Is Nursing for me??

I dont mind blood/guts/poop/pee. I dont mind working long hours. I make straight A's (especially in science/biology). The Merk Medical Manual is one of my favorite books. I dont want to spend 6-8 years in college (no Physician or P.A. for me). Maybe i could work up to NP or CRNA.
Based on the above statements, is nursing for me?

You have the experience and "book smarts" to be a nurse, but that's not all there is to nursing.
Nursing takes a lot of time-management and teamwork with coworkers. Organization is a must.
In addition, some of the most important characteristics needed of a nurse are empathy and patience.
Patients want you to be intelligent and able to reassure them with your clinical skills, but if you can't be patient, empathetic, and take time for them.............they won't remember how smart you are :-)




The answer right above mine is, of course, a very negative one. BUT it's completely true on a bad day-----and we all have bad days!! LOL

Why not check it out. Sounds like it is up your alley and there are shortages of nurses in most areas.

sure!

Heck yeah go for it if you like medical stuff this is for you.

sounds like you have already made up your mind with all your interests and goals. Good luck -nursing is a very rewarding career and we need good nurses out there. Good luck.

II was a nurse for 6 years. I work everything from Public to Private and even in a Prison hospital. It sounds like a great job, helping people, giving back all that altruism crap. Think long and hard before getting into the profession. Nurses are back stabbing metal patients. Doctors blame you for their mistakes, get pissed off and yell at you for calling them to get an order or to clarify an order because the pharmacy doesn鈥檛 want to deal with the doctors鈥?god complex. Then you there is the poor lowly unit clerk who thinks the unit can't manage with her. And, let鈥檚 not forget about your DON/nurse administrator, that hasn't had any patient contact in the last decade and doesn't know how to calculate a drug dose. They are the ones that like to tell you 15 minutes to shift changes that you've been mandated to work overtime. When you tell them you can't, they like to though the patient abandon crap at you. Then there are is my personal favorites, the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Subject Matter Expects my ***. With all that said I know there is the exception to the rules, and I've worked with some very caring dedicated people. Try being a hospital volunteer and observe what really is happening on floor. Then if you think the people around you are the kind of people you want to work with for the next 30 years go for it.

In it's current state, the profession of nursing is probably not what you want, at least in Canada and the US.

Nurses are understaffed, overworked, and in some cases, underpaid.

The work can be unglamourous, tiring, repetitive, depressing, and frustrating.

If you really love medicine, become a medical researcher or suck it up and become an MD. A NP spends about the same amount of time in school as a P.A. (or more) and gets much less pay than a doctor, and less authority. If your goal is to be a NP, bypass it. I see NP as people who wanted to become doctors but couldn't. Or are too old now to apply to med school. I'm sure there are exceptions, but this is what it looks like to me.

If you tend to focus on the science and physiological aspect of healthcare, I think you will be happier as an MD. Nurses have to be skilled, but their focus on the frontlines means that they also have to love people as their primary skill.

Your best bet is to volunteer at a nursing home and/or acute hospital. Even better if you can shadow a nurse for a few weeks.