Help!! Nursing and Mental Health

(sorry this might be long but i would love some help) I don't wanna sound stupid when I write this, but I really need some help. I've always wanted to be a nurse or paramedic or police officer since being small. I debated for a bit between para and nurse but a lot of people were saying to me nurses have more opportunities and are able to progress further at work etc.
So I started my nursing last year. I do really enjoy it (I do often wonder if i'd be better off as a para sometimes as I like emergency care and idea of being on the front line, also going different places really appeals to me instead of the same place with the same people all the time) however, I've enjoyed my placements and the course so far. I'm in second year now and my placement so far have been a mental health placement, which I enjoyed, a placement with social workers and health visiting and now I'm on a day unit/clinic for dialysis which I like. However, in my first year I spend a large amount of my placement on a ward, I dont mean to sound awful as I really really do feel sorry for all the sick people on the ward and know they are way worse off and I want to make them better, but I could not stand it!! I felt ill every day there, very tired and weak, I felt like I had no time to do anything and the staff weren't overly nice to me even though I tried my best. But now I feel like it has actually damaged my mental health-- I know that sounds RIDICULOUS because people were so ill etc and i wanted to help but the thought of going back there or having to work on a ward causes me to feel so anxious and stressed, I even had a panic attack. I dunno what it was exactly that I didnt like. I do enjoy helping the patients but I really didnt enjoy my role there (mainly of a HCA as I was first yr) but its completely put me off and I think about it every day, please help. I dont want to be put off this career, but dont know what to do.