considering nursing school

Nursing Students General Students

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Hi,

I am new to this board and have really enjoyed reading the posts all of you have shared on this board. I am considering going to nursing school or (I know it may seem unrelated) social work school. I have a particular interest in working with hospice/palliative care end of life issues and that is how I got interested in these two different profession. I have so much respect for nurses all of the nurses I ever met were wonderful wonderful individuals. I have not had much experience with social workers but the people I met a the hospice seemd very happy with their profession.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could tell me how feasable it seems to be to go into a specific area of nursing, is that an option or would I need to work in a hospital for a while and then go into palliative care? I am really very interested in end of life issues/care. I have been volunteering and working with hospice for a long time and really find very fulfilling. I am trying to figure out how to go about this. I also have 3 very young children so flexibility definitely appeals to me.

THank you very much for any info input you may have

i've always kind of wondered that myself (i'm in the process of applying for nursing school) so thanks for asking and welcome!

topcat

Your best bet would be to ask some of the nurses at the hospice that you volunteer at. They should be able to tell you what they did to get to where they're at now. Also, you may want to check out the Hospice Nursing forum here on these message boards.

Specializes in Med/Surg..
Hi,

I am new to this board and have really enjoyed reading the posts all of you have shared on this board. I am considering going to nursing school or (I know it may seem unrelated) social work school. I have a particular interest in working with hospice/palliative care end of life issues and that is how I got interested in these two different profession.

Hi Evana, Welcome to the Boards.. I don't think the 2 fields are unrelated, they are very related - both deal with caring for people. A woman I work with is a retired Nurse who worked for Social Services for years and specialized in "Social Work" issues. My Sister is a Social Worker/Case Manager - dealing with the Elderly. She said they have several RN's on Staff and have dealings with agencies like hospice, etc.

When I'm finished with school (assuming I get in) :uhoh3: - I plan on specializing in Geriatric Nursing. After you graduate, I don't see any reason why you couldn't immediately apply for a job with Hospice (especially with all the experience you already have with them) seems like they'd be glad to have you. I worked with 1 Nurse who did Hospice for a short time, she loved helping people at the end of their lives. She found though, that she got so attached to a few of her patients and became so "torn up" by their deaths that she wasn't able to be a "support" to their families. She was present when one of her patients passed and became so emotional, the woman's family ended up consoling her (instead of the other way around) and she realized it was too much for her. She left hospice, but had nothing but wonderful things to say about it. Hope this helps you a bit. Good Luck To You. SusanNC

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