Career change to nursing

[tampasteve]

*I posted this is the LPN forum too, I did not know there was a student forum when I made the initial post*

I am in my late 30's and looking for a career change. I have looked at nursing and EMS in the past, but life circumstances kept me from changing careers. Recently I have been looking into changing out of IT and into nursing, specifically as an LPN. The LPN class starts in August, I am considering going to a CNA course in February that runs through April. That would allow me to get experience in a clinical setting, as at the moment I do not have any experience.

The LPN course runs 5 days a week, 7:30am-1:30pm. Would it be a good idea to work as a CNA (assuming I pass that cert.) on the off hours or should I use that time to study - or even stay at my current job (which is higher pay than a CNA) which would let me work part time. My major concern would be landing a job without experience other than what is earned in the clinical portions of the courses. Alternatively I could also volunteer a few evenings a week and keep my current job part time. But would that be too ambitious with the LPN course work?

Thank you for any advice!

[Sour Lemon]

*I posted this is the LPN forum too, I did not know there was a student forum when I made the initial post*

I am in my late 30's and looking for a career change. I have looked at nursing and EMS in the past, but life circumstances kept me from changing careers. Recently I have been looking into changing out of IT and into nursing, specifically as an LPN. The LPN class starts in August, I am considering going to a CNA course in February that runs through April. That would allow me to get experience in a clinical setting, as at the moment I do not have any experience.

The LPN course runs 5 days a week, 7:30am-1:30pm. Would it be a good idea to work as a CNA (assuming I pass that cert.) on the off hours or should I use that time to study - or even stay at my current job (which is higher pay than a CNA) which would let me work part time. My major concern would be landing a job without experience other than what is earned in the clinical portions of the courses. Alternatively I could also volunteer a few evenings a week and keep my current job part time. But would that be too ambitious with the LPN course work?

Thank you for any advice!

Keep the higher paying job. CNA experience is not nursing experience, anyway. There may be some benefit to networking, but the job market in your area will be a much bigger factor.

Make sure you know what sorts of jobs are available to LVNs in your area and how difficult or easy it is to find work as a new graduate.

[shiftingtides]

I am in my 30s an in a similar situation. Depending on how long your LPN program lasts, you may want to skip working during the program if you are able to. It can be very intense, especially if your program is at all accelerated.

I would also argue that working a few months as a CNA is an experience you might find invaluable. Sure, it isn't nursing experience per se, but it will give you a taste of the type of work, so to speak.

[tampasteve]

Thank you for the insights! The program is not really accelerated, it lasts about 15 months. Jobs seem to be available here, being Florida there is no shortage of LTC facilities. A cursory search of indeed.com seems to show other opportunities as well. I would not have to work full time as my wife earns enough to cover most of our bills; probably me working around 10-12 hours a week would cover everything needed. The CNA program would end in April and the LPN program would not start until August, so I could keep my current job and pick up a part time CNA position to gain some experience and then cutback hours at both once the LPN program started if I needed to.

I have not talked to the admissions people yet, but being as the LPN class is from 7:30am-1:30pm daily, in general does one do clinicals in the afternoon usually or are they included in those hours?