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So, I'm 28 years old and have been working in the service industry since I was 20. Was supposed to be a temporary thing after I dropped out of college and just kept going after I became a bartender about 5 years ago. Made more money than I was used to and had a lot of fun. But, I'm ready to go back to school and get something more financially stable with a lot more money, and just....I'm ready to grow up. Time to go back to school. Admittedly, I'm not totally sure what to go back for. But, lately I've really been hardcore leaning on becoming a nurse. I figure: - There is ALWAYS jobs - Jobs EVERYWHERE - Great pay. Looks around $50,000+ minimum in Arkansas - Feel like I'm doing something right in the world I can be proud of. I always held out of college cause I didn't know my dream job....but this sure would be hell of a backup plan to fall back on. Becoming a LPN or more. I'm not sure what I want to do in this world specifically. But, as far as a job goes, I want to feel like I'm making a difference and genuinely helping others. Tell me if this is a good or bad idea.
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Sep 18, 2015 09:19
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a good idea you'll always have a job, and you can find a job anywhere in the world
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Sep 18, 2015 12:34
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Maybe try the thread that is pretty much all about this already? http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3017109
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Sep 18, 2015 14:38
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Shoot for a BSN -- anything lower is really not a career position and with a BSN it's easy to move up, with anything lower moving up sucks. Your first nursing job can actually be quite hard to get. Nursing school is difficult and you need to ace the prereqs (which are not easy) or else they will not make space for you in their program. Nursing jobs in places you want to live require experience which is acquired in places you do not want to live, although all of Arkansas is not a place anyone wants to live so maybe you're okay there. Nursing is still a female dominated position. It won't really matter that you're a guy, no one is going to cut you down or lift you up because of that appreciably (you will have people tell you that the ER and psych prefer male nurses but they don't give a poo poo). However once you find a job the environment is going to be a little catty and backstabby especially compared to a bar. Be nice to coworkers until you figure out who really hates you and who just lacks people skills, do your work by the book so if you get a genuine harpy she can't get her claws in all the way. This kind of stuff won't matter at all at some places and in others will be the worst thing about your job, so it just depends. Nursing is learned 90% on the job and should still be an associates degree IMO, however the decent pay and respectability lead to educational inflation. Most of the schooling is almost irrelevant. But you must clear the hurdles to win the race. Sometimes ladies have vagina issues and may want a female nurse instead of you. This is the reason you help the lady nurses lift fatties without complaining about it. This is not a fair trade, you're getting the bad end of that deal by a mile, but still.
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Sep 19, 2015 10:08
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89 posted:So, I'm 28 years old and have been working in the service industry since I was 20. Was supposed to be a temporary thing after I dropped out of college and just kept going after I became a bartender about 5 years ago. Made more money than I was used to and had a lot of fun. But, I'm ready to go back to school and get something more financially stable with a lot more money, and just....I'm ready to grow up. Time to go back to school. Start at a rural and cheap community college.. for example Trinidad Junior College (in Colorado), Clovis Community College.... and there are a few in Wyoming, and the credits are cheap and such and usually there is not too much competition to get in. Just get an in-state license, then apply for admission as an in-state resident.
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Sep 20, 2015 11:04
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Four day weekends are pretty sweet.
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Sep 20, 2015 13:00
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My husband is a nurse, currently acting as a nurse educator, and working on his masters. I ran your question by him and he suggested that you work part-time as a CNA while doing per-requisites to see if nursing is the route you truly want to take: some people find they can't handle it/dislike it while others end up loving it. Obviously a CNA does work that is different from a nurse but it puts you in a medical environment and helps you build some transferable skills. He also said that depending on your location there are places that only need you to have an associates, and you can then work as a nurse while going for higher degrees. As a male in the field he's never had any power struggles with others based on gender, just on personality differences. He has said that being a guy has given him a slight advantage in some respects simply because of his ability to help lift patients a bit easier than his peers but other than that it hasn't factored in too much. Once in a great while a patient will request a female nurse instead of him but it hasn't really been an issue. He suggests getting to know your instructors well and keeping an ear open for shadowing opportunities or contacting places you may want to work and asking if you can go in and observe--that is how he got his first nursing job. Remember that pre-reqs are hard, you have to put in a ton of study time and avoid procrastination and laziness.
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Sep 20, 2015 23:09
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Doing CNA work in your summers is a good idea anyway and will give you an edge when it comes to applying for real nursing jobs, especially if you're not a sadgoon and make connections while doing CNA stuff. On the flipside being a CNA is probably the number one most underpaid job in the country as it's physically demanding, mentally unrewarding, dangerous (both to your back and in your general exposure to c diff ridden lovely asses) and disgusting. This is also part of the reason you want to be at the BSN level or higher to make nursing a career -- LPNs still have to clean rear end once in a while, RNs almost never (except in certain circumstances). You can get a job at a LTC as a CNA, have them pay for your LPN, move to a lovely country hospital that still employs LPNs after a couple of years, get your RN while working there and commuting 45 minutes back and forth to the nearest city with an RN program, then upgrade that to a BSN a couple of years later. But honestly it's probably smarter both in stress, chances to fail, and even financial aspects to go to a traditional 4 year BSN program and be done with it. Oh and also obviously a factory job where it's you vs. some machine in an eight hour block is the worst job in the world, but CNA could be number two or three by almost any aggregated metric. raton fucked around with this message at 06:30 on Sep 21, 2015 |
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Sep 21, 2015 06:26
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I am finishing up my prerequisites now and will be applying for a one-year second degree accelerated nursing program in fall of 2016. It has been really tough for me (especially coming from a liberal arts program) because the material is actually difficult and time consuming. I have had to work my bum off in chemistry, microbiology, anatomy..I can't imagine what it will be like when I actually get to nursing school. I am volunteering now and trying to get a low-level job in the ER or surgery floor at a local hospital to make sure I like it like I think I will. My biggest fear is I get another big student loan, kill myself for a year in school and then hate the actual job! One thing that made me really decide to go for it was nursing channels on YouTube (there are a lot of good ones). Of course there is some participation bias but the vast majority of people who had testimonials about the profession said it was hard work but very rewarding, decent pay, great benefits, good hours and high demand. Most of them seemed to have a great quality of life, mentally. The importance of that, to me at least, can not be understated. I wouldn't mind keeping up with someone else who was going down the same path if you decide to go for it. I am 31 so I am in a similar position life wise. Send a private message.
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Sep 22, 2015 04:02
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faarcyde posted:I am finishing up my prerequisites now and will be applying for a one-year second degree accelerated nursing program in fall of 2016. It has been really tough for me (especially coming from a liberal arts program) because the material is actually difficult and time consuming. I have had to work my bum off in chemistry, microbiology, anatomy..I can't imagine what it will be like when I actually get to nursing school. I am volunteering now and trying to get a low-level job in the ER or surgery floor at a local hospital to make sure I like it like I think I will. My biggest fear is I get another big student loan, kill myself for a year in school and then hate the actual job! This is exactly what I am trying to do right now. I find Chem to be easy if time consuming but I took a bio class that was mostly cellular biology with some genetics and human systems mixed in and it kicked my butt hard enough that I am planning on switching schools to take a Saturday rather than a night session when I take A&P. I still got an A in the class but there was an absurd amount of homework and between the class and workibg overtime and 2 kids it was hard to find time for it all. I was slacking on reading and memorization so I could complete all the homework. As I understand it A&P is more memorization and lab work than homework, but taking an intense class like that in the evening after work I am afraid I will melt my brain or not be able to pay attention (something which happened to me in chem and bio). All day Saturday sounds easier to manage.
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Sep 22, 2015 06:08
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therobit posted:This is exactly what I am trying to do right now. I find Chem to be easy if time consuming but I took a bio class that was mostly cellular biology with some genetics and human systems mixed in and it kicked my butt hard enough that I am planning on switching schools to take a Saturday rather than a night session when I take A&P. Biochem is the traditional dream killer. Enjoy. Or if your school doesn't require it, lucky you.
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Sep 22, 2015 06:29
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If you don't mind being unable to put down roots for a while, you could become a traveling nurse, putting in a few months at a time as needed. I know a guy who did that, and it pays more than a regular nursing position, plus they paid for his housing. He would usually get a few weeks off between assignments, too.
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Sep 22, 2015 12:43
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January posted:If you don't mind being unable to put down roots for a while, you could become a traveling nurse, putting in a few months at a time as needed. I know a guy who did that, and it pays more than a regular nursing position, plus they paid for his housing. He would usually get a few weeks off between assignments, too. Sometimes (Oftentimes?) traveling nurses are on 1099s and don't get any benefits, so the higher salary can be a bit bunk.
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Sep 23, 2015 05:07
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If your number one reason for becoming a nurse is not "It's my passion" you will hate it and burn out. And probably be a lovely nurse. Work as a CNA for awhile to see if it's something you can handle. And don't go in to it thinking that "real nurses don't do this stuff" because we do. We wipe asses and feed people and help people walk down the hall. We also comfort people and help people die with dignity. We hold parents' hands while their children suffer. It's not a glamorous job. Yes, there are always jobs available, but not necessarily where you want them. You may end up having to relocate or having to work in a nursing home or a unit you don't care for.
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Sep 24, 2015 01:11
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Sheep-Goats posted:Sometimes (Oftentimes?) traveling nurses are on 1099s and don't get any benefits, so the higher salary can be a bit bunk. My acquaintance never mentioned this, but it makes sense that this would be the case if they're doing temp jobs.
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Sep 24, 2015 12:10
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The sex change is probably going to be your biggest challenge anyway, fwiw.
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Sep 24, 2015 14:06
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LoveMeDead posted:If your number one reason for becoming a nurse is not "It's my passion" you will hate it and burn out. And probably be a lovely nurse. Work as a CNA for awhile to see if it's something you can handle. And don't go in to it thinking that "real nurses don't do this stuff" because we do. We wipe asses and feed people and help people walk down the hall. We also comfort people and help people die with dignity. We hold parents' hands while their children suffer. It's not a glamorous job. A sense of humor helps too. My mom has a lot of stories but I think the one she likes the most is a c. diff patient she had. She had recently gotten new brand name crocs (my mom put herself through school in her 30s and money was very tight so this was exciting for her). She's talking to the patient and she tells him she just got new shoes and is breaking them in. They keep talking and as she's getting him up he does what c. diff patients tend to do and ends up pooping on her feet and it gets all in there. The guy felt SO BAD but my mom just laughed it off because it's not really the guys fault and what else can you do? Now whenever he comes by the hospital he asks for her and refers to himself as 'the shoe shitter'. The other nurses give him funny looks but my mom just laughs and they catch up. So that's something to think about too. If you're gonna freak out about stuff like that, maybe reconsider.
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Sep 26, 2015 17:35
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LoveMeDead posted:If your number one reason for becoming a nurse is not "It's my passion" you will hate it and burn out. And probably be a lovely nurse. Work as a CNA for awhile to see if it's something you can handle. And don't go in to it thinking that "real nurses don't do this stuff" because we do. We wipe asses and feed people and help people walk down the hall. We also comfort people and help people die with dignity. We hold parents' hands while their children suffer. It's not a glamorous job. Just seconding this. Taking care of people who need your help is emotionally and physically exhausting if you care even a little bit, and if you don't care even a little bit you are dangerous as hell and shouldn't be allowed near the people we're trying to keep alive. You can only do it if the rewards are as great or greater than what you put into the job, and money alone isn't going to cover it. If you're just looking for a job that you can do anywhere and that pays well become a plumber, electrician or HVAC specialist.
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Sep 28, 2015 14:07
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Dogfish posted:Just seconding this. Taking care of people who need your help is emotionally and physically exhausting if you care even a little bit, and if you don't care even a little bit you are dangerous as hell and shouldn't be allowed near the people we're trying to keep alive. You can only do it if the rewards are as great or greater than what you put into the job, and money alone isn't going to cover it. If you're just looking for a job that you can do anywhere and that pays well become a plumber, electrician or HVAC specialist. There are so many things you can do with an RN the whole it needs to be your passion is total bullshit.
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Sep 29, 2015 02:24
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I am a guy and my undergrad was in nursing, so let me say your reasons are totally fine and the people in this thread suggesting you need to be passionate for nursing from the start are idiots. For starters, nursing can easily lead you to positions where you see exactly 0 patients. There are all sorts of jobs in public health, education, administration where you can go with a nursing degree. Similarly, there are many schools which emphasize this work, so if you do your degree with them you may never wipe an rear end in your entire career. And that's fine. Or you can go to acute care, wipe asses, save babies, and be a good nurse independent of any passion for nursing per se. In either case, don't listen to anyone who tells you it needs to be your passion or you'll burn out. Personally I really enjoyed nursing because I enjoy medicine, generally, and am intrigued by the healthcare process. Someone in this thread said you need to, essentially, get emotionally invested in every patient. That, again, is utter dogshit. Being a good nurse involves two things: 1) treating people with respect, and 2) competency in the processes of care. The former is what building rapport and "therapeutic relationships" revolve around. It's also the cornerstone of any interpersonal relationship. Be honest with people, treat them like adults, give a poo poo about their situation. Virtually every patient will be satisfied by this (their families, however, are another story). The latter just means not phoning it in when you're doing your assessments, and in general knowing what the gently caress is going on and what your expectations are. Do your labwork. Do your vitals. Pay attention to and assess your patients for the possible complications of their situation/your interventions. If you do these things, you will be an amazing nurse and better than the vast majority currently working. Dogfish posted:Just seconding this. Taking care of people who need your help is emotionally and physically exhausting if you care even a little bit, and if you don't care even a little bit you are dangerous as hell and shouldn't be allowed near the people we're trying to keep alive. You can only do it if the rewards are as great or greater than what you put into the job, and money alone isn't going to cover it. If you're just looking for a job that you can do anywhere and that pays well become a plumber, electrician or HVAC specialist. Basically nobody who has worked in any health care profession for an extended period genuinely cares about their patients beyond a vague "I'd rather not see you die". You can't get emotionally invested in everyone, or you'll find yourself dying a little every time they do, and you'll burn out. The reality of health care is that the only way to deal with the endless death and suffering is to build a wall between you and your patients. You say the right things, you do the right things, but you don't let it affect you when they die. You document your activities, reflect on your practice, and you carry on. Medicine is loving depressing and the reality of life is the bleakest poo poo imaginable, with young people dying of cancer and old people like emaciated skeletons lingering for months in agony. You can't do your job if you let this poo poo affect you. Sheep-Goats posted:Nursing is still a female dominated position. It won't really matter that you're a guy, no one is going to cut you down or lift you up because of that appreciably (you will have people tell you that the ER and psych prefer male nurses but they don't give a poo poo). However once you find a job the environment is going to be a little catty and backstabby especially compared to a bar. Be nice to coworkers until you figure out who really hates you and who just lacks people skills, do your work by the book so if you get a genuine harpy she can't get her claws in all the way. This kind of stuff won't matter at all at some places and in others will be the worst thing about your job, so it just depends. I actually found that I got treated quite well as a male nurse. Other female nurses seemed more accommodating, and of course everyone likes the 6'4" guy who can help them lift that patient who took a spill. Sometimes female patients will not want you to provide their care (e.g. bathing, catheters, etc) but that's okay. For real though, I got the impression that female nurses treated me better because I was a guy. Like, some kind of reverse sexism. It was a bit disheartening. They were definitely catty with each other but I pretty much never got that from them myself. I also went out of my way to help people with whatever I could, though, so that might have been a factor. As an aside, always help other nurses and never cut corners that make work for people after your shift ends. Other male nurses are usually cool. The kinds of guys who can hack it as a nurse are usually a superior caliber, anyway, and we all get along because we all know we're rockstars. Lassitude fucked around with this message at 03:08 on Sep 29, 2015 |
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Sep 29, 2015 02:42
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Yeah. What Lassitude said.
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Sep 29, 2015 03:18
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Also, yeah, as someone said, become an RN. Do not gently caress around with any of the inferior nursing degrees. RN is internationally recognized and gives you all sorts of amazing opportunities, and you have options for more advanced degrees which can afford you work comparable to family physicians (without the bux and respect, but still). An extra two years in school means jack poo poo compared to this. Do not even consider anything less than RN unless your marks are terrible and you can't do anything to improve them. And I feel compelled to say, the prospect of cleaning poo poo out of old lady vaginas can be daunting. Nobody likes doing it, but we all do it without making a face. Every nurse ever has been intimidated by the prospect of doing gross stuff. But I guarantee you, once you get into a situation where you're the man on point and that's your rear end to wipe, you'll do it, and you'll wonder what the big loving deal was in the process. These things intimidate because they're an unknown. They make everyone second-guess themselves about nursing. But once you do it, you realize it's nothing, and it becomes a total non-issue to spoon up some diarrhea for a stool sample afterward. Do not let the prospect of gross stuff deter you. It's only a thing because it's an unknown. Once you get your feet wet, it won't even phase you. Ditto for anything else you might feel trepidation toward, whether it be wound care or running IVs of serious poo poo or getting a corpse ready for the morgue. At the end of the day, it's just a job and you do what you need to do. If you've even considered the possibility you can do this stuff, you can do it, and after the first time it'll be like nothing. I say this because I was deterred from nursing by this stuff initially. Lassitude fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Sep 29, 2015 |
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Sep 29, 2015 04:00
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Bum the Sad posted:Eh. You don't really have to care about the person you just have to take pride in your work. correctpost Also the money you can make in nursing is enough to just be in it for the money. Just barely, but still. Lassitude posted:I actually found that I got treated quite well as a male nurse. Other female nurses seemed more accommodating, and of course everyone likes the 6'4" guy who can help them lift that patient who took a spill. Sometimes female patients will not want you to provide their care (e.g. bathing, catheters, etc) but that's okay. For real though, I got the impression that female nurses treated me better because I was a guy. Like, some kind of reverse sexism. It was a bit disheartening. They were definitely catty with each other but I pretty much never got that from them myself. I also went out of my way to help people with whatever I could, though, so that might have been a factor. As an aside, always help other nurses and never cut corners that make work for people after your shift ends. This varies. The lady nurses catting out on the guy nurse is an issue at some facilities per stories I've heard from other murses. raton fucked around with this message at 07:25 on Sep 29, 2015 |
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Sep 29, 2015 07:20
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Sheep-Goats posted:LPNs still have to clean rear end once in a while, RNs almost never (except in certain circumstances). I wipe up a lovely rear end at least once per shift I work. I'm not sure what magical world you live in but I'd like to go there. Other than a select few units, patients in most hospital units are elderly and are likely to poo poo themselves on the reg. If you're in there when they do, RN or LPN or CNA doesn't matter, you gotta clean that rear end. To reply to the OP, I wouldn't go gung-ho into nursing straight away without at least putting minimal effort into deciding if it's even for you. See if you can work PRN as a tech for a little while, if you find the environment enjoyable then consider working on that degree. It helps to have a little compassion and empathy but it's not a requirement, really you just have to enjoy the crazy, fast-paced work environment. If you hate the job, all the money in the world wont make nursing enjoyable. It's not an easy job and even though the pay is pretty decent for new-grads when compared to the poo poo pay folks with other types of bachelors degrees make, it's a lot of work for what you make. On the upside, I feel like male nurses are more likely to be hired straight out of school. All of the men in my nursing class were some of the first to be hired. Which isn't exactly statistically significant but just from my point of view it seems as if units prefer to hire male nurses when they can, unless it's in a women's health or pediatric area.
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Sep 29, 2015 13:40
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Being a man nurse is pretty great, would recommend.
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Sep 30, 2015 02:06
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Sheep-Goats posted:This varies. The lady nurses catting out on the guy nurse is an issue at some facilities per stories I've heard from other murses. My nursing experience is relatively limited so I wouldn't be surprised. In hindsight I'd also chalk some of it up to, as mentioned, going out of my way to help other nurses with whatever if I had any free time. Putting in extra work to help your colleagues goes a long way. That said, maybe I just got lucky and was working at sites/floors which had reasonably good teams. I know, talking to other nurses (female nurses) about places they'd worked, something that invariably came up was how people working on the floor got along. Some floors were notorious for being awful to each other, other floors people would be jealous of because they'd heard everyone was awesome and worked great together and helped each other out. JibbaJabberwocky posted:I wipe up a lovely rear end at least once per shift I work. I'm not sure what magical world you live in but I'd like to go there. Other than a select few units, patients in most hospital units are elderly and are likely to poo poo themselves on the reg. If you're in there when they do, RN or LPN or CNA doesn't matter, you gotta clean that rear end. Agreeing with this. If you're in acute care (ie., working where patients are actively being treated), there are LPNs floating around every floor but they usually focus on stuff like bathing/oral care/etc. and aren't likely to find your patient incontinent before you do. I routinely wiped asses/change diapers. The only way you're not going to wipe asses as a RN is if you choose to work somewhere where all your patients are always independent, or where you simply do not have patients. But, seriously, it's no big deal. It's intimidating before you do it, but then you do it and you realize the idea of it is way worse than the reality, and so who cares. If anything I kind of like doing it, simply because I know it must be a relief for my patient to get cleaned up. Lassitude fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Sep 30, 2015 |
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Sep 30, 2015 02:10
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Lassitude posted:Basically nobody who has worked in any health care profession for an extended period genuinely cares about their patients beyond a vague "I'd rather not see you die". You can't get emotionally invested in everyone, or you'll find yourself dying a little every time they do, and you'll burn out. The reality of health care is that the only way to deal with the endless death and suffering is to build a wall between you and your patients. You say the right things, you do the right things, but you don't let it affect you when they die. You document your activities, reflect on your practice, and you carry on. Medicine is loving depressing and the reality of life is the bleakest poo poo imaginable, with young people dying of cancer and old people like emaciated skeletons lingering for months in agony. You can't do your job if you let this poo poo affect you. Actually, I've found that my colleagues who don't care about their patients burn out quicker and also enjoy their work much less than those of us (including myself) who do really care. It doesn't have to be your passion, it doesn't have to be the thing that you look forward to most when you wake up in the morning, it doesn't have to be your whole life but if you're not invested, you're not getting anything back. Some days you phone it in because nobody is Super(wo)man but ultimately if you don't find your work personally rewarding then you're not really getting anything back for all the work you're putting in. I work in maternal/newborn health and am in an area where my patient population is mostly recent immigrants/refugees and teen moms. I agree that if I took it personally every time I had a baby in NICU with NAS because mom is on methadone I wouldn't last a week, but if I didn't take personal satisfaction in helping someone get through a difficult labour there would be no upside to my job. Maybe that falls under "taking pride in your work" but if your work is to keep people as alive and healthy as you can then surely there's some overlap? Dogfish fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Sep 30, 2015 |
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Sep 30, 2015 04:54
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JibbaJabberwocky posted:I wipe up a lovely rear end at least once per shift I work. I'm not sure what magical world you live in but I'd like to go there. Other than a select few units, patients in most hospital units are elderly and are likely to poo poo themselves on the reg. If you're in there when they do, RN or LPN or CNA doesn't matter, you gotta clean that rear end. Perhaps I overexaggerated but CNA is basically professional rear end washer whereas with a BSN there's hope you're not going to be doing just that all day long. I mean, if you have to answer "What does an RN do?" with one sentence it's probably "Hand out meds." Obviously there's a lot of variables and different kinds of RNs so that's a really stupid generalization but I think that's about as good as it gets as a generalization. If you answer "What does a CNA do?" it's probably "Clean rear end." raton fucked around with this message at 05:30 on Sep 30, 2015 |
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Sep 30, 2015 05:25
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Dogfish posted:Actually, I've found that my colleagues who don't care about their patients burn out quicker and also enjoy their work much less than those of us (including myself) who do really care. It doesn't have to be your passion, it doesn't have to be the thing that you look forward to most when you wake up in the morning, it doesn't have to be your whole life but if you're not invested, you're not getting anything back. Some days you phone it in because nobody is Super(wo)man but ultimately if you don't find your work personally rewarding then you're not really getting anything back for all the work you're putting in. On the flip side the kind of guys who don't care much about their patients would burn out of any other type of career more quickly than their coworkers too. All you have to do is do a solid job with patient care, a good job with documentation, and find some aspect of the job that you can take pride in -- it can be teaching or patient interaction or really knowing disease processes and protocols or whatever. It's only when don't care crosses with don't know that you really get an instant burnout. raton fucked around with this message at 05:30 on Sep 30, 2015 |
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Sep 30, 2015 05:28
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Dogfish posted:Actually, I've found that my colleagues who don't care about their patients burn out quicker and also enjoy their work much less than those of us (including myself) who do really care. It doesn't have to be your passion, it doesn't have to be the thing that you look forward to most when you wake up in the morning, it doesn't have to be your whole life but if you're not invested, you're not getting anything back. Some days you phone it in because nobody is Super(wo)man but ultimately if you don't find your work personally rewarding then you're not really getting anything back for all the work you're putting in. Maybe I gave the wrong impression. Not "don't care about your patients", but rather "don't get emotionally invested in every patient". That goes for everyone in health care working with patients. The point I was trying to make is that nurses don't need to be some kind of paragon of empathy. Anyone can do it, you don't need to be a living saint, and he shouldn't worry if nursing wasn't his first career choice or he otherwise doesn't have a deep passion for what he imagines nursing is like. If he thinks it might be interesting and offers good options/money, that's good enough, as nursing is those things. All he needs to do, then, is to be a decent human being with his patients and know what he's doing/not cut corners and he'll do good work. There absolutely is satisfaction in doing a good job and seeing people through a tough time without any kind of unnecessary complications, and of course unless he's a psychopath he won't help but want his patients to do well, but he shouldn't think that there's any major requirement to be abnormally compassionate and empathetic.
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Sep 30, 2015 16:44
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Lassitude posted:Also, yeah, as someone said, become an RN. Do not gently caress around with any of the inferior nursing degrees. RN is internationally recognized and gives you all sorts of amazing opportunities, and you have options for more advanced degrees which can afford you work comparable to family physicians (without the bux and respect, but still). An extra two years in school means jack poo poo compared to this. Do not even consider anything less than RN unless your marks are terrible and you can't do anything to improve them. Yeah, gotta agree. The gross out factor does fade pretty quickly once you get into it. There will always be gross things though to add to your gross stories collection (nurses are the best at gross stories), but mostly you get used to it and just take care of it with a detached air.
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Sep 30, 2015 21:09
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Sheep-Goats posted:Perhaps I overexaggerated but CNA is basically professional rear end washer whereas with a BSN there's hope you're not going to be doing just that all day long. If anything, as a RN, you are the workforce of the hospital and basically the physician's eyes and ears when they are not there. If there was anything that I would say a CNA does, it is that they are the nurse's eyes and ears while they are off doing something else. Things become so much easier when you have CNAs on the floor, and some of them are loving masters at changing a lovely rear end bed while keeping the new sheets and the patients clean. I still learn new stuff from my CNAs. Also, as a nurse, I can deal with poo poo and piss all day. But gently caress anything having to do with suctioning. I will gag almost every time.
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Oct 1, 2015 05:42
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Do you like having things shoved into your dick? I've met the local nursing school, and they're very enthusiastic about practicing their Foley technique, and try to press-gang any man who wanders through the door into being the model for a demonstration. If there's a man in the class, well, they've gotta practice on a real person sometime. Seriously, I went to photograph the nursing class for the college yearbook, and when I asked them for suggestions on what I should do for "student nurses at work" the entire class immediately said, in unison, "we can demonstrate a Foley catheter on you!" To which I replied, "Fun as it sounds, we're trying to make this family-friendly and also I'm shy."
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Oct 2, 2015 12:02
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Bad Angus! Bad!
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They were pulling your leg and/or dick, I think.
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Oct 3, 2015 03:20
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If it hasn't been posted yet, don't go into a job because it's ~always~ needed. Do something you'll actually enjoy and not because you need to grow up and find yourself or whatever.
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Oct 12, 2015 02:07
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You're in high demand, can work 3 days a week, get great compensation, and die loved. Do it. edit: kloa posted:If it hasn't been posted yet, don't go into a job because it's ~always~ needed. This is woefully naive. To get good jobs, you should identify a job and start working towards that goal asap. And no matter what job you do, it will be less fulfilling than the free time you are giving up, so make sure the compensation is worth it. Money buys the things you want. A nice house? College tuition for your kids? Being debt free? Unless you can get a job playing video games with intermittent dick sucking sessions, considering compensation is necessary. What's better, doing something you like for $30k or doing something you mainly like for $70k? There are many peer reviewed academic studies that show that money is literally happiness, as money increases so too does reported happiness (although there are diminishing returns around ~$80k). JIZZ DENOUEMENT fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Oct 12, 2015 |
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Oct 12, 2015 04:51
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JIZZ DENOUEMENT posted:What's better, doing something you like for $30k or doing something you mainly like for $70k? Still, pick something you don't despise. But pick something that makes a decent salary and that you can parlay into something else if things change in the future.
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Oct 12, 2015 06:05
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a) Don't do something you will quit doing b) Don't do something you will hate if that is not covered by a c) Don't do something that's going to pay you less than fifty or so bucks an hour after you've done it for a few years
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Oct 13, 2015 00:04
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 04:23 |
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This thread has been super helpful for affirming all the feelings I've had about going in to nursing without experience. Now I'm even more excited to hear about admissions later this month!
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Oct 13, 2015 19:49
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