Changing Careers....is Nursing a good choice? Need some Advice!

ldmills112 · Feb 18, 2010

I am in the exact same situation. For me, a career change is about quality of life. My current job, while financially rewarding, basically eats my life. However, I made the decision to focus on what is good about my job and use it to support my career change goals. My employer's tuition assistance benefit is paying for nursing school. Meanwhile I'm working hard at my current job and living on a reasonable budget in order to get out of debt (including our home) by the time I finish school. When you're not paying interest and fees to a bank each month, you can easily take a cut in pay and still live quite comfortably. When I move on to the next stage in life, I'll be able to look back on my current job and I won't so much remember all the stress and long hours working at a job ill-suited to my personality. Instead I'll be grateful for how it set me up to be able to focus on doing what I love in life.

So my advice - milk this job for all it's worth for a few years, pay off and/or save as much as possible, and then move on.

rainingwoman · Feb 18, 2010

I too had to take a paycut to go back to school. I was a manager, and stepped down because I was miserable in my job and had always wanted to go back to school. When I graduate this month as an LVN, I'll be making less then what I was making as a manager. When I'm an RN it will be more, but that's still a ways off.

Quality of life, or quantity of money? I chose quality of life, and wanted a job where I would feel good about what I was doing in the world. I say go for it, a high self-esteem for completing something as challenging as nursing school is worth a whole lot more toward your personal happiness than money. Good luck!

fungez · Feb 18, 2010

Wanting to be fairly compensated for your work does not make you a superficial person.

Nursing is reknown for being low pay and high stress. Hospitals pay the most but keep in mind it's a hard, hard job, physically, emotionally and sometimes mentally. We should be paid much more than we get - until I relocated I made significantly less than my UPS driver brother. Also, weekends and holidays are mandatory and if by some miracle you get Christmas you'll be working the day before or the day after. 12 hour shifts are becoming the norm, which when you get old like me will totally exhaust you.

Keep your options open. The best student in my first semester quit the day after her first clinical. One quit when she saw the textbooks. My class started out with 65 and graduated 32.

I don't want to discourage you, but I want to paint a clear picture. As for me, I'm working one more year until my daughter is out of college.

SunDazed, BSN, RN · Feb 18, 2010

I am a second career nurse. Though my first career was not a big bucks gig I made a decent living that allowed me to travel, etc. It was something I initially loved, but the industry was changing. When I went back to school for my BSN, I thought it would be no big deal to have a few student loans, I had earned my BA and all the pre-reqs without any loans.

My advice: avoid student loans as much as you can. Back in the day folks were able to secure the student loans at under 3%. Now student loans are 4.5-6.8% or higher! Some hospitals have student loan assistance, some have tuition assistance, and few have both. Student loan assistance will help pay off old loans, while tuition assistance can help pay for a BSN if you are an RN with a ASN.

If you have a life partner you can share living expenses with, then you may not feel the pain. If you are working/living solo in a city where new RN/BSNs make under $21 and hour... paying $265/mo in student loans feels like a big chunk of the paycheck. My total student loans were only $20,000.

Before investing all the time and money in nursing school, try job shadowing at a local hospital. If you already have a particular specialty in mind, definitely go see what those nurses do day to day. It may give you more insight into whether the fit is right for you! I love nursing. Just looking forward to having all the loan obligations wrapped up.

itsmejuli · Feb 18, 2010

I'm a mid-life career changer. I'd been working on nursing pre-reqs and working in front of a computer doing a job I hated. I quit my job and went to LPN school so I'd have quicker access to RN.

Well, I graduated in August, got my license in October and am still looking for a job.

This week I'm working a temp job auditing data at the company I used to work at. After being gone for 18 months, you'd think that I'd have forgotten all those damn computer screens and forgot how to calculate the data. Nope, I still knew how to do it and I still HATE it. I could easily make more money doing the job I HATE than what I'll make as an LPN.

Heck, I'd rather stay unemployed than work that job I HATE again.

So here I've been a bundle of nerves getting all depressed about not finding an LPN job and worrying about finding an RN job when I graduate. I start RN in May.

I started applying for jobs that met my previous job's qualifications. Well, after doing that damn job for a week I'm not going to apply for any more of those jobs.

Good news...there are 3 LPNs, 2 of whom are supervisors, who are feeding me job contacts. I might just land an LPN job with one of the LPN supervisor's in my class.

My advice for you...keep your current job and whittle away at the RN pre-reqs. While you're doing that start saving money and trying to live on a lower income. Once you get all your RN pre-reqs done and get accepted to nursing school, get a job as a PCT and do your RN. This is the route I wish I'd taken.

BChapp3182 · Feb 18, 2010

I would not go into nursing if you have worked your way up in your current position. I'd focus instead on how to make my current job better before I went and took a pay cut and jumped into a field I knew nothing about. The grass is NOT always greener on the other side. Nursing jobs are next to impossible for new grads to get unless you can relocate. I don't see this clearing up until the economy stabilizes. The nursing/healthcare areas always used to be a sure bet and decent pay. Not anymore. Let's say your making $80k now are you willing to make $40k (if you even get a job), then maybe in 7 years be making closer to $80k. If it's money your chasing your time is better spent going to medical school because at least then when 7-8yrs is over and you graduate you'll be making six figures.

I've been a nurse for 16 years. Started as LPN, then RN and now new grad NP and can not find full time work in heavily populated south FL. It's been 8 months and all I can get, even with all my LPN/RN experience is a part time job with no benefits.

Now is not the time to play with your income. If you really want to do nursing I'd go part time, play it safe, then by the time you graduate there may be jobs. Please go check the forums at indeed.com, just look at all the unemployed new grads. This is no gravey train and the money is terrible. I made more as a personal trainer!

kika72 · Feb 18, 2010

Hi Jepa23!

Your story made me smile because reminds me of myself! I also believed in personal skills and working your way up, rather then being a book smart. Although this always lead me to some of the best positions, including GM of a luxury boutique hotel, I always felt I wanted to do something greater with my life. School has always been in my mind and I knew at some point I would go back to it. Now at the age of 37, I have two small children and decided to go back to college to pursue my degree. At first I just wanted to study Business and Hotel Management because is what I know best, but then realized it's not what I want.

I've always been interested in nursing and did a lot of volunteering in my teenage years. But the fear of studying the unknown and possibly make less money, really scared me. But I took a leap of faith, quit my job and now I will start soon my pre-reqs towards my BSN.

Don't know where you live, but here in NYC nurses make pretty good money. Two of my close friends are nurses, one is on her first year on the job and makes $75K working 3 12 hrs shifts per week, and the other is on her 5th year, works for a private and makes $89K....so it's not too shabby!

Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

Kika

JustEnuff2BDangerous, BSN, RN · Feb 18, 2010

My best advice to you if you are worried about your finances is this: Start living as if you were making $30,000 a year. That's about $2,500 a month, about $1250 a paycheck if you get paid twice a month, so whatever you are currently making, take $1250 out of your check for all your living expenses, and put the remainder somewhere else (like a savings account). Try living like that for at least six months and you'll have a good idea of how comfortable you will be once you start working (AND you'll have some extra money when/if you decide to do nursing school!).

Is it worth it? That depends greatly both on what your experience as a nurse will be, and how dedicated to the field you are. Any profession that deals exclusively with people all day everyday, people from different walks of life and different cultures and different viewpoints, will be challenging beyond imagination and rewarding beyond imagination. There are good days, bad days, and REALLY bad days. You will be responsible for someone else's life, someone else's safety, and that is a very tall order. It is stressful, and you will not be able to "reach" everyone. You will not be able to make a difference in everyone. You cannot save everyone. Nursing will test your knowledge, your patience, your faith, and your fortitude. It is a profession of great emotion and great importance. But whether it is worth it or not will have to be an answer you, individually, must answer.

jrsmrs · Feb 19, 2010

JMO: I would not leave a well-paying job just out of curiosity. If I was miserable in my job or felt I had a higher calling or lifelong dream to enter another profession, that would be another story and I would likely move on. But just being fascinated? Probably not. Of course this is entirely your call and truly there is no one that can make this decision but you.

Is there a way you can fulfill your hopes of helping others maybe in some sort of a volunteer position?

Best of luck in your decision!

Mukfay · Feb 19, 2010

You might want to search for NewMexicoJohn. He left a very lucrative job for nursing, and he graduated recently. I hear he's very satisfied with his decision. I'm a student, and I left a reasonably lucrative job for nursing. Recently a friend asked if I wanted my old job back. I asked what was in it for me. To me the flexibility of nursing means that you're sure to find the right fit for you if you're willing to search, and you have the basic desire to do the job. If that is a question in your heart, you might want to try volunteering in the setting you are considering. I tried that, and I was able to talk to nurses and watch them work. That is what convinced me that it was right for me.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Regards,

Mukfay

Hopefull nurse · Feb 19, 2010

Hi, I graduated 6 years ago with a degree in Business Management and thought I would be doing that for the rest of my life. I longed to move up the corporate ladder but now I am back in school pursuing a nursing career.

For many years after graduation, I didn't feel quite happy. Sure I was making good money, but something was missing. I didn't feel I was doing any good for anybody. I didn't go home and say, "Wow, I did __________________ for some one today".

I kept asking God to give me a sign...and he did. In 2008 my youngest daughter was admitted to Childrens Hospital at 5 weeks of age with 106+ fever. She was diagnosed with Vesicoureteral Reflux. Thankfully, it is not one of the worst stages but I believe it was God's way of sending me a sign. Shortly after, I stared to volunteer at the same Childrens Hospital in the Oncology/Hemotology dept. The best thing I have ever done. I can't believe I didn't do this sooner. I have met some trully wonderful kids and families and feel blessed to do it every week.

Think long and hard if the personal satisfaction of doing something for someone else is much more rewarding than a good paycheck. I think even if nursing didn't pay much, I would still do it. I do it free as a volunteer and I trully feel I have been blessed by those kids I spend time with every Saturday. They have changed the way I look at life. Before, the littlest thing would bother me but seeing those kids and families go through cancer makes me realize that my problems are nothing compared to their struggles.

I trully feel I found my calling...my reason to wake up every morning.