Career Switchers-Any Regrets?

Hairstylingnurse · Jan 6, 2005

Hi, I have no regrets with my second career. I love nursing. I was and still am a hairdresser. I had a very successful small hair salon which I closed to go to nursing school. My lease was up and the shop was 45 minutes away from my home. I knew there was no way to juggle a busy salon, school, husband, and children. I love that I have 2 liscences, if I get burned out with one job I can do the other. My goal is to open another salon in 5 yrs. or less. I will do hair part time and nurse part time. :p

Maggie Ryan · Jan 6, 2005

Maggie
I can totally relate where you are coming from. I have up my job 1 1/2 yrs ago to take the prerequisites and also gave up my seat twice in the nursing program. I am now done with all the prerequisites and am scheduled to begin 1/18/05 the nursing courses and clinicals.
I am scared that I will not like it, wont' be able to do it or will totally mess up on compentencies. Daily I tell myself to not do it.
maybe we will both do it and love it.
good luck and let us know what you decide.
Debi

Hi Deb Thanks for replying I still am in the same situation but I went to the school yesterday to talk to the Head of Nursing and she is going to let me attend the meeting tonite on Pre- Nursing Students before I have to register for classes, actually I should have them registered today 1/6 but she says she will wait until 1/7 so I can get a feel of what it is all about tonite....I surely appreciate them doing that :wink2: You mentioned you quit your job to do your pre-req's I didn't have to do that but it was really hard to work full time and get them done that's why it took me about 6 yrs to do them cause I could only take 1 0r 2 at a time and wor take care of family ect...

Good Luck when you start school this month maybe we can keep in touch and help each other out if/ when it gets difficult.

vermonster · Jan 6, 2005

Carleigh-

Hello. I just completed my first semester of an Accelerated BSN program. Prior to this I was a high school/middle school science and math teacher for 12 years. It was definitely a scary decision to make the change but at least this far I think that it was a great change. So far it seems like good nursing involves a lot more teaching than I ever realized particularly areas like community health nursing. Also, as many other people have said the options for employment are amazing and to be honest I think that was really the catalyst for me; I just could not imagine teaching 7th and 8th grade for 20 more years at the same school-many people do this but I just knew that I needed a career that had more options. And ..I really did look at many health care careers, pt, speech language pathology, PA but ultimately nursing held the greatest number of options.

Good luck with everything. It is definitely hard to leave the paycheck but if you can find an accelerated program then you could be done in a year plus and back on the payroll.

Vermonster

Bonnie Nurse · Jan 12, 2005

That's why they call it the CON. I was a teacher before I started a program to get my BSN. There were many days when I was teaching that I thought I wasn't doing very well, that I wasn't putting forth my all, that I wasn't organized enough, objective enough, etc. ...... Since entering nursing school I've felt much better about the quality of teaching I did in my years in middle school, high school, and at the college level. Making sweep pronouncements about a student's ability at the 11th hour based on nothing is inexcusable. If I had been a supervisor in that department, I would have asked to see the documentation of how the professors had given this student guidance on how to "strengthen" her care plans. Not giving feedback devalues the assignment. It it's not worth giving feedback on, then why do it at all? I have been appalled at the lack of teaching expertise from some instructors. They fail to see themselves as facilitators; they prefer to see themselves as all powerful gatekeepers to the profession. AND it IS all about who is going to pose a potential problem for getting a very high percentage of passing students for the NCLEX. Lampoon nursing........Jeez....they need to get a life.

You are right, those politics are everywhere, just have to find a place that they are the most tolerable. Guess what nursing shcool has it's share...a lot of politics. You have to do what ever you have to do in order to be able to do what you truly love. Who knows after you get some experience maybe you can start a little business of your own, then you can control the atmosphere. A friend of mine got kicked out of nursing, she was a sweetheart, not failing but a weak average of 78-80%. They kicked her out saying her careplans were too weak from clinicals...TWO days before the end of that clinical rotation, we never get our homework back...still have not from last semester so how can you do better? They told her she could not come to lecture...she was passing and paid for those lectures. The dept. had just found out they did not do good on the boards last year so they want to improve their pass % and thought we can get rid of the weak ones, especially the ones that they are certain will NOT fight back. They would have done it to me too but I have had to learn to fight...they must see it in my eyes, I do not take no for an answer. My average was 84 in the end....a "C". One test I did not carry all the answers over to the answer sheet...they told me but would not give me the points. I told the school...they were going to go to bat for me but I thought if I pass I will let the points go...or they will get me too in clinical. Crazy isn't it? But true.
It is sad because I have learned to put my sweetness aside and be tough. I will have save it for the patients.
You too can do the same....don't get discouraged, don't let anyone or anything ever change your spirit. Figure out a way around it, there is a solution to every single problem if you just sit back and think.
Again...good luck, you will be a great nurse...and the kind I would want to take care of me if I ever end up in a hospital.
Nancy

Bonnie Nurse · Jan 12, 2005

Hello! I read your posting and could not believe the similarities! I made the exact same decision for those same reasons. Boy, looking at about 20 more years in the same school was really weighing on my mind. Ironically, I have 12 years experience and I just finished my second semester in an accelerated program also! I take it from your name "vermonster" that you might be in that state. I went to grad school there. Anyway, just wanted to tell you that I know how hard it was for you to change because I did it too! It sounds as though you've done your research on the job market.

Have a great spring semester. Feel free to email me. I'd love to chat.

Carleigh-
Hello. I just completed my first semester of an accelerated BSN program. Prior to this I was a high school/middle school science and math teacher for 12 years. It was definitely a scary decision to make the change but at least this far I think that it was a great change. So far it seems like good nursing involves a lot more teaching than I ever realized particularly areas like community health nursing. Also, as many other people have said the options for employment are amazing and to be honest I think that was really the catalyst for me; I just could not imagine teaching 7th and 8th grade for 20 more years at the same school-many people do this but I just knew that I needed a career that had more options. And ..I really did look at many health care careers, pt, speech language pathology, PA but ultimately nursing held the greatest number of options.
Good luck with everything. It is definitely hard to leave the paycheck but if you can find an accelerated program then you could be done in a year plus and back on the payroll.
Vermonster

MzKittenRN · Jan 12, 2005

maggie
i can totally relate where you are coming from. i have up my job 1 1/2 yrs ago to take the prerequisites and also gave up my seat twice in the nursing program. i am now done with all the prerequisites and am scheduled to begin 1/18/05 the nursing courses and clinicals.
i am scared that i will not like it, wont' be able to do it or will totally mess up on compentencies. daily i tell myself to not do it.
maybe we will both do it and love it.
good luck and let us know what you decide.
debi

....if i got a dollar bill for every person i told how choosing nursing as a career is the best decision, i would be rolling in extra dough.... :rolleyes: i had my degree in journalism before i decided to go back to school for nursing...i was working for a city metro newspaper as a reporter and did not find it satisfying- not satisfying my love for writing, that is....i hated the crummy assignments i received, the late beeper calls to cover a story....i felt trapped

in my own passion for writing....the working conditions was turning my love for writing into hatred, so i left. instead, i chose free-lance instead and decided to go back to school for nursing a year later because i needed something for financial stability and something more humanely gratifying.

and now, i absolutlely have no regrets being an rn....sure nursing school had its pressures, but not like the trapped pressure i felt when i was in journalism. i've had so many experiences working in the er, med-surg, and now oncology (which i absolutely love!) and supervising per-diem in a long-term care setting (i love hearing stories from the elderly)...it's great and valuable. and i still do write- i am a free-lance writer for different ent./music zines and the perks that come with that while getting paid, are just as swell (ie-free concert tickets, interviews with celebs, etc.) :cool:

nursing allows u to do other things as well.....to me it's all about stability and balance :wink2:

good luck with everything!

mzkitten

studentdeb · Jan 13, 2005

....if i got a dollar bill for every person i told how choosing nursing as a career is the best decision, i would be rolling in extra dough.... i had my degree in journalism before i decided to go back to school for nursing...i was working for a city metro newspaper as a reporter and did not find it satisfying- not satisfying my love for writing, that is....i hated the crummy assignments i received, the late beeper calls to cover a story....i felt trapped
in my own passion for writing....the working conditions was turning my love for writing into hatred, so i left. instead, i chose free-lance instead and decided to go back to school for nursing a year later because i needed something for financial stability and something more humanely gratifying.
and now, i absolutlely have no regrets being an rn....sure nursing school had its pressures, but not like the trapped pressure i felt when i was in journalism. i've had so many experiences working in the er, med-surg, and now oncology (which i absolutely love!) and supervising per-diem in a long-term care setting (i love hearing stories from the elderly)...it's great and valuable. and i still do write- i am a free-lance writer for different ent./music zines and the perks that come with that while getting paid, are just as swell (ie-free concert tickets, interviews with celebs, etc.)
nursing allows u to do other things as well.....to me it's all about stability and balance :wink2:
good luck with everything!
mzkitten

mzkitten

thanks for the input. stories like yours give me more encouragement to forge ahead even though i am deeply afraid of the unknown.

thanks again

debi

MzKittenRN · Jan 13, 2005

mzkitten
thanks for the input. stories like yours give me more encouragement to forge ahead even though i am deeply afraid of the unknown.
thanks again
debi

no prob! glad i can be insightful!

mzkitten

gerinurse10 · Jan 14, 2005

Just wanted to add my two cents. I have been a nurse for 10 years working mainly with geriatrics in homecare settings. This has been my main focus due to the fact that the scheduling was great for having children. So I have continued on and really have come to master my area of work. Well the kids are getting older, I am in an MSN program for education. I am nervous about jumping out of the position I am in, good money, flex. schedule, expertise in my given area (feels good to know what I am talking about):) . My plans are to move onto becoming a nursing instructor, but I feel like I'm starting all over. I know it is not as far as all of you changing careers but I'm still feeling some of the similar things you are. I give all of you alot of credit for switching, it takes alot of courage to jump into something like a brand new career. Best wishes to all!

Aquamarine · Jan 15, 2005

There are different ways of looking at change,

I don't ever want to be wondering what I could have done when I am old an gray...have to do it while you can. I think if you have confidence that you did well in your last career, there is a good chance that (in time) you will do well again. It is your habits, interest, values, etc. ...just used in a different setting. There is no time like the present....Good luck to you too.

jfen · Jan 19, 2005

Hi I'm in the same situation I have to make that critical decesion to quit my secure job of 10yrs (Sales Correspontent) which I cannot stand to do anymore and with a good Salary before Friday 1/7, that is my deadline and I'm so confused as to what to do whatever decision you make Best of Luck to you :wink2:

maggie,

what did you decide to do? I am in the same boat too...trying to decide if I want to leave my corporate job for nursing.

Congratulations on your decision - and Good Luck.

Aquamarine · Jan 19, 2005

Thoughts become words, words become deeds...

If you have discontent for any reason and you have experience enough to know then go with your thoughts to become a nurse. Live to your fullest potential and then you are really living. You will never be sorry and your can do any type of nursing , it does not even have to be patient oriented if you don't like it. You can get a job anywhere in the world right now. Shifts are yours to pick from, locations, 6 months here and 6 months there. you name it.

You don't want to be old and gray some day and say "I wish I would have done it then...now it is too late". Go with your gut feeling and your desire to take the chance and make an important change in your life. A step at a time, I changed from a job and a place I loved to nursing. My pay was good, I loved the place and the employees....but this is awesome. I will finish in 5 months and I am eager to start working as a nurse. I have about 15 more years to work. I said to myself one day..it is now or never! I went up to the college and it has been 3 semesters, I had not been in school in 20 yrs. I found out I had ADHD after the 2nd semester and I am still doing fantastic. I am proud of myself for the effort, if I would have failed out I still would have been proud but I was determined to make a go of this. Now it isn't easy but I am on the home stretch, I actually enjoy the lectures. I am shooting for A's this semester now that I am comfortable with everything. I will probably go on for my BA as it is something I always wanted. I will wait until I am working and get my employer to pay for the additional education.

Good Luck in your decision making...

maggie,
what did you decide to do? I am in the same boat too...trying to decide if I want to leave my corporate job for nursing.
Congratulations on your decision - and Good Luck.