Career Change and need SERIOUS help

mybabies2000 · Jun 2, 2012

Please Please work as a CNA first in a hospital setting before putting any more money into the classes. Lot of ppl go into nursing thinking of being gloriefied job but then end up quitting.

Go for a businness degree and work in an office doing paperwork.

I know I would have done it but don't want to waste any more money..

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2012

hello to all! i am new to the site. i've been reading posts on this site from people that happened to be in the same situation i'm in. i think what i'm looking for is some great advice from ppl that are nurses and to mainly get the confidence to feel like i'm not out of my mind. here's my story...
i am currently a special ed teacher in a high school in north carolina. i have a ba in communications and a masters in special education. i have not finished my first full year of teaching and i am already wondering how in the world am i going to go through a whole year of teaching next year. i'm so ready to get out of teaching, it's not even funny. i keep telling myself and others reassure me that it's always like that the 1st year and maybe the 2nd, but it "gets better"...but no, i want out. it's not even the paperwork or the administration...those two aspects are fine...it's the everything else. while i hold up very well, inside i'm ready to just walk out. i handle my students and i get a long well with everyone, but i just feel teaching is not for me. i am now looking to get into nursing. i can do paperwork all day...so i guess i will try to do nursing administration or a director of nursing.
i guess what i really want to know is if i'm crazy for going back to school after acquiring so many school loans and having specialized in education with a masters degree. will my masters degree help me once in the nursing field even though it's not in nursing. is there any specific area of nursing i should go into being that i already have a degree that specializes in children with disabilities? i really need some direction.
i plan on attending guilford tech community college in january. i'm on the cna registry, i have a&p i (taking a&p ii in the fall), human growth and dev, and college biology. all i really need is microbiology which i can take in program. also i need to take the teas exam which scares me to death. i must take it before september '12. any suggestions or advice on anything??? whatever you can tell me specific to my situation will be greatly appreciated. i feel like i'm truly searching for my purpose in life and i just want to be happy in a career that i can do until retirement. please help.....

welcome to an! the largest online nursing community!

this can only be answered after you answer the question........why do you want to leave your profession? if you can "handle" the students, the paperwork and the administration...and you can do paperwork all day? what specifically can you no longer take? with your extensive academic career/background, i would think teas wouldn't be so intimidating after your graduate level entry exams. [color=#1122cc]guide to graduate school admissions exams

what exactly do you think nursing is? you cannot graduate nursing and "become" an administrator or director.....unless it is in a nursing home. your masters will not help you, specifically, in nursing for nursing is very different from other profession and requires the skills specifically acquired in nursing school.

as someone has pointed out.......the benefits for retirement in nursing are far inferior to those of teaching. most hospitals are not union nor will they had a retirement pension or healthcare benefits....you will be on your own. benefits, to nurses, is one of the first cuts hospitals make.

i believe you are searching for something but tell us what you are searching for so we can try to help you better. a frequent contributor to an, rubyvee, wrote about if you are thinking about nursing....read this. i wish you the best.

for those considering a career in nursing

https://allnurses.com/nursing-career-advice/those-considering-career-653061.html

NayRN · Jun 2, 2012

Funny, because I am a nurse considering becoming a teacher. Just posted a long one about some of the differences as I see them under another topic ("nursing is slavery").

I wholeheartedly agree with the others-try working as a CNA before deciding to go to nursing school.

Consider the benefits you will not be privy to once you become a nurse (unless you live in a fabled land of unions and pensions, you will be on your own)

Consider the job market and all the competition out there, because unfortunately your teaching degrees will mean almost nothing. You will be a new grad just like the 22 year old who went straight out of high school. You just might get there a little faster because you will already have some of the prereqs done.

Yes, you could eventually move into administration. After several-to-many years of bedside nursing.

I have found that as a bedside nurse I like to teach-patients, new grads, nursing students. But I don't usually have the time because I am too busy doing everything but this very important part of nursing. I have a BS in business with a minor in biology and only a couple credits to complete my BSN, so I am considering turning those into a teaching certificate to teach high school biology or health.

Good luck to you, but consider carefully before spending a bunch more money on school.

Altra, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2012

with your extensive academic career/background, i would think teas wouldn't be so intimidating after your graduate level entry exams. [color=#1122cc]guide to graduate school admissions exams

i wondered about this too.

what exactly do you think nursing is? you cannot graduate nursing and "become" an administrator or director.....unless it is in a nursing home. your masters will not help you, specifically, in nursing for nursing is very different from other profession and requires the skills specifically acquired in nursing school.

agreed!

as someone has pointed out.......the benefits for retirement in nursing are far inferior to those of teaching. most hospitals are not union nor will they had a retirement pension or healthcare benefits....you will be on your own. benefits, to nurses, is one of the first cuts hospitals make.

i agree that benefits in public-sector jobs (public education, government, etc) are unmatched in the private sector. unionization in nursing varies widely by region. but i cannot agree that there are no pensions or healthcare benefits for nurses. i have had a defined benefit pension in addition to a 401(k)/403(b) in all 3 hospitals where i have worked. in addition, i have never heard of a hospital not offering healthcare benefits to full-time employees including nurses, nor one which offered benefits to other full-time employees but excluded nurses. how would a hospital which offered these benefits to the accountant and the dietary worker but did not offer them to nurses possibly attract and hang on to nurses?

benefits sure aren't what they used to be, that is a reality. but that is the reality across the board for all industries/professions.

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2012

Hmmm....you sound very frustrated and burned out...after only one year. You mention that you are on the CNA registry, so does that mean that you have worked or are working P/T as a CNA?

You DO have quite a bit to consider. Try to break it down into what you like about your current job, and be honest with yourself. Your list might look something like this:

What I like

1. Helping SPED kids

2. Seeing my teaching efforts pay off when students "get it"

3. Working with like-minded colleagues

4. Working with parents

5. Having an organized plan to follow

6. Overcoming challenges

7. Using my degrees

You didn't specifically say what you really dislike about your position, you just stated that it's "everything else". List out what you DON'T like.

Now make a list about what draws you to nursing. Write out what you like about the profession and write out what doubts/fears you have about nursing.

Be as specific as you can while making out your lists. It is for your eyes only, so be brutally honest. When you start making your lists, you will likely run out of paper, because one idea/like/dislike will snowball into another thought. When you are done making your lists, then group each line into subcategories (i.e., 'hands-on, emotions, tasks). You will soon start to see a pattern in what your prefer and don't like.

When we are exhausted and frustrated, it's easy to let our exhaustion and emotions send us into "catastrophic thinking" and we want to just get rid of the whole ball of wax. Extracting ourselves from drowning in this mindset is key. The way to do it is to gain perspective; writing out thoughts is very helpful. Take some time to do this before considering a career change. You may just be in the wrong school/subset/culture...who knows? It helps to break down your frustrations on paper.

Good luck to you!

mstearns09 · Jun 2, 2012

I was in a similar position to you last year, however, I was forced out of my 10 year teaching position due to local, small town politics. I never thought I could be a CNA; the thought of what a CNA has to dog seemed very overwhelming and I just didn't know if I could stomach cleaning up urine and feces all day long but I was desperate to find a job and being someone who has learned to take risks, I signed up for a CNA class.

It turned out that I love it; I'm good at it and I've parlayed many of my teaching skills into my CNA job. I'm good enough at my job that I'm working on my last 3 pre-reqs to get into nursing school because I've found that I'm getting much more fulfillment out of being in nursing than I was in the classroom.

However, I think you have to seriously consider what is appealing about going into nursing versus staying in teaching. I know all too well that many people believe that teachers have it good: Supposedly having summers off and holidays off seem so wonderful. But, I'm sure you know as well as I do that many people don't understand that as a teacher, you really only get paid for 9 months worth of work and you do a year's worth of work in that time-span, too, not to mention the hours you put in outside the classroom, in-services, continuing education, etc. Continuing education and extra hours don't go away outside of education. I've had to go into work on my days off more than once because someone called in or for in-service.

My advice is this: The first year of teaching IS the worst. No one hits his or her stride in teaching until about the fifth or sixth year. Keep your CNA certification in tact; see if you can find a CNA position for the summer and go back to teaching for a 2nd year before you bail out, then decide if it's not for you.

2BRN123 · Jun 2, 2012

My first question would be / is...

How much student loan debt do you have from the undergrad and masters and are you going to be able to tack on a nursing degree and really be able to pay it all off when you're done?

CNA money isn't going to be glamorous and if you're looking at something like 4-5-600+ a month in student loans you might end up being more miserable than doing what you're doing now.

**sidebar** My grandmother was a DON, but only after finally completing a PhD, having worked for 40 years and when she was at the tender age of 61 years old.

42pines · Jun 2, 2012

Tough place to be.

On one hand do what wakes you up in the morning.

On the other hand, when you're 75 and unable to pay your student loans, they WILL take a portion of your social security and they do now.

Student loan debt is toxic.

I agree, work as a CNA for a summer or two... it might make special ed teaching look much rosier.