Thinking about switching career paths.

Nurses General Nursing

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fungez

364 Posts

Oh, there's plenty of research opportunities. I worked for a CCOP - community clinical oncology program - which put cancer patients on different protocols, generally standard of care vs. whatever they thought would be better. Data was collected in the form of patient treatment, side effects and outcomes, and sent to the research base. And that's only in oncology. Pharm. companies have more studies than you can shake a stick at. However, your appearence might be off-putting. No judgement about the tats, but some people, especially older folks, tend to associate them criminals. Pharm. companies are notoriously conservative, and most hospitals don't allow visible ink. Good luck.

DirtyBlackSocks

221 Posts

Specializes in Army Medic.

Thank you for the replies everyone.

Where does one go about looking for jobs where they need RN's for research rather than standard bedside care?

barlowjb

64 Posts

Specializes in Med Surg.

Hi, I don't know what State you are in but companies that hire research nurses as well as Clinical Research Associates (CRAs) (who they often prefer to be nurses) include Quintiles and Covance. If you can afford to it would be good for you to get CRA certification and go from there, because that would show that you are truly interested in clinical research.

In addition to companies like the ones I mentioned aboved, many (if not most) Medical Centers or Colleges/Universities also hire Research Nurses in some way shape or form, although they may not have the title "Research Nurse". I worked at NYU Medical Center a few years ago (Research Tech) and my boss who was an MD hired Research Techs as well as Research Nurses. Some of these research nurses worked on clinical research half the time and bedside nursing half the time. I once shadowed a Research Compliance Officer who was also a former bedside RN and she helped to oversee and monitor a lot of the Research carried out on human subjects at the hospital - to ensure that these research subjects (who are often terminally ill and out of treatment options) are properly informed about the benefits and possible adverse effects of the medications/drugs being tested on them. I could say a lot more on this subject but I won't bore you.

Here's the thing. I would encourage you to do a PHD in Biology if:

1. You have a passion for it

2. You have a lot of patience

3. There are job prospects where you live (in the area of biology you choose to study)

4. You are willing to move to where you can find your ideal job

5. You are doing it because of your passion and not necessarily for the money.

I watched my first Boss Mr. xxxx PHD, lose a 1 Million Dollar Grant because the Facility's Lawyers tried to get the people (who were donating the money for the grant) to increase their donation so they could line their pockets with more money before handing the grant off to my boss. The people pulled out of the final meeting which was held in the first place to seal the deal. Additionally, PHDs appear to go through much more to get NIH grants for their research. Plus, researcher's on the whole get only a certain percentage of their grant money say 60%, and out of that 60% they pay themselves, pay their techs, and buy equipment and reagents. The remaining 40% goes towards the facility to pay for "overhead costs". Many times the grant money runs out and they have to lay their techs off unless they have another grant coming to cover the cost of paying their techs. The first time I had this experience I got another job, then my boss received a new grant and I stayed and gave up the new job. The second year when it happened again I opted to work for someone covered by multiple grants, who not surprisingly was an MD. While working for that MD my salary was always sure, I earned more and I had a much bigger work space....I think you get my point.

I don't have a PHD but I have worked around a LOT of people who regretted pursuing sole Biology PHDs. I say sole because the advise that I always received was in order to have less hassle in your career as a "bench" researcher. If you are going to do any type of PHD add a "professional degree" to it for example: MD PHD, PharmD or Nursing.

Which brings me back to my point: Having a nursing degree in your hand right now is like having gold, regardless of the economy, you can mold and merge that degree with many different areas to suit your needs. You can:

1. Teach Biology, parasitology, physiology, medical terminology etc. and many other areas that can facilitate your disability - you don't even have to teach clinicals if you don't want to

2. Become a Research Nurse

3. A in-house CRA (where you help monitor clinical trials in your area)

4. A "out-house" CRA (where you travel to other states up to 90% of the time)

5. Go into nursing administration

6. work in the insurance industry

6. choose many more options

Personally, I was unwilling to be in a career where I have to depend on Grants for my paycheck, that's one of two reasons why I chose not to do a PHD and pursue nursing instead. My choice however was based on my life and my needs - I am an only child who have to take care of two elderly parents among other things. Furthermore If for whatever reason I can't do nursing today, I have a lot to fall back on.

Although I have said all that I have said, I guarantee there are many PHD researchers whether in Herpetology, Botany etc who if they had to do it again would do so.

If you truly want to pursue your interest in herpetology or botany I would recommend that you seek work at a University. When I worked at NYU they paid my entire tuition while I pursued my MS degree. The tax on the tuition came out of my biweekly checks but I got every dime back in taxes. As a BS student you can also be a part time tutor. Once you get to the stage of pursuing a MS you can get paid as a teaching assistant and/or get a stipend. While Pursuing your PHD you can also be an adjunct professor and help support your family.

I notice that you mentioned that "...nursing is becoming less and less stable these days..." Remember as I mentioned before there are many things you can do with a nursing degree, if you only use your imagination. Case in point I went to a Nurse Residency class 2 weeks ago and sat in on a talk given by a nurse who is also a paraplegic - she was an RN for about 15 years before her accident - after her accident she found a way to use tailor her nursing skills/degree to her needs and now she specializes in neurological nursing particularly of paraplegics and quadriplegics - she help teach those pts how to deal with their disabilities and liaison between the pts and the social workers - pretty cool if you ask me - plus she still works at the same hospital.

Forgive me if I went overboard in my post, I am just trying to be as unbiased and balanced as I possibly can because I am a firm believer in:

"If you put your mind to it, it can and will work out for you, no matter the circumstances, and as long as you are doing it for the right reasons - no matter what IT is"

When all is said and done - it all boils down to you. You can do well in any area you choose whether it be PHD in Biology or resourceful use of your nursing degree to meet your current needs. The bottom line is do your research - search the internet, read material, call and email other PHDs in the field you are thinking about, question and querry, seek opportunities to shadow (pretty easy to do, just ask), think carefully, do lots of soul searching, weigh the pros and the cons, give yourself lots of time to think and most of all CHOOSE WISELY the path you take from this point onwards.

Best Wishes

DirtyBlackSocks

221 Posts

Specializes in Army Medic.

barlow,

Thanks for taking the time to make that reply, I got a lot of great information out of it. :)

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