Is The Stress Of Nursing School Worth The Nursing Career?
In an accelerated BSN program and its 100x more stressful and fast paced than I ever expected. I’m getting good grades but I feel anxious and stressed 24/7. I don’t sleep well now either so I’m tired all the time. Each day I go to school or clinicals come home and study. Thats my life. I’m thinking of quitting nursing school and taking some human resources classes instead since my other undergrad degree is pretty much useless. I went into this to help others, help my family, have a rewarding career, etc. Now I don’t know if its worth it or not. And I had been planning on working in a dr’s office or outpatient after grad but its seems like those jobs need a few years of med/surg inpatient experience. Let me know what you think.
Tagged with: Career • Nursing • School • Stress • Worth
Filed under: Human Resources Classes
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Nursing school is very stressful, but, depending on what you plan to do after school, the stress level may decrease. If you want to work at a doctor’s office, then prepare to take a lot of vital signs, give a lot of shots, and do a lot of flu swabs. While it can get a little hectic when you have a lot of patients, it is nothing like working in a trauma center or an ICU. Outpatient work is also usually pretty low key and relaxed.
If you are willing to drop out when things get stressful and tough, you need to ask yourself if this is what you really wanted in the first place. It sounds as though you like the thought of becoming a nurse, but not the reality.
Oh Hon. I’m going to be perfectly honest with you. The stress of being a RN is much worse than being a student. I went though a traditional BSN program and what I learned in nursing school really did little to prepare for the on the job training and stress. You do, however, get used to it and learn ways to cope. For example, a typical day would involve an irate family member stomping out to the desk to complain about you because her mother’s call-light has been on for thirty minutes. Her mom needs assistance to go to the bathroom but you’re busy coding a patient in another room. Meanwhile, an irate doctor is looking for you because he wrote an order for another one of your patients to receive a STAT blood transfusion. Most of the other floor nurses are helping you code the patient you’re working on and the CNA who should be answering the call lights decides this is a perfect time to duck out for a 45 minute smoke break. By the time all the dust settles and you get your patient to the ICU. You’re still running like a chicken with it’s head cut off, you’re exhausted, your meds for your other patients are now hours late. It’s now in the late afternoon and you haven’t eaten or gone to the bathroom since the morning. The previously mentioned family member and MD are contemplating having you written up. I’ve worked in many hospitals as a traveller and this is a typical day at any one of them. The stress doesn’t go away as a working RN, it just changes to a different brand of stress. Every once in a while, a patient will really touch you and you will feel as if you’ve made a difference in their life. This, however, is very seldom. Nursing is a difficult, thankless job and can really beat you up mentally and physically. I don’t mean to sound negative, I just want to accurately prepare you for what you are getting into. So brace yourself. It’s doable, but by no means is it easier than school. Good luck to you.
yes, it’s worth it. But seriously, the stress of the job is waaay worse than the stress of the schooling. Just want to put that out there like the other nurses above me have. There are jobs out there that aren’t so stressful, but the ones where you are going to use your skills are the ones that beat you up. The nurse who described the senario about coding the patient, and running around like a chicken- is spot on. That is what its like to work on a general floor (med/surg). Anyway, the only way you are going to know, is to stick it out and finish the program. I suggest you do that, and find out for yourself. It is normal to feel overwhelmed with the schooling…it is not easy. Stick it out, hang in there, and you will be glad you did. There are alot of options out there for nurses, and it is a good job!
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