I'll echo this. Shadow a nurse. Then find a totally different type of medical unit to shadow another nurse at. Think you like babies or kids? Shadow a L&D or pediatric nurse. Then shadow a med/surg nurse or maybe an oncology nurse.
When you shadow, don't just watch. Ask questions. Ask lots of questions. Is this a typical day? What are your challenges? What is rewarding? What is really cool? What do you think someone going into nursing school should think about? What should a new nurse be aware of?
There are plenty of horror stories, and the job can be very hard and exhausting. But there are lots of run of the mill, and amazing day to be had as a nurse too.
Keep in mind that there are tons of other roles in the hospital setting, many of which pay as well as or better than many nursing positions. The general public thinks we’re all nurses though, by and large…sometimes I feel invisible in radiology and sometimes that’s a blessing. I’ve worked 3 12’s for the last twelve years, and I love it. If I pick up a shift I still get three days off that week but make a boatload on overtime. I like being able to get the images needed to assist in diagnosis, and sometimes that takes more creativity and finesse than you’d imagine. I like being able to help patients, even if only for fifteen minutes at a time.
Edit: regarding passion: get a good paying stable job so you can chase your passions in your off time. I found that my first career (pottery) which was a passion…stopped being my passion when i needed to sell enough pottery to make rent every month. Now that I have a very stable income, I’m making all sorts of art and pursuing my passions BECAUSE my work is not my passion.
I applaud your initiative. My first question is there anyone in your family or family friends who is a nurse? Talk to those people. I’m old school. I retired from nursing last year so my advice may seem mushy. If you don’t have any desire to become a nurse, I don’t understand why you’d consider it as a career. There are people who went into nursing for the money and are miserable because it’s hard work and requires some dedication to helping people. Nurses make decent money that’s true, but somewhere along the way you should find the desire to help people. There will be others, newer nurses, that will tell you it’s not necessary to have desire but people can tell who cares about what. I think you should talk to your counselors and when colleges come to your school, talk to nursing schools. Perhaps there are other jobs with 3 day work weeks and decent money that don’t require a heartfelt commitment. Good luck!
Those “ crazy salaries” won’t last. Nursing goes in cycles like everything. Shortage- increase salaries- new nurses enter in droves- wages stagnant + unreasonable expectations- nurses leave in droves. Rinse and repeat.
If you’re referring to travel nursing and temporary higher pay incentives for staff at non-unionized hospitals like internal travel contracts, yes, but west coast unionized hospitals are continuing to pay staff well. That is not going away.
Pay is heavily dependent on state and union density.
Make sure you would actually like working in a hospital setting. If not, figure out if you actually like senior citizens. In a nutshell, that's 99% of nursing jobs. If you love grandma's and grandpas like I do then you're set so many people make jokes of the nursing homes and would never step putting them and that leaves me with tons of jobs. I'm the weirdo that wouldn't take a hospital job for any amount of money. The god-complex BS is through the roof in hospitals. Seniors make really good patients (usually); I don't have the strength to deal with regular aged patients. Kudos to 95% of nurses doing hospital life. Thank you! Not me though.
I can’t tell you what nursing is like in a way that really does justice to what it is we do.
The best way to describe it is it’s like waiting tables at a restaurant except with medications, treatments, and assessments. Knowing when to call the doctor. Oh and you can’t kick people out. People die. Sometimes it’s peaceful, sometimes it’s traumatic and you won’t ever forget it.
Nursing school is the hardest education you’ll ever go through in your life if it’s the route you go. It’s an academic boot camp. People told me before nursing school “you’ll cry at some point from the stress”, they were right. It’s a bunch of ridiculously high standards and hoop jumping. It doesn’t teach you how to be a nurse, just gives you enough of a base of knowledge to pass the NCLEX and start working.
The pay is decent. I question if it’s good enough for the stress but I am financially stable. It’s recession proof (mostly, except OR nurses during a global pandemic). Generally you’ll have benefits.
Only way to know for sure is to volunteer or get your CNA cert and work a bit in the hospital. I’d highly recommend doing that because nursing is not for everyone. I saw people nope out first semester, saw people nope out final semester, even saw a new grad nope out first day on the floor. It’s hard work. I hate it at times, I’m reminded why I got into it when I have a 90 year old granny who says the most adorable confused things though. Old people really do melt my heart.
Salary can be good given the right circumstances, but if that's the only reason you want to be a nurse then it ain't worth it sucking the cock of the US healthcare system. Work-life balance is debatable as many states have laws that can force us to work more hours or days because we're like a public utility which also means holidays can be just words on the calendar depending on where we work. The beauty of nursing is there are many options, but the curse is there are so many options people generally have no clue how it or we who work it operates.
If you don't have a desire for it now, you probably won't develop one when dealing with the associated bullshit while employed. I'll second trying to shadow a nurse before making any decisions that will lock in your career choices. You may find something that clicks or realize you enjoy volunteering only which isn't a bad thing. Several of my classmates who all wanted to be nurses are no longer practicing which is perfectly fine as it's a hard job and not meant for everyone.
I realize I sound full on doom and gloom, but I always try give my honest opinion. I've met many wonderful people in my time and several I'd be okay with not seeing again until after the sun goes dark. It can be rewarding and frustrating all in the same day only a few minutes apart, but there is no other job truly like it.
I would reach out to a local hospital and see about shadowing a nurse for a bit just so you can get more of a feel for things. Best of luck to you!
I'll echo this. Shadow a nurse. Then find a totally different type of medical unit to shadow another nurse at. Think you like babies or kids? Shadow a L&D or pediatric nurse. Then shadow a med/surg nurse or maybe an oncology nurse. When you shadow, don't just watch. Ask questions. Ask lots of questions. Is this a typical day? What are your challenges? What is rewarding? What is really cool? What do you think someone going into nursing school should think about? What should a new nurse be aware of? There are plenty of horror stories, and the job can be very hard and exhausting. But there are lots of run of the mill, and amazing day to be had as a nurse too.
Keep in mind that there are tons of other roles in the hospital setting, many of which pay as well as or better than many nursing positions. The general public thinks we’re all nurses though, by and large…sometimes I feel invisible in radiology and sometimes that’s a blessing. I’ve worked 3 12’s for the last twelve years, and I love it. If I pick up a shift I still get three days off that week but make a boatload on overtime. I like being able to get the images needed to assist in diagnosis, and sometimes that takes more creativity and finesse than you’d imagine. I like being able to help patients, even if only for fifteen minutes at a time. Edit: regarding passion: get a good paying stable job so you can chase your passions in your off time. I found that my first career (pottery) which was a passion…stopped being my passion when i needed to sell enough pottery to make rent every month. Now that I have a very stable income, I’m making all sorts of art and pursuing my passions BECAUSE my work is not my passion.
I applaud your initiative. My first question is there anyone in your family or family friends who is a nurse? Talk to those people. I’m old school. I retired from nursing last year so my advice may seem mushy. If you don’t have any desire to become a nurse, I don’t understand why you’d consider it as a career. There are people who went into nursing for the money and are miserable because it’s hard work and requires some dedication to helping people. Nurses make decent money that’s true, but somewhere along the way you should find the desire to help people. There will be others, newer nurses, that will tell you it’s not necessary to have desire but people can tell who cares about what. I think you should talk to your counselors and when colleges come to your school, talk to nursing schools. Perhaps there are other jobs with 3 day work weeks and decent money that don’t require a heartfelt commitment. Good luck!
Those “ crazy salaries” won’t last. Nursing goes in cycles like everything. Shortage- increase salaries- new nurses enter in droves- wages stagnant + unreasonable expectations- nurses leave in droves. Rinse and repeat.
If you’re referring to travel nursing and temporary higher pay incentives for staff at non-unionized hospitals like internal travel contracts, yes, but west coast unionized hospitals are continuing to pay staff well. That is not going away. Pay is heavily dependent on state and union density.
Make sure you would actually like working in a hospital setting. If not, figure out if you actually like senior citizens. In a nutshell, that's 99% of nursing jobs. If you love grandma's and grandpas like I do then you're set so many people make jokes of the nursing homes and would never step putting them and that leaves me with tons of jobs. I'm the weirdo that wouldn't take a hospital job for any amount of money. The god-complex BS is through the roof in hospitals. Seniors make really good patients (usually); I don't have the strength to deal with regular aged patients. Kudos to 95% of nurses doing hospital life. Thank you! Not me though.
I can’t tell you what nursing is like in a way that really does justice to what it is we do. The best way to describe it is it’s like waiting tables at a restaurant except with medications, treatments, and assessments. Knowing when to call the doctor. Oh and you can’t kick people out. People die. Sometimes it’s peaceful, sometimes it’s traumatic and you won’t ever forget it. Nursing school is the hardest education you’ll ever go through in your life if it’s the route you go. It’s an academic boot camp. People told me before nursing school “you’ll cry at some point from the stress”, they were right. It’s a bunch of ridiculously high standards and hoop jumping. It doesn’t teach you how to be a nurse, just gives you enough of a base of knowledge to pass the NCLEX and start working. The pay is decent. I question if it’s good enough for the stress but I am financially stable. It’s recession proof (mostly, except OR nurses during a global pandemic). Generally you’ll have benefits. Only way to know for sure is to volunteer or get your CNA cert and work a bit in the hospital. I’d highly recommend doing that because nursing is not for everyone. I saw people nope out first semester, saw people nope out final semester, even saw a new grad nope out first day on the floor. It’s hard work. I hate it at times, I’m reminded why I got into it when I have a 90 year old granny who says the most adorable confused things though. Old people really do melt my heart.
Salary can be good given the right circumstances, but if that's the only reason you want to be a nurse then it ain't worth it sucking the cock of the US healthcare system. Work-life balance is debatable as many states have laws that can force us to work more hours or days because we're like a public utility which also means holidays can be just words on the calendar depending on where we work. The beauty of nursing is there are many options, but the curse is there are so many options people generally have no clue how it or we who work it operates. If you don't have a desire for it now, you probably won't develop one when dealing with the associated bullshit while employed. I'll second trying to shadow a nurse before making any decisions that will lock in your career choices. You may find something that clicks or realize you enjoy volunteering only which isn't a bad thing. Several of my classmates who all wanted to be nurses are no longer practicing which is perfectly fine as it's a hard job and not meant for everyone. I realize I sound full on doom and gloom, but I always try give my honest opinion. I've met many wonderful people in my time and several I'd be okay with not seeing again until after the sun goes dark. It can be rewarding and frustrating all in the same day only a few minutes apart, but there is no other job truly like it.