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

Keepstanding, ASN, RN · Jul 3, 2007

Nursing can't be about just the money and hours. It's physically demanding job and requires high stress management on your part. You should be a caring, compassionate person who has a real interest in caring for sick people. It's not always pretty. Please consider all of this before you "jump out of the boat" !

Good Luck

_____________

Praiser:idea:

BigB · Jul 3, 2007

Nursing is definitly not for everyone that's for sure. I read somewhere that 25% of new RN's leave the profession completly within the first 5 years. I am sure it is similar for LVN's.

You have to ask yourself what kind of job you would enjoy or see yourself doing. Nursing is very stressful. Certain areas of nursing like LTC (nursing homes) have a very high burn out / turn over rate. As a nurse I have literally been up to my ankles in blood and other body fluids (I used to work prison ER). It is not a glamourous job being a nurse..especially for men LOL. You will be on your feet A LOT as a nurse. I prefer this to sitting in a chair all day though....I can't do that kind of job, it is far too boring for me.

I do not think Flordia LPN's make $45,000. I would be suprised if they even made $40K. I quick salary.com check could verify though.

You can generally work a variety of shifts but it depends on where you work of course. I personnaly work 3 shifts on , 4 shifts off. In LTC I was an on-call LVN and was able to make my own scedule and get about 32 hours a week...on my terms. They will always have openings on the weekneds and the evening shifts.

If you are religious then praying about the two choices may help.

Good luck.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jul 3, 2007

As others have mentioned, nursing is a very physical job, especially being an LPN. I developed heel spurs and have to get cortisone shots in my feet. In New York, there are LPNs that can make about $40,000 a year but I don't know how it is for the other states. We can get three 12 hour shifts per week at my job and many do. I can't because I work in a clinic.

You do have to really think to yourself if you want to be any sort of nurse. It IS stressful, the situations encountered are clearly not textbook, and we are not the ladies of the lamp as portrayed by Florence Nightingale. I go home exhausted, not so much because of the patients, but because of the bull that goes on between my co-workers. I now stay to myself and can't wait to get home to get away from people and their problems. My patience is low at times (but not to the patients, just to people that whine) and while I do enjoy being a nurse, there are times that I would have liked to have done something else...it depends on the type of day I had.

deeDawntee, RN · Jul 3, 2007

It sounds like the money and stability of that promotion is what is best for you right now in your life. I didn't become a nurse until I was 40. The career isn't going anywhere. I would suggest, take the promotion and when things are optimal, go for your RN. Start taking some of your prereqs, one day a week, do you have any college credits?

Perhaps you could do some volunteering our some shadowing with some nurses, so when you are ready, you will know that nursing is for you?

But in the end, do what will give you the most peace....

Good luck with your decision.

jjjoy, LPN · Jul 3, 2007

To the OP, it sounds like you know you don't want to stay at a desk job but there are lots of other options besides nursing and health care that get you away from a desk. Before deciding that nursing is the answer, get more info if you can. Maybe there's some other training you'd like to have besides LPN school. If after getting more info you still think nursing is for you, then go for it.

Have you had a chance to shadow an LPN? Do some informational interviewing? Ask around if you can. Ask at local schools and health facilities. Ask acquaintances if they know a nurse you could talk to and perhaps shadow.

Would you consider going to nursing school at some point in the future if you don't do it now? Private programs are pricey, but community college programs are usually quite affordable. The problem with most CC programs is that they're so popular and the number of spots so limited that they can be hard to get into.

I doubt you can match the pay you've been offered as an LPN, even with a good deal of experience. Research local nursing pay more and be sure to differentiate between LPN jobs and RN jobs.

Do you think this new job offer might be more challenging and satisfying than your last? Could you take the job and still be qualified for the tuition assistance if you decided after a few months that you'd definitely rather do that?

Good luck with this self discovery process! I hope the decision-making isn't too stressful!!

sassiebaz · Jul 4, 2007

I have to be honest here. If I were in your shoes, I would take the promotion! My situation is that I cannot make more than $12 and I have 3 kids, 2 that need daycare. I cannot even fathom working at that wage, all my money would go to daycare. I am going into nursing partly b/c of the money but also, I have been in the healthcare field for a long time and I feel competent in that area. If i had another option, I may not consider nursing at all based on what alot of other nurses have told me. But, what are my options??? I don't have too many. Go with your gut, and what is best for your family. It would be best for my family if I was working...but not at $12/hr.....Good Luck in your decision making.

BigB · Jul 4, 2007

There is nothing wrong with looking at nursing from a financial perspective. After receiving my Bachler's degree I was offered a "desk job" making 50k a year, Mon - Fri holidays off etc.. Whereas, I can easily make double that at my current job with my LVN license. I was the opposite of you. I was considerning leaving nursing after graduating college in a non-nursing major. I haven't found a better option yet. I would eventually like a mon-fri job with regualr hours...so this is my ultimate goal, perhaps nuring managment. As it stands now, nursing for me consists of bad hours. Not something I want to do forever.

sassiebaz · Jul 4, 2007

There is nothing wrong with looking at nursing from a financial perspective. After receiving my Bachler's degree I was offered a "desk job" making 50k a year, Mon - Fri holidays off etc.. Whereas, I can easily make double that at my current job with my LVN license. I was the opposite of you. I was considerning leaving nursing after graduating college in a non-nursing major. I haven't found a better option yet. I would eventually like a mon-fri job with regualr hours...so this is my ultimate goal, perhaps nuring managment. As it stands now, nursing for me consists of bad hours. Not something I want to do forever.

When I was first contemplating a career in nursing, I asked the nurse at my kids' school what she thought. She advised me NOT to get into nursing she felt it wasn't a good career for a mom with kids. Hours, holidays, and time off for kids school activities was just not an option for her she said. She has been a nurse for over 10 years and her last stop was the school nurse position. She quit after two years to stay home and help her husband run his business. I really get confused when I hear about things like this.....

Fiona59 · Jul 4, 2007

Take the promotion. I'm off with a work related injury. After seven years, I finally found a position that fits my life. BUT I have to work every other weekend.

I only managed to be at school events, get the vacation I wanted, weekends off when I worked casual and picked up often the lousiest shifts that the regular staff didn't want. No benefits, no pension for the first seven years of my career.

There are great days at work but all in all there are more why days. Non compliant patients, verbal abuse from patients and their families, department politics and shift work and statutory holidays being hard to get off.

Lets not even mention the guilt that work plays with you when they are short staffed and want you to work nights, extra weekends, extra shifts, so your co-workers aren't understaffed.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jul 4, 2007

Take the promotion. I'm off with a work related injury. After seven years, I finally found a position that fits my life. BUT I have to work every other weekend.
I only managed to be at school events, get the vacation I wanted, weekends off when I worked casual and picked up often the lousiest shifts that the regular staff didn't want. No benefits, no pension for the first seven years of my career.
There are great days at work but all in all there are more why days. Non compliant patients, verbal abuse from patients and their families, department politics and shift work and statutory holidays being hard to get off.
Lets not even mention the guilt that work plays with you when they are short staffed and want you to work nights, extra weekends, extra shifts, so your co-workers aren't understaffed.

What happened to put you out of work? I hope that you heal soon. I know about guilt...I called in sick yesterday because I was just tired and needed additional rest. When I went in today, the other nurses started telling me how hard it was since they were short...like I really cared.

BigB · Jul 4, 2007

Consider this....at my place of employment you need about 11 years in before you can get the pinnicle of shifts, the 6am - 2:30pm. Early in your career you get stuck on graveyard or the dreaded 3 - 11pm shift. The 3 - 11 pm shifts is the worst in my opinion. I rather, and do, work the graveyard shift. On this shift I can see my family more. That is very important too me. Most my life I have worked the 3 - 11pm shift and have missed out on a lot family get togethers, holiday dinners, etc. It can kill a marriage if your spouse works the morning shift and you work the 3 -11pm shift. You don't get to see each other or your children, and once then are in school...forget about it! You leave for work BEFORE they get home and when you get home at 11:30pm..they are sleeping.