What should I really at this time? Help

[ThePretender]

I want to know if nursing is right for me. School spring semester started yesterday and I added Human Anatomy(the only Pre Nursing Pre Req in my schedule. the rest are all Business-related). You might think "Why are you taking Bus classes?" It is because I was a Bus major and last week I switched my major to Nursing. You probably think I'm crazy?! Yesterday was the first lecture class of Anatomy and I was bored. I dunno if I'm gonna remember all the Latin Medical terms. Im afraid if I dont then I wont succeed in the Pre Nursing process, nursing career(might fail the Board exam) or get fired!

So, should I keep my Bus courses for now (Next Sun is the last day to drop and add) or add my other pre req nursing courses (Psych, Nutrition; cant add Micro and Physio yet until I take Anat) or should I keep my bus courses and take anatomy too?

[ThePretender]

FOR INFO:

I live in CA and am attending a community college so if i get into nursing, I plan to become RN getting the associate degree.

[Granolagirl17]

My first thought is - you don't seem clear on what you want to do - which is absolutely fine - heck, figuring out what you want to do is what college is all about - but perhaps you'd benefit from talking to your college advisor - they often have aptitude/interest tests that might help clarify your direction.

Second, I don't know of anyone who took Anatomy and said "Dang! I just love these Latin terms - gosh darn it now I want to be a nurse!" I think the terms are boring even for the instructors! Will you remember every term.... likely not, but the knowledge base helps a lot in making sense of medical jargon. Even so, you can tell a physician that a patient complains of a stiff neck and he'll get it just as well as saying the patient c/o "nuchal rigidity"

Third, don't base your decision to become or not become a nurse on how much Anatomy interests you or is fun. It has a LOT to do with the instructor. At my community college, my instructor is a biochemist - and he brought Anatomy and Physiology (AP) to life and made it so applicable to what I would see as a nurse and how medications might affect a system, etc. Even within the faculty, though, there are other instructors who just present the material and just "teach to the test" - I would have hated AP with them.

A good knowledge of AP, nutrition, microbiology etc is vital to being a safe, competent nurse - but nursing includes much more - social work, counselor, teacher, caregiver, detective, advocate...etc etc.

So don't base the decision on one pre-req class. I'd say until you research it more, keep those business classes - there's a lot to say about savvy business oriented nurses, too - those classes won't hurt.

Good luck in your decision process!

[elkpark]

Have you talked to anyone (faculty, student advisor, etc.) in the nursing program at your school? In most schools, you can't just choose to "switch your major" to nursing one day -- you have to get accepted into the nursing program, and most are very competitive.

What research and/or exploration have you done to decide that nursing is a good choice for you? How familiar are you with what nurses do? Do you have any relatives or family friends who work in healthcare? Have you ever worked or volunteered in a hospital or other healthcare setting? That is something that might be helpful for you in making an informed decision. There is also lots of info available on this board.

Deciding on a career path can be a long, difficult process (but it's worth putting the time and effort into getting it right! :)) Best wishes for your journey --