Will I actually like this?

Nursing Students General Students

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I started nursing school (an advanced program) a month ago and don't really like anything about it (other than some of my classmates...) I'm wondering how indicative this is of if I'm going to dislike the job or not. I picked the program because it is only a year long and I have not been able to get a decent job with my previous BS (neuroscience). Admittedly this was probably not the best reason to pick to do this but I would like some candid opinions from people who already been through school and are actually working.

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I didn't like nursing school. I enjoy nursing.

Nursing school does not equal nursing by any means.

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There is much more variety in nursing jobs than what you see in nursing school, which tends to focus heavily on bedside nursing. What parts don't you like, and what parts are at least tolerable? What did you picture yourself doing with a neuroscience degree? Have you had a rotation in ICU, a neuro unit, or something like that where your previous background would come strongly into play? Have you looked into the advanced practice possibilities? See if you can shadow an APN in a field that interests you.

It's likely that you'll have to do some time in bedside nursing before getting something more ideal, but there are other possibilities.

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I didn't like nursing school, but loved my preceptorship. It was completely different.

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I didn't like nursing school, but I liked the clinicals (although they were very stressful). This made me fairly confident that I would like nursing. I had a friend who quit after the first clinical semester. He didn't mind the coursework but was miserable during clinicals because he didn't enjoy the tasks or the patients. He took this as a sign that he wouldn't enjoy nursing, and he was probably right.

If he decided to stick with nursing school, and maybe even one or two years of acute or long-term care, he could have perhaps found a nursing job that didn't include the stuff he hated. But none of those were likely to be jobs he loved, and he decided it wasn't worth committing two more years of his life to (potentially four) when there were other things he could be doing.

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Specializes in Oncology/hematology.

No, it's not necessarily an indicator of how you will feel about nursing. The thing that worries me is WHY you chose it. Most people go to nursing school because they want to be a nurse, not because it's only a 1 year program and the fastest way to a career, which is how your post sounds. I hope you end up liking it.

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I've heard numerous times, "If you are in nursing for the money, then you are in it for the wrong reasons." You sound like a smart person based on your first degree. I hope it's the right choice for you as well. We get in to something for one reason and stay for another. Training is always different from the real thing. Just take it slow and take everything for what it is and nothing more. :)

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what is it that you don't like?

There's parts of school I love, and others I hate. I really hate writing papers ( sooo many papers!) but the reading material is really interesting... I like clinicals when I actually get to use skills I've practiced, but sitting thru lecture can be so painful

Give it more time, but it sounds like maybe you didnt get into nursing for the right reasons. But with your previous degree I'm sure you'd be a great asset to some specialty areas. And remember, there's SO many things that nurses can do, not just bedside... you may find something else that is a better fit for you.

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It's a job where you are the ultimate middleman. Patient to doctor and vice versa goes through you, and that means you have to have a wide net as far as knowledge, patience, tact, ability to balance a doctor's demands and a patient's demands with the standards your unit management makes you uphold. It requires great balance. Can you smile and listen when you're stressed, hungry, have to pee, haven't charted in four hours, have a student with you, while a patient is talking slowly and you realize you're late an important assessment?

That being said, nursing school is SO not like the real deal.

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