What am I getting myself into?

I just graduated from a good state university with a degree in exercise science. I am now in my first semester of nursing school. I chose nursing after exploring other health careers. I thought I wanted to be a physical therapist and I "liked it" but I didn't love it. I felt like nursing would be the best choice for me because I've never doubted my interest in health care and there is a lot of flexibility in the field. I've been in nursing school for about a month now, it's challenging but I've been doing well. After reading some of these threads and comments I'm starting to get really scared that if I make this career choice that I'll live a really miserable life. It seems that few are really happy. I honestly want a job where I'm intellectually challenged, feel fulfilled, and making someone's life a little better. Am I unrealistic about having this expectation for nursing?
Nursing is a great profession. I've been at it for 33 years now. There is no other career I know of that offers such a range of experiences. Have I had nursing jobs I didn't like? Yes. Was I stuck in those positions. NO!!!Sometimes in nursing it takes a few years of being a nurse until you find your particular niche. Once you find your place, there is a lot of opportunity to specialize and have a career ladder and there is great opportunity.Public health nursing and infectious disease are my areas of interest and have provided me with a rich and varied career. I am always a bit puzzled when I hear about poor pay for nurses. I'm not rich, but I am largely satisfied with my salary and benefits. My bad luck in picking men has been a boon to my career; I've been able to travel freely.I get a good feeling about your attitude. Never stop learning! It is natural for people to vent online when things are difficult at work. However, I think you would find that the majority of nurses here are very proud to be called nurses. Nurses heal people in so many little and big ways. My biggest honor has been in having so many patients who have trusted me with their fears and most private worries. So, go find your niche, never stop learning and have the courage to to do the right thing even when it isn't easy. I hope that helps.

I have been very happy with my nursing career. The variety of shifts and specialties is amazing. I make an excellent living and have had wonderful opportunities. It would be impossible for me to speculate how you will feel about it but for me nursing has been a blessing and one of the smartest things I have ever done.

I'll be honest. I was miserable with nursing the first few years. Once I got a few yrs of experience I began to like it. Like any job, it has issues....and as you see....all nurses is a great place to vent! It's hard to vent to nonmedical people because they just don't understand. Now that I have experience under my belt I have endless opportunity. I work on a hospital unit to keep my skill, I just got a job in a SIM lab and teaching. I have received an offer to work from home via telephone. I can work with little babies or new mom. Despite my obstacles and challenges I had as a new nurse, I wouldn't take it back. I'm finally in a good place where I can say u enjoy nursing.I save lives. I make a difference. No doubt about that. Good luck.

Sorry for typos...

You already hold a profitable degree, with ample opportunity to "make someone's life a little better". I cannot fathom why you would subject yourself to nursing school... and the brutality of the profession. Plenty of threads here to describe a nurse's misery.. feel free to browse.

Quote from k8e_97 I honestly want a job where I'm intellectually challenged, feel fulfilled, and making someone's life a little better. Am I unrealistic about having this expectation for nursing?

Nursing has been very good to me, I went into home health early after a year in the hospital as an RN following a year as an extern, but this was nearly 30 years ago. Any and every opportunity was available to new nurses back then and the healthcare climate was different. I would not going to nursing now at this time.Our therapists make a great difference in our patients' lives, improving and returning to function is huge. Just last week, one of our OT's did what I think she called transitional functional therapy but I'm not sure, she took a younger man who had had a catastrophic stroke out into the community and taught him how to grocery shop, that was after getting his arm function improved, and after PT got him walking with a brace. I saw him a few weeks after his stroke, he had zero use of his arm, needed max assist to sit to stand. 2 mos later he's grocery shopping with minimal assist. M-F days, paid very well.

Nursing is a second career for me. I became an LPN at 48 and an RN at 50. I love nursing. I am proud to be called a nurse. I work in Hospice. There are good days and there are bad days. You will help people and there will be people that you will never be able to please. It does take time to find the right area of nursing but when you do....it all comes together.

Quote from Been there,done thatYou already hold a profitable degree, with ample opportunity to "make someone's life a little better". I cannot fathom why you would subject yourself to nursing school... and the brutality of the profession. Plenty of threads here to describe a nurse's misery.. feel free to browse.

Another old timer here. In September I will be 23 years a nurse. Don't know if that makes a difference.I'm not miserable, nor have I ever been as a nurse. Some jobs bettern others, some managers bettern others, etc. I have had flexibility and mostly made decent money. I feel I have helped people. I've had great co-workers and have learned something every day. Nurses are the best people I have ever worked with.However, if I had your degree I would pursue PT, not nursing.

I love being a nurse! I've had miserable days and a miserable job, but wasn't stuck. I'm paid well, most people appreciate my efforts with their family, and I actually like working off hours. The other day I got my 8 y/o daughter's gymnastics schedule for the summer -- Mon. & Thurs 0830-1230, and Wed 1200-1600. My first thought was, how would that ever work if her dad and I both worked typical hours?? A big part of my job satisfaction, I believe, is the boundaries I put between professionalism and BS. I will not hold my bladder for anything less critical than an actual code. I never worry about pt satisfaction scores; I am the best clinician I can be, treat people with compassion, and make sure they understand what's going on. Then, the chips fall where they may. If they are in a tizzy for not allowing their gang "brothers" into my unit, or because I refused to give their overnight visitors a hospital gown/toiletries (true example)...I don't worry my pretty head about it.

I like nursing because of the variety of options and opportunities for work. Being able to work off-hours from the rest of the work-force suits me to a T. I like evenings, weekends and holidays, therefore I was welcomed and treated well by my co-workers because I was cheerful about my hours.After HS and before nursing I had several jobs in large insurance companies working in the group actuarial departments. AGH! Eight stultifying hours inside, at a desk with a telephone, typewriter, and adding machine and piles of folders in my IN box. (BC = Before Computers.) I think having to work at a computer all day, every day would make it an even worse job. Monday through Friday 9-5? NO WAY!I have come to hate the expression "find your niche", but regardless of semantics, it is true what the others say. If you can hang in long enough to find some aspect in nursing that really sparks your brain and engages you in a healthy way, it is absolutely worth it.Anywhere you work is going to have 'issues', work politics, co-workers with attitudes, etc. People wonder why I am still with the same agency after thirty-plus years when they have had so many problems and changes. It is nice to realize with the years under my belt, that "This, too, shall pass." I just focus on my actual job/working with patients, and let the rest stream over my shoulders.As much as we would all like to find the perfect situation, I think it is unreasonable to expect it to occur out of the blue. You find your way there, most of the time, through trial and error. We learn to pay close attention to details, but sometimes the ability to DISREGARD certain things and learning to let go of gnarly circumstances is extremely helpful.These days, reading a lot of AN posts has made me more aware that nursing can be like working of the high-wire with no net.With regards to PT/OT it just depends on the person. My brother got his Masters in PT; the thing that bothers him the most is the sheer number of patients who DON'T follow the prescribed regimen; he finds it incredibly frustrating to pour all his knowledge and ability into helping someone through recovering and rehabbing only to have it ignored in the long-run..Just depends on who you are and what you can tolerate as to whether nursing would be worth the path you are following. Sometimes the best way out is to go through, and then sometimes you just have to quit fishing and cut bait.You are the only one who can ultimately decide what it is you want to do.