Crossroads While Young; Help Needed!!!

[TheLiberation, ASN, BSN, RN]

Hello there fellow nurses!

I'm a young 23 year old RN, 4 years of LPN before me with almost 1 year of med surg tele heart failure experience on an extremely busy floor. I graduated with my associate RN and will be completing a 1.5 year program to finish out my BSN at a university. I am currently still living at home with my mother who is a fellow nurse.

Though nowhere near experienced in the nuances of life and all that it brings, I have found myself approaching what can only be described as my quarter life crisis.

My dream so far has been to finish out my BSN and move away to somewhere like Texas or the like and turn a new chapter in my life. Several of my significant friends are getting more serious in their relationships or are moving away as well, while I have been single for almost 4 years. The only tie downs I have are my family, 2 of which are aging grandparents that I do not feel completely at peace with them having to be cared for my father who has a new family of his own and my aunt who has a demanding marriage. I also have a mother who may option to move closer to me if I move away as she is also not tied down by anything except a few properties.

I love nursing, 100%, but lately have found myself wanting to broaden by horizons to other fields of possible interest.

Though I'm sure no one can answer the question of "what is my passion?" except for myself, I wanted to get a little bit of advice from some of you regarding my step by step plan.

Right now I will start my BSN program at the end of August ending it sometime in December of 2017. If I am still aiming to leave my state, I would desperately love to get at least a year of ICU experience while still working within my hospital down here. Getting into ICU from tele I'm sure can be difficult, with may choosing to move up to IMCU and then further themselves to ICU later on. Originally I fell in love with cardiac ICU and though I still am, I would like to be approached various diagnoses and conditions and have possibly settled to attempt to get into medical or surgical ICU.

Can anyone tell me if my reasoning is wrong? Should I leave my comfortable but stressful floor in order to further myself (if even possible) into ICU only to uproot myself a year or so later? Would getting ICU experience benefit me if I move somewhere like Texas? Am I taking on too much by starting school again (all online) AND trying to move to a different unit & acuity?

Any opinion or outlook would be beneficial. Even if you don't agree.

Thanks!

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

If you want to make a big move then now, while you are young, single, no kids is the best time to do it. Life has a tendency to get in the way. Soon, you will find someone, get married, kids, and a house. By then it become extremely difficult to make a big move. Husband has a good job and doesn't want to move. Kids develop friendships and don't want to leave them or their school. Then there is the hassle of selling a house and moving all of you accumulated "stuff" cross-country. It is easier if you had no ties to your current location and pack all your things in your car instead of a huge moving van.