27 Changing careers ahhh!! Good Idea?

haganwood · Jul 22, 2011

Can you give me some advice? How much of my social life over the next couple of years will I be sacrificing?

Basically, you will be giving up most of your social life during nursing school. Most of the students I know and went to school with spent most of their time studying. However, that will depend on you and how easily or difficult the information comes to you.

I have a full sleeve(tattoo). Will that affect me?

It shouldn't affect you in nursing school other than you will more than likely have to cover it up. When you interview for a job, *shrug* it will depend on the interviewer, hiring manager etc.

I dont have any piercings and I dress very professional, well for jobs I do Is it hard for a male to get a job in a hospital? Hard to date?? I take constructive criticism very well, believe in team work, and always have a pretty good attitude

As far as getting a job goes it isn't harder or easier than any other profession.

Reason for changing careers: I would like to make more of a difference in peoples lives more than I am doing now. I have not decided exactly where I want to work but a part of me is considering working with burn victims. My dad was killed in a fire 2 years ago and I feel I would do really well with burn victims and their families. And of course financially it is a rewarding career. I make good money now but I am going to work as an AUA at the beginning of the year to start getting some experience, better work schedule and get my foot in the door. I know HUGE pay cut compared to my job now but while I am going to school Im sure i can hang in there because it will be worth it when I graduate. I start this august towards the nursing program here at the CC in my town. Will be getting my Associates first. Everything is transferable to the major 4 year universities in my state so if i want to take it even further I shouldn't have too much trouble doing so. Any advice or opinions would be great!! thanks alot!!

Your main reason for wanting to change careers is probabaly the biggest thing a succesful nurse has in their orificenal.

Good luck on your journey and keep moving forward!

dynoboy · Jul 27, 2011

Good luck man, sounds familiar. Keep your head down and get the work done. Can't speak to the date bit much I'm in a traditional program, meaning I am the oldest (35) by over ten years. Not my kind of dating pool.

Cheers!

Ladyj83 · Jul 27, 2011

Try not to Fret.

I am still in the construction industry (payroll for a company), I'm 27 too and starting in sept '11. it's never too late. think of it as an investment in the rest of your life. best of luck!!

1manwlfpk · Jul 27, 2011

Thanks for yalls input :) I agree, a good investment for the long haul.

Streamline2010 · Jul 27, 2011

and would love to have more time to work on it but with working 6 days a week I just don't have time for it.

I can tell you that nursing school will have you working all but 4-7 hours per day, 7 days a week, and you will have time for nothing but nursing unless you are on semester or term or other breaks. Additionally, since you come from physical and active job, in RN school you will spend hours and hours sitting, just #$%@#% sitting until you want to throw things. Hours sitting, reading, and rote-memorizing things. And that will not be enough time. There will never be enough time to get it all thoroughly done, or to be thoroughly prepared, or rested and refreshed before an exam. They will heap piles of reading on you, and you have to read the bulk of it, but you also have to spend a lot of time throughout the program doing NCLEX-style questions for practice, because nursing demands that you apply it before you've actually even learned what it is, at least very often that's what happens.

And how do you feel about OB, & delivery, all the nitty-gritty of child development and childhood diseases, and their dee-star-star-star immunization schedules, and whatever? Because there is, like it or not, a huge, huge amount of "mama stuff" and what I see as mothering of people in the RN curriculum. Doctors don't do it; it got passed to the women, the nurses. If you see what doctors do and you like that, go for MD or DO or PA and steer clear of nursing. Nurse is, to me, like being Mom. It's here's hour med, and how do you feel today, and may I get you a snack or a pitcher of ice water, and changing diapers/briefs, and such. Most men that I know went LPN, because they work with an older population in LTC and some of those jobs pay $20/hr straight time, and don't have nearly the responsibility or difficulty. Plus it only takes one year to do, and most LPN students I know manage to get 6-8 hrs sleep per night and also hold down a part-time job. And we RN students are on a constant daily 24/7 grind, it seems.

I am female, not all all interested in momma jobs or child development, or child rearing, or family life, and I came from an engineering and technology background to nursing as a career change. I am about to call it a HUGE mistake. Aside from med-surg and actual surgery, the rest of it is for the birds, I hate catering to people, and having to learn all of that boring and disgusting child-related stuff is beyond infuriating and insulting to me. But, you have to endure it, do well on it at clinicals, and pass the NCLEX to become RN. Just something to think about.

Streamline2010 · Jul 27, 2011

Oh, and re. the social life: Give it up. Nobody in my class has a social life. The school has made it so tough to pass that over 50% of the class failed exam I and fully 75% to 80% failed exam 2, and this is just nursing II. I personally am really, really, fed up with having to spend literally all of my time in school and out of school trying to cram enough material to get Bs and As. This school I attend is integrated curriculum diploma RN, btw. I never worked this hard or this much for engineering, comp sci, or biz. The RN education process is really, really, no fun.

I have no days off, I can't get cars repaired or inspected, I don't have time or energy leftover to cook or sit down and eat a decent meal, I don't have time or energy or brain enough leftover to have a part time job. And I have an IQ over 130 and was a B student w/o studying and a straight-A student in any other curriculum I tried before RN. RN is just a grind, grind, grind! I finally set a rule for myself that I sleep at least 6 hours per night, every night, and whatever is unread or not done or poorly prepared just stays that way, because this is SO NOT WORTH the CHIT you have to go through.

Another word to the wise: A&P was a good barometer for me, regarding my time commitment and emotional reaction to the RN course work. i.e, if you hate anything about A&P or how it's taught, then you will probably hate RN school for much the same reasons.

1manwlfpk · Jul 27, 2011

Thank you :) that was all very helpful information, i have not thought any about MD, DO or PA so i know nothing about it. I do know that i enjoy helping others, i dont mind catering to their needs, i do it quite often..I know i dont want to work in a LTC facility. Im prepared to tackle to "momma" stuff lol..i have plenty of nieces and nephews and have changed many diapers and cleaned up alot of messes and none of it bothers me. Nor does child birth , or blood, guts etc etc...Im going to start working as an AUA soon so i will start to get a feel of the healthcare field and be able to make a better decision after working around and talking with nurses and such...i do plan on taking my LPN test after a year into the nursing program but heck im just startign my pre-reqs so i guess ill cross that bridge when i get there.

Thanks alot for your input!

1manwlfpk · Jul 27, 2011

where are yo going to school? i am coing to a CC where i will earn an AAS..so 18 months more than likey for my pre-reqs, im taking 14 credit hours per semester and going every semester i can, then 2 years of nursing school, if i pass.

MrChicagoRN, RN · Jul 28, 2011

After a brief stint as an EMT, I entered Nursing school at ~27.

It was a challenge to do so while working PT, raising a family and paying the bills.

There was a year between acceptance & the start of the program, so I went to class at night and got the pre-reqs and some co-reqs out of the way so my first year of nursing school was actually a bit lighter, and I could work a little more.