Tough decision and rough transition into healthcare industry

U.S.A. Michigan

Published

Alright I'm in need of some help and opinions,

Well I am leaving the military soon and returning to Michigan. Being a husband and father, providing for my family is priority number 1. But it wasn't until recently that I finally realized what want to do (or at least a general idea which is a big step since I've been clueless on what I want to do for a career).

First let me say that I will not be able to use my GI bill for school (long story... nothing bad just a deceptive recruiter) so all my schooling will be paid thru financial aid and loans.

Being the sole provider while my wife goes to school has put the burden of being a "working student" on my shoulders. I have no problem pulling this off mainly because I REFUSE to let myself get stuck in a minimum wage dead end job without an education.

After speaking to a "Life consultant" trying to figure where I fit in the world, I decided I love to help, and make a difference in peoples lives and also I have a great leadership ability. Combining these things naturally brought me to healthcare administration. Now with most administrator jobs out there requiring a bachelors and the real money is with a masters, I cant afford to work on minimum wage (or close to it), support a family, and go to school for 4-6 years or longer. Not to mention if I did go that route I would be entering the healthcare industry with a bachelors/masters degree and ZERO experience.

So decided to adapt,

I grew up in a family of nurses, so it dawned on me that maybe I should give that a try, and this fits into my "life plan" two ways,

1) Obtaining an Associates will get me into a stable career much faster

2) I can continue school while working as an RN and follow the healthcare admin route if I'm still interested AND I will be gaining experience in the Healthcare industry.

Plus there is a very real chance that I will enjoy being a nurse and just further my education in the nursing field.

Now I know the 2 year program can be more like 4 but I SHOULD have majority of my pre-reqs done before I return (which is in a month or so) because I can CLEP out of almost all of them under HFCC's program (and really any other community colleges pre reqs i can clep out of).

The questions I have are,

Does this seem like a realistic plan?

What south east Michigan community college has the best nursing program?

Whats the likeliness of getting hired with only an associates degree in these times?

Any other info, tips, advice is greatly appreciated.

WCCCD is accredited through Michigan and you won't have a problem going from RN to BSN. I've already been to an advisor meeting with U of M Flint and I'll be there the semester right after I graduate.

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WCCCD is accredited through Michigan and you won't have a problem going from RN to BSN. I've already been to an advisor meeting with U of M Flint and I'll be there the semester right after I graduate.

WOW its pretty crazy your going the exact route I want to go, how hard is it to get accepted to U of M Flint's RN-BSN program? Did they give you any guidelines to follow as far as gpa etc? Do you know how long the program is?

I would love to go straight from WC3 to UofM Flint but I really don't know if I will be able to pull of working during WC3's nursing program let alone a bridge program. So I don't know if i can go that long without job go bring home a paycheck for the family (unless my wife gets a rockin job).

But anyways that is a long ways away, I still have to schedule my intro to psychology clep that I keep putting off studying and times running out!

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U of M gpa is 2.5 and they said that will not change anytime soon. It's at least 16 months and is mostly online so working will not be a problem. Check out their website it's really good and detailed. They also have a lot of meetings that you can attend once you get to MI.

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Alright I'm in need of some help and opinions,

Well I am leaving the military soon and returning to Michigan. Being a husband and father, providing for my family is priority number 1. But it wasn't until recently that I finally realized what want to do (or at least a general idea which is a big step since I've been clueless on what I want to do for a career).

First let me say that I will not be able to use my GI bill for school (long story... nothing bad just a deceptive recruiter) so all my schooling will be paid thru financial aid and loans.

Being the sole provider while my wife goes to school has put the burden of being a "working student" on my shoulders. I have no problem pulling this off mainly because I REFUSE to let myself get stuck in a minimum wage dead end job without an education.

After speaking to a "Life consultant" trying to figure where I fit in the world, I decided I love to help, and make a difference in peoples lives and also I have a great leadership ability. Combining these things naturally brought me to healthcare administration. Now with most administrator jobs out there requiring a bachelors and the real money is with a masters, I cant afford to work on minimum wage (or close to it), support a family, and go to school for 4-6 years or longer. Not to mention if I did go that route I would be entering the healthcare industry with a bachelors/masters degree and ZERO experience.

So decided to adapt,

I grew up in a family of nurses, so it dawned on me that maybe I should give that a try, and this fits into my "life plan" two ways,

1) Obtaining an Associates will get me into a stable career much faster

2) I can continue school while working as an RN and follow the healthcare admin route if I'm still interested AND I will be gaining experience in the Healthcare industry.

Plus there is a very real chance that I will enjoy being a nurse and just further my education in the nursing field.

Now I know the 2 year program can be more like 4 but I SHOULD have majority of my pre-reqs done before I return (which is in a month or so) because I can CLEP out of almost all of them under HFCC's program (and really any other community colleges pre reqs i can clep out of).

The questions I have are,

Does this seem like a realistic plan?

What south east Michigan community college has the best nursing program?

Whats the likeliness of getting hired with only an associates degree in these times?

Any other info, tips, advice is greatly appreciated.

Just a quick question. I am a USAF vet and am curious about your GI Bill situation? Even if you didn't pay into the initial MGIB, if you served after 9/11 you should be eligible for that one at least. Make sure you exhaust your VA options before you go and get a bunch of debt. If you have any service connected medical issues, get them documented BEFORE you get out because a service connected disability can get you VA school help like Vocational Rehab and other options. Let me know if there's any direction I could point you. I hate to see vets "just get out" and not have any clue what options they have.

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I would also encourage you to talk to the VA about the GI Bill. The post-9/11 GI Bill made more people eligible than the previous one. Even people who did ROTC or came in through the academies are now eligible, and there's no money to pay in to it, like the old one. Even if you don't qualify for 100% of it, you can qualify for certain percentages of the new one, based on how long you served.

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