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Author EN? RN?

oceanblue

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  • Joined: Nov 2005
  • Location:
  • Posts: 1

Sun Nov 27, 2005 11:11 pm

Hi, i'm not a nurse yet but maybe nurse to be? or wanna be? Hope you could help me, give me a piece of advice please ?I've been planning to study nursing next year but i'm often terrified by the gruesome facts... most grads drop out in the first year after all that hard studying, nursing industry is too bitching and bullying to survive, unnecessary bureaucracy and poor health system... Of course I'm aware of that it's all up to me, my determination, passion, commitment... But what if I found myself wrong after years of sacrifice? Do I really really have to be an angel with a mission to make it through? Also many student nurses agree with that the curriculum is so focused on the research rather than practical. Then would that be easier if I started off as a EN building up more experience?

Darren

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Your country needs you!
  • Joined: Mar 2005
  • Location: Adelaide
  • Posts: 179

Nov 30, 2005, 02:48 pm

Hi oceanblue,

there are lots of negatives to nursing and it is often hard work, but it is also a very rewarding and varied career path. I think one of the great positives is that if you don't like the field of nursing you are working in, there are dozens if not hundreds of other choices that your qualifications and experience give you.

If you just look at the standard list when you signed up of the various fields of nursing, these are the standard fields as used by the NHMRC. Within each of these areas there are many sub-specialties. Apart from the myriads of clinical fields, there is also education, research, management, technical and probably others.

I think there are some "angels" in nursing, but I have to say - not many. Research is an important part of nursing especially as being able to understand and apply research to your practice is a necessary skill.

If nursing is a career path that you think you will enjoy, I would say jump in and be prepared to make the changes and shifts and get the extra qualifications as you go along until you settle into an area that you find challenging and really enjoy. As far as whether that should be EN or RN, both are necessary in the current industry. If what you really want to do is work primarily with patients/residents and undertake mostly "hands-on" nursing care - you will find the EN role satisfying. I believe the RN path will give you wider options but there are still a lot of variations available to ENs as well.

Good luck with your decisions

irjking

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  • Joined: Dec 2005
  • Location: Mlebourne
  • Posts: 9

Dec 10, 2005, 03:08 am

hi Oceanblue, I was faced with a choice like you 3 years ago when I came to Australia from the UK, either continue on in my previous career field or try something completely different. I chose nursing - the health sector was something i had an interest in. But I wasn't 100% sure that it would be for me so I decided to do the Div 2 course first (In Victoria EN = Registered Nurse Division 2) to identify whether I could manage the studies - as I last studied at high school 26 years ago - and to see if I would like the options available on gaining registration. I studied fulltime (4 days a week) the studies were hard but in the end they went well and I got my registration. However the job market for EN's in hospitals here was very competitive so I was very disappointed with what was available, it seemed quite limited. Anyway it didn't put me off nursing, I decided to work in aged care where there seems to be much more demand for Div 2's than in the hospital sector (that's another story), and working in aged care you will keep most of your EN skills up to date but not really build on them. Also my experience with the studying gave me confidence to apply for Bachelor of Nursing courses at different Universities and being accepted. I have just successfully completed my second year, so have 1 more year to go before becoming a Registered Nurse Division 1 - or an RN. In Victoria the amount of Div 1 jobs available compared with Div 2 can be as hi as 10 to 1, there are always vacancies for RN's but relatively few for Div 2's outside of aged care. I am much happier with the propspects available to me as a Div 1, I would be pretty despondent with my options if I'd stayed a Div 2. From what I have seen as a Div 2 and as a student Div 1 on placement, there are many avenues that are available should your initial choice be not to your liking - so go for it! It's hard work but the opportunities at the end are worth it - perhaps not in monetary terms but certainly in flexibility and tranferrability between states and other countries, which is really what I was after.

sassygirl

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http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/images/snow-leopard-baby.jpg
  • Joined: Aug 2005
  • Location:
  • Posts: 41

Dec 12, 2005, 07:05 pm

Hi Ocean Blue, in notice that some of the reasons against studying nursing are things like bullying, bitching etc. just remember that generally we hear the horror stories and that there are thousands of nurses who are caring and compassionate about their chosen career and who do not experience workplace bullying and industry bitching. I'm not denying that it is there, and i agree that it is unacceptable, but many of us would not still be nurses if that was our experiences.

jen

gabrielpet

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  • Joined: May 2008
  • Location: Melbourne, Australia
  • Posts: 2

May 05, 2008, 11:55 am

Dear Ocean Blue, Nursing has always been a mistake for most people. It's the intimacy, the backstabbing, the lack of pormotion, let alone the paltry sum we receive for our work. But there is one thing about nursing that none of your know. It's so funny. To see how the great fall is a gift to witness not available in any other profession. Military men, policemen, principals of schools, the doctor who did over your mother when she gave birth, the politician everybody envied, the movie star who faded into old age: I've nursed all of them. And what a pleasure it was to know that that little brat I taught in school would one day be a patient of mine or one of my fellow nurses. That is the satisfaction that I get out of nursing.

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