Absolutely nobody around me wants me to be a nurse. I am currently a Realtor and everyone thinks I should stick with it. I HATE REAL ESTATE! You don't know where the next check is coming from, it is SO expensive to get started and keep going, I have to work from home so I feel like I am always working, it is cut-throat, greedy and most importantly, I get no satisfaction from it.
I have wanted to be a nurse for three years now and was suppose to start LPN school last fall, but I got pregnant and the school requested me to not start b/c the baby was due in the middle of the program. That worked out b/c he ended up a preemie. But they saved my spot for this year.
I have had to do everything secretly. My financial aid, I am studying up on A&P, I even have a second job to carry me through paying off the credit I had to use for real estate so that I can use that credit for books and such.
Did anyone here ever have to go up against anyone to become a nurse? I really want this, but I don't know how to handle it. When you are doing something as tough as nursing school, you need support. No matter what I am going to school...that is one thing I am sure of.
Specializes in Gen Surg, Peds, family med, geriatrics.
Heavens YES! My parents for one...they couldn't understand why I wanted to do such a "disgusting" job. (dressings and all :rotfl: ) My friends too...they thought I was too "nice" to be a good nurse.
Well, I showed them all...I've been a nurse for 20 years and I'm darned good at it too.
My mother wanted me to be a doctor...eventually settling for the chance that as a nurse, I could MARRY a doc...LOL!
Dad wanted me to be the next Barbara Walters and go into journalism.
Both of them thought I was too smart to be a nurse and thought I was selling myself short...and were very vocal to everyone about it. .
Its sad when our parents can't just support us. Some parents just cannot accept the successes of their kids...its never enough. This is how mine were. If I got a B it should have been an A.
Neither of those careers were online with our family finances...but somehow they thought I could scholarship through it all?? Did they think I'd find a secret benefactor...win the lottery...etc...LOL?
I chose a helping profession, a flexible career with decent income, reasonable in cost and time, where I could workstudy in the hospital to help support myself. A smart choice IMO.
But I never heard a positive from my family...altho whenever they were sick they were on the phone with me.
When I was in high school (over 30 years ago) the guidance counselors (well-intended albeit misguided) discouraged me from pursuing nursing school because I struggled with math concepts. Being young and impressionable, I took their advice and became a graphic designer for 20 years.
Three years ago, after becoming allergic to printing chemicals, I enrolled in massage school. After over two years in the field, I realize I want more, so I looked at nursing again.
THIS time, my boyfriend (a recent nursing graduate and my biggest supporter) encouraged me -- he insists that I AM smart enough to do this, he was 52 when he graduated. My daughters are very happy for me. My sisters, however, think I'm too old at 47 to start anything new and so demanding.
I'm taking a math prerequisite this summer AND PASSING!!! And am looking forward to a full time schedule with more prerequisites in the fall. I decided on an ADN program that prepares me for the NCLEX-RN. Once I'm in the field, I'll continue for my BSN and beyond if necessary to reach my goals. Who says I'm too old to keep learning? Not me!!! :chuckle
Yes, uh, pretty much everyone in my life tried to talk me out of it, mostly because I already had a college degree when I decided to go to nursing school, so they thought I was wasting my time. Friends, family members, my parents, coworkers (who were nurses, I was working as a nursing assistant) tried very hard to talk me out of it. I'm so glad I didn't listen to them!
When I was in high school (over 30 years ago) the guidance counselors (well-intended albeit misguided) discouraged me from pursuing nursing school because I struggled with math concepts. Being young and impressionable, I took their advice and became a graphic designer for 20 years.
Three years ago, after becoming allergic to printing chemicals, I enrolled in massage school. After over two years in the field, I realize I want more, so I looked at nursing again.
THIS time, my boyfriend (a recent nursing graduate and my biggest supporter) encouraged me -- he insists that I AM smart enough to do this, he was 52 when he graduated. My daughters are very happy for me. My sisters, however, think I'm too old at 47 to start anything new and so demanding.
I'm taking a math prerequisite this summer AND PASSING!!! And am looking forward to a full time schedule with more prerequisites in the fall. I decided on an ADN program that prepares me for the NCLEX-RN. Once I'm in the field, I'll continue for my BSN and beyond if necessary to reach my goals. Who says I'm too old to keep learning? Not me!!! :chuckle
Peace,
Georgette
Good for you, Georgette. Nobody is ever too old to go after what they want, especially somebody who is only 47. Congrats!
If you really want to do nursing why don't you go for it? There are many second and third career nurses. Nursing school isn't just for the fresh out of high school anymore. The average age of nurses today is 48, (that's how old I will be when I graduate from nursing school) and I suspect that as the population ages so will the nurses so that average age may go up. If memory seves me right, the oldest poster here who said she was starting nursing school was 58.
Many people have degrees in something that they no longer use. I went back to college the first time (at age 29) to get a degree in Child Development and the second time to pursue Journalism. Now that my head is on straight I am taking my pre-reqs for nursing and chiding myself for not having started them sooner. But when I turn 48 I will be a nurse instead of the housewife with no future. I will have a career that will take me anywhere.
I took anatomy so long ago that it is not accepted and I am taking it again. I'm glad to have some foreknowledge of such a difficult subject so that not all of the material is new. Sure I"ve made some mistakes with decisions in my life but I'm a plodder so I will just keep plodding along and eventually I will get there. And when I do get there that will be the beginning of a whole new journey. :)
My mother is very bright and never graduated from college. I keep trying to encourage her to go back, as sometimes she seems troubled by the fact that she never finished. I keep getting the "I'm too old" speech. She's only 52! In only a couple of years she can her degree-- time will pass either way.
When I graduated from high school 19 years ago (yikes!), everyone encouraged me to be an engineer. After all, "You're so good at science and math!" Deep down, I really wanted to go into medicine, but I didn't stand up for myself. Long story short, engineering was a disaster! I hated it and didn't do well at all. I took some time off from school, with the intention of going back. But, love, marriage, and later, babies got in the way (but I wouldn't trade a minute of it!)
After my 3rd child was born, I started to consider nursing. My dh thought I was crazy...Why would I want to touch people?!?! LOL. But, one of the girls I worked with said to me, "You have to do what will make you happy." For some reason, it really hit home, and within a week I enrolled in pre-reqs. I start my ADN program (finally) on 8/22.
Now, I've had those who don't understand. Some can't believe I'd want to do something so gross, and my personal favorite, that I am "too smart" to be a nurse, why not a doctor. But, the ones I hang on to are the comments of "Wow, I could SO see you as a nurse, I think you'll be great."
So, all of that being said...You have to do what will make you happy. I spent 15 years in a career I hated because I made good money. Now I have to do what I feel I was meant to do. And if you feel that way you should to.
Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.
My mother is very bright and never graduated from college. I keep trying to encourage her to go back, as sometimes she seems troubled by the fact that she never finished. I keep getting the "I'm too old" speech. She's only 52! In only a couple of years she can her degree-- time will pass either way.
I applaud you for going after what you want.
Thank you ali. I figured I might as well go where my heart was leading me. I hope your mother sees the light. 52 is really just the beginning of your second life.
And your other post too...
Good for you, Georgette. Nobody is ever too old to go after what they want, especially somebody who is only 47. Congrats!
Wow this posting is going to make so many here feel so much better!
That's so funny that you ask... just today I went to talk to a counsler with the Illinois Employment training center. They can possibly help me with tuition. She was very negative about me going to school for LPN and said it was highly competitive, and I would have to make straight A's all throughout school etc. She tryed to convince me to be a surg tech or a medical assistant. Even family members and friends say I shouldn't go through with it because... I wasn't the smartest in school. I have my CNA & PTA now, and worked in a hospital and nursing facility and it just all comes so natural to me. So Im still going to try my best to get through school even if I need a tutor or have to take a class over now and then (HOPE NOT) and show them all that I did it! Then take the bridge to R.N.
laurasc
306 Posts
Heavens YES! My parents for one...they couldn't understand why I wanted to do such a "disgusting" job. (dressings and all :rotfl: ) My friends too...they thought I was too "nice" to be a good nurse.
Well, I showed them all...I've been a nurse for 20 years and I'm darned good at it too.
Follow your dreams...you won't be disappointed.