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Hello all,

It is a pleasure to be able to speak with others regarding the nursing field. I will share my back story and hopefully get some feedback.

I am 29 years old. It is funny, actually I was taking all the nursing prerequisite courses about 4 years ago. I was gung ho about being a nurse and to get experience I signed up for and completed a cna course. Let me tell you that cna course was a great experience but the place I did my "clinicals" at was horrible. Actually it frightened me away from nursing all together. I guess it was just a bad experience. I never put to use my cna license.

I ended up majoring in biology and I am still completing that degree. I have worked for about 3 and half years in science laboratories doing everything from microbial growth for food and cosmetic items to chemistry testing for pharmaceutical products. Honestly I felt and feel dead inside. The pay was ok, about 13-14 per hour. Not alot but it payed the bills.

I developed Bell's Palsy about 4 and half months ago and I am still getting over that now. I have twitching in my right eye that seems to never go away.

I am now unemployed because my job at the last lab was so terrible that I had to leave. It was the reason I firmly believe I developed Bell's Palsy.

I have had about three weeks to sit on my butt and think..... think about my life.. think about where I am going... and think about what a mistake it was not to follow through with the nursing degree plan.

I wonder now if it is too late to meet with an advisor and see what can be done about completing nursing school.

In my younger days my ego was fully fueled and I was like " yeah I am going to go get my BS degree apply to med school or pa school and do one of those, but after being humbled greatly by:

1. Developing Bell's Palsy and

2. My last surviving grandmother passed away June 28th of this year with Alzheimer's disease I realize my priorities were completely in the wrong arena.

I am being presented today with an offer to work at a pharmaceutical company doing assay testing on controlled substances and as fun as that might sound to some it makes me cringe. It will pay well but I will be frank, I dont think I will be happy.

Now with time to sit, think, and realize what my sole purpose of pursuing nursing was I see that I made a mistake changing fields. The sole reason of going into nursing was to help people, to make a real difference in peoples lives. I sit here today very unhappy and feel like what I do have little meaning to it.

I am an only child and I only have my mother and father left. Funny thing is my mom used to be a nursing student too, about same age as I was when I stopped and switched majors. Speed up many many years she said she regrets not following through with it. She got side tracked just like I did and now works at a minimum wage job and is soo unhappy.

In a way I feel like I am following her path damn near identically. My uncle recently married an RN who is now retiring. She is a wonderful person and very intelligent. I sat and looked at her and thought... Why did I ever stop pursuing what I set my goals out to be? She is not rich, but she is HAPPY. That is the main point of my post. I considered being a doctor or even PA but I look at what entails of both and I feel it does not fit my own personal model of what I want to do.

I am 29 and in 5 years I want to be able to start settling down. I would love to become an RN and work a few years and then see if pursing an NP would be what I want.

Have any of you out there gone through something similar? You wanted to do nursing then you got side tracked for several years and now you are wanting to finish what you started? Life can be a kick in the butt sometimes but I really regret not completing it when I had the chance. My grades overall are pretty high so I do feel good about potentially getting accepted into a BSN program.

I just wonder if it would be worth it to finish my biology degree and then start BSN degree. I just feel so sure but a the same time confused... Any thoughts? I know my post is not a clear cut question but more like a short story/rant/question. I do appreciate those who take the time to read it and respond.

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Hi,

to answer your question about finishing bio, how many years or quarters or semesters do you have left till graduation? I feel like the reason many young people are bio majors are because they would want to go to grad school or apply to medical school, pharmacy school,dental school, optometry school, etc. it would be somewhat of a waste to finish and not continue on doing one of these things unless you really want to complete the bio degree. The thing about completing it is , you still have to complete nursing prereqs in order to apply to schools and it takes about 1-2 years to complete all of them. With the bs in bio you technically can go to the accelerated BSN program, entry level masters nursing program , you could also go adn first then RN to BSN later on. it sounds like though you don't want to continue with bio but do nursing. If nursing is what you're truly interested in, then follow your new dreams and go for it.

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This is so interesting. I am at a stand still as well. I will 29 in 2 weeks. But I already have a large family. This morning I decided I was not returning to my old job and will pursue my dream of nursing. I say go for it. If you finish your degree in Bio, you can apply to an accelerated BSN program and get ur RN in a year. Or you can do a direct entry program and get your MSN instead but those are few and far between depending on where you live.

I too am almost done with my BS in Psychology so it kind of makes no sense to go backward to get an ASN when most jobs require a BSN within 5 yrs of hire anyways! Good luck and many prayers!!!

BTW, sorry to hear about your grandma. If the nursing home was bad you worked at as CNA just see it as those grandmas need someone to take care of them even more!

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OnlyDreaming... Did you really quit your job today? I understand I had to leave my job three weeks ago. All of that is posted above. I do feel that nursing is a great field but you know reading all the stuff on the internet makes me feel nervous about anything anymore these days. It seems as if no jobs are stable.

Today I may be offered a job at a pharmaceutical company and honestly it may pay well and I need the money but it makes me nervous. I just am so tired of being tired and unhappy. I meet with the nursing advisor at my university tomorrow and we are going to sit and talk about all my concerns.

Do you really feel nursing is a good stable career? I would like to think it is. I would like to advance to NP one day. Depending on experience, most likely FNP.

I have about two years full time so about 4 semesters and two summer sessions to complete bio degree. I am doing it because I love it and also because I need something to fall back on. I have completed nearly all the prerequisites for the nursing program. A&P, I am up to calculus so math is well beyond taken care of. I just need micro and technical writing. everything else is done as far as pre-reqs go.

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The one thing I will say about nursing that I do not see much of in other aspects of the medical community is that nurses typically stand together. I could be wrong on that but it is nice to see a group that is so interconnected with each other and tries to promote a positive environment. I am quite sure it is not rainbows and cupcakes all around but at least the main goal is to improve peoples lives.

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Here in Nebraska there is a need for Nurses and actually there is some counties that have scholarships for Masters programs because they need the NP. I think my overall plan is to become an NP, an FNP like you said because I would love it. I didnt quit my job today. I quit on the 2nd because I left it for a higher paying job but then couldnt relocate literally within hours of moving because my husbands occupation wouldnt be allowed in that state(online college teacher). Weird laws but it kept us here. I could have returned to my old job which paid well but I saw this as an opportunity to finish my degree and pursue nursing. Just praying it doesnt bite me in the butt! LOL

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OnlyDreaming.. I do understand. My nerves seem to be fried lately because I want to make sure I am making the best decision for my future. I try not to Google information because all I ever read is negative vs. positive, pro vs. con about everything. I get tired of reading negativity so I try to stay away from it and focus on the goal at hand. Life is a ride and you never know where tomorrow is going to take you.

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Yup! Ya dont google anything! LOL. Its a horrible idea to google something that you think can be negative because you will find the negative. Nursing most likely will be great once you find your niche and experience.

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That's great that you're almost done with prereqs.for the math you might want to take statistics for the BSN program, check the school's requirements you might want to attend.

2 years is still some time to go actually. did you want to be an NP, clinical nurse leader?If so, then maybe getting your bs might be helpful that way since you go into the entry level program.

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The entry level programs I have found are AWESOME but not in my state so IDK where you live but I would look into it. Massachusetts seems to have a few. MN has some in the Minneapolis area. and a few others.

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Divergent, I understand exactly where you are coming from. I just turned 25 and I was two classes away from getting my Associate and just decided to to swith to nursing. Now I have 6 or 7 more classes to take. I just quit my last job last week because I was unhappy. The truth is that it isn't about the pay. It more about how you feel after a day's work and if you are not happy then you do what you have to do. Others may not understand it but if you do that is all that matters. ?

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ShaylaRae.. You are completely right. It is not about the money. When I developed Bells palsy I was a chemistry supervisor making a very decent income. I was treated horrible at my last job. I am well aware that the nursing field requires a tough skin but my last job the employer was abusive to me and other employees.

I strongly feel that my passion to help others outweighs the monetary gain. I was making decent money as a chemistry supervisor but was MISERABLE. I felt dead inside. Rarely interacted with the outside world. I am very much in need of human contact or I get depressed.

I also do need statistics as well, thank you for bringing that up. I ran the option of PA, MD/DO, and NP, RN through my thoughts and honestly RN-NP is best route for me. I just do not feel there are any better options.

I will say that maybe it was a good thing that I diverged from the nursing path and went through all of this the past three years. That way when times get hard during nursing school or the actual profession itself I can actually remind myself of what hell it was to be in the position I am now and to be thankful for the opportunity given at hand. It will help me be strong through the tough times.

I live in Fort Worth Texas. There are a few nursing schools around the area. I am going to get more information tomorrow morning when I meet with the advisor. If everything goes well and when it comes time to apply to nursing school I hope they do not look down on my actions in the past. In reality it was most likely the best thing that could have happened to me and showed me that nursing is the best option for me career wise.

I do appreciate everyone's feedback. It is nice to have people to talk to about this.

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