Big career change... would like to make sure nursing is the right choice

Silverowl99 · Sep 29, 2016

I enjoy my work. I practice in med/surg. I try to complete many tasks. I enjoy laughing and talking with patients, and helping them navigate through the ropes of the hospital. I do not collaborate with scientist.

Fiona59 · Sep 30, 2016

Oh Grasshoper, have you read anything on this site?

Nursing jobs are so tied to the fiscal policies of the provinces. AB is reducing jobs, the BC job market isn't any better. When I worked there, yes, they did prefer to hire local grads.

Skills, yes I use most of them. Do I feel challenged? No. Patient care is often drudge work. We don't have aides on my unit. S/he who finds the code brown, cleans the code brown. Do our doctors listen to me? Usually but that's because I've been on the unit for nearly a decade and they know and trust me. Often, our biggest challenge is not to murder the patient's daughters, lol.

Yes, I have met nurses involved in research. But it's hard for them to get the jobs. Networking and on the job experience got them these positions. Usually the job only lasts for the term of the project and they either have to return to their old jobs or look for soething else. These jobs are really only found in areas with teaching hospitals. It's not scientific research either. More along the lines of are care needs being met in a timely manner, is NPO really required for specific surgeries.

Job markets in Edmonton and Calgary are saturated with new grads. The demand is out in the rural areas and you will not be making the connections you need to make out there.

With your background why are you really applying for nursing? Wouldn't medicine be a better fit?

oceanblue52 · Sep 30, 2016

From your background and interests it sounds to me like you are more suited for a PA program/ career.

dayandnight · Sep 30, 2016

Nursing is technically in the bachelor of "science" department, but you really feel quite apart from science, as research opportunities are minimal and we do not get to learn as much science classes (most do not learn 1st yr bio,chem,physics) compared to other science majors. Nursing is very personal, personal care is vry important for Canadian nursing as we are at a huge shortage. I enjoy my job but lately became interested in research but nurses, esp bachelor level or lower nurses have no power to influence the actual healthcare. We are short all the time, often times deal with violent pt with no protection. I am looking into possibly going back to school to minor in science field and go for my masters... so I can make a difference in health care. i feel medicine would be more suitable for you than nursing as you would use your current knowledge more.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Sep 30, 2016

The problem with any Masters degree is that there are few jobs because these jobs are also highly paid and tied to funding. Unless you have strong work experience and connections, a Masters degree is an expensive piece of paper.

I am currently in a Masters program, and I knew before hand that that there are fewer and fewer postings (unless you are interested in working as an NP in a rural area).

CanadianRN16 · Oct 1, 2016

It sounds like you want to become a doctor researcher, have you considered pursuing a MD? You could run your own practice while simultaneously performing research.

You don't get many opportunities as a RN to engage in research, unless you specifically fo into nursing research or participate in studies. As a NP you'll get opportunitues to conduct clinical research though!

NBolas · Oct 3, 2016

Thank you all very much for your replies and for sharing your experiences/wisdom with me! For some reason I only received alerts for the first couple of responses. A number of you asked why I'm not going for the MD route, and there are a few reasons. For one, the time and financial commitment of medical school + residency (~8 years in total) is a tremendous burden for my family. I'll be 40 years old before making some real income. Yes, there are lines of credit, but I'm already in enough dept with mortgage and such.

As well, after speaking with doctors and nurses, I find that the lifestyle of nurses is potentially more suitable for me. My friends who are doctors mention that they never truly stop working, even when they are away from the clinic. There are always patient files to review, cases to ponder, and emergencies that require attention. This is something I can relate to, coming from research. The time away from the lab is used to catch up on reading journal articles to stay up to date.

I've also been told that nurses have the opportunity to spend more time with patients. As companisbiki mentioned, nursing is very personal, and that is one of the aspects of healthcare that I admire. Doctors and nurses care for patients in different ways, and I am perhaps more suited to providing care the way that nurses do.

It's also worthwhile to note that one does not need a MD to conduct clinical research, as many PhDs I worked with do that already. Personally, however, I feel that understanding how to care for patients will help tremendously when researching ways to improve patient care.

@Fiona59, thank you for the insight. It's encouraging to hear that you have met nurses who are involved in research. The type of research you mentioned is the type I am most interested in. My previous lab also looked at the nutrition of hospital food... some very interesting finding there.

Technicalglitch · Oct 4, 2016

I think you should go for it. Nursing is not going to be as intellectually stimulating as the work you have been doing, but you don't have to get all of your intellectual stimulation from work, either. Nursing is meaningful, and you can always be learning more about your patient population (provided you have the time!)

Yes, it is pretty easy to move between provinces and territories, lots of annoying paperwork, but no real problems other than hassle.

You might enjoy being an NP more, but you could work in Northern Canada (doing roughly the same work) without one, where the money is very good, the responsibilities are big but it's one of those rare working environments where it comes with the authority too to do your job and do it right.

The nursing market is cyclical (it shouldn't be, but it is), but once you have a bit of experience you can usually find something, the challenge is getting that first job if we're in a down cycle when you graduate. However, you will stand out for being male, as that makes you into diversity hire in a female-dominated position. Plus, you come with very interesting experience, which might intimidate a few nurse managers, but will interest the ones that matter.

Nursingnator · Sep 4, 2025

Hi,

I am you. Stumbled upon this thread now years later. I am in a very similar situation as you. I am in my early 30s, with a phd in biomedicine, and a couple of years of experience.

Everything you list resonates with me, I was considering nursing after my bachelors but decided to follow down this track.

Additionally, the practicality of the job also applies to me, as well as the good job market - having experiences first hand the uncertainty in the academic job market.

Now years later, did you make the change? How do you feel about it?

Cheers

NBolas · Sep 5, 2025

Hello there!

I haven't browsed this forum for years so I thought it was sending me spam when I got this notification.

Thank you for bringing me back to this moment in time. A heck of a lot has happened since then so I can actually provide an update. TLDR, I made the change and I feel it was an excellent decision.

One month after making this thread, I was accepted into the nursing program at U of Calgary. Because of my previous degree, I was able to do an accelerated 2 year program and graduated with my RN in Dec 2018. When I graduated, the job market was poor. All of my colleagues worked casually because there were no permanent positions available. Fast forward to today, that landscape has changed drastically, at least in British Columbia where I work. Jobs are plentiful and even new grads have a shot at some of the more desirable nursing roles now.

I do not use my research experience in my nursing role and, frankly, I don't miss it. The most I do is read a few articles on certain treatments to improve my own understanding, but I discovered front line nurses have no real influence on policy and procedure.

One of the greatest advantages of nursing is just how diverse the field is. When I first graduated, I worked on a general medical ward and did everything. After a year or so, I decided I no longer wanted to do night shifts, so I moved to a job with no nights. Then I decided I don't want to clean up poop anymore, so I got a job with no poop. Then I decided I don't want to work weekends either.... so now I work weekdays, day shift, no poop. If you love patients, pick a patient-facing role. If you realize you really don't like people, get a desk job. There is a nursing role for everybody. The flexibility was one of the reasons I went into nursing school confident that there will be a job suitable for me in the future. Nursing is also widely applicable and you can relocate easily should you choose to do so.

As you know from research, the pay is downright unfair. You spend 4-6 years in grad school then do multiple post docs for a CHANCE at a job, all for a paycheck that is slightly above minimum wage when you divide the yearly salary by the actual number of hours spent working (reading articles, writing, editing, making posters, grading papers, all after regular lab hours). Then you can lose that job if you miss a grant. No thank you.

Aside from the decent paycheck, I also have a defined benefit pension plan and a robust benefit package. I get 21 days of paid vacation per year, paid sick time, fully paid massages, medications, dental visits, physio, travel insurance etc. I really cannot complain about the compensation.

Nursing does have its dark sides. You'll see a lot of suffering, family dynamics, entitlement, trauma. You will see the nicest people get the most devastating diagnoses. You'll see a young child lose their mother to cancer in one room, then in the next room a drug user is complaining that his toast doesn't have enough butter. Patients will die and you'll think it's your fault even when it's not. You need mental fortitude to thrive as a nurse, at least early on in your career when you're in the trenches.

All in all, I'm happy with my decision. I work in a great area of nursing now. If I didn't leave research, I'd probably be on my 3rd or 4th post-doc trying to get a faculty position, making less than half what I'm making now with worse work-life balance.

Hope this helps a little bit in your decision making!

Nursingnator · Sep 8, 2025

Hey! Thanks for responding, figured it would be a long shot considering the age of the thread.

Happy to hear that you don't regret your decision. It's both comforting and inspiring to know that other people have gone down a similar path before.

I can certainly relate with what you are saying about academia, it is an career where one usually ends up being consistently underpaid while encouraged to overwork, with a lot of toxic working dynamics. The job market really isn't all that great either.

I do love science and lab work, but it seems the longer you stay in science the less you work in the lab and the more pigeonholed you get, I have never wanted to spend all my time in an office. Id rather have a practical job with a lot of mobility, the fact that you pretty much can get a job wherever, whenever, and with whatever is so enticing with nursing. I have no illusions that nursing is an easy career, but I think it will fit my temperament much better.

I have actually already started nursing school part-time this fall, and I have to say that so far it has been very satisfying. The applied focus in the classes already makes me feel like I am on the right track. However, I cant help but to feel a little like an imposter sometimes, it certainly is challenging to uproot your whole career trajectory and do something so different.

Anyway, thanks a lot for responding, its always nice to hear that others has gone down the same road before 🙂

Cheers