Career Change-confused!!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hello all,

I just turned 46 and I have been working as a Legal Secretary since 1998. I just recently received my NCCP (North Carolina Certified Paralegal) Certificate. Not finding any jobs, although I have tons of legal experience, they always find a way to say you're not the right fit. But, I'm not bitter about that. I have been wanting to change my career to the medical field since 2008! Lately, not sure if it's an age thing or my calling is calling me! I have spent the last year at a LTC facility visiting my father who has dementia. I have really grown, my desire to be a nurse has grown being there everyday. My question is do you think it's crazy to jump out there and quit my job, take out student loans so that I can attend the RN program....alllll programs are day only classes. I've talked to two nurses that did that and they are fine! I was all geared up to do it, but I let fear enter my thoughts :-(. All I know is 20+ years is a long time to sit at a desk (although I make decent money) and do nothing all day! I'm in commercial real estate and right now, it's slow! well it's always a little slow for me!

Next question, do you think attending a hospital that offers RN classes or a community college is best? I'm leaning towards the hospital..fingers crossed that I get accepted.

Thank you!

There are very, very few hospital based RN programs left in this country. I would advise you to investigate the degree pathways available in your area AND shadow a nurse for a full 12 hour shift. If they don't sit down /eat/ pee- then neither do you. THEN decide if nursing is something you want to pursue.

There is a hospital based program in my area that with 100% job placement. There is also an accelerated BSN program that branched off from one of our other hospital based programs. At one time, we had three hospital based programs! There are 3 really good community colleges in my area. One really good university that offers undergrad and graduate RN degrees. I don't think I need to shadow a nurse, I've been in the hospital with my father around the clock several times and am at the facility where is lives three time a day 7 days a week! I have a clear understanding of what a nurse may encounter. Sure there are things I don't know, but who knows and sees everything in one day! Each day will be different and challenging.

Thank you for your input.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
thank you - had not noticed.

You ladies are tough already!! I can only imagine how a more experienced nurse will treat her newbie RN on her first try on the floor....whew!!:shy:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, Med-surg.

Another vote for "shadow a nurse before you commit."

Nobody is arguing that you haven't seen what nurses do for your father, or haven't done plenty of CNA care or assisted with ADLs, and that is certainly a part of nursing (on some shifts, a HUGE part of nursing). But there are other things you don't, can't see as a patient's family member or even a patient, tasks that are entirely behind the scenes, as well as structural things that are invisible unless you are working in the role (like what patient ratios are really like, the hours and hours of charting, and the inevitable non-patient-care duties like stocking, audits, supervising unlicensed personnel, and continuing education).

It's really easy to say from the perspective of a family member who has hours to devote to a single patient you know and love that you're going to carry your enthusiasm and patience to the career and love it, and maybe you will! But those nurses who you say just don't talk to your father the right way? They are doing SO MUCH MORE than you can see while you're interacting with them, including assessing your father's health silently and caring for somewhere between 3 and 20+ other patients, depending on the setting. The most patient people in the world can be pushed to the breaking point by understaffing, overwork, bad management, and difficult patients- all of which are rife in healthcare. And sometimes what you think of as "the right way" to speak to a patient might be the WRONG way to speak to that patient- not all patients will be your father or his friends. Some will be very nice. Others will be difficult or downright nasty. Some will be legitimately abusive (rare is the experienced nurse who hasn't been threatened or assaulted, sometimes badly, by patients or patient family). Rarely will you have as much time as you'd like to spend with the nice ones, or the perfect words to soothe the nasty ones. Sometimes, despite giving it your all for twelve hours straight, you will know that you've fallen short of your own and your patients' expectations.

None of this is to say that after shadowing you won't still be enthusiastic about nursing as a career change, but it seems silly *not* to spend 12 hours to determine whether or not a field is for you before you invest years and thousands of dollars in it. Listen to experienced nurses when they tell you that enthusiasm for bedside care of a parent is a very good start towards determining interest in healthcare, but that there's more you don't know, that you should, before you make this leap.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
There is a hospital based program in my area that with 100% job placement. There is also an accelerated BSN program that branched off from one of our other hospital based programs. At one time, we had three hospital based programs! There are 3 really good community colleges in my area. One really good university that offers undergrad and graduate RN degrees. I don't think I need to shadow a nurse, I've been in the hospital with my father around the clock several times and am at the facility where is lives three time a day 7 days a week! I have a clear understanding of what a nurse may encounter. Sure there are things I don't know, but who knows and sees everything in one day! Each day will be different and challenging.

Thank you for your input.

Before my dad died he spent 8 weeks in the hospital>rehab>hosp cycle. I spent long days with him as well. As an RN I was paying close attention to his care as well as the work environments out of curiosity. The jobs didn't look difficult. They certainly appeared to be jobs I could do, at both acute and rehab, with my years of RN experience and having a pretty good idea of what I was looking at.

But I would be a complete foolish ass if I went off of appearances and arrogant beyond all get out if I believed I was getting an accurate picture of walking in their shoes. It would invalidate pretty much every post made on this site about the difficulties and challenges that floor nurses face.

You may or may not be successful and enjoying the patient interaction and atmosphere are positives but you are taking a monumental financial and self esteem risk to make the plunge in middle age without realistically observing the responsibilities and working conditions. Your view from the sidelines is only superficial but I get the impression you need to be right and validated more than informed.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Before my dad died he spent 8 weeks in the hospital>rehab>hosp cycle. I spent long days with him as well. As an RN I was paying close attention to his care as well as the work environments out of curiosity. The jobs didn't look difficult. They certainly appeared to be jobs I could do, at both acute and rehab, with my years of RN experience and having a pretty good idea of what I was looking at.

But I would be a complete foolish ass if I went off of appearances and arrogant beyond all get out if I believed I was getting an accurate picture of walking in their shoes. It would invalidate pretty much every post made on this site about the difficulties and challenges that floor nurses face.

You may or may not be successful and enjoying the patient interaction and atmosphere are positives but you are taking a monumental financial and self esteem risk to make the plunge in middle age without realistically observing the responsibilities and working conditions. Your view from the sidelines is only superficial but I get the impression you need to be right and validated more than informed.

Amen! Very well expressed.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
You may have heard the term, nurses eat their young. Don't let some of these other comments discourage you. Nursing is a very rewarding career, it takes a lot of sacrifice to get there. I truly wish you good luck.

YES!!!! I see that! I'm being eaten alive already!!! LOL. Yes, it is a very rewarding career!

Thank you!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
YES!!!! I see that! I'm being eaten alive already!!! LOL. Yes, it is a very rewarding career!

Thank you!!

I for one am sorry that I have wasted my time attempting to give you some sound advice and also in urging you to observe the law that protects the title of nurse. It is very apparent that you do not care for any advice that does not agree with your pre-conceived notions.

And it's not just me. Lots of folks have spent time & energy offering advice and making suggestions, none of which you appear to be listening to. I'm not really sure why you posted in the first place.

I really do wish that you would show me a post where you have been "eaten alive." Having that attitude after all of the constructive responses that you have received is very disappointing.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Another vote for "shadow a nurse before you commit."

Nobody is arguing that you haven't seen what nurses do for your father, or haven't done plenty of CNA care or assisted with ADLs, and that is certainly a part of nursing (on some shifts, a HUGE part of nursing). But there are other things you don't, can't see as a patient's family member or even a patient, tasks that are entirely behind the scenes, as well as structural things that are invisible unless you are working in the role (like what patient ratios are really like, the hours and hours of charting, and the inevitable non-patient-care duties like stocking, audits, supervising unlicensed personnel, and continuing education).

It's really easy to say from the perspective of a family member who has hours to devote to a single patient you know and love that you're going to carry your enthusiasm and patience to the career and love it, and maybe you will! But those nurses who you say just don't talk to your father the right way? They are doing SO MUCH MORE than you can see while you're interacting with them, including assessing your father's health silently and caring for somewhere between 3 and 20+ other patients, depending on the setting. The most patient people in the world can be pushed to the breaking point by understaffing, overwork, bad management, and difficult patients- all of which are rife in healthcare. And sometimes what you think of as "the right way" to speak to a patient might be the WRONG way to speak to that patient- not all patients will be your father or his friends. Some will be very nice. Others will be difficult or downright nasty. Some will be legitimately abusive (rare is the experienced nurse who hasn't been threatened or assaulted, sometimes badly, by patients or patient family). Rarely will you have as much time as you'd like to spend with the nice ones, or the perfect words to soothe the nasty ones. Sometimes, despite giving it your all for twelve hours straight, you will know that you've fallen short of your own and your patients' expectations.

None of this is to say that after shadowing you won't still be enthusiastic about nursing as a career change, but it seems silly *not* to spend 12 hours to determine whether or not a field is for you before you invest years and thousands of dollars in it. Listen to experienced nurses when they tell you that enthusiasm for bedside care of a parent is a very good start towards determining interest in healthcare, but that there's more you don't know, that you should, before you make this leap.

Emmy27,BSN,RN

Did you shadow a nurse before you made your career decision? Or did you follow your innate calling? And I didn't just decide to this because my father is in a nursing home. This is something that I have been desiring to do for a long time. Being in the position I am in at this point in my life is what is pushing me harder to follow that dream. And I am quite aware that there are a million things that I do not see, there are a million things that an average nurse or one who is just starting out will not see until they have done this for years and there will still be a million things that will be discovered and learned.

And I don't give a CRAP how short staffed a shift is you should NEVER speak to ANYONE the way I have witnessed nurses speaking not only to my father but to other patients! You should know how to deal with someone in a kind manner no matter WHAT is going on in your shift. And if you can't then maybe you're in the wrong profession. These nursing homes are dealing with a lot of different illnesses and every patient with Alzheimer's/Dementia is different. They no longer comprehend things the way a normal person does. They should ALWAYS be treated with compassion. Not just them, but all patients.

The right way” may be the WRONG way…..no she needs to understand that saying things a certain way confuses him. You have to explain things to him like he's 5! You can't speak to him like NO MR. ___ COME OUT OF THERE THAT IS NOT YOUR ROOM… NO No NO,,,there is a better way to handle that!

And one particular nurse who often has to redirect my father, that I don't like her tone with him, does nothing for him medically. She's on the opposite hall. But I don't care whether she provides medical care or not, you should not speak to him or anyone else in a certain manner. Some of those employees in these nursing homes are there for a paycheck, not because they care.

And I've seen RN's!!! in ER not even know how to take off his prosthetic leg, blood flying everywhere because they can't stick him correctly for an IV, RN's!!! not even KNOW how to properly wrap his wound on his heel!!! They would put dressing on him that was going to slide right off the second he started walking! I, why would I have to tell them which dressing to use so that it would stay on his foot...

There are a lot, NOT SAYING YOU, who have this title and don't know what they are doing...simple things

What made you want to become an RN

Up Vote Up Vote ×

@aspiring_RN_ I don't know if you are aware but there is a pre-nursing section with lots of threads, articles, answers to frequently asked questions and study tips. You can find the section by clicking on students on the yellow banner at the top of AN. Many nursing programs require students to have completed a recent A&P course prior to admission into their nursing program. If you will be taking an A&P course and are looking for study tips, you can find links to help you study in the pre-nursing section.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I for one am sorry that I have wasted my time attempting to give you some sound advice and also in urging you to observe the law that protects the title of nurse. It is very apparent that you do not care for any advice that does not agree with your pre-conceived notions.

And it's not just me. Lots of folks have spent time & energy offering advice and making suggestions, none of which you appear to be listening to. I'm not really sure why you posted in the first place.

I really do wish that you would show me a post where you have been "eaten alive." Having that attitude after all of the constructive responses that you have received is very disappointing.

I appreciate your advice! No offense taken! I appreciate all advice!

What made you want to become an RN?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
@aspiring_RN_ I don't know if you are aware but there is a pre-nursing section with lots of threads, articles, answers to frequently asked questions and study tips. You can find the section by clicking on students on the yellow banner at the top of AN. Many nursing programs require students to have completed a recent A&P course prior to admission into their nursing program. If you will be taking an A&P course and are looking for study tips, you can find links to help you study in the pre-nursing section.

THANK YOU!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Before my dad died he spent 8 weeks in the hospital>rehab>hosp cycle. I spent long days with him as well. As an RN I was paying close attention to his care as well as the work environments out of curiosity. The jobs didn't look difficult. They certainly appeared to be jobs I could do, at both acute and rehab, with my years of RN experience and having a pretty good idea of what I was looking at.

But I would be a complete foolish ass if I went off of appearances and arrogant beyond all get out if I believed I was getting an accurate picture of walking in their shoes. It would invalidate pretty much every post made on this site about the difficulties and challenges that floor nurses face.

You may or may not be successful and enjoying the patient interaction and atmosphere are positives but you are taking a monumental financial and self esteem risk to make the plunge in middle age without realistically observing the responsibilities and working conditions. Your view from the sidelines is only superficial but I get the impression you need to be right and validated more than informed.

Stepping out on FAITH :-)

what made you want to become an RN?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment