what did you do in your former life?

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This is for all those who have changed careers....what did you do before you decided to become a nurse??? This is just to satisfy my own curiosity....I am currently working in retail and have started prereqs for a nursing program. However, I'm also considering becoming an elementary teacher...I thought if people would share their stories it might shed a little light on my own situation. Thanks....

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Specializes in Government.

I was an actor for about 2 years (nearly starved to death...it's grim out there). I have a BS in Criminal Justice so I became a juvenile probation officer which I did for 8 years. I realized a few things....criminal justice jobs are "tied to the land"....residency requirements abound and if you move you start all over again. I was getting married to someone who was in a difficult employment field and we had no idea wwere we'd end up. I took 5 years of night school classes for my pre-reqs and then went to an Accelerated BSN program. It was 20 years ago....a lot has changed now. There were only about 5 accelerated programs in the US when I needed one.

As a career changer, nursing served me very well. Wherever we moved, I always knew I had a job. When I could no longer physically do hospital nursing, my BSN allowed me to transition to a community health job which is interesting, I can do through to retirement and pays a decent wage with great benefits.

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I am have a BS degree in business. My emphasis is marketing. I once worked for Ford Motor in their marketing dept in Detroit. I hated it! I travelled alot, which was fun at first but got old. I have always been in marketing in one capacity or another. I have had great jobs. But I have kiddos now and I do not want to travel. Plus healthcare is in demand now. I figure I have always played the role of "helper" to my customers, distributors, so now I am going into nursing. Plus, I love science. I wanted to go into medicine when I was in high school, but my dad talked me out of it because "I am a girl". I feel like he believed women should marry the doctors, not be the doctors! On a side note, my dad now sees the error of his ways. He says that I am alot smarter than many of the men he knows and he should have not detered my interest in medicine.

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Specializes in Med Surg, House Manager.

I was in the US Army. Active duty from Jan 83 to Feb 93. first enlistment was Morse Code Interceptor, second was Voice Intercept operator. If I told you what I really did, I'd have to killya.... ;)

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I'm not a nurse yet (still working in school), but right now I'm a SAHM. Before I had kids I was a waitress for 10 years even though I had my AA and was a yr away from my BA in communications (the money was to good from waitressing to use my education)

Erin

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Specializes in Home Health.

I have been a medical transcriptionist for almost 8 years, and prior to that I worked as a CNA. I will be graduating from nursing school in May of 2007. There are a lot of great things about the medical transcription field and I do enjoy it a lot, but it was hard to sit still for 40 hours a week and I also feel like one day that profession will be phased out by computers, so I decided to go back. I will probably do both for a while at first.

Candice

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Specializes in floor to ICU.

a hairstylist

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I was/am a health & safety officer for a large Defense contractor. My degree is in Health Science and I'm trained as a paramedic, but I can't support the family on a medics pay. I'm hoping to start nursing school in Aug. 07.

BTW, to jollygreenRN and all the other vets, thanks for your service. I'm a former red-beret myself!:D

J

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I was a secretary.

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Specializes in LTC, MDS Cordnator, Mental Health.

Hey I owned an insurance agency, Won all the trips made Lots of money was very unhappy, I am an LPN now and have one more semester for my RN, I work in Long term care and really love it. I make a difference. I am 47 years old and my name is Diane... Tehee.

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Specializes in ICU, Oncology.
I am have a BS degree in business. My emphasis is marketing. I once worked for Ford Motor in their marketing dept in Detroit. I hated it! I travelled alot, which was fun at first but got old. I have always been in marketing in one capacity or another. I have had great jobs. But I have kiddos now and I do not want to travel. Plus healthcare is in demand now. I figure I have always played the role of "helper" to my customers, distributors, so now I am going into nursing. Plus, I love science. I wanted to go into medicine when I was in high school, but my dad talked me out of it because "I am a girl". I feel like he believed women should marry the doctors, not be the doctors! On a side note, my dad now sees the error of his ways. He says that I am alot smarter than many of the men he knows and he should have not detered my interest in medicine.

Hey HARRN2b --I'm in marketing as well! I have a BS in Biology --wanted to go into a health-related field but wasn't sure what. Ended up working for an Animal Health products company and moving into marketing. It's ok --I don't hate it--but it's definitely NOT my passion. I wish I would have chosen nursing a long time ago, but I think that I have learned a lot over the years and my life experience will help me deal with the emotional challenges involved in caring for critically ill patients.

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Specializes in Almost everywhere.

I was a waitress at a Mennonite tea and quilt room....

(I know I present myself as pretty much a dufus most of the time...but I am not making this up....)

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