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does it take confidence to be a nurse or a surgeon?

I have no confidence in myself sadly #nurse #nurse-practitioner #medicine #surgery

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David’s Answer

Everything you do takes confidence no matter the profession. Let's take the statement however of "I have no confidence in myself sadly" I am not going to ask why since it could be 1000 things. Let's look at it this way. Every day takes confidence. Some people are so paralyzed by fear they cannot leave the house. That is obviously not you since you are wondering about Nursing school and being a surgeon. Everyone at some point loses a little confidence in themselves and I mean EVERYONE. No one is immune to it no matter how much they might try to hide it. This is going to happen throughout your life because life is hard and sometimes scary. The fact that you have ambition and are wondering about nursing and being a surgeon is a big leap and takes confidence to do so. If you do not have confidence because someone has repeatedly told you that you are nothing I am truly sorry and that person is actually the person with no confidence since they had to tear someone else down to build themselves up. I want to wish you good luck and to keep moving forward. With or without confidence you have to move forward. That alone will build confidence. I hope this helps.
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Estelle’s Answer

Yes, and much more a surgeon than a nurse. but remember......CONFIDENCE COMES WITH EXPERIENCE. You will gain confidence in life.

In surgery, you are cutting people. Harming them in the process of making them better.

You need to have a tremendous amount of confidence to do such a thing.

It is not for the faint of heart.
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Suzanne’s Answer

Hi Marie,

People in these professions develop confidence through the process of education, training, and practice. In other words, being a "confident" person doesn't necessarily mean you will excel at being a nurse or a doctor.

Nurses and doctors undergo extensive education with hands-on training. It takes many years to earn the degree that will allow a doctor or nurse to sit for the state board exam.

Once in practice, nurses and doctors have long periods of training where they will learn the details of their specialty. It has been said that it takes doing something 10,000 times in order to become an expert or master of that particular skill. It is the development of this mastery that lends the person to feeling confident.

Here is an example: when I was in practice I took care of cancer patients and gave them chemotherapy. I easily started more than 10,000 IVs. I was very good at finding veins and gently starting IVs on what would be considered very difficult IV access. I was also expert in detecting adverse symptoms and managing the patient. But this took years of practice before I developed that type of confidence.

That being said, I was never over-confident. I would question all of my thought processes using my critical thinking skills. I would speak to peers and to my practice physicians in order to be certain before proceeding with patient care.

So there is a fine line between confidence and over-confidence. Developing confidence comes with study, training, practice, learning, and ongoing critical thinking.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4216424/



I hope this helps!

Best,
Sue
Thank you comment icon thank u so much Marie
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Dawn’s Answer

Hello. Yes as a Nurse Practitioner and a Nurse you must have confidence. Confidence in these fields come from studying, learning a skill set and practicing that same skill set over and over until you become good/great at what you do. It also comes from knowing God created you with special gifts and talents. It's up to you to find out what they are. Start by thinking what you live and are passionate about and research ways to create income from it. If you love to help and desire to be a nurse , research al the various nursing roles out there and go for it. If in height school, see if there is a local internship or externship that allows interested students to work/volunteer at local hospital. Check your high school career paths options or work study programs. If you're heading to college or in college and nursing is not your major, talk to counselor or see if you can take into nursing courses, biology, chemistry and see if that's something you want to do and go for it.
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Rachel’s Answer

Yes, it takes a significant amount of confidence to do both jobs. I have found that much of the confidence comes from years of experience. Mistakes must be made and lessons must be learned in order to develop the clinical acumen to treat people correctly. Once this experience is gained, both nurses and surgeons are confident in the way that they manage their patients.
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Yasemin’s Answer

Hi Marie, yes both these professions require confidence. You are treating patients and interacting in stressful situations, but that doesn't mean that you cannot be a surgeon or nurse because you don't have confidence. Confidence takes time to develop, when I was in high school I was very nervous and did not believe in myself too much but as I began my college education, worked as a waitress and furthered my studies for medical school I gained much confidence. I had to retake my MCAT, and I had volunteered and continue to do so in an emergency room; I interacted and helped patients that if I was younger could not believe I would. I think it's important to have a reasonable amount of confidence because too much or too little can hinder performance. Try to take part in volunteering activities in the clinical setting and interact with patients such as a local hospital, I think this will give you more level of confidence and a glimpse of the medical world and what it entails. Also if you really do involve yourself in this field and work hard you will be successful, good things take time, and as a side note listen to others but don't let negativity impact your goals. Also this piece of advice is coming from a person who had no confidence in math and science as a younger student but ended up being a tutor at her university for psych stats, bio and chem and had the highest number of recurring tutees!

Best of luck! :)
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Riley’s Answer

Confidence is something that naturally comes with age! When I was young I was very insecure in quiet, but after living on my own and going to college I feel much more confident in myself and this has definitely benefited me in my career. As for being a nurse or doctor, I do think you need to develop some self-confidence because you will need to be able to make decisions on your own and be sure that you are doing the right thing. If you attend the required amount of school to join one of these professions (8-12 years) I am positive that you will develop that confidence by the time that you are working. Through taking all your classes and having to rely on yourself to learn the material and pass your classes, you will surely realize how capable you are of doing anything you want to do.
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Richard’s Answer

Yes, you have to have confidence that you are making the correct decision when someone’s life is potentially on the line. Being confident to the point of arrogance can be bad. If you are overconfident you wouldn’t listen to other people’s advice or keep up to date on the latest research
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