IBS and Anxiety making school tough

Marian
Tue, 03 Sep 2013 16:35:14 +0000

I had very bad IBS when I was in my 20s, and my life became a whole lot easier when I left a laboratory job and got an editorial job.

In the lab job, knowing that I absolutely, positively couldn’t be in the bathroom when a timer went off and I had to perform a crucial part of an experiment was a major source of stress for me. In the editorial job, I could go to the bathroom whenever I wanted.

However, the editorial job was not, generally speaking, less stressful than the lab job. In fact, the editorial job involved much more responsibility and a much more demanding boss. But it was still a better job for me simply because it didn’t limit my access to a bathroom.

The point I’m trying to make here is that the situations that are stressful for people with IBS are not necessarily the ones that other people perceive as stressful.

Would nursing be a good career for you? I don’t know. But I do think that it’s not the overall stress of nursing that matters. What matters is whether nursing and IBS are compatible. The point that Nrdsb4 made, about the infrequency of bathroom breaks in typical nursing jobs, is important. (On the other hand, there may be atypical nursing jobs where opportunities for bathroom breaks are unlimited.)