HELP need a bit of guidance (1 Viewer)

[hungry]

Ok so I've realised I don't know what I want to study in uni, BUT I have a general idea. I guess the problem here is I'm not aware of the types of careers available in the field I am interested in so I would love some advice and suggestions.

At first I wanted to be a nurse practitioner. This is an advanced type of nurse who performs similar roles to a family doctor (diagnosis, treatment, tests etc) but is more limited than a doctor. 3 years bachelor, 3 years experience as a registered nurse, 2 years masters to become a NP and I still kind of want to pursue this.

The thing putting me off nurse practitioner is that I need 3 years working as a registered nurse before I can apply to the masters at Usyd. The roles of a registered nurse and a nurse practitioner are very different. I'm sure you all know what nurses do. And there are aspects of that which do appeal to me, but also some which don't. As for a nurse practitioner, they are similar to family doctors/GPs.

Furthermore, I feel this career path is too unrealistic for me because I have the wrong personality. I am an introvert; I am really shy, awkward, uncomfortable around people. I prefer keeping to myself, social interaction stresses me out. So why did I want to be a nurse.. I don't know, as I said, there's some things about it that appeal to me. I want to be a nurse practitioner because I like the part of "investigating", examining symptoms, doing tests, figuring out what is wrong, then treating the problem. It's just the people part that I'm not sure if I'll get used to.

So anyway my interests lie in healthcare/medical. I enjoy biology, specifically physiology. I don't want to do anything research-based though. I like practical work.

Again I have not completely erased the idea of being a nurse practitioner. While it still requires physical and social interaction with patients, it is different, I mean it's something I don't think I'd mind doing as the environment is a lot different and calmer than the environment a registered nurse might work in. I mean just think about when you go to a doctor for him/her to check your symptoms. That's a lot different to a nurse. So my problem is I'm not sure if I want to do the 3 years nurse experience to become a nurse practitioner. While the nature of the 2 jobs is similar, they are still, in a practical sense, very different. And while I do want to be a Nurse Practitioner, I'm afraid I will go through all this and end up disliking it.

So this is my dilemma. I'm not sure what to pursue, and the thing I am considering does not exactly fit my personality type. What do I do?

 

[InsoulvencyReaper]

I would imagine that in the medical field, you would need to be versed in the fundamentals before you are able to specialise. You have to do it, I would believe that there would be no short cut.

In terms of personality - I have a "different" personality at work. To be honest I hate working with people, talk on the phone any social interactions for me are really exhausting BUT because I know that business requires it, I have worked on building my soft skills. You can do the same.

With that being said, nurses work with people ALL THE TIME. That's the main focus of the job - you'll realise whether or not you can handle it when you do placement (I think that's what it's called - I'm not in nursing). I would say you'd have to have some sort of interest in helping people.

You'll never know unless you try. You can always change your mind and transfer degrees don't let the whole "personality type" thing get to you. If I'd let it get to me, I wouldn't be doing anything at all.

 

[JohnMaximus]

Even a psychiatrists had to stick his finger up a mans bum once

 

[OperatingTheatres]

I am a nurse with 5 years experience under my belt. IF you are the introvert type, dont go into nursing. To be a good nurse you need to appreciate group dynamics (the boss is the doctor and the management does anything for the boss!) no one cares for the nurse! please dont go into this profession you would regret it like i did!

 

[Queenroot]

do medicine