Any therapists turned RN out there???

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I've read on this site about accountants and social workers changing to the nursing field, but what about PT/OT/ST practitioners???

I began as a nursing student at 17, with the plan of becoming a NICU nurse. Academically I succeeded, but because I lacked the maturity to handle adult patient care tasks at that age, I decided nursing was not for me. I got my BS in child development and became a pediatric OT. Now I am working in the NICU and love it. I am also completing pre-reqs for a transition back to my original plan of NICU nursing, because I would like to expand my role in with infants/families and have more opportunities for growth.

Are you or do you know any therapist-turned-nurse? How does the work and pay compare? What about the workload, documentation and growth? I currently have a caseload of around 20 infants that I see 1-4 times per week. I think I would prefer the 3-4 pt load with all-day follow up and no need to bill/chart for each unit of service... I'm interested in any and all input! Many thanks...:)

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To update, I've now read posts on teachers, MBA graduates, liberal arts majors and even lawyers-turned-nurses. It makes me wonder if there are any doctors-turned-nurses...

The lawyer-turned-nurse thread made me think about the potential loss of autonomy as a therapist-turned-nurse. There are not usually many therapists in a NICU, and I am one of 2 on my unit daily. We have developed our program and forms almost from scratch without much oversight from leadership (my direct supervisor is an adult PT who does not desire involvement in the peds program).

I guess that is another question I might have for any therapists who transitioned to nursing-- is it positive or negative to join a larger pool of colleagues but loose the leadership/autonomy of acting as a consultant in the department? Would I still have the ability to educate parents in specific areas of infant development and developmental concerns relating to their infant if I work as a nurse and not the occupational therapist (if I maintain my OT license)?

Maybe I am unusual to plan this transition... from the lack of responses, I wonder if there are any other therapists out there who have even considered this change...

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Frankly, the PTs. OTs, and STs I've known professionally/casually over the years have been a lot happier about being PTs, OTs, or STs than most of the nurses I've known over the years have been happy about being nurses. I've been working in healthcare for over 25 years, and I've never encountered a PT, OT, or ST who was looking to make a change into nursing.

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Frankly, the PTs. OTs, and STs I've known professionally/casually over the years have been a lot happier about being PTs, OTs, or STs than most of the nurses I've known over the years have been happy about being nurses. I've been working in healthcare for over 25 years, and I've never encountered a PT, OT, or ST who was looking to make a change into nursing.

How about nurses turning into therapists or getting into other fields outside of nursing? You always hear or nurses getting burnt out and switching to another nursing specialty that fits their interest, but you never hear of them going into other fields.

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