A Message to Aspiring Nurses

I see a lot of people who are getting ready for nursing school and have this set view of what nursing is like, and many of the times it is far off from what it truly is. I think many people who haven’t entered even just nursing school see nursing as a picture perfect job, it really is not. I had this conversation with a friend the other day and I broke it down to these three strengths that are required if you want to enter nursing. Nursing requires the following:

Physical, Emotional, and Mental Strength.

Physical Strength

I want to start off with the most simple one, but still an important one. In the medical field you have to deal with all shapes and sizes that you can possibly think of. Many times people who you are caring for can’t help in any way whether it be from a mental condition, injury, pain, etc. Although you do have people usually around to assist, for the most part you will still be doing a lot of heavy lifting. Not to mention the walking, or more like speed walking that you are doing all day. You’re always in a time crunch in the medical field, because right when you think you can have some down time is when a patient thinks otherwise. So if you really struggle with the active things I’ve just mentioned I would definitely think twice about entering nursing.

Emotional Strength

Emotions really do play a large role in the job of a nurse. Don’t misunderstand either, emotional strength does not mean being emotionally numb, very far from that. When I say emotional strength I mean being able to share the emotional burden of your patients or their family members when things get hard, but never letting it get in the way of your work.

Empathy is the word. It’s never good to have a nurse who brushes off the emotional vulnerability of their patients. Empathy will give you a higher degree of care for your patients. Many times simply taking time to listen is more than enough for the patients. It doesn’t take much to listen.

Death is a reality that will become very real to you when you enter nursing. A lot of aspiring nurses don’t usually wrap their heads around the fact that if you’re in nursing you will see death sooner or later. When death does come around, you must be ready for it. If you have this fantasy that you’ll be such a great nurse, and that you’ll make sure that none of your patients will pass away then give yourself a nice big pinch in the arm and wake yourself up from that dream. Nurses are such a great thing for this world, but no matter our efforts if death wants to win that day, it will. There will be a lot of guilt that comes when that day arrives, and it’s not something easy to deal with emotionally. It’s even worse if you’ve had the privilege to build a nice friendship with that person (I’ve written an article about the first death I had as a nurse, you can read it after this one).

People almost never associate their jobs with emotion, and that’s usually fair for most jobs, but that’s not the case for nursing. You will see a lot of heartbreaking things in the medical field, and it’s important to have the ability to deal with the emotions that will arise from experiencing many things of this sort. Of course there will be victories, and happy events, goals, and recoveries, and Thank God for that, but Nursing is no stranger to pain and heartache.

Mental Strength

Similar to other careers and jobs, nursing is marked by interaction with other people, that’s what it’s all about. Different, however, to other careers and jobs, nursing is dealing with the health of people. On top of dealing with the patients themselves and their health, they’re very often accompanied by a family that cares deeply for them. A family that cares enough to yell at you when they feel you haven’t done a good job. Nursing is customer service at the highest degree of difficulty. This is when your ability to shut your mouth, and swallow your pride has to be at full effect. It’s not easy.

Mental strength doesn’t just come through the customer service aspect of nursing. It also comes down to your ability to act sharp in tense situations. What makes nursing very difficult is the fact that you will be put under very heavy pressure very often. You, as a nurse, must be quick to act, because anything can go very bad very quickly. Time will never be on your side. You’ll become a natural speedwalker in no time. Nursing is not forgiving.

You have to be observant, something could be happening right under your nose that you don’t catch till it’s become a bigger problem.

You have to remember what you’ve learned, because many times you’ll find yourself with a situation that you haven’t studied since the 2nd month of nursing school.

You have to stay calm, nursing is all about trying to bring a little order to a never ending chaos.

I can go on and on about the different mental strengths that are necessary for nurses, but I think you understand what I mean now. Nursing is no easy task. It really is draining. It’s definitely not that fairytale job that I’ve heard so many aspiring nurses make it out to be. It’s work, and it’s real work. Not everyone is built for it, it’s important to ask yourself if you are.

Don’t Be Discouraged

I know that it seems to most people reading this, that I am trying to discourage others to not become nurses, but no. I’m only attempting to bring awareness of the reality in case you didn’t have that understanding beforehand.

Discouraging is the farthest thing from what I am trying to do, I appreciate and applaud nurses (not myself, I’m talking about the highly skilled and good nurses in the world). Those people who work at the hospitals, tending to many people as one person, those really are the elite nurses.

If you are one of these people who have dreamed of being a nurse since the day you can think, or someone who has no doubt that nursing is what they were born to take on, then I encourage you to take nursing. If you are going to be a great nurse, and care for your patients as if they were a part of your family, then go for it, the world needs more nurses like that. Specifically in a time like now, where we are very short of nurses in all places, this is when we need those people to step up and enter into the workforce.

Nursing has its very beautiful moments, and you will get so much satisfaction from being a nurse. Being a nurse is such a wonderful thing, and I don’t regret becoming one. I’ve learned plenty through such a small period of time. So when you think about the things I said, don’t see it as my way of telling all aspiring nurses to find another route soon. What I wrote in this article is more of a synopsis of what’s to come for those who are thinking about the nursing field.

Something I’ve learned from my dad is to never not do something because it’s hard. Yes, nursing will be hard, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. I wanted to write this article for those people who will not work well under this situation. It’s better to have one less nurse than to have one that doesn’t know what they're doing. I’ve always thought, if you aren’t a nurse that cares, or knows enough, then you shouldn’t be a nurse.

If you still feel that nursing is for you, and that you work well under pressure and can handle this task, then I can’t wait to see another nurse with passion enter the field. It’s not easy, that’s for sure, but it definitely is worth it.