You're not being unreasonable at all, you have been at the coalface, so to speak, and you know the least glamorous parts of the caring professions. But if respiratory is your thing, I would take a half-step back and consider what you get the most satisfaction from, or what you find most fascinating, and how you would best achieve that, because the respiratory field is so multi-disciplinary that you have choices.
I'm an intensive care nurse. In intensive care, we look at the 'nuts and bolts' of our patients body systems. We want to know not just how often they are breathing, how deeply, and their oxygen saturations (which is generally what ward nurses would look at), but we want to know how much oxygen is in their blood, how much carbon dioxide, we listen to their chest for wheeze and crackles, consolidation, etc., and we adjust their therapy accordingly, within the broad parameters set on ward round.
Another really interesting field is physiotherapy. When we're struggling to ventilate a respiratory patient in ITU, it's the physios we call. They come and do some manual hyperinflation (rapid inflation and releasing of air from the lungs to agitate any plugs of mucous that are lodged and obstructing gas exchange), or some other chest physiotherapy, to improve the patient's ability to take in oxygen and, crucially, offload carbon dioxide. Physiotherapists are also the professionals that manage the weaning plans of patients who have been ventilated for a long time and then have a tracheostomy. They help them to become gradually less dependent on mechanical ventilation, and build the muscle strength and confidence to breathe independently.
Physiotherapists also help patients to regain their muscle strength after being bed-bound. Ventilated patients lose about 2% muscle mass each day that they are ventilated. The muscles around the lungs waste just like every other muscle. After 10 days in bed, ventilated, patients can be so weak that they can't lift a finger, let alone sit up and breathe. Physios design a plan for how long a patient will breathe on their own at a time, in sessions of 10 minutes at first, then gradually help them to learn to sit up, transfer to a chair, walk, etc., breathing on their own.
Occupational therapists have a whole other function, in helping patients adapt their environment to maximise their function and reduce their respiratory demand.
So, it may be nursing, but respiratory care has so many roles that are really exciting, that it's worth spending a few minutes pondering, and if you can, trying to get a shift observing a physio/OT, etc.