travel nursing and overseas nursing and have been able to work as much or as little as I liked. I have never had to beg for a job or worry about being laid off. There are tons of choices so you can have little contact with patients or families (as with OR nursing) or go into pediatrics or labor and delivery. Kaiser even has jobs as advice nurses a phone centers where you never even see a patient. I still think nursing is a hard job but not many jobs have the kind of flexibility and benefits that nursing does. I have never regretted my choice to become a nurse and recently my husband went back to school to become one as well. Good Luck. It does get easier after you get out and get settled in.

:balloons:

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