Nursing?

[shootingstar]

Do you have experience in healthcare? You say you're "obsessed with medicine," what have you worked in so far? Knowing what you like or don't like and the knowing the levels of stress you work best under before you begin investing years in school can go a long way. Do you like working with patients who are conscious? Druggged up? Knocked out? Cut open? I've got friends who love blood and guts, but can't stand emotional neediness or abuse; they work in ICU or as surgical techs. I've got friends who love the conscious ones, so work on the floors. Then there are the folks who want to be cozy and charming and give shots and educate, they work in doctors' offices (more like an MA). I had a dear friend who worked in geriatrics. She felt best getting attached to people who would die soon because then there were no surprises. It's macabre, but it helps to know these things about yourself.

It is important tongue-tied to understand yourself first. I knew someone who talked off the top of her head about getting into nursing, because that's where the jobs are. Same in Canada. There's a real demand.

I thought she was nuts. She was a math teacher at a tech. college in the Philippines. She was the sort of person that got abit too emotionally invested in other employees --not a great fit. And she was not physically fit. She already had a bad back..at age 38. She had a pleasant personality to start and a sharp/analytical mind...but the other stuff. Hmmmmm. Yea.

She was only getting info from her brother, who is a nurse somewhere in Texas. And has been a nurse there for past 6 yrs.

I am not a nurse. But I worked in a rehabilitation hospital for spinal cord injured adults. So my great respect for the nurses there. I also knew an employee elsewhere for a different employer who was formerly an intensive care unit nurse...she left after burn-out in 6 yrs. However her knowledge as a nurse was useful to convey to others about burn victims....