Adult making career change - Help me please!

[ppleprson]

Hi there, I have been reading a lot of threads on this site for quite a while and although they have been very insightful and helpful I was hoping to get some opinions/advice/thoughts for my personal story. If this is too long I'm sorry...I've been struggling with this issue for quite a while so bare with me pls.

I have been considering a career change for quite some time and one area that keeps popping up into my mind is nursing. Some background...I am 30 yrs old and currently work from home full time as a marketing/sales/education programmer for a small company in BC (lower mainland). I have found myself in the past couple of years slightly unsettled with my work and future (hence the thought of a career change). Before this job I was working in the entertainment/film/tv industry and also still fancy myself an actress Some of the things I like about my job are the flexibility (work from home, able to flex time for personal things like acting and vacation - family in England and Germany, and very outdoorsy etc.) and also working with kids, training employees, teaching. The thing all of my jobs have had in common is working with people - mostly children, and the flexibility I have for personal time and acting opportunities as they come up. However I have not felt settled as these jobs have not offered me the security, income (currently gross ~38k/yr), and long term interest I so desire. My passion is acting, but this is obviously not secure and so I have been wanting to find a career that I will enjoy, will hold my interest long term, allow me to still have my life (family, travel, acting), and secure a good income. I also feel like I am entering a new phase of life which may also include marriage and kids with my long term boyfriend who is a firefighter and works shift work (2days, 2nights, 4off) and want to be able to coordinate life with my hopefully soon to be husbands shifts so we can still see each other (we currently only get 2 weekends off together every 2/5 months due to his shift rotation), raise a family, and travel to our extended family overseas (his job is perfect for this).

The reasons I thought of nursing was of course the flexibility (I have a friend who is an ICU nurse 3/4time working 3 on 6 off which is very appealling), security, income potential, job variation, and the ability to have a career that doesn't just make money for someone else while you slave away with little benefit.

Reasons why I am uncertain about nursing are blood (not the best with lots of blood and gore - do you get use to this?), and the physical toll it takes on your body working 12 hour shifts in a hospital (although I am VERY active and sporty, I have had a low back injury due to a car accident), I don't know if I will be able to make it through night shifts, and oh my gosh...nurses have to know so much it's a bit intimidating.

Basically I am hoping to get some advice/thoughts/opinions from similar and non-similar people out there who may have had the same questions/concerns and are on the other side of it all. Do I give up a semi-good job and go to school full time for 4 years to get BSN (once accepted) or not?

Thanks to everyone in advance for reading this long (but therapeutic) note and for all their posts:)

[ppleprson]

Still looking for any advice please and thanks :)

[Green_Grass]

Well, you could ideally practice nursing and also work on your film career. You might consider looking for a job (after you've graduated) in Los Angeles; right now, make a list of hospitals in the vicinity of where you'd be likely to go for auditions/agencies, etc. If you worked the night shift (and I see that it's not your preference) however, this would allow you to keep the daytime free for auditions. It's actually an excellent way to make a decent living and still pursue your acting career. Most auditions are usually in the daytime so if you worked from 11 PM - 7 AM or even 7 PM - 7 AM, you'd have plenty of time. After you have a couple of years of experience, you might consider working for a nursing agency as a per diem RN. That way, you can tell the agency what your availability is at the last minute. If it is 3 PM and you've not been called for any auditions, you can call the agency and tell them you want to work a 7 PM - 7 AM shift. The downside of course is that you could get cancelled; Per diem is not really always reliable as a way to ensure the same monthly income. However, you wouldn't have to commit yourself to a rigid schedule either.

As for blood, etc. well, there is probably no way around it if you choose hospital nursing (which is often the most flexible in terms of schedules). You can try school nursing, education, or legal consulting, but I don't know too much in terms of how much compensation you'd receive. I think for the most part, you would grow accustomed to the bodily fluids, etc. Most nurses do. You'll get used to your routine after 3 - 6 months on a unit and you'll probably have quite a few days where you'll feel like you did quite a lot. There are always resources at your disposal, i.e. charge nurse and other colleagues. The best part about nursing is that you can always try another area if you're not quite satisfied with where you are currently.