Anything I can do with nursing and history degrees?

Published

Okay, first of all, let me say I am amazed that I was able to register the username "Weirdo" to AllNurses.com, a website that has been in existence, what, 15 years at least? That's crazy! I am the only weirdo here? That's basically how I feel at school and in my career.

Anyway, I'm a student, who will be graduating in December with two associates degrees—one in Nursing and one in History. This whole time I've been in school, I've been doing freelance writing work for various print and web sources around town (not about nursing, but about events around town and such), and I've also been working as an aide on a surgical cardiac split advanced care/med-surg unit. I'll be enrolling in an RN to BSN program upon graduation.

Anyway, I don't really get off on trauma, nor do I find excitement in the grind of a 12-hour shift with 6 patients all high acuities or any of that. I'm more of a "path of least resistance" kind of guy.

I'm wondering if anybody here, or anybody in the world, has a similar skillset. Anyone study Nursing AND History... I mean, I know a lot of people go into nursing after studying history because there's no money in history, but does anybody DO anything with both of these fields of study? I'm thinking with my background in writing there may be something I can do. Every nursing textbook has, like, that chapter about Florence Nightengale... who writes that? A quick google of "Nurse Historian" comes up with nothing. So what can I do? Also, I want to make a lot of money, and I'm not opposed to going to graduate school after getting my BSN or anything like that.

So, is there anyone else out there similar to me? Or am I seriously the only weirdo out there?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PACU.

Anyway, I don't really get off on trauma, nor do I find excitement in the grind of a 12-hour shift with 6 patients all high acuities or any of that. I'm more of a "path of least resistance" kind of guy.

Also, I want to make a lot of money, and I'm not opposed to going to graduate school after getting my BSN or anything like that.

I don't know of career in nursing (or anything else) where the path of least resistance, and make a lot of money, go together. I would have loved being born into a chronically wealthy family and jetted around the world with a silver spoon hanging from my mouth... but I chose nursing as my career path and the only way to make great money is either by getting advanced degrees (NP, CRNA) that have very demanding careers, or going into management, which can be it's own type of he**, and is full of lots of resistance.

Decent money can be found (my opinion of what decent money is) in bedside nursing, usually with 12 hour shifts, higher acuity or by putting in your time. But no one's getting rich doing that.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

HeySis,

It is with all due respect that I say, "well duh." I don't expect to get rich, and I don't have an aversion to long hours and hard work. My problem, and it may be specific to my hospital/unit, is we are constantly understaffed, have terrible ratios, and really sick patients, without decent compensation. I know for a fact that people who've left the unit to do home health care make more money with less stress, so that's what I plan to do when I graduate.

Enough about that though.

From now on, please no one reply to this thread unless they are a fellow Weirdo like me. That is, a nursing history nerd who makes money doing something with the combination of nursing and history, or a writer who either has a side hustle writing about nursing,or for whom nurse writing is their main gig. I'm looking for my people! I know they're out there somewhere! I have dreams of sitting on my couch, making a modest but reasonable living writing in my underwear all day.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Telemetry.

I can see this thread is going to need some popcorn.

Ok. I hope you realize you can't dictate who responds to this thread. It just doesn't work that way.

And yeah, most hospitals and LTC facilities are chronically short staffed and over worked - and in some, the pay isn't all that great.

I worry about your idea of going into Home Health as a new grad - *not* a good idea as it is a field that requires a solid assessment skills and the ability to make difficult decisions without any real backup on hand. I know new nurses have done it and survived but that does not mean it is a good idea.

Also while I'm sure there are people who make money writing about nursing, I can't imagine they did it without a lot of actual nursing experience behind them.

I'm aware this is not the type of response you requested but that's all I've got for you.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

I think there might be a niche for you somewhere. What about combing the history of nursing with the history of labour laws? What have working conditions been like for nurses in the past? How do they compare now? What gains have we made in quality of work life?

I would be very interested to read a well-researched book that spells out how it was and how it is. I think there are currently very few books of nursing history that aren't dry as dust. Good luck to you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Pending response. I don't know how this site works. Lol

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Have you looked into joining the American association for the history of nursing (AAHN)? Becoming a member might be a good way to find out the various career paths of fellow nursing history nerds.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

The site lpntornbridge org/nursing-history provides links under the History of Nursing: 101 Informative Websites, maybe some of the websites need writers who work from home?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
From now on, please no one reply to this thread unless....

Is this a square in Flounce Bingo?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Is this a square in Flounce Bingo?

I think it's the center square.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

From now on, please no one reply to this thread unless they are a fellow Weirdo like me.

Thereby ensuring all sorts of crackpot replies. Attempts to manipulate the Internet are never successful.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Oncology, critical care.

Maybe ethics/health law?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion