Where to start....How to begin...

Stray FL · Nov 29, 2001

IT = pooey.

Hooligan · Nov 29, 2001

Hello Everyone!!

Thanks to all for sharing your stories! I don't feel so alone anymore. Stray: you sound a bit like me...O.k...not so much but I am 25 and I am just starting the ADN program. I'm changing careers too. I stuck in a dead-end job with absolutly no room for advancement. The pay is great considering what I do all day (if you check out the logged on users you'll see I'm always here getting more info! ) I work at UIC in Chicago as a Resource and Policy Analyst which means I'm pretty much an over-paid gopher! Don't get me wrong the pays not spectacular but for what I do it's great!! I'm just so sick of doing nothing all day! They could honestly save money and train a monkey to do what I do!! I'm so ****ing bored all day! There are perks I'll miss though...My bosses are absolutely wonderful! I couldn't have asked for kinder, more reasonable people to work for. I also get 5 wks of vacation a year (University Policy) and my bosses give me an extra week or so under the table at x-mas. And they've also told me I could set up a play pen and bring my baby in to work when I started my family!!! So...you gotta be thinkin' "why in the hell would you leave that?" :confused: Well here it goes....I hate the fact that I don't make a difference in anyone's day, week, month...life ect...!!! I don't have a "God Complex" or anything...but I am a compassionate person who likes to help people. Anyway, sorry to prattle on, and on, and on! Thanks for sharing everyone and thanks for listening!!!

~Bean

Stray FL · Nov 29, 2001

Sounds like me Bean.

I work at an IT helpdesk making best cash I ever made and I take a total of maybe 15-20 calls a day. In between calls I surf the net and play Super Nintendo games on this emulator I have on my PC. Boring and safe and sound but not what I want to do.

If I lay down to die right now I wouldn't be happy with how I spent my time here on earth....so I hope to change that with nursing.

Just got to do it...its the how that'll work itself out over time.

( with a bit of help from you guys;) )

nicola · Nov 29, 2001

Stray FL, it sounds like you're thinking this thru pretty well. Welcome to the BB and to nursing!

I worked as a home health aide while in nursing school. I was basically per diem, so at the start of each semester I'd tell my agency when I could work and they filled in my hours. In the summers and on break, I'd take all the hours they'd give me. I think that it helped me a lot, esp since I've always worked in home health and an RN. When we started floor work, I wasn't put off by doing bed baths and personal care - others were. I had spent enough time with nurses to have a better idea of the realities than my classmates who were waiting tables. When I applied for my first nsg. position - a case manager in home care - my experience showed that I was able to work well on my own and to ask for help when I needed it. To me the time I spent as an HHA was priceless! Also when you end up supervising para professionals and they wanna give you grief because "you don't know how hard my job is...", you can honestly tell them to shove it because you've been there, done that!

I now supervise HHA's and find that I get more respect from them because of my previous experience, not in spite of it. It has worked out well for me...

Good luck and God speed!

NICU_Nurse, BSN, RN · Nov 29, 2001

I'm very proud of you!!!! It takes a lot of self-examination to make such a change in your life, and I applaud you for it. My husband was also in IT for ten years, and every year that passed him up, he became more and more empty and less fulfilled, until he finally had sort of a breakdown. He became physically ill, and was an emotional wreck, and walked out of work one morning without a word. I had been begging him to reconsider his options, and was very happy that, despite naysayers, he took his life into his own hands and reaized it didn't hve to be so miserable. He now is preparing to go to college for the first time, at 30, to become a mental health counseler.

I agree with another poster who mentioned that, if you are able, you should go as far as possible education-wise as time and money and family obligations will allow. It may take more struggle in the beginning, but in the end will all be worth it. In nursing, the highest pay comes with a master's degree and advanced specialization, and if you're even remotely interested in those types of jobs later on, you'll need a bachelor's degree to get into graduate school. However, I encourage you to pursue whatever is best for YOU. I am a student about to graduate from an ADN program here. Though I do plan to get more education, our finances, the need for one of us to be working, and my husband going to college do not allow me to pursue that right now. In this state, nurses with ADN's vs. BSN's have the same starting pay, with an occasional .50 difference per hour, which in my opinion, is nothing to fret about. Advanced salaries come from experience and merit, and not from educational background, at least for staff nurse positions. Also, the hospitals in this area seem to be very big on encouraging their nurses to pursue their bsn's, and offer compensation to their employees who decide to return to school. For instance, the hospital I am going to be working for offers compensation for 6 hours of credit per semester if you decide to go to their school of nursing for their RN-BSN program. I intend to take them up on that offer if I am able. Perhaps getting your ADN is best for you at this point in your life, and you can check with area hospitals to see if they offer similar compensation for returning to school.

As far as the nursing assistant idea, I think it is a great one; however, in this state, you must be licensed to work as one. I believe that the classes run from two to three weeks to six months in order to be licensed as a nursing assistant. As a NA, you will be performing basic care (bed baths, linen changes, vital signs like blood pressure, temperature, etc., discontinuing catheters or IV's, etc.). You will learn this basic care during your first semester of nursing school, as someone has mentioned. In our program, after completing the first semester, we were eligible to write the state licensing board and recieve licenses to work as certified nursing assistants. You may want to consider this option. In my opinion, I would focus on getting your pre-requiste classes completed as effeciently as possible so that you can begin your nursing classes. I realize that you may need a job while you are attending school, so if the nursing assistant position is one you are considering, I say take it and learn as much as you can! Though it may not help you all the way through nursing school, it WILL help you during your first semester- you will already KNOW how to take someone's blood pressure, etc. Any knowledge will make you feel better, and may take some pressure off of you during that sometimes overwhelming first semester. Plus, exposure to the hospital and the in's and out's of it will only help you decide where you want to work later on, and if nursing is even right for you. PLUS! If you are already employed by a hospital, you may be eligible for compensation for your ADN! Plus you'll get your foot in the door- say you begin as a nursing assistant...in a year or whatever, you could re-apply with human resources as a nurse tech, making a bit more money and having more responsibility. When you graduate, you'll already have a job lined up with that hospital if you decide to stay working there! Whatever you decide, it will be best for you, and I wish you all the good fortune in the world with these decisions.