By Richard Freedberg, RN, MSN, MPA

I’m not sure I still want to be a nurse. Has this thought ever crossed your mind? Whether you have heard fellow students or new graduates openly disclose it, it’s fairly safe to assume many share the same doubts and apprehensions. Here’s what we all need to agree on: It is never wrong to have doubts since they are an important part of the human experience. They sometimes prevent us from blindly racing down the wrong path. We should also recognize qualms can arise from insecurity about unfamiliar situations, in which case, we ought to have a reasoned and reflective conversation. So, let’s talk …

There are a couple of important questions to ask. The first: What does not wanting to be a nurse mean? Are you questioning your knowledge base and cognitive or thinking capability? Or are you perhaps concerned about your clinical ability? Perhaps you fear making the wrong decision and inadvertently causing harm to a patient. Maybe it is a more elemental concern; you are really uncomfortable being around sick people who need you and feel some conflict about that. Or might it be that your studies and recent experiences have made you aware of new potential opportunities more congruent with your interests and life goals?  

Let’s take a look at some of these questions.

We need to take a moment and remember we don’t necessarily feel confident with newly acquired knowledge and skills. Remember the first week after learning how to ride a bike or how to drive a car or how to give a subcutaneous injection, insert a NG, or start an IV or … (insert any one of a billion potential items here!). We just barely knew how. We could do it, but there was a lot of uncertainty and fear of failure. The analogy to initial nursing practice is appropriate. Some pretty seasoned nurse theorists and educators uniformly agree students and new graduates experience an unsettling transition period during which fledgling nurses find their nursing voice, mindset, and rhythm prior to feeling ANY (sorry for shouting) level of comfort in their nursing practice. The take home message is this: Time truly does make a wonderful difference. We feel comfort, purpose, and professional gratification in the clinical environment through practice and experience.

We also need to consider the motivations and expectations that led to our decisions to become nurses. Let me self disclose a bit: I began a totally different journey, but hit a point when I needed to decide on a career (the dream lady married me and we had a baby). My mother, aunt, mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, and brother-in-law were all nurses. For me, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Additionally, I also had some extended care facility and hospital patient care work experience during college (zoology major; let me tell you about parasitic worms!) that gave an informed understanding to my initial nursing interest. What motivated you? What were your expectations? Did you have a genuine understanding of what nurses do?

This leads us to our last consideration: How do we decide if being a nurse is the right way to go?

If you are in the transition time where you are practicing your skills on the way to being comfortable, then yes, continue on and push through that difficult time. You will find what you are looking for. If you can identify the roots of your unease in your experiences with uninteresting or unfulfilling clinical areas, then yes, you may find your nursing vocation in another area. For example, I have a colleague who can skillfully function on an inpatient medical-surgical unit, but often hates it. She lives for the interactions with her mental health clients and the changes she helps them make in their lives. The lesson may be that we all need to find our place.

It is possible, however, that nursing may not be for you. One of my former students entered nursing school at the urging of multiple family members, all of them nurses. The student struggled to study topics she had no interest in and forced herself to go to clinical experiences to provide care for patients she couldn’t connect with. Ultimately, she quit studying and elected to "fail out" because she couldn’t face telling her family she didn’t want to be a nurse.

It is okay if you don’t want to be a nurse. For many of us, nursing is a miraculous undertaking, but for others it isn’t. Isn’t human diversity wonderful?! The final test is this: Take several days to reflect, question your motivations for and against nursing, and speak with your teachers and an experienced mentor nurse about your feelings if you can. Then, follow your heart. What are your thoughts? Let me know …

Editor’s note: Freedberg is a professor of mental health nursing at Lansing (MI) Community College and the author of Stressed Out About Pharmacology. Email your questions or comments to him at editor@stressedoutnurses.com.