I am a nursing major and i want to minor in something! Any advice?

Question

Like i said i am a nursing major, but my boyfriends tells me that i need to minor in something. He thinks that i am too smart just be a nurse. But i am a really good student and very good at math. so any advice in what i should look into because i really have no idea.

Answer 1

What interests you, learn about it, master it. Do you have a hobby? School will be a bit more fun if you take courses on things you would read in your spare time anyway. Whether that is cars, basket weaving, math, pick something you enjoy.

If not, pick something that will make you a better nurse or a better person. Psychology will help you understand yourself and your patients better. It will help you create better relationships with friends, family, yourself, and patients. As a nurse you spend more time with a patient than the doctor, so perhaps you could see an underlying mental condition that is manifesting itself directly or indirectly within the patient.

Nutrition. We don't know what is good and bad anymore, we hear so many conflicting stories. You eat several times per day, yet you are probably filled with more bad information than good on what fuel works best for the human body. Different bodies, lifestyles, sexes and ages require different nutritional balances. Eating better improves mood, intellect, stamina, sex drive and overall physical health. Often poor diet also manifests itself directly and indirectly in the conditions of the patients you will see, and you can help them learn and understand mistakes in their diet specific to the anomolies they suffer from. We know the doctor will tell them eat better, and leave it at that. While working up charts, small talk can be achieved by specific conversation about good carbs and bad, good fats and bad. It will help to make you a more compassionate and helpful nurse, and will endear you into the lives of your patients. They will listen as well, the point where they land in the hospital for poor health is the exact time in their lives where they are most open to making positive changes, however most are not taught how to best make those changes. You could easily moonlight and consider your relationship with many patients by charging for nutritional counseling services in your home or theirs after they are released. Helping a patient achieve a long term improvement in health will serve to increase your fulfillment in your personal life and job. While nursing can be rewarding, it is much more rewarding to know that a patient has achieved better health in the long term and to help facilitate and see those changes overtime.

Do you like to write? Take journalism and writing courses. Meeting patients young and old will give you inspiration for countless stories and tales. You will likely find many stories worth publishing. It is a good way to turn a hobby into money, those are the best kinds of hobbies.

As far as mathematics goes, I am a math education major, I love math. I love creating models based on data and predicting outcomes based on so far only simple formula's. Studying math and statistics may be an interesting way to help you develop your skills and your usefulness as a nurse. You can explain to patients better the results of surveys and studies, and help to calculate their chance on any given number of issues based on those models. Perhaps they are a smoker and have genetic tendency towards high blood pressure. You will be able to calculate more accurately for them exactly how much more likely they will be to contract heart disease based on their lifestyle, rather than a simple "your chances are higher" analogy that most people are given. You may find that this skill will help to save someones life, when they are faced with specific realities about their situation. They may take the time to make changes, again if they are in the hospital then they are much more likely to be in a position of willingness to listen to outside advice. Creating simple formula's to calculate increased likelihood of disease based on individual lifestyles could be an invigorating break room challenge.

Philosophy. Patients often ask why to so many questions. Why did this happen, how have I lived my life, what should I do. Understanding philosophy can help you help patients come to understand more about themselves and their world, and may help them come to terms with death and illness. This could lead to healing broken relationships and helping to maintain strong relationships that can be broken or damaged through tragedy.

A foreign language could be a great help, Spanish most likely. Hispanics love to see Americans speak their language, it is a source of bonding. Learning to speak to them in their language, especially in their time of need will help them to not feel so alone in their situation. Speaking someones native language puts them at home and peace, something you so desperately need and seek when you are ill.

I hope that helps, thanks for nursing!

Answer 2

Nursing Minors

Answer 3

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RE:
I am a nursing major and i want to minor in something! Any advice?
Like i said i am a nursing major, but my boyfriends tells me that i need to minor in something. He thinks that i am too smart just be a nurse. But i am a really good student and very good at math. so any advice in what i should look into because i really have no idea.

Answer 4

I really don't think you need to minor in something else but pyschology does go hand in hand with nursing. If you really think you are too smart to just get your BSN, you always have the option of becoming a nurse practicioner in which you will be able to do some of the things that doctors do such as check and diagnose patients and prescribe medications. From what I believe, the good thing about being a nurse practitioner is that you don't have to do residency as a doctor would have to do.

Answer 5

I am not a nurse but I work for a Home Health Agency that employees hundreds of nurses and I can tell you that is a SMART thing to do. Just be sure if you are going to nursing school that you go for your RN so you can make maxium money in your career. And being bi-lingual is just going to make you all the more appealing. There are sooooo many options for you to pick from if you are a nurse. You can travel, you can work in a hospital for a doctor.....anything!

Answer 6

I think you have 3 very goods above. Business, Psychology, and Language.
I remember once in my State, someone was needed who spoke Hebrew, to better explain about his condition to him. Though this a little rare (Just an example), but, French, Spanish etc. try to focus on languages that more common, both for people living in your area and those that come to visit/vacation.
Then there is always music. Voice training will make you a very good singer. You heard of the Flying Nun? You could be the Musical Nurse. :-p
May be surprised what a song do for a sick/dying patient.
Watch the Movie "Patch Adams" with Robin Williams. It based on a true story.

Answer 7

Your too smart to be just a nurse. I don't know about you, but I'm insulted by that comment. What do you want to do? Do you want a minor or is this about his suggestion? If you do choose a minor will it make a difference as a graduate nurse. The courses you will take for your minor will not get you a better pay check and does not count towards experience. Think long term, save your energy for grad school so you can become just a nurse practitioner.

Answer 8

You dont need to minor in anything if you dont want to. Nursing has many options...If you are real smart and feel you want to be more than just a floor nurse, become a nurse practitioner, anesthetist or clinical nurse specialist. You can teach (nursing school) if you want to as a nurse. If you want to be in administration maybe minor in Health Care Administration or in business administration. Or you can open your own business as a nurse such a nursing home, leisure world, home health agency, nurse travel agency. Their are many options in nursing.

Answer 9

Well...you don't need to minor in anything... but how about business administration in case one day you become interested in hospital administration. You could also minor in psychology or geriatrics or recreation or something that could give you an idea of an area that you might like to specialize in.

Answer 10

Perhaps accounting or business management. That way, if you get a job in a doctor's office or on the floor of a hospital, you will know not only the nurse's duties, but how to work the front desk area, too.