fresh graduate here...needs career advice

Tweety, BSN, RN · Apr 11, 2008

Sounds like a good plan, although I haven't heard of many nurses here in the USA doing that, so I'll move your post to the Filipino nurses forum.

Good luck to you. I'm a bit saddened by your post that people that don't even want to be nurses are becoming nurses, some of whom wind up here in the USA.

redranger · Apr 11, 2008

Sounds like you will fail in Nursing or be miserable in Nursing.

Either way it a no win situation for you, as far as Nursing goes.

Life is too short, So I suggest you do what ever it takes for you pursue your real dreams.

suzanne4, RN · Apr 11, 2008

Please be aware that Canada will not even look at your application for licensure until you actually take and pass the NLE. It is a strict requirement for them.

You are not a nurse yet until you have passed your boards someplace, completing the coursework in school does not permit one to call themself a nurse. And as mentioned above, if you did not want to do it in the first place, then you are not going to be happy with it in most cases.

And going into nursing in your country when there are now almost a million in school and no jobs for them, it is not a necessity. Why go for something when it is not a given that one will be able to work in the field.

You lucked out because you were able to get landed immigrant status thru your family situation, but without that, you would not be going to Canada so quickly.

You need to decide what you want to do, it is not for someone here to decide on a career move for you, but it does not sound like you will be happy as an RN.

risperdal · Apr 12, 2008

^^great advice there...really frank and straight forward, i love it :)

i know that you told me not to ask, but i'm asking anyway...just want to hear your two cents, what would be the best career shift for me should i decide to jump ship and quit nursing, putting my situation into consideration?

(it's too bad that i cant put this college degree into any good use, maybe perhaps you guys could suggest a promising course to pursue where some of my credentials could apply...)

risperdal · Apr 12, 2008

Please be aware that Canada will not even look at your application for licensure until you actually take and pass the NLE. It is a strict requirement for them.
You are not a nurse yet until you have passed your boards someplace, completing the coursework in school does not permit one to call themself a nurse. And as mentioned above, if you did not want to do it in the first place, then you are not going to be happy with it in most cases.
And going into nursing in your country when there are now almost a million in school and no jobs for them, it is not a necessity. Why go for something when it is not a given that one will be able to work in the field.
You lucked out because you were able to get landed immigrant status thru your family situation, but without that, you would not be going to Canada so quickly.
You need to decide what you want to do, it is not for someone here to decide on a career move for you, but it does not sound like you will be happy as an RN.

...it's really miserable in here...in the nursing school that i attended (Cebu Normal University) for example, i've met lots of people with many different passions and talents that range from the arts to business, and almost anything in between, and surprisingly, only a handful are really 'into' nursing...a friend even made an observation of how much talent has been wasted with all these students being forced to take up a course that they're not passionate about...

i know, we always have a choice...but try living the life of the middle class here in the PI, and you'll see how slim your choices are for a career that promises financial stability in the future (although i'm starting to wake up into the truth that nursing isnt really a gold mine)...it's so damn frustrating

Sounds like a good plan, although I haven't heard of many nurses here in the USA doing that, so I'll move your post to the Filipino nurses forum.
Good luck to you. I'm a bit saddened by your post that people that don't even want to be nurses are becoming nurses, some of whom wind up here in the USA.

a really disturbing thought, aint it? just to think of all the damage that it would bring upon my country (RP) and the profession...it's really frustrating, if only our government had a way of perhaps, screening people who should and should not become nurses before being admitted into nursing school

* * *

great advice from you guys though, although a bit frank and straight to the point, they're all good stuff...

just one favor, please do wish me luck :heartbeat

elkpark · Apr 12, 2008

I read an awful lot of posts like this OP on this board, millions of people becoming nurses in the Philippines for the sole purpose of getting out and moving to another country, and I always wonder -- if conditions in the Philippines are so terrible, what are the Philippine people doing to change that? Just from what I read on this board, if all the people who are basing their entire futures on working in another country as an RN put the same amount of time and effort into changing things in the Philippines that they do into leaving their country, surely conditions would improve ...

suzanne4, RN · Apr 12, 2008

And we still see many that are just starting their training now, the numbers are close to 950,000 that are in nursing programs there, and it just does not make any sense to me. It is no longer a ticket out of there or to anywhere. When you see judges and attorneys going into nursing so that they can get a fast green card to the US, and then immediately get out of their contract to do something else, there are too many problems with everything.

Funnier observation is that wish more going into nursing and the training become substandard, and the numbers that increasing in visas issued just makes it harder and harder to get out of there.

There are many occupations where the training that you had as a nurse would be useful, but most of them do require some work experience as an RN to put it to better use.

Archtecture as you described would be something great for you, but you need to have the physical experience as being a nurse to see what would need to be done to make the project more accomodating to nurses in the field, such as better layouts to nursing units, work areas, patient room lay-out, etc. Business degrees added into nursing experience, etc. These are just a few that come to mind.

Best of luck to you.