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?
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
Have you thought about research nursing? Very hard to break into it, but I managed. A history background might be useful for it. It is not easy, but it is rewarding and good schedule and it is meaningful, but not really hard nursing skill intense.
I'm finding this post to be sort of, I don't know, uncouth I guess.......but also somewhat intriguing.
Anyway OP, I agree with what others have said about research nursing. Seems like it might be up your alley. Another one that might pique your interest would be a Legal Nurse Consultant. I know that's not history
per se but someone else did mention that many history majors go into law so that made me think of this. Here's some information on it.
However, you'll find that with most of these areas of nursing (nurse consulting included), you're going to need a solid background working as an RN first. No one will hire you for these kinds of positions until you've got actual experience under your belt. And by experience I mean bedside nursing.
Yeah! My classmates think I'm crazy, taking anything but nursing classes. They also don't work. Meanwhile, I'm working full time on the unit, while completing 1-2 features a week for the local alternative newsweekly. This is part of what's lead me to this question, as I seem to be more motivated than the average nurse, at least as far as I can tell. Also, working in this miserable unit has me thinking about other options.
This is part of what's lead me to this question, as I seem to be more motivated than the average nurse, at least as far as I can tell. Also, working in this miserable unit has me thinking about other options.
Wow. So humble.
Like I said earlier, many units/facilities have poor staffing etc. You may even find your current "miserable" unit is better than others. That said, experience is still so important and a few years bedside experience will give you a rich background.
Most specialized areas of nursing prefer a nurse with solid experience and assessment skills and the kind of critical thinking that best develops in the trenches (not just acute hospital but also "non-acute" in rehab or LTC etc - most of those places have nurse-patient ratios and acuity that is high on the yikes scale.)
If you want to incorporate nursing into your writing I think you're going to need some good nursing experience behind you.
Just curious, what do you even like about nursing? It doesn't seem like yot care for it at all from your posts. You may be much happier going after more history education and dropping this.
Not that you'd need a nursing degree for this, but if the history of medical science interests you, maybe become a curator at a medical museum? There are some interesting ones around the US, if you are willing to get a Masters.
I always wished I had double-majored in history and nursing. At the higher levels of nursing, there is a need for nurse historians -- but for a young person starting out, there are no "ready-made" positions that fit well with your particular skill set and educational level (unless you can make a career as a writer.)
Choose a long term path ... then start getting the additional education and practical experience to qualify you for the types of jobs you want. Good luck.
OrganizedChaos, LVN
1 Article; 6,883 Posts
Thanks!!! [emoji1]