I decided I wanted to become a nurse seven years ago. It was the only thing that gave my life direction. I was a high school dropout and a selfish, unmotivated twenty-year-old, and the minute someone said, "I think you'd make a great nurse" that all changed. The same person also told me that there was a dire need for nurses, especially in the rural area where they worked. It took me a long time to pull myself up by my bootstraps, raise my GPA and earn my prerequisites. I never lost sight of my goal, though. I finished one undergraduate degree in public health and worked for two years before entering a BSN program. By now, times have changed. With the financial crisis, many folks returned to school to become an R.N. because they were also told there was a need, or they needed a financially stable second career. Every time I go to a coffee shop to study there's always another nursing student from some other nursing school studying there as well. The way schools are turning out new nurses is frightening. With a few months left until I graduate, I'm terrified. Did I make a huge [twenty-thousand dollar] mistake? Yes, this is still an incredibly fulfilling path for me. But, am I needed? It seems now there is also a trend for new grads to go directly on to NP school...I'd originally hoped to continue on to become an FNP, but even that seems like a saturated field now. Not even hopefully that I'll find a job a an RN after graduation, and even if I do, it seems that new nurses are now a dime a dozen...if I wanted to make a difference in the world, I'm beginning to think I should've gone a different route. Ugh.
Specializes in Cath/EP lab, CCU, Cardiac stepdown.
Hey sometimes I get bad days and wonder why I became a nurse but sometimes I get good days and I feel like superman as a nurse. And then there are the days when things are okay and I enjoy it.
There is a shortage in where I'm working. North Dakota is hiring nurses for many specialities and there definitely is a need. It's not just that they're short in nurses, but they're also hiring nurses. Many places are short on nurses but they're simply not gonna hire even if they're short. Yay! North Dakota hires new grads by the way.
Not even hopefully that I'll find a job a an RN after graduation, and even if I do, it seems that new nurses are now a dime a dozen...if I wanted to make a difference in the world, I'm beginning to think I should've gone a different route. Ugh.
Get solid, direct patient care experience and do extremely well in school and you will likely find work. It may not be your dream job, but it is work. Nurses who put off retiring when the economy crashed are starting to retire.
BSN plus a BS in public health? I don't think you'll have much of a problem in the public health arena. I think a year of med-surg should be mandatory for everyone but I know that isn't realistic in this market.
Why? I want to become a NICU nurse and NNP. I currently work in med-surg and I feel as though very few of the skills I am learning are even remotely transferable to the newborn ICU.
Med-Surg is overrated. On many nights, I feel as though I am running around like a chicken with its head chopped off.
There's work if you look EVERYWHERE for it. I'm not even from the U.S. But I know if I was looking for a new grad position it wouldn't be in California.
Keep your mind open and be willing to relocate and I'm sure you can get that magic year of experience.
I'm so lost. I want to work as a labor delivery nurse. But don't know how to start or how long the days in college are I have kids and it would be a little hard. But how long would this process be ?
Yep - Nursing became the 'pot of gold at the end of the rainbow' somewhere around 2008 when the bottom fell out of a lot of other 'safe' careers. It's based on erroneous logic - since people always get sick, they will always need nurses. Well, that would be true if there was direct link between the demand (sick folks) and the supply of nurses.
Unfortunately however, the number of nurse jobs is actually controlled by businesses which are run by CEOs and other bean counter types. "Labor" is the largest part of any hospital budget... no surprise, unless they can get robots to deliver the care, right? So - anytime costs need to be cut, they lop off some of the labor budget... which means fewer nursing jobs. Very predictable outcome.. every time that healthcare reimbursement (profit) is threatened, nurse jobs disappear.
A dim light is appearing on the horizon. There are strong rumors that nurse staffing/skill mix is going to be included in national patient safety goals "very soon". It can't be soon enough.
Get solid, direct patient care experience and do extremely well in school and you will likely find work. It may not be your dream job, but it is work. Nurses who put off retiring when the economy crashed are starting to retire.
We have had Nurses by the handful retiring every month in the last couple months and many more following due to a pension freeze.
Do we need more nurses? Yes, because nurse to patient ratios in many facilities are borderline unsafe or downright unsafe. The only state that does have mandated ratios is California. However, the fact that ratios are unsafe doesn't mean that facilities are hiring nurses; in fact, many are posting positions that aren't intended to be filled or never posting positions that nurses leave. What that means is that there are many more applicants than positions to fill.....QUOTE]
Specializes in pediatric neurology and neurosurgery.
I'm so lost. I want to work as a labor delivery nurse. But don't know how to start or how long the days in college are I have kids and it would be a little hard. But how long would this process be ?
Depending on if you already have a degree, it can take anywhere from 3-4 years to get a nursing degree. You could probably get an Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) in 3 years, including prerequisite science courses, but many hospitals are moving toward Bachelor's prepared nursing. So you could get a BSN in about 4 years. If you already have a Bachelor's degree in something else, you could do an Accelerated BSN, which would maybe take 1.5 years. Keep in mind that accelerated programs are much more time consuming, which is an additional challenge if you have children. The very important thing to consider is what part of the country you live in. It is extremely difficult to get a Labor and Delivery job in many areas of the country. In fact, many parts of the US are so saturated with nurses that you would possibly be job searching for a long time after graduation. If you live in certain areas, such as the South, you could easily find a job after graduation but it would probably be more of a general medical hospital job, not Labor and Delivery. Those jobs are much harder to come by. I do know that the hospitals in my city only hire L&D-experienced nurses for L&D, with the exception of a couple of inner-city hospitals which hire new grads.
The decision to become a nurse should be pondered long and hard, weighing your financial situation carefully. If you don't have the means to get a nursing degree without taking out student loans, or if you live in an area with more nurses than nursing jobs, I would seriously reconsider. Best of luck to you.
RescueNinjaKy
593 Posts
Hey sometimes I get bad days and wonder why I became a nurse but sometimes I get good days and I feel like superman as a nurse. And then there are the days when things are okay and I enjoy it.
There is a shortage in where I'm working. North Dakota is hiring nurses for many specialities and there definitely is a need. It's not just that they're short in nurses, but they're also hiring nurses. Many places are short on nurses but they're simply not gonna hire even if they're short. Yay! North Dakota hires new grads by the way.