Unsure of studying nursing, please help!

LuckyFriend

I'm a young irish male student, after just having completing a year in college as a commerce student, i found the course rathering boring and dull and my studies have fazed off and i failed miserable in some of my end of term modules which resulted in having to repeat my exams due to a lack of 'interest'.


I'm really considering studying nursing and dropping out of my commerce course. I hope i don't offend anybody here and i sincerely understand nurses work tirelessly and without them doctors wouldn't get anywhere!


The problem is the idea of wiping someone elses faeces/urine doesn't really appeal to me at all and i'm quite sensitive to nasty smells and tend to react really badly. I honestly think though i wouldn't mind giving out meds/ any physical work like lifting patiences etc and or feeding them even the smallest things would mean i have accomplished something!


Anyway if i decide to do this, its a one year course and after completing it then you are qualified as a care assistant and then you have an option to study in the uk to become a fully registered nurse which lasts 3 years! Unfortunately my state exam results were poor and as a result of that i have to pursue my studies abroad.


Sorry for the long thread guys hope you understand and i welcome all suggestions and advise, hope you have a good day thanks!

LuckyFriend

BUMP

limericklad87

You haven't really explained why you think nursing is for you

TheBully

I think you answered your own question!
You will spend a lot of your time cleaning up bodily fluids.
Although I'm sure it is very rewarding also but I think you will need a good stomach.
My other half is a nurse so I'm not answering completely blind

Johngoose

Nursing is quite a tough job,long hours,demanding patients,working Christmas Day and other special days like that.Shift work, working all night and trying to sleep during the day.You are a cleaner in many regards.The paperwork nowadays overshadows patient care.It is something you really have to love,don't have any romantic notions about it.Ive rarely seen a happy nurse in a hospital.Yes you do have to wipe people's bums as part of the job.

LuckyFriend

limericklad87 wrote: »

You haven't really explained why you think nursing is for you

I think i get on great with people in general and i honestly wouldn't mind caring for old people but honestly i dont think i can see put up with body fluids and i thought Care assistants do that?!?

Dingle_berry

LuckyFriend wrote: »

I think i get on great with people in general and i honestly wouldn't mind caring for old people but honestly i dont think i can see put up with body fluids and i thought Care assistants do that?!?

Nurses are part of a team. Yes they have Care Assistants to help them but the clue is in the name.. Assistant. If you're on a busy ward at night and there's no Care Assistant or you have to share the Care Assistant with another ward...

There are very few jobs in healthcare where you could avoid bodily fluids. Pharmacy, dietetics or social work would come to mind but there's no garuntees there either.

On the other hand if you could tolerate it for a few years then you could specialise in a fairly 'dry' area of nursing like MDT coordination, bed management, occupational health, Haemovigilance, etc.

LuckyFriend

Thats a pity oh well thanks for the info guys, if im resistant to body fluids then i can safely say this job isnt for me really stuck on what to do with my life....

user53

LuckyFriend wrote: »

Thats a pity oh well thanks for the info guys, if im resistant to body fluids then i can safely say this job isnt for me really stuck on what to do with my life....

I'm no expert, but I believe there's less body fluids in Mental Health or ID nursing if that would interest you

Dingle_berry

LuckyFriend wrote: »

Thats a pity oh well thanks for the info guys, if im resistant to body fluids then i can safely say this job isnt for me really stuck on what to do with my life....

Obvious statement but only you can figure that out. Try writing down all the qualities that you would like, eg caring, physical work, clean environment. Anything that comes to mind like uniform or not, working hours, etc. Then try putting them in order of importance, as a list or as a triangle. Play around with that and you might find what you're looking for in a career, which makes finding that career much easier.

TheBully

user53 wrote: »

I'm no expert, but I believe there's less body fluids in Mental Health or ID nursing if that would interest you

Nope, You may not be dealing with blood as much but you will be dealing with incontinance daily as well as smearing.

But overall you have more bodily fluids in psych and ID nursing.

LuckyFriend

To be honest with you guys i'm only doing it for the job prospects, if i come out of college having spent 4 years with a level 7 degree i really don't think i'd be able to get a position with a click of a button, in comparison to studying something medical orientated especially in nursing as there's jobs everywhere and there's always a demand for males ( i know this doesn't give you the edge when finding the job but still ), having spent hours and hours of info on the internet about nursing in ireland it looks like i would not finding the medication part but its just the things with vomit/faeces really puts me off, i really do like working in a clean environment though!

LuckyFriend

BUMP PLEASE

Kurtosis

Mod note:

OP please stop bumping your thread, it is still clearly visible to posters who may want to respond.

JuliusCaesar

OP, I worked as a nurses aide way back when. Yes, there is a fair amount of cleaning up stuff, but let's face it, anyone who is able to get to the toilet will do so. So you only clean up after people who are unable to. Most of them (post-op or whatever) hate it and are embarrassed and humiliated. So your job is to make them feel better about it. Urine is generally ok, faeces from an adult isn't great but you breathe through your mouth and get it done as quickly and efficiently as you can so as not to further embarrass or humiliate them. There's blood and vomit - although I knew a nurse who used vomit herself reflexively when someone vomited in front of her - but not so much or often.

You're generally too busy to think about your own reactions and there's a lot more to nursing than dealing with this stuff. Patients can be great craic and anyway, while you're changing sheets, and emptying bedpans, and laying out dead bodies (very infrequent) there's a lot of caring for people and doing observations and chatting with people and giving medications and dealing with paperwork and liasing between your own colleagues and the other professions. There's a hell of a lot to nursing, and it can be a very rewarding career - see the AMA of a Palliative Care Nurse.

There are lots of different areas to nurse in, from Emergency Depts, Old Age, Children's, Theatre Nursing, Public Health, Mental Health, Oncology, general medical, general surgical, Gynae, Practice Nursing, Midwifery - and then there are all the specialities within all those. There are a lot of resources on the web to look up career choices.

liquoriceall

Hhmm strange isn't it I can't bear looking at anything gruesome on tv but can clean someone up just fine because that's my job.....it's amazing what you can compartmentalise if required! Why not do a fetac course and get a bit of experience as a hca or porter?