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

[lilbiskit78]

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!

[2bnursewurst]

This post has been very helpful for me. Almost 1 month ago I was unsuccessful for the 2nd time in the lecture portion of my nursing program. The school I was at was not encouraging or willing to help at all. I have thought several times about throwing in the towel, even though this is something I love doing.

I have been a CNA for the past 3 years and know the rewards of nursing. Because I am a poor test-taker, I have feared I might not reach my dream of becoming a nurse. This post has given me back my desire to prove that school wrong. I have gone to another school and put my name on their waiting list. That school has accepted the credits for the year I have already put in, leaving me with only 1 more year to go. I hope to get in this fall. Someone once told me that in nursing school the instructors "eat their young". You would think that this would not occur because one day they might be our patient.

[gemtat]

Dear Nursewurst:

I had the opposite problem to you in that I had never been in a hospital and really hated the clinical part of nursing but did great on the lecture/test part.

You have a great advantage in being a CNA and nursing is much more than test taking. I have always envied the nurses who are better at the bedside because that is what nursing is all about. So just keep trying and maybe get into a study group. Maybe you are working at your job too much. Can you work less so you have more time to study? Might pay off in the end. Good luck. :) :) :)

This post has been very helpful for me. Almost 1 month ago I was unsuccessful for the 2nd time in the lecture portion of my nursing program. The school I was at was not encouraging or willing to help at all. I have thought several times about throwing in the towel, even though this is something I love doing.

I have been a CNA for the past 3 years and know the rewards of nursing. Because I am a poor test-taker, I have feared I might not reach my dream of becoming a nurse. This post has given me back my desire to prove that school wrong. I have gone to another school and put my name on their waiting list. That school has accepted the credits for the year I have already put in, leaving me with only 1 more year to go. I hope to get in this fall. Someone once told me that in nursing school the instructors "eat their young". You would think that this would not occur because one day they might be our patient.