Pros and Cons of nursing

First off I am not a nurse YET either. I am still finishing my prereqs and hope to start the nursing program in the Fall of 2010. I have no experience as an RN but have worked in the business world for almost 20 years (nursing will be a second career for me) and there are just as many cons in any working environment.

I read post on here all of the time and I get scared to death sometimes - but never because I am afraid of being a nurse and the hard work that it takes. I am scared because I don't know what else I would do if I didn't make it through nursing school. There is NOTHING I mean absolutely nothing else I could see myself doing. I dream for the day that I am in the hospital doing what I know I was put here to do.

I have thought about being a nurse my entire life. When I was 19 or 20 I worked as a nurse assistant in the hospital mostly in the recovery room and I absolutely loved it. At that time I thought about going to nursing school but had been told by some senior nurses that they wouldn't go into nursing with the way things are, this was in 1989 or 1990. I took their advice and went to a technical school and received a secretarial certificate. I was lucky to land a job in a good field and worked my way up and still continue to work in the field today.

Several years ago my boyfriend was severly burned and as a result of that was in the Burn Unit for 10 weeks eventually passing away. I was at the hospital every day and I will never forget the nurses that took care of him and I knew then that is what "I" wanted to do. I have always looked up and had so much respect for nurses I cannot really express it.

I worked briely as PCA recently and I LOVED it but I just couldn't make it financially so had to return to my previous field of work but I will NOT give up. I am a 39 year old divorced mother of 2 and I work full time so it was hard to take that first step in returning to school but I did. I started college with 3 transfer credits in May 2008 and at the end of this semester I will have 50.

I am sorry for my soap box, and this probably doesn't make sense but I just want the nurses out there to know how very special you are, I envy you and I want to be just like you. I don't think nursing is for everyone, but is IS for me!!!!!!

Government does. I go to school solely on financial aid.

Do NOT do it. Go become a Physician Assistant okay? Believe me when I say this, I am graduating with my ADN this December and I have already had numerous panic attacks, my life is completely upside down, I have discovered my first 3 white hair about 3 months ago (I am 27), I hate every minute of it, I wish I had stopped before I entered. Now it is too late for me. I have invested a lot of effort and money into this. You will hate it and it will burn you out even before you actually START working.
Stop it now.