Career Change! Lots of questions!

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Hello, I am Joel and I am new to this forum (sorry for the long first post but I am in need of answers).

Info about me:

I am 27 years old and I have a wife with 1 child and 1 on the way so my financial responsibilities aren't going anywhere any time soon.

I live in DFW.

I am considering making a switch to nursing because I feel that by the time I am 30 I can be In a much different place financially.

I currently make about 15/hr as a carpenter. I have pretty much nothing in the way of prerequisites for nursing (except the HS diploma)

Now..on to the questions.

If i get into an LVN program Locally (which i understand is my first step)

How feasible is it for me work and attend school at the same time?

I was thinking I could work as a CNA for 3 12 hour shifts and attend school for the rest of the week.

How hard is it to become a CNA? How much money can I make starting out? right now 15/hr is not really doing it for me, but I think i could tighten my belt and go as low as 12 for the year it would take me to get my LVN

I do not want to work as a carpenter while I do this (love carpentry but It aint gonna pay the mortgage) I'd prefer to jump in and start getting experience ASAP.

I feel that I have the right temperament/intelligence/motivation for this job. I always did well in school, and I am used to being active. I waited tables for a long time before getting into construction.

I have also heard about hospital diploma plans, work/study, etc.

I would like to hear from other nurses (in my area preferably) on what you think. Any time i search about nursing online all I get is nursing schools.

Couple more things: I plan on continuing my education as far as it will take me BSN, MSN, etc..

Also: what are the distance learning options this early in the game?

Thanks in advance for any response!

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Specializes in med-surg, tele, psych, float,preop/pacu.

Joel,

First, Nursing is a very rewarding and stable career. I have been a nurse for 18 years and my husband has been a nurse for 17 years. My husband teaches at Tarrant County College.

First we would not recommend that you go LVN then RN. You really need to go straight to the RN (preferably the BSN) UTA and Texas Womens are both great programs with state tution.

You need to think about how long it is going to take you, for example how many pre requisites do you have completed? If none and you do the LVN and then 2 years to do them then 2 more getting the ADN you would have spent 5 or more years getting there. If you go straight through you could get it done in 4 with a BSN.

You need to look at what is the most efficient way to achieve your goal.

Get your pre requistes at a local community college and then transfer into a BSN program. You may find a CNA/Tech job but you may do just as well working for Home Depo or Lowes who are known to work well with students in college.

I believe Texas Health resources has a program that is sponsoring patient care techs to go to nursing school. One way to look at becoming a tech is to get your EMT at a local college. TCC's EMT program is just one semester.

Good Luck and I hope this helps.

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First, thank you for your help!

I agree that going straight for the BSN is ideal, but right now I can't afford to be a broke college student.

The problem with that layout is that it would be 4 years before I can begin work!

I was thinking as an LVN a year from now I could start working, and then go from there.

BTW LOL @ working retail! (Ironic though as I do Home Depot Installations right now!)

I do have 1 semester of Cal1 for what its worth..

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Specializes in med-surg, tele, psych, float,preop/pacu.

You would not be making any more as an LVN without any prior nurse experience than what you are making now. Consider too that a lot of bigger hospitals would prefer to hire RNs vs LVNs. Ask around Dallas area hospitals and you'd find this to be true.

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Ideally by the time I had my LVN I would have almost a year of CNA experience.

and even if I didn't make any more money than I am now, thats the key word IMO...experience....

Not trying to be impertinent, just trying to understand and make the best use of my time.

Sure I would be making the same money a year from now but I would have an LVN certification and a year of cna experience...would that not make me an ideal candidate for RN?

Not to mention I'd have a pretty good dose of my future career before spending 4 years on a bachelors..

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Specializes in Medical Progressive Care Unit.

Seriously, I would consider a community college and an associates degree in nursing, definitely the most bang for the buck!!! You can do bachelor completion after your making money!! I also would get to know the folks in the financial aid office well, they can help you. I would start with the prereq's now while working in my present job. Talk to the other students getting started, many of them will be going for Rn as well. You can gain insight and knowledge from them. You can get a job as nursing assitant any time, I would not rush in too hard, NA is hard job and it might be good to start school and get going on prereq's and see where your at in a year!!

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Specializes in ICU.

I don't want to be negative on your plans, Joel, but you'd be much better off financially becoming a general contractor or progressing in the feild you say you love, carpentry. Jesus was a carpenter.

You could become a structural engineer or you could become an architect, if you really wanted to.

If you have a HS diploma, it will probably be four years before you are an RN. Remember, most people do all the other classes in an ADN program before they start the actual nursing school portion, which takes two years. Or, you could enroll full-time in a four-year program for a BSN but then how would your family survive?

You're 27, you have kids and a wife. You have experience doing a job you say you like. You should, in my ever-so-humble opinion, progress in that field, not nursing.

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I understand what you are saying, and i thank you for the advice.

The problem is that in the field of carpentry, there is no "I have X certification/degree therefore I deserve Y salary"

There is only an endless stream of homeowners who believe that they could do your job if they only had the time.

Also , in order for me to move up, and make more money I would have to, as you say, become a GC.

I have been down that road, and it is essentially a sales position...not for me, imo.

Again, thank you guys for all of your input

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Specializes in ICU.

So, why nursing?

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The actual LVN program itself may be a year long, but in most cases, you would need about a year of prereqs before you can get in to an LVN program.

The same is true for a two year RN program and a four years BSN program.

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