Second-Career Students: How did you decide to change careers?

Nursing Students General Students

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I'm thinking more and more everyday that I want to be a nurse. I am currently a high-school teacher in a completely unrelated field and I hate it. How did you decide that you were going to change careers? How did you decide that nursing was "it" for you?

Family business for 18 years. Just decided it wasn't worth it any more. I had joined the local volunteer fire company four years ago and did EMT school - loved it. Decided last year to go into nursing. Spent the last year doing the pre-reqs and am starting an accelerated program next month. I chose nursing for the career opportunities available.

Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.

I got my BS in Biology in 2005 and from August 2005-Jan 2009 I was working in genetic research. Basically I was a bench rat. It wasn't a terrible job and I enjoyed it for the most part...but I knew it wasn't something that I wanted to do long term. For bio research, in order to make any real money, you have to go on to Med school or get your PhD. I didnt want to do either. I already toyed around with the idea of continuing on to med school when completing my undergraduate work, but I knew then I didnt want to go down that route. However, I was still greatly interested in working in the health care arena so I looked into nursing, took some pre reqs and quickly found out it was a better fit for me. I was accepted in October 2008 into my program and started in January 2009. I will finish in a year.

I originally went to school wanting to become a heathcare professional. However when I graduated, I chose to explore the world of Public Health and ended up working for a managed care company. My work involves working with members of our plan and I work within our health services department. With being around clinicians, providers, and helping people; the desire to get back to the clinical side of things came back. I noticed that I wanted to do more and know more in helping patients. The decision to go back to school for nursing seemed like a perfect fit to what it is I like to do.

I was a HS teacher too. Second career. My first career was in an area of allied health ...Taught Mild to Moderate Special Ed. but in LA, CA. My timing was really bad and could see that there wouldn't be any kind of stability/long term contract in the LAUSD or outlying districts in my area of ed.

I have been able to sub in a vocational high school program- and volunteer in a large hospital in their education department. I want to teach health care in Vocational Ed. or Diabetes Education. That will combine 2 areas I love, teaching and health...I start a 2 year RN program January 2010 with a BA in Psyck, 36 graduate ed units in education, a CNA, and a Phlebotomy license. I am well over 40. Do consider first...

Can you figure out a way to take classes and prerequisites for nursing either during the school year while writing lesson plans and/or grading papers? Will you take classes over the summer when you really need to take a "mental health" break from teaching? Do you have deep pockets $$$ for the time you wont be able to work while in the RN program? Are you willing to start over at whatever age you are? Can you deal with sick people, really sick people their body fluids AND over bearing families who treat you like their maids? Can you physically keep up?

Specializes in Surgery.

When I started college at 19 I had no clue what I wanted to do. I started out studying healthcare but at the time I had to work full time to support myself. The local colleges & universities largely require full-time attendance for all healthcare majors so I had to switch to something that would either be easier to study or would allow part-time. I hopped majors almost every semester until I fell into finance. I settled on that because at the time there was high demand, good pay, and interest. By the time I graduated the economy had just begun to show signs of a slump. I got a job in commercial banking making much less than I thought I would, but the field had a pretty high top end so I stayed for the experience. I figured I would go to another company once the economy started to improve. I worked in the field for years and sent out resumes the whole time. But my job was one of the most affected by layoffs in my area so there was heavy competition for every position. Plus many banks went belly up so lots of people were losing jobs. My company mandated 60 hour work weeks and we all knew they could replace us easily. Although I personally felt like I had job security, everyone was on edge because of the economy so it was a very tense environment.

And if the banking industry itself wasn't enough to drive me away, I also didn't have very good job satisfaction. It was my job to make sure we didn't make bad loans to businesses. I spent most of my days stuck in a cubicle, wearing a monkey suit and uncomfortable heels, writing lengthy analysis reports, and arguing with loan officers. It was a big drain on me. If I did a bad job, my bank stood to lose millions (thankfully that never happened to me). If I did my job well, the CEO made more money. I had to say "no" to lots of small companies and non-profits because they weren't making the huge bucks large companies made. Overall, I just wasn't satisfied with my contribution to society.

More than anything else, I wanted a job where I knew I was helping people in some way. I decided I wanted out of banking and for a full year I did heavy research and thinking before I made any decisions. My grandmother and mother are both nurses so it was one of the first things I considered. The more I looked into it, the more I thought it was a match for me. I am in nursing school now and will finish Fall 2011.

I am switching from entertainment production to RN through my local hospital's program. I can't quite pin down the exact moment I knew, more like momentum had been building...and then it came time to apply or wait 2 more years, and the timing seemed to just work out.

I accomplished my childhood dream very quickly after college, but soon learned the "glamorous" TV life meant working insane hours (103 hours a week anyone?! On salary?!), pulling all-nighters many, many times, living on caffeine, nicotine, stress and not much else, moving from city to city every 8 months with no personal life (or possessions) outside of work, doing the bidding of overly needy celebrities and execs, exploiting people in the worst ways, never sure of the next gig until I "got the call" a week before having to ship out. I worked harder than doctors, than the President even, and who was I helping? No one - I was killing myself just to make trashy reality TV. I soon decided it was time to get out of "the business."

I moved back to my tiny little hometown of Nowheresville, USA and tried to work in HR. After helping to blow the whistle on my boss for harassment, I ended up running the entire department alone (obviously with no experience) during the busiest time in recent company history, only to get disrespected by the new president, then belittled and fired by the new director I interviewed and approved for the job. Exploitation runs high in the corporate world as well, and I never want to be a part of that atmosphere again.

With the New Depression (let's call it what it is), I watched as many family members lost jobs they've worked their entire life...in teaching, in management, in business, in labor and as business-owners. Now during what are supposed to be the relaxed retirement years they worked so hard to be able to enjoy, they are unemployed and unskilled, with no hope of finding work in today's uber-competitive marketplace, unsure of even basic survival with diminished retirement funds. I never want to have that experience.

I want to ease suffering, not cause pain. I want to care for the people from which most shy away, the way I would want to be cared for in a similar situation. I don't want to be rich, just paid respectfully according to my time, training and level of attained skill. I want to have a family, support them sufficiently, live in the same place for more than 2 years, yet have freedom to move anywhere. I want to be there 100% for my family when they need me, not answering work emails on my Blackberry at the holiday dinner table. I want to retire peacefully at a reasonable age. I want to work really hard, for a considerate amount of time, and then leave it "at the office" and take a (paid) vacation. I don't want to be called in the middle of the night unless I am "on call" and being paid for it. I want to work with experienced, like-minded people in a team environment. I want to know how my body works, and how best to care for it to keep it going as long as possible. I want to always be learning, "getting my hands dirty", advancing my skills and knowledge base, discovering new things, sharing my knowledge and experience with others. I want to be confident in knowing what to do in event of an emergency. I want to help save lives.

These are the reasons I chose nursing - you'll have your own. These are my reasons why I know I will be able to excel over the next 2 years, instead of just "getting through", keeping in mind it will be the most job training I'll ever receive! I have no fear of paying my dues or finding work in a bad economy - I am flexible to location, a great employee and confident the baby boomer demographic/healthcare plan is sure to grow the healthcare profession.

Whatever your choice, just know that you can do anything you set your mind to do. It will not be easy and surely it will be stressful making the leap into a field so unlike previous experiences (and in mid-life), but the long term benefits can outweigh the short term challenges, and last for years to come.

Best of luck to you as you make your way...and hope to share experiences with you down the road!

What did you do in order to work really hard to get "let go"??

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