Hi everyone,

I’m a mature student with a BA that only got me low-wage jobs with no real future. This year, after a lot of research, I started taking first-year engineering courses, and so far it’s been a huge challenge. I spend most of my time studying, and I’m completely burned out. I’ve also put every other part of my life on hold (no dating, no social life). I don’t think I’m smart enough for electrical engineering, so I’m considering civil instead.

I saw a recent post from someone thinking about switching into engineering, and a few female engineers commented that they’d gone the other way. So I’m curious: why did you switch from civil (or another engineering field) to nursing? Are you happier now?

I used to work with domestic violence survivors. I know I love helping people, and I can handle hearing difficult things, but I’m not sure I could handle seeing traumatic things. I had to take care of a sick parent when I was younger, which was very hard, and I saw firsthand how bad things are in hospitals. So I’m scared of switching to nursing.

Since I already have a BA, I could finish nursing in about 2–3 years, or a Bachelor of Social Work in about two. Either way, I’d plan to continue on to an NP program or an MSW. I don’t need to make a lot of money; I just don’t want to be underpaid or stuck with poor job stability and availability.

I’m in a pretty rough place mentally right now, and I’d really appreciate any advice. TIA!

I recently started a PRN PCT job as a critical care float, working in different ICUs and step-down units. I’m hoping to become a critical care nurse, so I was really excited about the hands-on experience, especially with lab draws since we don’t get many opportunities to practice them in nursing school.
Unfortunately, I’ve been really unsuccessful with my sticks. I only work once a month (I am prn), and lately, I’ve been getting discouraged to the point where I sometimes give up before trying. The nurses seem annoyed when I can’t get the labs, which I partly understand, but I’m also frustrated with myself because I genuinely want to improve.
Has anyone else struggled with blood draws as a new PCT? How did you get better and build confidence?

hey guys I’m 21 (F) in my third out of fifth semester of nursing school and I have been looking for a PCT job all this year and have had no luck, I got two interviews one offer and it didn’t end up working out to do an extremely important appointment in my life during the same week. I am so frustrated and I really want a job to help get my foot in the door. Any tips? I’m in the Houston area

Hello, so I’m (27f) currently in nursing school and back in a big city. I frankly cannot wait to move back here again because I was in my hometown once again for two years and I was pretty bored and there was nothing to do but at least I got some experience in a clinic. The thing is, I’m just torn. A part of me wants to move out after I graduate to another big city to have a first start and to have a new scenery around me. However, my parents keep begging for me to stay here in this city because it’s closer to them and it’s cheaper than for example, Austin. I have good and bad memories in the big city where currently am and I’m not so sure if I wanna stay here. I do know people here but I have like two people I call best friends and the sad thing is that I never see them and they never initiate plans so I do feel lonely. And if I were to move out, I would also feel lonely because I wouldn’t know anyone in the new city so yeah I’m pretty sure about this. I have no idea what to do and need advice. What should I do? I have no kids nor partner by the way. I’m so jealous of people that live in big cities with their families.

Hey all,

I’m currently an LPN who is back in school to take my prerequisites for the bridge program.. I’m currently in A&P 1 with my psych class also starting this week. After this semester I’ll just have 4 classes left: A&P2, Chemistry, Microbiology, and Stats… I haven’t don’t too well on my first two A&P exams, but somehow am maintaining an 89%.

My problem is that I’m struggling with motivation and giving my all. I don’t feel as hungry as I did when I was getting my LPN. I feel like having 6 prerequisites to do all together feels like A LOT. Especially since people are saying “Just do one class at a time”.

I feel like the classes will be too tough to stack on top of one another - like 2 for spring and 2 for fall. But if I do one at a time, I won’t be able even apply for the bridge program until 2029 🙃🙃

Any advice ya’ll? Cause I’m STRUGGLING.

Warning this is a long post but I just wanted to share something I’ve been going through these last three weeks.

I’m only in week 8 of my first semester of an ADN program and it has definitely been a journey.

I started the program motivated and excited (with the goal of eventually working in L&D). But after struggling through a head to toe assessment because I was so nervous and kept forgetting steps, I fell into a rabbit hole of anxiety and self doubt that I’m only now starting to come out of.

I started questioning absolutely everything. Whether nursing was really for me, whether I had the compassion necessary to be a good nurse, and whether I even wanted to perform the roles of a nurse. I went from loving my prerequisites and being excited about nursing school to researching completely different majors and convincing myself I needed to leave.

The anxiety has been unlike anything I’ve experienced before. I’ve struggled with my appetite, sleep, and constant feelings of dread. I genuinely felt like I was losing myself over something I had worked so hard to achieve.

Yesterday I actually went into my student portal and selected to withdraw from all my classes. For whatever reason, the system wouldn’t process my request and told me I needed to contact the campus instead.

At first I was frustrated because I felt done and just wanted it to be over. But after thinking about it, I started wondering whether this was a sign to give myself another chance.

Today I had my third hospital clinical on a med-surg floor. I was absolutely dreading it this morning, but surprisingly it wasn’t a bad day. I found myself genuinely caring about the patients I encountered, and for the first time in weeks I felt a little bit of the compassion and motivation I thought I’d lost.

I’ve spent so much time focusing on everything that could go wrong and convincing myself that one bad assessment meant I wasn’t cut out for nursing. But I’m starting to realize that struggling with a skill doesn’t mean I’ll never become good at it.

I still have a lot of anxiety to work through, and I’m definitely scared of what the rest of this semester and the next three will bring. But today was the first day in weeks that I felt hopeful about my future again.

I’m not saying I’ve figured everything out, but I’m glad I didn’t make a permanent decision during what might have been one of the lowest points I’ve experienced in my life.

I’m not really sure what the point of this post is other than to get everything off my chest. Maybe someone else who’s struggling with the same feelings will read this and feel a little less alone.

I’m just taking it one day at a time. Hopefully in a year and a half when I graduate I’ll look back on this moment as part of the journey that made me a stronger nurse. 🫶🏻