by wje9516767

I'm over fifty, and am just beginning the arduous journey to RN-dom.... It's such a well worn path, with few creative branches, for the first few years.... given that, here are my questions:

1. How "in shape" do you need to be to perform all the stepping and fetching that will be demanded of you
2. How much "eye candy" do you have to be, so that the older post-menapausal man haters don't poison the well for you.... I know I'm in trouble here....but, it's reality...
3. I guess we can reduce 1 and 2 to "is there endemic ageism?"
4. How much of a requirement is a flexible, stainless steel spine, because I hear all males are automatically movers of beastly patients, even if your back is trembling at the thought of lifting a 400 lb, semi-conscious combative ex-pro wrestler....?
5. Do you have to have a unnaturally happy expression on your kisser all the time....?
6. Are there some who come from the office world, who just can't make the change to poop scooping, I know you desensitize to bad things, but I run when my dog farts....
7. Will I need a nurse before I get to a point where I will have some career latitude?
8. Why am I asking all these stupid questions......I can't find any work with my BSBA in Finance thats why!!!!

Thanks in advance (don't ya hate that phrase?)

Re: 'Nuther dumb question........~~~

If you go into nursing looking for post-menopausal man-haters, you'll find them. If you go in open to learning, ready to accept people on their terms, willing to work hard and advocate for your patients, you'll feel like "eye-candy," even if you look like me.

Seriously, dude, ya gotta get your mind around what nursing is. Cute little blue-eyed blonde pony-tailed barely post-teens doing things on a routine basis that would make their daddies and mommies faint. Young women in their late twenties who look like suburban housewives 4 days a week who started in nursing as barely post-teens and can now run two codes and empty a bedpan while explaining how you screwed up your charting last week. Middle-aged women who have literally seen everything there is to see in this world.

Any fault you can find in anyone else, you can find in nurses. Occassionally, the intensity of a situation may bring out the worst in some of us, but in the long run, nursing is very much about common sense and doing whatever it takes, period. For God's sake, don't tell them, but I am in AWE of the women I work with. And the guys are cool, too.

Re: 'Nuther dumb question........~~~

Originally Posted by wje9516767

I'm over fifty, and am just beginning the arduous journey to RN-dom.... It's such a well worn path, with few creative branches, for the first few years.... given that, here are my questions:

1. How "in shape" do you need to be to perform all the stepping and fetching that will be demanded of you
Being in shape definitely makes it much easier, not a requirement though.
2. How much "eye candy" do you have to be, so that the older post-menapausal man haters don't poison the well for you.... I know I'm in trouble here....but, it's reality...
They beasts of the floor tend to respect ability, not looks. The older meaner Nurses are your best friend when the SHTF.
3. I guess we can reduce 1 and 2 to "is there endemic ageism?"
4. How much of a requirement is a flexible, stainless steel spine, because I hear all males are automatically movers of beastly patients, even if your back is trembling at the thought of lifting a 400 lb, semi-conscious combative ex-pro wrestler....?
As a student you will be a beast of burden, as a RN you will be too busy to help too many other pts other than your own.
5. Do you have to have a unnaturally happy expression on your kisser all the time....?
Only when your in the pt's room. My face falls the second I turn around to walk out.
6. Are there some who come from the office world, who just can't make the change to poop scooping, I know you desensitize to bad things, but I run when my dog farts....
Yes there are those who cannot adjust. BUT not all of Nursing is blood and guts, find your niche.
7. Will I need a nurse before I get to a point where I will have some career latitude?
A year or two will allow you to scoot, a BSN would be better and easier to grab a desk job.
8. Why am I asking all these stupid questions......I can't find any work with my BSBA in Finance thats why!!!!

Thanks in advance (don't ya hate that phrase?)

Personally I would not jump into Nursing just because your looking for a job, you really need an active drive to want to become a Nurse. Many say it is not worth the money and I tend to agree.

Re: 'Nuther dumb question........~~~

I agree that nursing is not the best place for someone who is simply looking for a job. We deal with the public everydayand not everybody is polite and/or grateful. We see people at their worst. We deal with smells and substances and sounds that would send most "financial types" scurrying under their desks. We often work in "packs" or teams and we do eat our young (not proud of this, just sayin). Nursing hours of employment are not in the same ballpark with the hours of most financial institutions. We work 12 hour shifts when we planned on 8. Our families are accustomed to having Christmas on some other random day and for many of us, our religious practices occur on an "every other" schedule. We have call obligations, weekend obligations, holiday obligations, and may not get to work our approved and scheduled hours. We work with some of the most arrogant and obnoxious people on the face of the planet and are generally unempowered in the workplace. That said...you will never have the impact on a person or family in the financial world that you can have in nursing. If you are affected by the smile of a person who just made a lot of money, you will be amazingly impacted by the smile of a person who just gave birth, or just heard that their labs are normal, or whose child just squeezed their hand following a tragic auto accident. You will laugh, cry, cuss, and celebrate because of your patients. You will mourn their deaths and celebrate their deaths. You will feel compelled to jeopardize your own job to advocate for some of them. You will think about them sometimes when you should be "present" with your own family. Nursing is a particular set of skills that is applied artfully to a situation. It is a wonderful profession. I hope that you find that you are compelled by the opportunity to help people and are successful in your pursuit of nursing. Good luck.