How to become an advanced practice nurse in ten easy steps!
My very different educational path has probably furnished some professor with a new BMW or Lexus. I am not endorsing this route but rather explaining why you should look before you leap...we have to start in the beginning...
I am now middle-aged (ouch, even hurts to type those letters). But, let's face it; my 50th birthday was last year and unless I plan to live to be past 100, I AM middle-aged. As such, I think I have earned the right to reflect back on my path..
Graduated from high school in 1977 and went right into nursing school. Got a little apartment, worked nights as a nursing assistant (before they had to be certified) and toiled away at school. Okay, now its May 1978 and I've been in school for over a year and have just one semester left (I had done my pre-reqs while in HS). I'm getting tired of the grind and want something different. So...I wandered into the military recruiting office. The Air Force guy was on the phone, the Army people were out to lunch but hey, here is a Navy man, all decked out in his whites - not too shabby! "How would you like to be in the Navy?" Okay what do you have to offer me? $$$ for college (sounds good to a broke student), chance to travel and meet new people. So..he sits me down and I take this aptitude test: "wow, he says, you are smart." Being all of 19, I was flattered. Like a used car salesman, he then tells (sells) me that "he doesn't want me to waste my life" and that I could get valuable experience in the Navy. And...I would get a regular paycheck and my rent, meals, uniforms would all be paid for by the Navy. What a deal! Less than one week later, I was in Chicago and then Orlando for boot camp. First big mistake of my life: Florida in May, June and July! Hot, hot, hot!
Anyway, fast forward to 1980, met my husband, got married and oh oh...since he was in the Air Force, we couldn't be stationed toether. Ooops, forgot to figure out that one should fall in love with someone in the same branch of the military. Okay, I'll get out and follow him around..done deal.
Again, fast forward to 1990 - after moving all over the world (literally), I head back to school. Now, I KNOW I want to be a nurse. However, stupid person that I was, I didn't drop my classes when I joined the USN, I just quit going to school, leaving me with a 0.7gpa. Needless to say, few schools were impressed. Did pre-reqs again, got accepted into an LPN program on academic probation. I'm now a serious student and do fine, gpa-wise. Hubby still on active duty, we keep moving..went from the LPN program right into an ADN program and voila....I'm an RN! Moved yet again and took an ER job..after a few years, I realized that going back to school was going to be necessary...
Had I been smart, I would have looked into an ADN to MSN program. Nope, not me..type A person that I am, I just jumped into an online BSN program, finished that, then went into an MSN program. However, when I finished the MSN program, I realized that I didn't like management and it was a non-clinical MSN track. Oh oh, goofed again! Back to school for a post-MSN adult heath CNS. Ok - finished that and oh oh again, no jobs! Took a job outside the ER and figured I would get back to the ER sometime..fast forward to now and I'm heading back to school to pick up yet another post-MSN CNS, this time in child/family.
My convoluted path has caused many problems: spent too much time, money and effort in school. Looking back, I wished that I had stayed in school the first time. However, then I consider I would never have met my husband (we are at our 29th anniversary in two weeks), never would have had my two sons, never would have had my grandchildren. Life happens for a reason....and I'm just now accepting that. Well....I have another 50 years or so to accept it I guess!
