I am starting Nursing school next week and I am a wreck with worry. Aside from all the parenting stuff which is tremendously anxiety provoking....could I be too crunchy for Nursing School or the nursing profession?!!!!
aaah help!!
I need to know there are other medical people who are AP, or natural parents or holistic or whatever!
Eve
I don't think your interest in AP or holistic therapies is opposing to being in nursing school or any other medical profession. Sure there are a lot of conventional approaches that differ from what you would do for yourself or family. But conventional medicine is much needed in the right place and time. I think you'll find a wide variety of people once you enter school and the profession.
I'm currently working or prereqs towards a masters program in Occupational Therapy. I'm taking A & P right now and trying to figure out when to plan in my study time. It's a lot but exciting to be working towards a goal for myself and my family.
Good luck starting school!
thanks beebalmmama encouraging words. what I need.
i guess i just see how I could have taken different paths...and I wonder if I got off this train now could I quickly get on a path more suited to my personality and my heart. like direct entry midwifery or going back to doula work. but I so CRAVE structure and stability which brings me back to nursing. I feel like I am not happy when I have tried working for myself I feel like I am floating alone in space. I can get to a certain point building a little business, advertising, trying to find ways to network then I panic...so for years I have been working on the nursing school prep on the side of mothering and becoming an IBCLC and doula.
I don't know what I should really do, where I will fit in and what is worth my investment of time and money at this point. becoming an RN through an AS program is a conservative, though in the economic climate where I live, yet not foolproof investment.
There are definitely people in medicine who are AP minded...your perspective will help you in Nursing for sure...even if it may not be the norm. Good luck!
I work in Medical Research so I'm not a doctor or nurse, but I do work for a hospital system. Most of the people I work with would probably be considered somewhat crunchy. Most breastfed, about 1/2 had natural childbirth, several co sleep, I'm not the only one who made my own baby food. Now all of us do vaccinate (though not necessarily the flu shot), most did circumcise but I live in a very high circ. part of the country and most of them are open and interested in my reasons for leaving my son intact if the issue comes up.
I guess it kinda depends on what you consider crunchy/AP and on what your lifestyle priorities are. If you are anti medicine yes you are probably to crunchy to work in the medical profession. As long as you see a genuine need for medicine then I think you can find a place in the medical professions.
Most medical professionals have to learn to accept that different people live their lives differently and that that is okay. You will have to treat patients and deal with families with very different values than yours, but as long as you can be okay with that I think you'll do just fine.
Hi Eve
I'm an ICU nurse and Mum to two wee boys, I breastfeed, babywear and respond promptly and always to my babies cries. I feel really sad as a health professional that this type of mothering is seen as alternative. Theres so much research and understanding of developmental needs to support attachment parenting that it seems insane (and irresponsible) to me that we could advocate anything but. Medicine has failed mothers greatly over past years in my opinion, and we cannot let this continue to be the case.
The intuition you have developed as a mother will serve you well as a nurse as you spend time listening to and being with your patients. I'd say, be real, be yourself and be humbled by the great priviledge it is to be connected with your patients in sometimes the most intimate ways.
I'm not in nursing (nor do I even play one on TV 
), but I will say that sometimes the best way to effect change is from within. If people have different perspectives are never heard within the mainstream medical profession, how will other ideas ever be found out?
I am a nurse and I feel that some of my values that lead to AP really make me a better nurse. The idea that all people, even one's who can't speak up for themselves (babies), deserve our respect and love is one of the reasons that I think I'm drawn to nursing. So philosophically I think that nursing and many of the AP principles go together. Also most people who practice AP have been able to use critical thinking and research skills to make parenting decisions and those two skills are very important as a nurse. Logistically, however I am having to work harder than other "mainstream" parents who I work with. Pumping while a working as a nurse takes dedication and commitment -- and I believe with all my heart that it's worth it. I am also lucky that my sister who has very similar parenting styles is able to watch my boys while I work. I know that they will be well cared for when DH and I are both working. Aside from the time my boys were in the NICU nursing school was one of the hardest times in my life, but again it was worth it. I wish you luck with your decision and your future plans!!
I'm a newly licensed pharmacist. I'm not as crunchy as many on MDC, but a lot more crunchy than most of the people I meet in my profession. (I'm also a raving liberal politically, and most pharmacists are pretty conservative. I'm not sure if there is a link. But both of those are a challenge to deal with.) I think it benefits the profession to have a variety of people, and it benefits the patients as well. I think as long as you want to learn medicine and science you will be okay. Hopefully you can find some like-minded souls. (Something I've had a hard time with, and I was so pleasantly surprised to have someone to talk to when one of my colleagues got pregnant around the same time as me, announced her intention to have a Bradley birth, switched from her OB to the CNM I recommended... etc.) There are at least 3 nurses in my DDC and they seem to do okay.
I finish my BSN in 84 days (not that I'm counting!) and I actually have found that a LOT of the nursing students are pretty crunchy. The nice thing about nursing is that it really takes a holistic approach to care, and while there are definitely some places that it isn't as useful (say, emergency medicine), there are definitely some areas which practically embrace AP-type philosophies. I haven't really found a lot in my experience that makes it difficult to meld my personal believes with the evidence-based practices of nursing.
Follow Mothering