You should NOT become a nurse if...

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Hello, everyone...

This may be a very strange question to ask, but I promise that answering it will really help my decision making. I had originally applied to a 4-year college with the intention of going to medical school. After two years, I decided that maybe nursing would be a better option for me. I have already been accepted into nursing school, but I am already having some doubts about whether I should stick to what I had originally intended or attend nursing school. My decision is not just based on "feeling", but I won't bore you with the details.

Here is my question: what are things that you do/encounter/experience on a regular basis that you believe someone should know about before entering this field? I'm not talking about the obvious (i.e. blood, needles, etc.), but other aspects of which not everyone is aware. They may be things that you are fine with (and maybe even enjoy) but might not be for other people.

In other words, could you fill in the blank?

You should NOT become a nurse if _________________.

Thanks so much!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

...if ... social status is really important to you.

...if ... you need to be the boss all the time.

... if ... you can't balance the "hard sciences" with the social sciences and humanities. All are critical to nursing.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

You should NOT become a nurse if... you really desire to be a physician because they are two entirely different professions.

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Specializes in Home Health Care.

You should NOT become a nurse if you have any prejudices or just don't like the majority of people. Also , if you have little tolerance or short temper to stupidity of others you shouldn't be a nurse.

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

You should not become a nurse if...

you can't stand having to do MANY things at one time

you have trouble coping with intense stress

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Specializes in cardiac/medical.

if...you lack the ability to think critically and quickly

if...you do not cope well with constant and intense stress

if...you cannot multi-task or have poor organizational skills

if...you don't want a job that continually changes with new things to learn each and every day

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Specializes in LTC, geriatric, psych, rehab.

if...there is anything else you can think of to do!

Yes, I've had a bad day.

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Specializes in Mixed Level-1 ICU.

You should NOT become a nurse if...

...you mind getting the body fluids of strangers on your clothes and shoes

...you think you'll have "magic moments" on a regular basis

...you cannot say "no" or prioritize tasks

...you are unnerved by multiple people telling you to do multiple things at the same time

...you think all your coworkers will be compassionate angels

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Specializes in Emergency Room.
...if ... social status is really important to you.

...if ... you need to be the boss all the time.

... if ... you can't balance the "hard sciences" with the social sciences and humanities. All are critical to nursing.

i agree with this completely. alot of people become nurses and realize that nurses are not as respected as they thought and usually that's only the beginning of job dissatisfaction.

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you should not become a nurse if you believe that justice always prevails.

you should not become a nurse if you believe that love conquers all.

you should not become a nurse if you believe that every man is an island.

and you definitely should not become a nurse if you believe that you can always delegate the less desirable tasks to the nsg assistants.

leslie

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Specializes in Just starting out.

...if you would rather diagnose the illness than treat the client

...if you think you're going to make a great living, because although they have decent wages you go through ALOT of crap to get that money

....if you get your feeling hurt easily

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Specializes in Cardiology, Oncology, Medsurge.

Hey, I LIKE this thread!

You should not become a nurse,

1. If you don't like seeing someone dying and family members continually believing the patient will pull through; and, you the nurse have to confront the family members and tell them that no matter how hard they pray, grandma who's 86 suffering from end stage renal disease will not pull through, will not like having her ribs cracked and a tube jammed down her throat and being hooked up to the ventilator. Yet even still, with your testimony, the family opts not to consider DNR!

2. If you take personal offense to someone needing to get to the commode again and again and have their butt wiped again and again, 'cause the aide is not around at the time and you are!

3. If you don't mind being the slave for 12 hours (or at least it feels like it at the time) to a needy, unpleasant, unkind, selfish, who doesn't care if you have other patients put the call light on all of the time patient.

4. If you can't stand having very unpleasant smells (ie, cdiff, pseudomonas, GI bleed, cancer tumor smell) stick to your clothes, stick to your nasal passage ways, to remind you of where you were the day prior on your day off even if you if you've showered, and yes, sometimes this makes you wretch!

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