Career Advice

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Hello Fellow Nurses,

I'm needing some career advice. I've been an LPN for almost 2 yrs. Enjoy my work. I'm in my late 40's, Have 15-20 more yrs to work.

I've worked in LTC, now in psych. nursing & acute care. Am needing to decide if I really want to earn the RN or to use the MBA that I earned 8 years ago but have not used. I am good with numbers and dealing with people. However I haven't really used my MBA since getting it in '04.I am a good nurse but nursing is not my natural passion, business is. I've read on this site that LTC administrator jobs are hard to find and that it's not a good job(never able to please your boss) and to stick with nursing. I've experienced a lot of layoff's and enjoy the stability of nursing which administrator/tive positions may not have. The 2 options i see are for me to get my RN and go into travel nursing or to not earn the RN but try to find an MBA healthcare position.

Does anybody have any advice for me.? I know this is a disjointed post but would appreciate some honest feedback. I'm preparing for the LPN to RN program and I don't feel the excitement that I should be feeling. I'm practically 50, should i stick with a field that is "safe" or use my MBA. Thank you for your time & advice!

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

I think you would be extremely marketable as an RN with MBA. Several Directors in our facility have that combo.

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Specializes in Med-surge, hospice, LTC, tele, rehab.

I wouldn't see any harm in trying to find a job with your MBA. If you do find one, you may want to stick with it until retirement. If you do, keep your nursing license up each year just the same. If you get laid off in the MBA job, you could always fall back on nursing. You might even work on getting your RN online in your free time while working your MBA job as a" just in case".

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Thank you for the good advice!!

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.

Not to be a damper but a 10-year-old MBA without any related experience is not likely to provide many good opportunities. I'd be cautious about counting on that.

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Have you considered doing sales? Part of the reason that I want to travel nurse is because in my former life, I wanted a job in sales. My undergrad is in Health Care Management. During my intership in materials management, I got to talk to many sales reps. We live in a somewhat rural area here, so many of the reps came from out of town/state. Some of them were nurses! Some companies would really love to have a nurse (lpn or RN working on their sales team. We all know how great an MBA would work out in sales. Some of the reps get to do really cool stuff, too, like sit in on procedures or surgeries to see how their product is implemented.

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Hi df341,

What specific sales area are talking about? Surgical appliance(OR) sales?

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