Hi all!
Currently expecting my fourth child in September. I have 3 aged 6 and under. Finished my RN-to-BSN online last year, but I didn't work until one year after finishing my RN degree (my youngest was born one week after graduation, so I stayed home with her until she was a year old). I worked June to Sept last year but I didn't make it off of orientation before having to quit - childcare issues, plus the unit I worked for gave me a bad orientation and the nurse:pt ratio was unsafe for the acuity level (stepdown telemetry 6:1 - even 7:1 for a few weeks!). I felt that my license was on the line and wasn't willing to take that risk basically. I left the hospital on good terms and have since been considered for employment there again, but decided it best to wait due to the pregnancy.
Basically, I'm looking for some advice. My license doesn't need renewal until May of next year, but I'm not sure if the board of nursing is aware of my 4 months of working. Or does orientation not count towards working hours?
Anyway, the baby is due this September and I tend to want to stay home with babies for at least the first year. What can I do to stay in the game? I'll have to do some refresher courses, it seems, before I go back to work.
I have considered post-graduate studies because I tend to be a chronic degree seeker... I have been in college for about 8 or 9 academic years, all told (a BA in anthropology). I like to learn and I'm very detail-oriented. I don't think I would be a good academic teacher, but I do like teaching patients.
Is the thought of working towards an NP too far-fetched? I know this much from the work experience I do have (even before nursing school - I worked as a CNA): I tend strongly towards end of life care, and I connect particularly well with oncology patients. I also appreciate the knowledge and critical thinking in cardiac nursing. Basically, anything that requires a challenge, or anything that involves delicate existential holistic care. I am very detail-oriented and I tend to do things "by the books" - I find it very stressful when I see people cutting corners because I think of all the potential implications for the patient (part of the reason I couldn't really handle the unit I was on as a fresh new grad).
The reason why I'm asking about this is because I really miss the world of nursing. I love raising my children but I know that nursing is my secondary calling and I'm anticipating getting back out there one of these days!
If you made it this far into my post, you deserve a medal or something ?
Looking forward to hearing any thoughts or recommendations!
Is the thought of working towards an NP too far-fetched?
There are programs that accept people without any nursing experience. My personal opinion is that nurse-provider education is not appropriate for those without working experience (and barely then; individual exceptions). Others will disagree. It also isn't a choice I would make with the assumption that one can readily call up the local place and probably get a job after graduating as an NP. All this nursing and provider shortage talk you hear about is way more nuanced than it is usually made to sound.
Again, personal opinion but I think you do need to get some kind of working experience 1) in order to help inform your decision-making before spending more money on degree acquisition and 2) to make you a more viable candidate to successfully achieve your long-term goal once you figure out what it is. Working toward a nurse practitioner degree isn't far-fetched if you have a solid plan, but I personally think it's a less viable idea if it's more a way to bide your time. I would be concerned about becoming employed as a nurse provider with almost non-existent nursing experience.
Once the baby is old enough that you feel comfortable, get a part-time nursing job of any type, with the hours that work for you. See where that leads you. When the job market is brisk is the time to switch specialties. Doors will open for you, you sound like an emotionally balanced person.
I advise against going gung ho until your youngest is in school, based on the parenting philosophy you have. Stop having children if you are serious about committing to your nursing career.
Not everyone needs to have a badass nursing career. Just do something to keep it alive until you are ready to devote more energy to it.
Signed, Mother of 6
That's what I did when my last was born. Looking back, it would have been feasible if we could find childcare and if the unit hadn't been so, frankly, not a good fit for me. Next time I start I'll go somewhere with a lower patient acuity to start with. I was running argatroban and heparin drips with 4 patients of my own 3 months into my orientation. My time management was not honed enough for that!
Thank you especially for the "not everyone needs to have a badass nursing career". I totally agree with that! My interest in NP, while it's only tentative at the moment, is due to my personality more than a desire to be badass or have "done it all" (hopefully that wasn't the impression I was leaving). Anyway, thanks again for your balanced view on this. This may be our last child or second to last child, depending on what we can handle. I'm confident I can keep my license alive until we're done having very small ones at home!
There are programs that accept people without any nursing experience. My personal opinion is that nurse-provider education is not appropriate for those without working experience (and barely then; individual exceptions). Others will disagree. It also isn't a choice I would make with the assumption that one can readily call up the local place and probably get a job after graduating as an NP. All this nursing and provider shortage talk you hear about is way more nuanced than it is usually made to sound.
Again, personal opinion but I think you do need to get some kind of working experience 1) in order to help inform your decision-making before spending more money on degree acquisition and 2) to make you a more viable candidate to successfully achieve your long-term goal once you figure out what it is. Working toward a nurse practitioner degree isn't far-fetched if you have a solid plan, but I personally think it's a less viable idea if it's more a way to bide your time. I would be concerned about becoming employed as a nurse provider with almost non-existent nursing experience.
Enjoy your family ~
Theoretically speaking, even I do not think going straight into an NP Program and then job is ideal without nursing experience. Going from the student role to floor nursing taught me that there is an extraordinary learning curve to be a good nurse, no matter how wonderful your grades were in school. But I was asking to get a feel for others' opinions on that matter. Thanks for sharing! Since I don't have a definite end goal (although palliative care and/or hospice are definitely on my radar), NP would certainly not be the way to go at this point in my journey. Maybe one day when I've got both feet into clinical practice and know where my "niche" is. Also, perhaps not!
Having a few children has taught me that sometimes life laughs at our best-laid plans, anyway ?
Please send me my medal. You are all over the map with your career aspirations. You have chosen to raise your kids, over nursing. You have decided not to return to work.. for another year and a half. My only idea to remain active, would be a part time home care job.
Hi all!
Currently expecting my fourth child in September. I have 3 aged 6 and under. Finished my RN-to-BSN online last year, but I didn't work until one year after finishing my RN degree (my youngest was born one week after graduation, so I stayed home with her until she was a year old). I worked June to Sept last year but I didn't make it off of orientation before having to quit - childcare issues, plus the unit I worked for gave me a bad orientation and the nurse:pt ratio was unsafe for the acuity level (stepdown telemetry 6:1 - even 7:1 for a few weeks!). I felt that my license was on the line and wasn't willing to take that risk basically. I left the hospital on good terms and have since been considered for employment there again, but decided it best to wait due to the pregnancy.
Basically, I'm looking for some advice. My license doesn't need renewal until May of next year, but I'm not sure if the board of nursing is aware of my 4 months of working. Or does orientation not count towards working hours?
Anyway, the baby is due this September and I tend to want to stay home with babies for at least the first year. What can I do to stay in the game? I'll have to do some refresher courses, it seems, before I go back to work.
I have considered post-graduate studies because I tend to be a chronic degree seeker... I have been in college for about 8 or 9 academic years, all told (a BA in anthropology). I like to learn and I'm very detail-oriented. I don't think I would be a good academic teacher, but I do like teaching patients.
Is the thought of working towards an NP too far-fetched? I know this much from the work experience I do have (even before nursing school - I worked as a CNA): I tend strongly towards end of life care, and I connect particularly well with oncology patients. I also appreciate the knowledge and critical thinking in cardiac nursing. Basically, anything that requires a challenge, or anything that involves delicate existential holistic care. I am very detail-oriented and I tend to do things "by the books" - I find it very stressful when I see people cutting corners because I think of all the potential implications for the patient (part of the reason I couldn't really handle the unit I was on as a fresh new grad).
The reason why I'm asking about this is because I really miss the world of nursing. I love raising my children but I know that nursing is my secondary calling and I'm anticipating getting back out there one of these days!
If you made it this far into my post, you deserve a medal or something ?
Looking forward to hearing any thoughts or recommendations!
You said it yourself in your post. Nursing is your SECOND calling. You have decided to bring 4 more humans into the world (some people have less children BECAUSE they love children:) and your commitment to them must be paramount. I worked with a nurse who worked weekends only while her husband could be at home until her kids were out of high school. It was just enough experience for her to stay fresh. However, you have created a problem for yourself by taking years off and here you are with soon to be 4 kids and no experience. I've seen many marriages go down the tubes because of the stress of trying to do TWO careers at once. In fact, towards the end of my career, I could see them coming! You have a super difficult job already.
Congratulations on your growing family! I think your priorities are in the right place. I love that you recognize how babies are only little once and want to spend precious time with your children.
Once your baby is at an age where you're comfortable being apart, maybe you could start looking for PRN weekend home health or hospice opportunities if you really want to keep your clinical nursing career alive. You could even do something as simple as volunteering in a community clinic a few hours a month to feel clinically active.
Because you like learning, and you enjoy teaching patients, what about using this year to study for a specialized certification? (ie certified diabetes educator, oncology educator, lactation consultant) You could do any needed clinical hours towards your certification of choice once your baby is older. By making yourself a subject matter expert in a patient teaching field, you may find a family-friendly nursing path where it won't matter that you haven't spent years working in the hospital. You also mentioned connecting well with oncology patients, so you could find a job in the oncology field where your clinical knowledge is helpful but not required, like a patient and family support role.
Please send me my medal. You are all over the map with your career aspirations. You have chosen to raise your kids, over nursing. You have decided not to return to work.. for another year and a half. My only idea to remain active, would be a part time home care job.
I worked in a nursing home as my first job, and when my youngest was 16 months old my husband died of cancer. I weaned my baby right before her second birthday and started picking up a shift or two a week at that nursing home.
Then, the nursing home closed. For about a year I did one or two shifts a week for a home care company taking care of a couple of different trach patients.
Then the job market heated up and I was able to get a two-day a week swing shift acute care job. That got me into the door of hospital nursing without totally draining my time with my family.
That led to other opportunities and eventually I gravitated towards ER nursing. I have had a rich and varied career and I'm a pretty good nurse after all that.
Once the baby is old enough that you feel comfortable, get a part-time nursing job of any type, with the hours that work for you. See where that leads you. When the job market is brisk is the time to switch specialties. Doors will open for you, you sound like an emotionally balanced person.
I advise against going gung ho until your youngest is in school, based on the parenting philosophy you have. Stop having children if you are serious about committing to your nursing career.
Not everyone needs to have a badass nursing career. Just do something to keep it alive until you are ready to devote more energy to it.
Signed, Mother of 6
This is what I was going to say too. I am the mother of one child, and I mostly stayed home when he was little. Believe me, I know it seems LONG when they are little, but honestly, in the scheme of your life, it isn’t. If you want to just chill and raise the children now, I wouldn’t worry too much about your career. The jobs will be there once your kids are in school and it’ll be MUCH easier to thrive in them if you aren’t juggling babysitting every single day.
Congrats on the new baby coming soon! Wow four little ones! ? I agree it's silly to start a FNP program at this point in time. I've heard FNP School is hard and time consuming. Finding a good FNP job isn't easy and most FNP graduates will have experience under their belt and be hired first anyway. Either find a PRN or part time job working when your husband is off (or whatever childcare arrangement you have) or just stay home and take care of your babies and enjoy them. You'll have plenty of time for your career when they're older. I took ten years off after having three kids and had no trouble finding a job and was offered different hospital positions as well. However, It will be easier if you can just get your foot in the door and work somewhere at least PRN in the long run. You can have everything you want maybe but not all at once. Your kids need you the most right now so and they grow up super fast. Work part time until they're older if you can and worry about the rest later. You'll know when the time is right to maybe go back to school. You don't need all the answers right this min. Best of luck to you!
Once the baby is old enough that you feel comfortable, get a part-time nursing job of any type, with the hours that work for you. See where that leads you. When the job market is brisk is the time to switch specialties. Doors will open for you, you sound like an emotionally balanced person.
I advise against going gung ho until your youngest is in school, based on the parenting philosophy you have. Stop having children if you are serious about committing to your nursing career.
Not everyone needs to have a badass nursing career. Just do something to keep it alive until you are ready to devote more energy to it.
Signed, Mother of 6
Emergent hit the nail on the head. I'd advise to get a part time nursing position as soon as you can to keep your head in the nursing game, but also allow you the family time you prioritize. I would not advise grad school for awhile. You haven't even had much nursing experience yet.
I really do not think we can "have it all" (graduate degree, intense career, several children to which we devote lots of time/attention). If your kids are your priority, that's great. But if you're not going to be able to devote a lot of time/attention to your career, the grad degree is not worth the time and $$$.
On 5/31/2021 at 2:45 PM, Closed Account 12345 said:
Congratulations on your growing family! I think your priorities are in the right place. I love that you recognize how babies are only little once and want to spend precious time with your children.
Once your baby is at an age where you're comfortable being apart, maybe you could start looking for PRN weekend home health or hospice opportunities if you really want to keep your clinical nursing career alive. You could even do something as simple as volunteering in a community clinic a few hours a month to feel clinically active.
Because you like learning, and you enjoy teaching patients, what about using this year to study for a specialized certification? (ie certified diabetes educator, oncology educator, lactation consultant) You could do any needed clinical hours towards your certification of choice once your baby is older. By making yourself a subject matter expert in a patient teaching field, you may find a family-friendly nursing path where it won't matter that you haven't spent years working in the hospital. You also mentioned connecting well with oncology patients, so you could find a job in the oncology field where your clinical knowledge is helpful but not required, like a patient and family support role.
This is honestly the most helpful comment yet. Thank you for affirming my decisions and giving me some practical advice; that's what I was hoping to find by posting here. I think my only hesitation regarding specialized certifications would be that although I've narrowed my interests down quite a lot I could still mistakenly choose the wrong specialization. I'm going to do some digging into this to further consider my options. I may even be able to find some time this Summer to volunteer in some of these areas. Food for thought. Thank you again!
Congrats on the new baby coming soon! Wow four little ones! ? I agree it's silly to start a FNP program at this point in time. I've heard FNP School is hard and time consuming. Finding a good FNP job isn't easy and most FNP graduates will have experience under their belt and be hired first anyway. Either find a PRN or part time job working when your husband is off (or whatever childcare arrangement you have) or just stay home and take care of your babies and enjoy them. You'll have plenty of time for your career when they're older. I took ten years off after having three kids and had no trouble finding a job and was offered different hospital positions as well. However, It will be easier if you can just get your foot in the door and work somewhere at least PRN in the long run. You can have everything you want maybe but not all at once. Your kids need you the most right now so and they grow up super fast. Work part time until they're older if you can and worry about the rest later. You'll know when the time is right to maybe go back to school. You don't need all the answers right this min. Best of luck to you!
How can you read my mind?! One of my toxic traits is wanting all the answers right this min. Haha. Thank you for your balanced perspective on this issue. I'm so glad to hear that you took time off for your children! That's how parents create the best future for the world - putting in the hard work to raise them the best we can ? Thank you for your services as both a parent and as a healthcare worker! I'm going to tuck that thought into my memory file when I start to worry about whether or not I'll be hire-able in the future. Even if I have trouble, a little bit of volunteer work and refresher courses will make me hire-able again. That's part of the beauty (and tragedy, I suppose) of the field - the system always needs us. Thanks again
JKL33
7,043 Posts
There are programs that accept people without any nursing experience. My personal opinion is that nurse-provider education is not appropriate for those without working experience (and barely then; individual exceptions). Others will disagree. It also isn't a choice I would make with the assumption that one can readily call up the local place and probably get a job after graduating as an NP. All this nursing and provider shortage talk you hear about is way more nuanced than it is usually made to sound.
Again, personal opinion but I think you do need to get some kind of working experience 1) in order to help inform your decision-making before spending more money on degree acquisition and 2) to make you a more viable candidate to successfully achieve your long-term goal once you figure out what it is. Working toward a nurse practitioner degree isn't far-fetched if you have a solid plan, but I personally think it's a less viable idea if it's more a way to bide your time. I would be concerned about becoming employed as a nurse provider with almost non-existent nursing experience.
Enjoy your family ~