Help!Give me some reasons why I should pursue nursing and not take my jobs promotion!

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Hello,

I am in Florida and I have just got accepted into an LPN school. Its great, 9-3, be home in time to pick up my kid from school. Its only 1 year. The federal goverment is giving me $5000 towards tutition. CA gov. is MAY approve me for about $8000 benefits to use as cost of living since my husbands job relocated us here to Florida.

In california i was an administrative assistant for about 10 years. I hated it! I hate sitting at a desk and doing office work and scheduling appts for people. All though its SUPER easy and i can play on the internet all day long if i wanted. My last job i loved, it was more technical with the IT help desk but I had to quit because of the move. We moved to Florida and assistants here get paid about $9 an hour!! I was getting $18 without a degree in CA!!! And great benfits.

I was able to stay home for a while but I need to help out with the bills and save some money and I wanted a job that had some fulfillment in it. I thought of nursing because I love people and the money, i thought, was good and the flexible schedules. I want to work 3/12 to have more time at home with my family.

So the utility company here in Central Florida has offered me a job as a helpdesk administrator, still administrative work but its starting up a help desk which i have done and they want me to not go to nursing school and do this. They may offer me about $40,000.

My question is.....

Do LPN's in Central Florida ever reach that money in there career? I see jobs posted starting at around $13.00!!!

Do LPN's here in Central Florida have 3/12 jobs??? I dont want an 8-5.

What are the downfalls of being an LPN. (the guy that offered me the job said his mom was a nurse and its not a uplifting type of job to take because of all the sick peolpe.... well i want to help the sick people!)

I am stuck on if i should take advantage of the grants I am getting and take a year and become a nurse or if I should go for the money at a normal 8-5 job, have my kids in daycare, forget the grant money and just sit a desk all my life but making decent money.

Help, any advice!!???

thanks for reading!

-Clarissa

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Peds, LDRP.

If it helps any, I made 42K last year and it was my first year as an LPN. I did Pediatric home health (although u could do adults too). You dont have to work 12s...you can work for an agency and find cases that are 8 hour shifts. I worked about 4 days a week on average but it was the easiest job Ive ever had, not tiring or stressful. If you work in a Dr.'s office, yes u will get the low pay you mentioned...but if you do home health or LTC you can do well. Im about to finish my RN in december so I was looking for something to make the most money in the least time so I have more time to study...so Im currently getting ready to try out corrections nursing and they are paying $24/hr for that (no benefits tho). 8 hour shifts. My fiance doesnt like the idea, but I can make more in 8 hours than Im making right now in 12 so I say even if I dont like it, it will be worth it for the money and its only till I graduate in December and start working as an RN. In Peds home health I make anywhere from 16-20/hr. If u want 19-20 plus u have to get ventilator training.

Also keep in mind that California pays more, but the cost of living is sky high. They have half a million dollar homes that arent even anything that great.

If I were you I would go for it and then go on for your RN if you want, then u can get some experience and work agency RN and make 40+ an hour. Thats nearly 75k a year working 36 hrs a week.

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Hello,

I am in Florida and I have just got accepted into an LPN school. Its great, 9-3, be home in time to pick up my kid from school. Its only 1 year. The federal goverment is giving me $5000 towards tutition. CA gov. is MAY approve me for about $8000 benefits to use as cost of living since my husbands job relocated us here to Florida.

In california i was an administrative assistant for about 10 years. I hated it! I hate sitting at a desk and doing office work and scheduling appts for people. All though its SUPER easy and i can play on the internet all day long if i wanted. My last job i loved, it was more technical with the IT help desk but I had to quit because of the move. We moved to Florida and assistants here get paid about $9 an hour!! I was getting $18 without a degree in CA!!! And great benfits.

I was able to stay home for a while but I need to help out with the bills and save some money and I wanted a job that had some fulfillment in it. I thought of nursing because I love people and the money, i thought, was good and the flexible schedules. I want to work 3/12 to have more time at home with my family.

So the utility company here in Central Florida has offered me a job as a helpdesk administrator, still administrative work but its starting up a help desk which i have done and they want me to not go to nursing school and do this. They may offer me about $40,000.

My question is.....

Do LPN's in Central Florida ever reach that money in there career? I see jobs posted starting at around $13.00!!!

Do LPN's here in Central Florida have 3/12 jobs??? I dont want an 8-5.

What are the downfalls of being an LPN. (the guy that offered me the job said his mom was a nurse and its not a uplifting type of job to take because of all the sick peolpe.... well i want to help the sick people!)

I am stuck on if i should take advantage of the grants I am getting and take a year and become a nurse or if I should go for the money at a normal 8-5 job, have my kids in daycare, forget the grant money and just sit a desk all my life but making decent money.

Help, any advice!!???

thanks for reading!

-Clarissa

Hi Clarissa.

I can see your predicament--take the sure thing now or start over in something new, pass up a good opportunity for school funding now or take the good opportunity with your current position. It's tough. Especially since your new position wouldn't be completely MISERABLE.

I say that if you want to be a nurse, do it. If you feel like that is really where you belong, the money will follow. Plus, I have taken a mediocre job because they offered me decent pay only to find that in the end, the money was not worth it if you don't really want to be there.

Good luck with your decision.

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You came to the wrong bored. Asking nurses if you should become a nurse is like asking Ronald McDonald if you should get a BigMac or a Whopper.LOL

But really, I'm somewhat in your boat and will be starting LPN school in Sept. I will have to leave my job sitting at my desk most of the day looking at allnurses.com...LOL

Why do this? You think about it. If you guys decide to leave Florida......you are the same age as me, I noticed.........you have a LOT of years to work.......that $40,000 a year job will not go with you. So why not take advantage of what you will be getting........ a career, not just a job?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, ER, Peds ER-CPEN.

down here is south/central FL lpn's work same shifts as RN's, making around 15-17$ an hour, but you can always transition back after working for a while and get your RN degree, alot of the community colleges around here offer transition programs, I chose to go the RN route because either way I'd spend 2 years in school, we're in a position where the household can survive me not working, it also puts me that much closer to my masters as many schools are now offering RN-Master's programs since they are seriously short instructors and NP's are becoming more in demand as well, good luck with whatever path you choose because in the end it's what's right for you and your family and what feels right in your heart, altho nursing is one of the most protable careers out there ;)

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