[JJN1]

I am 39 and have a great paying job that I just can't seem to be satisfied with or happy to go to anymore. I have been in the electronics industry for 17 yrs now and need a change. Problem is we are a single income family so I will need work and go to school (I know I can do it) but it is a huge change to get where I am in my field and company then start all over as many of you have done. Any on to my question....

I am considering nursing and radiology. I do like change and the opportunity to further my career but fear I may not have the patience to deal with people so not sure about nursing. I know that I would still have to deal with people in radiology as well but probably not have the flexibility that nursing has for advancement, specializing, or job opportunity. Just wondering what others may think of these 2 fields?

Of course I will need to go the CC route for classes since I can't attend a tech school 5 days a week and have to wait the 2-3 yr wait list period which sucks!

[showbizrn]

Originally Posted by OTF1

I am considering nursing and radiology. I do like change and the opportunity to further my career but fear I may not have the patience to deal with people so not sure about nursing. I know that I would still have to deal with people in radiology as well but probably not have the flexibility that nursing has for advancement, specializing, or job opportunity. Just wondering what others may think of these 2 fields?

Uh-Oh!

NURSING IS ALL ABOUT PEOPLE.

Talking to them
Taking care of clients
and their families
communicating
with doctors, social workers,
pharmacists
all co-workers.

You've got to develop
your communication skills
in ANY undergraduate nursing program (ADN, BSN)
BEFORE
you advance to
take your NCLEX exam
for licensure.

Yes.
Professional nursing provides different specialties, opportunities for career advancement but how can you take advantage of the bebefits,

WHEN YOU CAN'T GET ALONG WITH PEOPLE?

NURSING IS A PEOPLE PROFESSION---PERIOD.

Just my

[SoundofMusic]

....and you're mostly dealing with people at their worst, when they're hospitalized and/or very ill -- AND their families who can tend to be a bit psycho when their loved one is ill or hospitalized.

I thought I was a people person -- and still am -- but am I a "sick people" person? I'm still trying to figure that one out. It sure has made me re-think my own tendencies to want to be around people. Now I'm sort of wanting to be far, far away from them on my day's off.

Mostly it takes enormous compassion for people and their issues, loads of patience for all the demands they will place on you. It's hard. Don't do it for the "money."

[RN1989]

Rad techs make better money for the level of responsibility. It is much easier for them to go home at night and not take their work home with them.

[JJN1]

Sorry, don't get me wrong I am a people person and communicate very well with people. I also react well in stressful situations. I guess I just don't want to be one of the people who I don't like to get when I go to the hospital/doctor with a bad attitude. I have experience with caring for people since my grandmother lived with us until having to be 24hr care and my mother who was a partially paralyzed stroke victim who developed brain tumors and put in hospice after becoming comatose.

Trust me, in the job I'm in now, I deal with a lot of whining, and woes me people and yet I still give them reinforcement and be posititive for them. I figure I should give my help to people who need it and give myself a challenging career at the same time.

I guess the biggest thing on my part is looking for excuses to stay in a job that pays well but I don't feel rewarding or challenging anymore and don't want to go to week after week. I'm not considering nursing for the money, my daughter is starting high school and we are on our way to debt free living so it will not be a money factor by the time I graduate. My wife is also going to school for nursing but I would finish before her because I have previous degrees and she is starting from scratch so it is something we can experience together and help each other with.

Sorry so long, just need to stop making excuses or looking for people to tell me not to do it for one reason or another. Just nervous about leaving the comfort of steady rut!

[talaxandra]

If you're not feeling challenged in your current role, nursing may be an interesting field to explore - there's no shortage of different areas to practice and specialise in, and it's highly portable.

Radiography has more office like hours, which can be good if you want that stability and regular family time. However, there's a lot less continuity in patient care, which I would find unsatisfying - I enjoy seeing patients getting better, or making their dying more comfortable, and having those with chronic diseases come in over a period of years.

Deciding to nurse was the best thing I've done thus far - I've made some of the best friends of my life, earned good money, embraced higher education after swearing off it, and have a job that (after almost two decades) I still enjoy most of the time. It's also given me a better sense of perspective - I'd have a lot of trouble now listening to people carry on about something trivial as though it's life and death.

Hope that helps. Good luck

[cityhawk]

Originally Posted by OTF1

Sorry, don't get me wrong I am a people person and communicate very well with people. I also react well in stressful situations. I guess I just don't want to be one of the people who I don't like to get when I go to the hospital/doctor with a bad attitude. I have experience with caring for people since my grandmother lived with us until having to be 24hr care and my mother who was a partially paralyzed stroke victim who developed brain tumors and put in hospice after becoming comatose.

Trust me, in the job I'm in now, I deal with a lot of whining, and woes me people and yet I still give them reinforcement and be posititive for them. I figure I should give my help to people who need it and give myself a challenging career at the same time.

I guess the biggest thing on my part is looking for excuses to stay in a job that pays well but I don't feel rewarding or challenging anymore and don't want to go to week after week. I'm not considering nursing for the money, my daughter is starting high school and we are on our way to debt free living so it will not be a money factor by the time I graduate. My wife is also going to school for nursing but I would finish before her because I have previous degrees and she is starting from scratch so it is something we can experience together and help each other with.

Sorry so long, just need to stop making excuses or looking for people to tell me not to do it for one reason or another. Just nervous about leaving the comfort of steady rut!

Well, good luck to you from someone who is just finishing up nursing school (last two finals tomorrow!), and leaving a 20+ year software engineering and management career. There have been times when I've suffered self-doubt along the way, but I know I have done the right thing. As Marge Piercy said, we all long for "work that is real."

[JJN1]

Thanks to the responses, I think I will start prereqs that I am missing in the fall. Might as well take the plunge, life is short and should be lived doing something to help others and enjoyed along the way!

[pagandeva2000]

I would go for radiology if you can't work well with people. As others have stated, you are seeing people at their worst when they are ill, and you are also seeing family dynamics at it's peak.

[medsurgrnco]

There are other careers that help others, but do not have so much interaction with people or with sick people.