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How can I tell if I will like nursing? (second degree)


theone12

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I'm finishing a Biology degree and applied to accelerated nursing and occupational therapy. Not passionate about either currently.

 

How could I go about determining whether I like nursing? On one hand, I like adrenaline rushes and I think that nursing might be an exciting environment. I am compassionate and am told that I handle stress well. On the other hand, I think that it would translate into me being burnt out. I also think I aspire to be in a field where I can make more money without having to bust my back.

I am one of those people who doesn't know whether they like something until they're in a situation, and I haven't even been in a hospital for an extended period of time.

 

I've read forums and information about nursing, but I still can't tell if I'd be up for it. I'm setting up volunteering this summer at a hospital, but how else could I find out? (ie do nurses allow for shadowing for a certain time period?). Or if anyone could come up with traits that are required to be 'good' at nursing, I can try to see if they match with who I am.

 

Thanks so much!

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I'm finishing a Biology degree and applied to accelerated nursing and occupational therapy. Not passionate about either currently.

 

How could I go about determining whether I like nursing? On one hand, I like adrenaline rushes and I think that nursing might be an exciting environment. I am compassionate and am told that I handle stress well. On the other hand, I think that it would translate into me being burnt out. I also think I aspire to be in a field where I can make more money without having to bust my back.

I am one of those people who doesn't know whether they like something until they're in a situation, and I haven't even been in a hospital for an extended period of time.

 

I've read forums and information about nursing, but I still can't tell if I'd be up for it. I'm setting up volunteering this summer at a hospital, but how else could I find out? (ie do nurses allow for shadowing for a certain time period?). Or if anyone could come up with traits that are required to be 'good' at nursing, I can try to see if they match with who I am.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Its much easier to follow nurses in patient care than ER but it seems like you more interested in being an ER nurse. Shadowing would likely not be allowed at least where I am, but you can learn quite a bit by being a patient care volunteer. Like if you are with a patient, nurse would check regularly and administer drugs/IV etc and you, in a way follow her. Not so much in ER since its busy and they don't like any sort of interference.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just to clarify, are you saying you think being compassionate will lead to burnout? Don't let anyone tell you you're too compassionate or 'soft' to be a nurse. A nurse who isn't compassionate is a scary thing. As for burnout, to be honest, this is more related to interprofessional relationships with coworkers. So sometimes you just have to find a workplace that suits you and where you get along with coworkers (as unfortunate as that is). That being said, having a healthy work-life balance and healthy ways to cope with stress are very important.

 

In terms of whether you will like nursing.. there are tons of varied opportunities within nursing. So if you're compassionate and interested in the health/social field at all, I'd be pretty surprised if you don't find any type of nursing that you would enjoy. Of course the hospital setting is what people think of first, but nurses also work in public health, mental health, home care, occupational health, community clinics, administrative roles, academia, etc etc. And there's also the option to becoming a NP later on. When I first started nursing school I thought I would end up working as a scrub nurse in the OR. A year after graduating I'm working in public health and I absolutely love it. So it's hard to predict where you could end up. That's the beauty of nursing, so many opportunities for growth and new challenges!

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Just to clarify, are you saying you think being compassionate will lead to burnout? Don't let anyone tell you you're too compassionate or 'soft' to be a nurse. A nurse who isn't compassionate is a scary thing. As for burnout, to be honest, this is more related to interprofessional relationships with coworkers. So sometimes you just have to find a workplace that suits you and where you get along with coworkers (as unfortunate as that is). That being said, having a healthy work-life balance and healthy ways to cope with stress are very important.

 

In terms of whether you will like nursing.. there are tons of varied opportunities within nursing. So if you're compassionate and interested in the health/social field at all, I'd be pretty surprised if you don't find any type of nursing that you would enjoy. Of course the hospital setting is what people think of first, but nurses also work in public health, mental health, home care, occupational health, community clinics, administrative roles, academia, etc etc. And there's also the option to becoming a NP later on. When I first started nursing school I thought I would end up working as a scrub nurse in the OR. A year after graduating I'm working in public health and I absolutely love it. So it's hard to predict where you could end up. That's the beauty of nursing, so many opportunities for growth and new challenges!

 

I meant more that the adrenaline rushes and excitement and being on my feet all the time would lead to burn-out, but what you're saying about coworkers and work-life balance makes a lot of sense.

I am compassionate and interested in the health/social field! :) I hope that I find a specialty of nursing that I love as well.

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Ah I see I see. I think it's different for different people. Some people thrive in a fast-paced, hectic environment like emerg or a busy surgical floor. Other people who aren't as suited for that kind of environment can do it for a while but will probably move on to something else eventually. I definitely prefer a mix. That's one great thing about public health; I work in a community clinic that can be busy at times but we also have office days when we have more time to catch up on paperwork and do oher stuff like campaigns/projects. My advice would be to try to stay open to changing fields once in a while. I know nurses who don't really like where they're working but are scared of the discomfort associated with moving to a different unit, field, organization, etc. I think that would lead to burnout eventually. A change of scenery is refreshing!

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