Entering Nursing school but I'm having doubts & a lot of questions...

[Peaches&Dreams]

I started out my college career with the hopes of finishing grad school & getting my LPC, so that I could be a Counselor.

The job outlook as well as the pay in the location I'm in is really pretty terrible. So as someone who already has high student loan debt- I decided to not continue to grad school to a career that looks bleak.

My 2nd career direction was Nursing. I would get my fulfillment of helping people, as well as my love for science all in one (I love Micro, A&P, Chemistry--the human body in general is incredible & I love studying it & thrive academically in this area). I also think that the pay & job security seem really alluring.

However, after reading & researching....and questioning my poor nurse friends to death-- I am beginning to doubt I would be really happy.

It seems incredibly harsh to work many holidays & weekends, not just in the beginning, (& as a new nurse I absolutely would have to) but even throughout my career as a nurse, I would be constantly the one saying, "I've gotta work this holiday, sorry family can't come."

So the holidays & weekends are really making me question if I should go forward.

----->As well as the 12 hour shifts.

I'm in my mid twenties & married & do want to have kids in a year or 2. As much as I've read you can "make it work" it seems like I would miss a lot more of my newborn than I'd want to---and wouldn't even be able to get pregnant until after 2 yrs of nursing school.

So--just asking for feedback--maybe stories of similar situations/decisions.

Also--as a new grad do you have the ability of working as a part time nurse? To my understanding you cannot go PRN until you've worked 2 yrs at a hospital. But if not PRN --what about just part time nursing w/out the extra benefits that PRN offers?

Sry so long. Thanks for any input.

[adc85]

As someone who started working at age 14, the oldest in a large family that was not well-off, and who had a successful career in law prior to becoming an RN later in life, I was offended when I first read this posting. Then I re-read it, and I just had to shake my head.

So, you don't want to work on an occasional holiday, or on the weekend, or to work 12-hour shifts (even though those 12's allow you to work three days a week, and have four days off, with full benefits). Millions of people, across a broad range of occupations, work on weekends and holidays. Personally, I'd rather work a Saturday or Sunday and have time off during the week ... movies are less crowded, and so is the beach, the grocery store, and the gym. If you want a M-F, 9-5 job, then go get an MBA and take a job with a bank ... if you can get hired. No RN I know works every weekend and every holiday, unless he/she wants to. And believe me, some do. Nursing hours can be incredibly accommodating to a person with a family, but to think that you're entitled to escape any vestige of inconvenience is pretty startling.

Now comes the touchy part: you want a nursing career, but you want to have a baby "in a year or two". Well, I suggest you choose one or the other. But you won't, because you "want it all". You want a family AND a career AND you want to feel fulfilled, etc. All without working weekends or holidays. Ugh. I better stop here before I say something that some will feel is inappropriate.

I mean, really ... the words that come to mind are "prima donna". I guess it's a generational thing; your generation seems much more entitled than mine.

Anyway, I wish you luck finding that interesting, well-paying, and fulfilling health care job that allows you to work 10am to 4pm, Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday. With holidays off, and full benefits.

Geez, who peed in your cornflakes? There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with wanting a rewarding career but being unsure about having to work weekends and holidays. Every member in my family and all my friends have M-F 9-5 jobs, so if I have to work weekends/holidays that is time I cant spend with them, and they are at work when Im off. But I decided the pros of shiftwork outweighed the cons. And another thing, if she wants to have 10 kids and a fulfilling career, then by God she can! Why cant she work hard to have it all? Sounds to me like you are bitter because you are/were unable to "have it all."

I hope the OP succeeds in everything she strives for, and I wish her the best of luck. And like someone else said, she didnt ask for judgement, she asked for advice.

[BloomNurseRN, ASN, BSN, RN]

Thanks for the feedback. I do want to clarify just one point though. I really do LOVE health- maybe the medical field isn't the exactly right term but biology & chemistry- the human body (aced my A&P classes easily). I have never thrived so much academically as I do with these areas. I for sure know I have a passion & innate ability towards these areas. I'm just trying to find the right use for them. I absolutely want to help people- that is why I wanted to go into Counseling, but I do also want to be financially stable.

Again- thank you. The responses gave me more to think about.

It sounds like you definitely want to work with people and that sounds GREAT! Have you considered something else like ultrasonography (which I know others have mentioned) or radiation therapy? Those types of jobs are many times done in offices that have a more traditional schedule, including holidays off. Just throwing that out there. :)

[biotonursing]

I completely understand what you are going through. I am starting nursing school this month, at age 29. I feel conflicted because I want a family, but I won't be able to start until nursing school is over in 2 years... then I'll be dealing with starting a new job. I don't know about you, but 6 weeks is NOT enough maternity leave for me. In my current profession it would be easy to take more time off, but as a new nurse it probably won't be an option. I guess there really never is a perfect time to start a family, it just happens when it happens, but I'm a planner so it's killing me. The only advice I have is to follow your gut. Give it some help by doing some shadowing or volunteering to make sure this is the right field for you. I plan to go public health or research (which I currently work in, so I hope to have an in) to battle the hours/holiday issue, then probably on to NP school. Good luck!

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

Your last paragraph implied that working mothers don't raise their kids because they don't stay at home and they have strangers raise them. That is insulting.

And by the way, I don't have kids but when I do, I will be the one raising them, regardless of my employment status.But I do take offense at your backhanded comments against mothers who work when their kids are young. I spent time in daycare and my mom raised me while working fulltime, thank you very much.

Can you show me where I said that?

My choice was to stay home and raise my children. I wanted to see them take their first steps, hear their first words. My husband worked away from home and he wouldn't have seen them either.

I was the mother who wound up looking after my friends sick kids when they had to work.

But then you are putting words in my post that aren't there. Projecting your own feelings much?

[jeroboam]

Geez, who peed in your cornflakes? There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with wanting a rewarding career but being unsure about having to work weekends and holidays. Every member in my family and all my friends have M-F 9-5 jobs, so if I have to work weekends/holidays that is time I cant spend with them, and they are at work when Im off. But I decided the pros of shiftwork outweighed the cons. And another thing, if she wants to have 10 kids and a fulfilling career, then by God she can! Why cant she work hard to have it all? Sounds to me like you are bitter because you are/were unable to "have it all."

I hope the OP succeeds in everything she strives for, and I wish her the best of luck. And like someone else said, she didnt ask for judgement, she asked for advice.

The OP doesn't want a nursing career; she wants to be married, with kids, and have nursing as a hobby. She says so herself in the last paragraph of her post, where she inquires if it's possible to work part-time immediately out of nursing school. In my judgment (and it's "judgment", not "judgement", not that I'm passing judgment on you), that's laughable. I've been an RN now for seven years, and it's taken about that long for me to become fully competent and capable in my specialty (the operating room), as well as certified. One doesn't graduate from nursing school with enough competency to work solo on a part-time basis, and the poster will never gain enough experience to be fully capable by working part-time only.

So, NO, she won't "have it all" unless she postpones a baby, gets her BSN (she already has a degree so she likely can do an accelerated program in 14-16 months), and gets some experience under her belt. However, she already feels put out by having to postpone a baby until she graduates, not to mention her abhorrence of shift work and weekend work. This mindset is one of the reasons (not the only one, but one) that nursing doesn't get the respect that it deserves: because it's a largely female occupation with a substantial number of its workers not interested in a long-term career; their interest extends only until they're married with children. After that point, it's PRN and registry to supplement their husband's income.

Flame me all you want, but that's the truth. I think the OP is a dilettante.

[BloomNurseRN, ASN, BSN, RN]

Can we all try to keep this thread on topic for the person that posted?

(To be clear - judgement is an acceptable variant of judgment. http://i.word.com/idictionary/Judgment Let's try not to jump on spelling and stick to civil conversations, having respect for one another.)

[DidiRN]

Closed for staff review.