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Discussion

Calling all RN's for Help: Do I or Don't I ???

i am in desperate need of advice and i hope you can help...i will try to be as brief as possible.

i've spent all of my adult life as a police officer. during that time i had been slowly attending community college with the plan of attending nursing school after retirement (20 years). eighteen months ago, after 15 years of dedicated service and a spotless disciplinary record, i ****** the wrong guy off, due to my affliction of female intelligence coupled with verbal ability, and was ultimately fired. i lost my salary of 65k, my health insurance, 5 weeks vacation and a huge chunk of my retirement benefits. despite the fact that i hated my job, as a result of the malevolent leadership, rampant nepotism and unchecked politics in the department, i was left completely devastated and without a plan.

since then i have focused on recovering emotionally and am now trying to develop a new career path. i have spoke with some nurses; i have been reading the boards and have read some books on nursing careers. under the old plan, with a full retirement to count on, money was never an issue. but now there is a gaping whole in my financial plan and the one area i feel completely uninformed about is the salary, benefits & career outlook for nursing in illinois, which is where i hope you may help. my plan is to finish my degree (bsn) after which i will want full-time position with benefits. after i graduate i will have 50k in student loans and 30k in credit card debt, so i need to have the best idea possible as to what my chances are for full time employment w/benefits and what i may reasonably expect to make a year. i have heard that hospitals aren't or don't want to hire full-timers to cut costs by not paying benefits. but i keep reading about the boomers who will be flooding the health care system and the great job outlook. i don't know what to believe.

to the girls (and guys too!) in the trenches... what do you think? in addition to any opinions and/or experiences you would care to share, would you please give me some hard numbers as to salaries, in different environments, with general suburb locations? another question that comes to mind: do rn's w/a bsn make more $$$ then rn's w/an adn?

thank you in advance for any and all information you would like to share.

kate

p.s. three things i've learned-

bad things happen to good people everyday; it was just my day!

everything happens for a reason!

i am exactly were i am suppose to be!

"life turns on a dime! i wonder what tomorrow is going to bring?!"

Featured Replies

Kate,

I'm not in the med field (my wife is going for her BSN and my sister is an RN going for a BSN also), but I can sympathize with your job loss. I've been laid off since last year, but I hated my job (the company, not my trade) and I'm using it as an opportunity to add to my education. Al I have to offer as a reply is that my sister told me that a BSN is pretty much considered entry-level nowadays. She said some peolpe are just getting their RN, getting a job and then having their employer pay for the BSN. My wife will be looking at a 50k loan balance for her BSN when she finishes. From what I have heard, hospitals are still looking for full timers, not really for part-time. But they always look for registry, maybe that's what some are considering as part-time. I hope you find what you are looking for..... C.H.

Get your associates, get a job, and have them pay for your bachelor's. Some places pay$0.25-$1 more for a bachelor's, many other places pay the same. Also, when getting your associate's, you can start work sooner. Depending on where in Illinois you are, you're looking at $20-27 per hour starting pay

Get your associates, get a job, and have them pay for your bachelor's. Some places pay$0.25-$1 more for a bachelor's, many other places pay the same. Also, when getting your associate's, you can start work sooner. Depending on where in Illinois you are, you're looking at $20-27 per hour starting pay

That's what I'm doing! I graduate from my ADN at a community college (read: cheaper!) in 65 days and will continue on to get my BSN once I'm employed. It can be done!

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