desperately need advice, please help!

[christina512]

Hi everyone,

to sum things up, I just want to be sure that I am making the right decision to go back to school and become a nurse eventually. I am making a career change, I'm now an insurance agent which is something I just fell into when I was looking for a job a few years ago and came across an office that hired me, and eventually I got my license. anyways I just dont think its what I want to do for the rest of my working life. I have thought about going back to school many times, and I just hope I will be able to do it and am making the right decision in every way. I'm a single mom (4 yr old) , 30 yrs old and I do have a mental illness that I dont have many problems with anymore but it is stress related when I do. I just hope I can do this financially and emotionally and still have a life, (my daughter, family, and maybe some dating..if I ever find a decent man,lol) I've just read so much online lately making it sound so hard and it scares me. As far as the decision to go for nursing, it was a fairly quick one..although I think I would be a great one, as I am a very caring person and would love this kind of career.

besides that with the job security and financial benefits, it just seems like a great decision. (I also did start in the health field after high school training and did dental assisting for several yrs, so I have some health background)

I also worry about the hours of work once I finally do become an rn, will I have time for my daughter and a family if the hours and shifts are so crazy as I've heard?

Right now I am just stressing because I quit my job ( been at 3 yrs as an agent) and signed up for classes that start next week, I am gonna try to find a waitressing job while goin to school, maybe work 3 days a week but is this possible? I do get social security (disability) that will help but not enough to get by while in school totally.

any advice is appreciated, I know I have to make these decisions myself but any input to help would be great

thank you!

[ShannonW]

Hello!

I've never made a career change (I'm working on my first one! ), but I know how stressful figuring out what you want to be (hopefully) forever can be. Unfortunately, from what I've heard from past and present nurses, the only way to know if it's for you is to try it.

The good thing is that many of the classes you need to take to enter the nursing program (especially the BIOs) are also necessary for other things, so if you decide a few semesters in that nursing doesn't interest you, you may be able to transition to something else easily.

Several people I know who are aiming for the nursing program are actually going through the phlebotomy tech program first (it's much shorter, and not competitive), both to get a leg up when it comes to having medical experience when it comes to entering the nursing program and to get a better idea if a health-related profession if right for them. If you're out of work right now, that might be a path you might want to consider, since you could theoretically be working as a phleb tech while in nursing school.

I have no children and am not in the program yet (hoping to start Spring 2010 and still waiting for my letter), but the information meetings I attended before applying cautioned that if you have children, you'll need someone to help you out - the nursing classes are, as current students love to tell us, long and rough. Your hours as a RN can vary, and if you take a gander through the rest of the Michigan Nurses forum, kind of hard to come by right now. "They" love to tell us about the nursing shortage, but many Michigan hospitals have hiring freezes right now. Of course, nursing is booming in other parts of the country (two friends of mine moved to Arizona for nursing jobs), so if you're able to move once you graduate (or if the freezes have ended by then), you could have a bright future ahead of you!

As far as finances go, you might be able to qualify for financial aid (like grants, subsidized loans, etc). If you haven't already, fill out the FAFSA and talk to the financial aid department at school.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

[goodguyrn2010]

I believe being scared is only natural, if you were not then Id say you were staying within your comfort zone and thats never healthy when one wants to grow. I also would like to say I think your already on the right path, your here doing research, many times over Ive made mistakes in life simply by not knowing what I was getting myself into. At least your taking the time to find out if this will work for you, alot of people dont do that until their miserable.