undecided

NewNurseyGirl2009 · Dec 1, 2009

Me too. I am exactly 2 weeks from graduation and wondering what I have gotten myself into.

sunnycalifRN · Dec 1, 2009

Can't say that I experienced those feelings. Maybe you're scared or worried about your nursing career? Get your nursing degree, pass NCLEX, get a job and get your feet wet, then you can re-assess your career choice.

elkpark · Dec 1, 2009

The closer you get to graduation, the more it starts to "sink in" what a huge responsibility you'll be taking on as a licensed professional (compared to being a student), and people experience that anxiety in different ways (many people start feeling they've made a horrible mistake and they don't want to be a nurse, after all). Hang in there; what was helpful for me was to remind myself that kazillions of people have gone through this exact same process and these exact same feelings before me, and they all turned out fine (well, most of them did ... :)) Don't make any snap decisions right now -- just keep "going with the flow" and see how things work out. If it were to turn out that you really don't want to be a nurse (and you certainly wouldn't be the first person to realize that), as opposed to just feeling typical pre-graduation jitters, you can always quit later, after you've given it a fair trial.

Best wishes! :balloons:

SheaTab · Dec 1, 2009

So I'm about two weeks away from graduation and I think I have decided that I don't want to be a nurse. Did anyone experience these feelings? Is it some type of denial thing that you go through before graduation. I have been dead set and determined to be a nurse since I was in 9th grade. I wanted to be an awesome nurse and help people but now as a PCT I find myself having little to no patience with my patients and wonder every day if this is where I'm supposed to be. Please tell me someone has felt like this before.

YES! Many who have walked in your shoes have felt the same way. In my estimation, two things are required in order to have a rewarding career, whatever your choices. These include: Doable work and the ability to make a difference (i.e. meaningful work).

Now, certainly it would be difficult to argue that nursing doesn't provide meaningful work! You can and will make a difference each and every time you have the honor and privilege of touching one of our patients. The trouble is that your interventions can be infinitely beneficial to the patient or to their detriment. I know you have witnessed some of both.

The other problem is that in order to have meaningful and sustainable passion for the work is that the job must be doable. In many cases, this is simply not a reality in nurses. We are asked to do increasingly more with frustratingly less. We must take care of more patients than is safely possible and with little help!

My suggestion to you is that you take some time to remember why you chose nursing in the first place. I imagine that you did so because you wanted to alleviate distress, improve health-outcomes, and pay your bills. The reality of nursing is that what you would like to do for your patients and what you are able to do with time and resource constraints are two entirely different things. My hope is that you will remind yourself of your original intention and then go out there and make a difference. YOU can be the change that our profession so desperately needs. YOU are the new generation of nurses. If the work you do does not match up with the work you should do or would like to do, you will need to join with the rest of us and rally for reform in our profession.

Based upon your comments, you are showing some signs of professional burnout even before you have cut your first tooth as a professional nurse. This is most likely how you have seen other nurses behave, e.g. frustrated with their patients. Attitudes are contagious and so is burnout. See my thread here: https://allnurses.com/nursing-activism-healthcare/we-experiencing-mass-439599.html

Burnout starts with bewilderment and disillusion. It progresses toward frustration with peers and leadership. Eventually, it comes out sideways at our patients because we simply don't have the time or energy to give them all they need and deserve. I feel your pain though ... sometimes I'd swear that R.N. stands for Refreshments and Narcotics.

Don't lose hope! Be the change!

Your patients are counting on you.

We are here to support and encourage you.

Tabitha

GenevaMarie · Dec 1, 2009

That was great advice Tabitha

PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN · Dec 2, 2009

Yes, it's normal.

You have to be a grown-up now.

That's kinda scary...