HELP!!! Considering Nursing.....Need your advise

Evanstalcup,

I am glad you made it through that tough illness. Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to enter the medical field. I also entered the medical field at the age of 18 as a paramedic. It was one of the most exciting and rewarding times in my life. I did eventually burn out and I ran away from it with like my hair was on fire. I always missed working in that field. I was recently laid off and put much thought into what I wanted to do and since I am now 41, I knew that working on the streets again was not an option. It is a young mans game out there, so I decided that I would go to nursing school. Well all that being said, here is the great thing about nursing. Working in a hospital is just one aspect of nursing. Nurses are used for so many jobs that are not directly related hospital work. Here are a few examples: insurance companies use nurses, large industries and corporations use nurses, schools, Long term care facilities, teaching nursing and the list continues. You can always find something to do with your nursing degree in one form or another.
Now as far as the shortage of nurses, yeah right now it seems that the nursing shortage has ended, however this is only due to the fact that the economy has forced many nurses that were stay at home moms to return to the work force due to the bad economy and a spouse being laid off. As our economy rights itself, the shortage will begin to show itself again as family's begin to go back to the status quo and older nurses retire. What I am trying to say is, do not let that curb your desire to do something that you want to do in life. Make your decision, stick with it, be the best that you can be at that job and the job offers will come to you.
You seem to have a grasp on the shadowing of a nurse, however you could get a job as a patient tech or CNA. These jobs give you insight into the nursing field, allows you to earn money while doing it and you get to make connections you can use to get a job after you get out of school. This is about all the advice this old goat can give you I think. Good luck in your choice and making it through nursing school.
Seaotter

I can understand your uneasiness about going into this career with all of the negative things you have heard. But with concerns about no jobs and getting stuck somwhere you dont want to be, I will tell you that Nursing is such a great career because it has so much variety. There are so many different jobs you can do as a nurse and find your proper place. There are jobs where you can have just 1 patient to worry about or 5 patients to worry about, with number in between depending on the floor. You can work in a fast paced environment or a much slower paced environment. There is just a great amount of choice in Nursing. You can work with patients or choose a position as an RN scientist or something along those lines and not really have to deal with patients at all.

I believe Nursing to be a great field and one that I know that I will not get tired of any time soon just because of the choices I have in it.

But you need to follow whats right for you. I think its great that you are going to shadow a nurse. Get as much information out of it as you can. Yes, its a ton of work, but you get paid decently and you have so much to choose from.

Every job has its scary side....you gotta look at the positive as well.

Good luck in all you do!

-Matt