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You're thinking of nursing as a career choice. The pay seems good and the years in college are often less than other careers. You'll get a job fast, knowing that nurses are in need. You'll get respect and admiration from others. You'll be helping people and feeling good about it. You have found your calling.
What you don't know is, nursing isn't everything it seems.

I'm not saying that nursing is not all of the above, but what I am saying is you should think about it. Ask questions and be honest with yourself.
Nursing, above all, takes a great deal of competency and organization. Too many people think of nursing as a quick fix to financial mediocrity and do not think of it as a, "no mistake", "no nonsense" job.
With nursing comes great stress, long hours, angry patients and families and supervising staff that, more often than not, are rarely satisfied. Not to mention you often get the afternoon or midnight shift if you are new.
You'll take your work home with you nightly. Did you do everything the best possible way? Did you give room 210 his new medication? Did you hear the doctor right when he ordered that test? If you don't take your day home with you, it could be a sign you should not be in the field.
All too often you see people in nursing that don't care, abuse narcotics or just are not capable of performing the job duties to the level in which are necessary. The list of nurses being suspended or having their licenses taken from then due to narcotic addiction is astounding. Just check with your staes nursing board.
Facilities tend to hang onto their poor performing nurses longer than they should due to nursing shortages, leaving the rest of the staff to deal with the mistakes and dissatisfied patients. Think about it, how many times have you or someone you were visiting in a hospital or nursing home had to deal with a negative or slow to respond nurse? These people give the good hearted, hard working nurses a bad rap.
You need to be honest with yourself and ask, "Am I hard working?" "Am I organized?" Organization is key to getting your work done effectively and quickly. "Am I able to handle a great amount of stress on a day to day basis from doctors, other nurses and staff, patients who want their medications now and families who are never satisfied no matter how hard you work to please them?" Are you able to accept that mistakes will happen in a career where mistakes are not acceptable and could potentially cause injury or death to someone? Are you able to juggle many things at once? Or are you someone who folds under the littlest of pressure?
The world of nursing is a constantly changing, evolving career with new advancements and medications. If you take a long time off for children, illnesses or any other reason, nursing can be intimidating to get back into and employers may not hire you depending on how long you have been out.
Nursing can be a rewarding career if forethought and honest evaluation of yourself and of the career is given. If you think you have what it takes, the nursing world will welcome you with open arms and be a life changing experience.

Learn more about this author, Stacie Cooper.
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