I have a bad hip and bad knee. Am I nuts to consider becoming an NP?
Some background about me to help answer the above question:
I'm an only-parent of a 2yo. (I say "only parent" vs single parent since the father is barely in the picture so there's no "going to dad's every other weekend and every other Wednesday" type of deal. It's me 100% of the time.) My son is my world and I want to optimize my time with him since he'll only be little once and will be grown and gone way too soon.
I'll be 40 next month.
My bachelor's is in an unrelated field.
When I was a teen deciding which college to attend and career to pursue, everyone in my family said they saw me as a doctor, but I shied away from the idea because I didn't like blood and didn't want to get attached to patients then lose them.
Fast forward 15 years, well after I was done with college, and I got a very strong urge to be in medicine but I wanted a family even more (yes, I know you can do both, but I couldn't see me personally doing medical school / residency, etc while also having what we already knew would be a very high risk pregnancy and a child with high odds of having special needs), so I suppressed my desire for medical school and focused on family.
The desire to be in medicine wouldn't go away, so I thought maybe nursing / NP would be a nice compromise so that became my new focus.
I've had a bad knee and back since I was a teen (the knee more so than the back).
When I also injured my hip ~2010, I was working full-time in my current field while doing pre-nursing at night. But the hip injury took me out of pre-nursing because, until I could walk, I couldn't be a nurse so my focus switched to getting myself better with lots of P/T to avoid surgery.
After the hip injury and P/T I was put on pregnancy bed rest. Now my son is 2yo and I'd like to return to work but I need to decide which path I'm taking my career, back to what I was doing before bed rest (which I'm very good at but find terribly boring), or going forward with medicine.
QUESTIONS:
How do I scratch this itch to be in medicine, but with a bad hip / knee at my age and with a child? Has anyone else done it?
What are the physical demands of clinicals to become an RN (and later NP)?
What are the daily physical demands of an RN (and later NP), say in a clinic vs hospital vs other setting?
My understanding is that I need to be an RN for at least 3 years before pursuing my NP. Is that correct? If so, would working in a clinic RN be less demanding on the hip/knee for those 3 years?
Once I'm an NP, is there as much standing as with being an RN? I was reading that 1/3 of the day of an NP is reviewing lab results and they have more autonomy over picking their hours than an RN.
What is the best way to begin this journey, considering my advanced age and physical limitations while optimizing time with my son since I'm an only parent? a. CNA>RN>NP, b. just go for RN at a community college and then to UofMD Nursing for NP, c. go straight to UofMD for RN and skip comm. college, or d. something else?
Practicing medicine and medical school is in no way comparable to nursing with regards to the physicality. It sounds to me like you do not have a good idea of what nursing is, and what nurses do. It is physically demanding. Advanced practice nursing is certainly less physically demanding if you choose an area that requires less physicality (primary care for instance). Still, your comments speak about medicine, practicing medicine etc...I suggest you consider a PA program and sidestep nursing altogether. Seriously. Have you looked into PA programs? You are required zero nursing education, and will basically learn to practice medicine. The job offerings are usually interchangeable with NP's but the path is less physically strenuous because you do not have to go through nursing education at all. All of that considered, I suggest you sit down once per week with a psychologist or good friend and explore what it is that you really want, and why. Often we are looking to fill a void that only exists in our minds because we are unsatisfied with our lives, ourselves. If you are bored, there are creative ways to add beauty and excitement to your life. From your "story," it sounds to me like you are looking to struggle now, so that your life will be better later. Maybe it will work, maybe not. If you have a calling to help people, there are many ways to do so. Look into the PA route. Do some serious soul searching. That's my advice. My best to you and your little one!
Practicing medicine and medical school is in no way comparable to nursing with regards to the physicality. It sounds to me like you do not have a good idea of what nursing is, and what nurses do. It is physically demanding. Advanced practice nursing is certainly less physically demanding if you choose an area that requires less physicality (primary care for instance). Still, your comments speak about medicine, practicing medicine etc...I suggest you consider a PA program and sidestep nursing altogether. Seriously. Have you looked into PA programs? You are required zero nursing education, and will basically learn to practice medicine. The job offerings are usually interchangeable with NP's but the path is less physically strenuous because you do not have to go through nursing education at all. All of that considered, I suggest you sit down once per week with a psychologist or good friend and explore what it is that you really want, and why. Often we are looking to fill a void that only exists in our minds because we are unsatisfied with our lives, ourselves. If you are bored, there are creative ways to add beauty and excitement to your life. From your "story," it sounds to me like you are looking to struggle now, so that your life will be better later. Maybe it will work, maybe not. If you have a calling to help people, there are many ways to do so. Look into the PA route. Do some serious soul searching. That's my advice. My best to you and your little one!
Thank you. I appreciate your input. That is precisely why I am here asking the questions I am. I don't need a shrink, I need to know how I can pursue a passion I've had since I was as a teen within the limitations of my current life, which is also why I've been posting here. I have always been a caretaker, and the thought of returning to an unfulfilling career makes me want to stab myself in the eye. So the natural progression is to do what I am passionate about for work. I don't think that's too far fetched. I have considered P.A. but since this is a nursing forum, I direct my questions here to N.P. which is a similar role. Your information about P.A. school vs N.P. is helpful. Thank you.
Thank you. I do appreciate all input. I have looked into the P.A. programs, but don't post those questions here. Sadly, the ones I have reviewed do require a min. number of hours of specific healthcare experience, similar to that of some NP programs. So it seems there's no way to get around my bad knee / hip. But, I refuse to allow being hit by a drunk driver when I was 17yo to derail my chosen career path any longer. I'm making the switch to healthcare, I just need to figure out the smartest way to do it. While I might be banged up from the accident, my brain and heart work outstandingly well (and I have 30 years of caretaking experience under my belt as well, from psychiatric to geriatric to special needs pediatric); it would be a shame for that to go to waste pushing numbers and drafting boring documents at a desk.
Maybe you should check into a variety of healthcare careers to see if any of them would be a good fit for your physical limitations and career goals.: 1. Speech Therapist: diagnosing and treating disorders of speech and swallowing. Not too much physical work needed, needs a Master's degree, not too bad of pay. Many work in schools, which would be a good schedule for kids. 2.Dental hygienist: probably Bachelor's needed. A lot of sitting probably; most physical work is probably with upper body, not lower. 3. Counselor: not sure what qualifications needed in your state. But not a lot of physical work. 4. Various technicians, such as EKG technician or Radiology Technician. But it's possible they need to assist patients into position.
subee, MSN, CRNA
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