Thinking about Nursing

[luchini]

Hello I am a 23 male in the U.S. Navy. I am thinking about applying for a enlisted to officer commission in the Navy Nurse Corps. I do not know much about nursing except as whats seen on TV,etc. I have always thought getting in the medical field but the schooling requirements for an MD are way too much for me. I did some research about nursing and becoming an RN and liked what I read. To be honest besides helping people out the greatest appeal to me is the pay, flexible hours, and flexible locations.

I have a buddy fresh out of college with a BSN that is making about 60k a year. He said the best thing about it was that if he wanted to work overtime +40 hours a week he would be clearing 75k easily.


My question is how satisfying is the work? Do you enjoy coming to work or dread it? Is the routine mundane and boring? Whats it like working at a hospital? Can you put in as much overtime as you'd like?

I feel I am the point in my life where I would like to choose an occupation I can do until retirement. If I get accepted in the nurse corps I plan on leaving the Navy Nurse Corps after my service obligation to become a civilian nurse.

[AmandaWIRN]

I work in ER as a traveler, and I find my work to be very satisfying- most of the time I love my job. Yes, there are days when I just don't feel like going to work, or days that I just want to go home after my shift & never come back, but most days I like it. Woking in the ER is definetly not mundane & boring- my patient assignment is constantly changing as patients enter & leave the ER, and I never know what's coming in the door from one minute to the next. It requires a lot of flexibility- being able to adapt to changing conditions, but that's what's exciting about it. Plus, in the ER, you see instant outcomes. Someone comes in sick, and, usually, you help them to get better, all within a few hours. As a traveler, I am contracted to work a minimum of 36 hours per week, but I am almost always able to pick up overtime every week- usually working between 44 & 52 hrs per week, but, it's by choice- if I want more days off, I just don't pick up overtime for a week. If you want t find out more about what hospital nursing is really like, you should look into shadowing a nurse for a day or two, in different areas that you are interested in. You might be able to arrange that through the Navy, or just through a regular hospital or nursing school. Good luck!

[NavyJim58]

Hi Lunchini.......as a Navy Nurse I can tell you its a great career. You may decide to stay in the Navy until you retire rather than getting out as soon as possible. You will have plenty of time to make that decision but as someone who has worked as a nurse in civilian hospitals and worked as a nurse in Navy hospitals I say "stay navy". The pay is comparable and your environment as a Navy nurse is great especially after you gain a little rank. As a former enlisted person your time will count for retirement. You will have more opportunity for advancement and command in the Navy then in a civilian hospital. All jobs have their good and bad and I have found the Navy to have more good than bad. Good luck. :luck:

[luchini]

Ok thanks for the replies. i have been doing alot of research online. Im thinking of volunteering at a hospital to see whats its like. Im on an aircraft carrier so I know there are 2-3 nurses stationed on here. ill ask my chain of command if they can set something up where I can speak to the nurses or do some work down there.

I dont know what the medical Navy is like but as part of the surface Navy I spend lotssss of time away from home plus Id like to settle down and buy a home rather then bounce from duty station to duty station. I like the Navy and would probably stay in the reserves.

As far as specialty goes. I think eventually Id like to get into either admin type of work or something with recovering patients and their families.

Are most patients and families friendly towards nurses? Can someone give me a breakdown on what a nurse does from when they clock in, until they clock out? If anyone has anything to say about nursing in general Id also like to hear it. When I commit to something I go 100 percent so Id like to know if this is for me or not.

[syudent1010@aol.com]

Hello, luchini! I don't blame you for your questions because I also like to try to get all the information I can possibly get before starting something, however the answers to your last questions are very broad. I am currently a BSN student but I have been a PCT (patient care tech) for over 5 years and I have had seen a lot of different things. Normally the patients and their families are very appreciative of what you do for them, but you also can get patients and family members that treat you horrible. One of the things I enjoy about the medical field is that there is so much variety usually. The type of days you have and your hours depend greatly on what area you work in. On a specialty floor (like oncology or diabetic) you will have a more mundane and set schedule and see patients with similar medical problems, but each patient is different. One of the most important things to do in the medical field is to treat every patient individually, so two people might have similar medical problems but they have different things affecting them (family support, financial resources, etc).There is also ER, where you never know what is about to walk through the door. Nursing also isn't just all about working at a hospital. There are doctor offices, public health nursing, doing nursing research, working for a company as their RN, and the list goes on! Nursing is a field that is very diverse and there really is NO typical day. Even on the floor, you can see so many different things, patients can go down hill really quickly and you have to be prepared for it. I would definitely suggest volunteering or working in the medical field to get a better idea of what is involved with nursing, it is hard to explain in words how important and diverse nursing can be. Nurses don't just take care of physical problems either; you also have to be a counselor, an educator, an advocate for your patients, etc. I hope you have a little better idea of what to expect and that I didn't give you more information then you wanted. :luck:

[TomB]

Hey luchini,

You've gotten some great responses.

Nursing can be pretty much whatever you want it to be. As a new grad you can just (literally) pick the field that you're interested in and get a job. If you don't mind moving (in some cases), you can do anything you want. If you're in a large city you'll be able to find a job in a field you want pretty easily. It might be night shift, but you can find it. You can do what I did and get an associate degree RN and go to work right away in the clinical setting like a hospital, or you can get an advanced degree and become a practitioner. Or do a million other options in between.

I work in ER/trauma and I love it. ER's a very task-oriented job. You can't help but gain very good technical skills because you do the same things over and over again, i.e., drawing blood, starting IVs, giving medications, doing EKGs, and a billion other things.

The great thing about ER to me is that you get to meet and interact with all kinds of people. You may start an IV and chit-chat with a big-wig CEO then turn around and take the history of a homeless person and get him a sandwich. You may give a person with the flu a couple of tylenol or you may rapid infuse a couple units of blood into a trauma victim. You may get spit on and flipped the bird, or someone may reach out to hold your hand.

What I think I like most is helping people (I know is sounds chiche) in a personal non-clinical way. This may be a person's worst day of their life and they will remember you and what you say to them for the rest of their life. Whether it's the patient who is having a heart attack that's scared to death or the spouse of a deceased accident victim, you can really help them get through these life-altering experiences just by being there with them.

I've gotten some wonderful letters from people who write the hospital that tell me how great I was to them and I don't even remember them; and I get letters telling me what a lousy nurse I am and that the hospital should fire me immediately.

[Fil149]

Great post and great replies. I'm in the same boat as you and if you can volunteer somewhere then definately do it. I still don't know if nursing is right for me because I have never actually shadowed anyone. I think getting a chance to observe a nurses work for a couple hours is the best way to find out if it's right for you. For some reason it's hard to find these opportunities in Philly. I tried to volunteer and shadow but couldn't find a place to take me.

Best of luck to you. Nursing can be a rewarding career. A good friend of mine is an ICU nurse in North Philly. Philadelphia is having another year in which the violence and murder rates are high. He constantly works in pressure situations. Because of the intensity of ICU unit, it's not for everyone. Nursing has many options though and that is what has drawn me to this profession. I have to make a decision very soon because I have been accepted to a program and it would start on Tuesday. I started having doubts about six weeks ago because I don't know how I will deal with the stresses of nursing. I agree that if you're in it for the money, then it would be the wrong reason to go for it. The flexibility and options that nursing has to offer is something that has drew my interest to the field. If I do become a nurse I want to do the best for my patients, but I'm just scared of how I will deal with certain aspects of the job. :luck:

[Goshenc]

Hey, I probably won't be able to offer you the same type of advice as the experienced RNs but I can offer you advise from the perspective of a student. I'm in my junior year of nursing school and so far I'm not regretting going into nursing.

That being said here are some of the things I've encountered-good and bad.

While I believe nursing will pay off in the end, nursing school is tough-no doubt about it. Expect to work your butt off and have little to no social life. If this doesn't bother you then it'd be much easier for you. There's going to be instructors that you don't like and who are overly hard on you, but you'll probably learn the most from them.

Clinicals and working with patients is both stressful and rewarding for me. I've had patients that I absolutely loved and some who I wish I never had to meet. The great part is though, that they all make some sort of impact on your life. They may teach you to be more caring or patient, or they may teach you that sometimes all they really need is someone to listen to them.

Before going into nursing school I did a little prep work to see more into the feild. I volunteered at a nearby hospital when I was a senior in high school and also worked at a doctor's office. I'd definitely suggest volunteering, especially if you can get into the ward that you're considering (though you won't always be able to). It gives you a lot of information and you'll hopefully be able to meet other healthcare members who will help you and offer advise.

Now that I wrote you a book, I hope some of this helps. Good luck with whatever you decide and feel free to ask any questions you may have.