Career change to nursing.

crikephs · Jan 2, 2018

Hello all,
I have been a banker for the past 12 Years, it was my first real job. I have received many promotions and recognitions throughout my career, but I have never felt complete.
I have always wanted to work in the medical field since I was very young. Due to many personal reasons It wasn't double for me to go into it. In 2008 my son became sick with viral meningitis and encephalitis. We lived in the hospital for over 50 days and if it wasn't because of my nurses I don't know where we would be today, I knew then I wanted to be there for others during their hard times.
I couldn't afford the change in career then because insurance was so critical for my family.
I am 30 years old and will be starting my pre-reqs this spring semester and plan on obtaining my BSN in the next 5 years.
I have over 3.5 years hospital volunteer covered. Which proves to me that when I'm at the hospital it's where I want to be.
I'm scared for the change but feel that in order to truly be happy I need to do this for myself and my family. My husband has been pushing me to get started for the past couple of years, my children are now older (15,11 & 6yr).
What worries me the most is the finances, we are in the process of purchasing our first home and saving to put our kids through college.
At this point, I need to get started and worry about what's next at a later time.
----- I just needed to vent to some that may understand.

Hi Iris007,

Congratulations on your decision to switch careers! That's a big step and can be really intimidating. I am also making a career switch. I have been in Recruiting / HR for 10 years and, like you, have always been interested in the medical field but didn't have the right timing until now.

Have you done any prerequisites for the programs in your area? I worked full time while I completed my prereqs and, while crazy, it made sense for us because I was able to keep the steady source of income while working on my goals. This also was good because we could bite off little bits of $ for classes at a time instead of a major investment all at once. We also have little kiddos.

There are also lots of programs out there that do an intensive, 12-15 month program for people with bachelors degrees in other fields or that have completed the majority of prereqs outside of the school. This is the route I'm taking because it allowed me to keep working during the prereqs, keep that income going, and then I'll only actually be full-time in school for that 12-15 month period so it reduces the time that we are a single-income family. I'm not sure what area you live in, but that might be something to look into!

Good luck with everything! I'm happy to answer any questions that I can!

Iris007 · Jan 2, 2018

It's exciting to speak to those that are in the same boat.

I'm currently registered do start my pre-requisite this semester, I have done some in the past but being that they were 5 years ago I have to retake them (per my school policy).

I will continue working full time until I go into the nursing program, my school also does accelerate and traditional courses. They are planning on starting a part-time and night time program in 2019-2020. I'm thinking about considering those as they will allow for me to continue working full time, but I'm also getting financially ready if working is not an option.

We are purchasing our home and paying off all debt, hopefully leaving us with only our mortgage which we will be able to comfortably pay on one income.

I'm very excited to start this new stage in my life. It may take me longer than others to actually finish the program since I will be doing my pre-reqs part time, but that's ok.

Are you already done with your pre-reqs?

Another thing that scares me is the pay-cut I will be taking, but that's a small risk I'm willing to take.

crikephs · Jan 2, 2018

It's exciting to speak to those that are in the same boat.
I'm currently registered do start my pre-requisite this semester, I have done some in the past but being that they were 5 years ago I have to retake them (per my school policy).
I will continue working full time until I go into the nursing program, my school also does accelerate and traditional courses. They are planning on starting a part-time and night time program in 2019-2020. I'm thinking about considering those as they will allow for me to continue working full time, but I'm also getting financially ready if working is not an option.
We are purchasing our home and paying off all debt, hopefully leaving us with only our mortgage which we will be able to comfortably pay on one income.
I'm very excited to start this new stage in my life. It may take me longer than others to actually finish the program since I will be doing my pre-reqs part time, but that's ok.
Are you already done with your pre-reqs?
Another thing that scares me is the pay-cut I will be taking, but that's a small risk I'm willing to take.

Nice! Sounds like you've thought through most of the details and are forging ahead. It would be great if they had the weekend / evening program! That would certainly help with the finances. You're smart to pay off your debt ahead of time. We are working on that now as well.

I am just wrapping up my last two pre-reqs. It took me nearly 3 years to get to this point but I wasn't taking full class loads the whole time due to pregnancies / newborns :) It was actually fun to get back into the school mindset; though, I'll admit that there were times I was really antsy to just get classes over with (Philosophy comes to mind...)

It sounds like you'll be much more fulfilled moving into a role like this so the pay-cut may not be as much of an issue since you'll be going home happier on a daily basis. There are a lot of ways to really make a solid income with a BSN though. Are you looking at a particular specialty?

Iris007 · Jan 3, 2018

I'm hoping to be able to prepare as much as possible so that my family is not very much affected financially. I know it will be hard to survive under one income being that both incomes are needed to meet ends meet. I'm just hoping paying off actual debt and student loans can help me get by during nursing school.

As per specialty I have a few in mind but I'm mostly inclined to Pedi ICU/NICU or Oncology. I do understand that I may have to obtain a couple of years of experience before branching out to any specialty.

One of my concerns is working nights, my husband wakes up at 2am to go to work, we can't both we out overnight. It may take me a little longer to find a job due to not being able to leave the kids home alone. My husband gets home early so after school pick up is pretty much covered.

MiladyMalarkey, ASN, BSN · Jan 12, 2018

I enrolled in an evening program, it was a financial life saver for my family. You have some good options available & are making plans now, I'd say you absolutely will be able to do this.