computer science before now nursing..

[jtanga]

how many people in here used to be in a computer field(programming,etc).....Do you guys love you job now?...

[bargainhound, RN]

There is a demand for this combination.

Hospitals ( and other organizations) need people with

these skills to help set up their systems and teach their

staff and do QA type jobs.

I know I did not answer your question, just wanted to comment.

[jtanga]

Thanks for the reply...The reason why I ask this question is because I wanna know if they are happy in their job now as nurse.I know computer science is in demand and high paying job,but for job security nursing is still much better.

[LUVtxNursing]

I was a network engineer before becoming a nurse. I love nursing and I plan to incorporate my computer experience into my nursing career in the future, but for right now I just want to get comfortable with being a nurse and making a difference in my patient's lives. I do think having the computer knowledge has helped me alot since my hospital is totally computerized, I learned all of the programs we use really quickly and easily.

[jtanga]

Do you regret in changing your profession?...how u end up as network engineer and nursing...You change your profession because of financial problem?I'm in a situation right now that i have to choose between computer and nursing.I need some advice.

[Balder_LPN, LPN]

Well, I dont quite have my license yet (less than one year to go) but I have been doing tech work in the ER and working as a Home Health Aid too. I was a network engineer and administrator for 10 years, and I enjoy and get more emotional (not financial) rewards from my work as a CNA than I ever did in computers. As an RN I should be making what I was getting in IT within a couple of years and it will be far more rewarding I am sure. I am just too social of a person to spend days in some phone closet or server room. One thing I learned that transfers directly to my new field (I really am focused on Mental Health nursing) is that I have a very high tolerance for frustration.

[clee1]

Former Sr. Unix administrator for Fortune 500 companies, here.

I love being a nurse.

[RN2BnNC]

Hey there!!

I'm still in nursing school ....*waiting on december to come around* B)B)B)B)B)B)

I didn't have a CS degree....mine was in C.I.S. more the biz side rather than hardcore programming.

When I graduated with my 4 year degree I thought I had it all planned and after getting my first 'REAL' (career oriented) job. I became a work-a-holic

14-16 hour days. I was hired on as a consultant/junior programmer and

worked with databases and the company software package...extracting the info and shoving it into our software.....to say I was a desk-jockey would be

putting it mildly to say the least....

i agree with what the gentleman above said that he is too much of a people person....i'm also a people person....and honestly, i didn't know if nursing was for me until I had my first nursing clinical...i was tired as crap afterwards but i can tell you that i knew it was for me...

i don't know why you are considering nursing school...or where you are in your life....i can tell you that the nursing courses are nothing like any other courses i have taken before....they are intense...they are hands on...and they all build on top of each other...

if you go for your ADN or BSN .....they both enable you to take the same test

NCLEX-RN which if passed = RN

if your just thinking about going to nursing school...i'll tell you this...i planned about 2 years ahead of it....i wanted to clear some debt before I went back to school so that my stress levels weren't going to be sky high due to money....also look around you....find out which schools offer the ADN or BSN programs (whichever you are interested in)...if you get ADN..you can do your NCLEX-RN and start working and then build to BSN....only diff BSN makes is if you want to get into mgt. later.....and then obviously graduate work if you want that....but make sure you know the DATES!!!!! of when the school you are looking at has admission deadlines....some schools admit once a year....then your scr&wed if you miss it....also some schools want you to have certain pre-req's done before you even submit an application....(this one i have found to be wisshy wasshy....i have a ton of friends taking these so called pre-req's to get into the nursing program ....at the same time they are taking their nursing courses)...my advice though is to take anything and everything you can BEFORE you get to the nursing courses so that you can FOCUS in on the nursing courses...because its class time + clinical time + study time....+ study time + study time + ???JOB??? + ???FAMILY???

you decide...

oh yeah...the pro's and con's are easy...

+ job security

+ job versatility (ER nurse, ICU nurse, PEDIATRICS nurse, OSTOMY nurse..etc..)

+ good money

+ flexibility in hours

+ tons of cute nurses (although, I'm more of a brutishly handsome and charming sort of guy, if I do say so myself ;).........later

hope this helped...

[nepsys]

I am a software engineer for past 12 years and my wife was also a software engineer until she decided to get into a BS->BSN program about 14 months ago. She had to take couple of pre-req classes before she got admission into the program.....

I can understand the deliema you are currently having. My wife sometime get back to me sometime wonder if she made a mistake as I had been offered 3 or 4 times more than what she would make when she finally graduates from her BSN program in May 2008. However, I feel that she had to go ahead....just because I remember those days when she was working as a software engineer. She never enjoyed any moment of that job...she dragged her feet to everything her boss wanted her to do. And the frustration would spill over to our lives !!! She loves the work she is learning and is looking forward to a 'nursing career'. I think we will be lot happier when she is happy with her work and I am happy with mine. I know it is a lot of work and lot of investment specially when you would be making money instead of losing while attending school...but I will recommend to look into yourselves to find the answer to this.

Will you be happy in yor life with current job ? If the answer is 'Yes'...just continuw what you enjoy otherwise look for something better to do. Money will follow you with your career but happyness will stop where you leave

it....Best of luck...

Saroj

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

I was a systems analyst for 6 years and couldn't wait to get out of the IT/business world and in to something that would be making some kind of difference in the world....I hated sitting in a cube; hated endless meetings where often nothing was resolved but someone filling up time for their project; hated endless arguments between the tech ops folks and the developers and business users and upper management.....and gosh, in the end, there wasn't much of anything that was life or death....just a lot of fluff to justify everyone's existence...

Sorry if that sounds bitter, but I left in August and while I desperately miss many of my friends who became like family, I have NOT MISSED ONE DAY OF WORKING IN THAT ENVIRONMENT.....I am enjoying nursing school and look forward to having a diverse work environment, many employment options, and the flexibility of shift work....the money will get there eventually, but I was ready to go clerk at the local 5 and 10 rather than continue with the depressive atmosphere of my former employer....also a Fortune 500 company....one of the "Top Places to Work" -- ugh....we always wondered WHO answers those polls?!?!?

[nepsys]

I can see why you guys changed you career but don't forget

what engineers contribute to the society !! The thing that you

guys use to see if the baby's heart rate is normal or the thing

that you guys use to save someone's life and feel the satisfaction

of being useful in someone's life is also 'somebody elses' creation

and a way to contribute to the society'.

There is something for everyone to work for and contribute to. It

is just that some of us get more satisfaction when it involves a direct

interaction with 'the end user'. As for me...I cannot satnd to see the

blood but will rock when I see a 'highend, superfast computer'. Is there

anything wrong with me...? May be not !!

I am not trying to offend or defend anyone but just wanted to let all

of us know that we are helping eachother in lot more ways than we

actually think. It is the fact whether we like it or not.

Cheers !!

[midcom]

I worked in computer operations until last fall when the "powers that be" announced that they were outsourcing our jobs. I immediately applied to nursing school & waited for the day when they decided we could be replaced. That was supposed to happen last July. They finally let me go in Sept so I could start school but are they are finding that it is harder to make the transition than they expected. The 4 guys I worked with are still there & it looks like it will be fall before the company can get along without them. Can you tell I am not sorry to be gone?

Anyway, I am half way done with LPN school & am loving it. I do not miss IT at all although I suspect when I start working I will notice the difference in the check. Unless I continue on to be a RN I will not come near to making what I made as an operator. Doesn't matter though, I'll be doing something I have wanted to do since I was 4 years old, 52 years ago!

Dixie