I need some input from you all. There is a tremendous amount of experience represented here and I'd like to hear your thoughts.
I am a 39-year old male and currently provide the only income for my family. My wife is a stay at home mom. I work in the IT field and make decent money, but I hate my job. Especially with the recent economic downturn, I'm concerned that my position may be eliminated any day now.
Trying to be proactive, I've been thinking for over a year about changing careers. Because I have a strong desire to help people in some way, I have been focused on moving to healthcare. I had originally been leaning strongly toward nursing and have found this board to be invaluable. Unfortunately, the more I read here, the more concerned I have become about that path.
With all that in mind, I've been thinking about several other possible healthcare career changes and wanted to get a feel for what you all think of those professions. They are:
1. Nursing. Of course From what I've been reading here on the boards, I really doubt I'd last long as a floor nurse. I'm not very tolerant of politics in the workplace and would not at all appreciate the "eating their young" syndrome so many of you have described in that environment. If I did go this route, my hope would be that I could tolerate it for a while until I could get additional experience and training so I could move into advanced practice nursing like CRNA or NP. My biggest concern with that route, of course, is the thought that I might not get accepted into a school for one of those things and then I'd be stuck.
2. Respiratory Therapist. I really don't know that much about this profession, but it does seem to be in demand and I like the fact that these folks seem to actually work with patients in an attempt to make them better, unlike some of the other choices below that are more focused on diagnostics only.
3. Nuclear Medicine Technologist. I know a Nuc Med Tech and she really enjoys her job. She makes a decent wage and has a pretty low stress level as far as I can tell. My biggest concern is effects of long-term exposure to radiopharmaceuticals. I know they take steps to minimize exposure, but it's still a concern.
4. Diagnostic Medical Sonographer. Unlike NMT above, no worries about long term effects. It also sounds like interesting work, especially OB, because I love kids. Unfortunately, I'm concerned about being a male in what, by all indications, is even a more traditionally female job than nursing. I understand that many male nurses have problems in some environments like OB. I'm thinking that there would be even more prejudice against male sonographers.
I know I'll not find all the answers here, and that in the end, I have to pick for myself what's best for me and my family, but I'm hoping some of you can shed some light on the "inner workings" of some of these other professions and give me a feel for how they compare to nursing.
Thank you in advance for reading this far and thanks to all of you that share your thoughts on these professions.
From what I've been reading here on the boards, I really doubt I'd last long as a floor nurse. I'm not very tolerant of politics in the workplace and would not at all appreciate the "eating their young" syndrome so many of you have described in that environment. If I did go this route, my hope would be that I could tolerate it for a while until I could get additional experience and training so I could move into advanced practice nursing like CRNA or NP. My biggest concern with that route, of course, is the thought that I might not get accepted into a school for one of those things and then I'd be stuck.