Canadian highschool student looking for advice

[JSAN]

Hello

 

My name is Josh I'm new to these forums so hi everyone lol. Anyways, I'm a Canadian high school student residing in Alberta and i am on my last year of high school and I need some advice about becoming a RN and then advancing to a NP.

 

I like school, I excel in the sciences and maths. I volunteer in my school and outside of my school. I've been contemplating on some future careers and so far Psychology, Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy and Nursing interest me.

 

I started researching each profession and one by one I had to eliminate options due to money, time and practicality until i came down to one. Nursing. Nursing seems like the profession for me because in my POV it has it all! helping the patient, working in a team, working in a hospital / clinic setting, treating patients and most importantly in my opinion education patients so that they can live long healthy lives.

 

With nursing i can apply right after High School. The program is four years and my admission average is pretty competitive. Nurses are very in demand where I live, so after Nursing School i can get a job right away. After working as a registered nurse for 5 - 10 years i plan on becoming a Nurse Practitioner for All ages.

 

If all goes well and I become a nurse practitioner i would really like to open a family medical clinic and continue on treating and educating patients but this time working autonomously and working more as a leader.

 

I have a few questions for RNs, NPs, and Nursing students.

 

- are my career goals practical?

- was nursing school hard?

- is becoming an NP hard?

- Can NPs in alberta open and run family clinics like NPs in Ontario can do?

- what should i expect in Nursing school (subjects, Tests, labs ect)?

- U of A, U of C or MRU for Nursing?

- Whats your day like as a RN, NP or Nursing student?

- Any advice you can give a nervous kid who just entered the real world lol?

 

Thank You for taking the time to read this, and i hope you all have a wonderful day

[hexonu]

Despite what the media touts there is no nursing shortage. We've had over fifty internal applicants to my unit in the past month for ONE opening. If you're looking to go into nursing go in with eyes wide open.

 

I started my career in emerg and while I enjoyed it I decided I wanted a wider scope and more responsibility. I was also not interested in management, so I decided to pursue NP. I enjoy my job. I get to help people everyday I feel well compensated for my work and I have high job satisfaction. NPs in Alberta can practice independently, however opening up your own clinic is a stretch due to limited funding from the gov. The future of advance practise nursing is promising as we're starting to see the creation roles that include Psychiatric-NP and NP-Anesesthia. If you're willing to work hard and can handle a high level of responsibility I think its an achievable career goal.