If you had to do it over again would you?

Nurses General Nursing

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I am 37 years old and working on my nursing prereq's. I am hoping to actually start the BSN program in the fall. This is a complete career change for me (I currently only have an AAS degree). I picked nursing for several reasons; helping people, having a field that has a lot of possibilities, job security, interesting/learning something new, using my mind, having a skill, marketable, feeling of bettering someone life, etc... After being on this site, now I am doubting some of those reasons. So my question is if you had to do it all over again would you still pick nursing? Why, why not? What would you pick if answer was no...

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

Yes indeedie I would! If I would have had the where-with-all, I would have graduated High School and been eligible to test for my LPN license.

Nursing is a vast and wonderful field. I've done everything from Grunt Work to Administration. I've clamped the cords of Newborn Baby Twins and held the hand of a Lady as she passed from This World to The Next. And lots inbetween!

Thanks for asking, Tally.

Dave

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i wouldn't. i have been a bedside nurse (icu, step down, tele) for over 14 years. i feel my health, both physically and mentally, have taken a beating from my career. i don't have any chronic health problems, just feel old beyond my years. and i suffer from severe depression. i do blame the chronic stress of the job for a lot of this.

ideally i would like to own a little shop where i would sell killer vintage couture pieces and old furniture into which i have breathed new life. it would be small and quirky and i would bring my pug to work with me.

my experience in nursing is mine, and yours will be yours. i am guilty of being careless with my career, having gone from job to job, travel contract to travel contract, agency to agency and never thinking about tomorrow, or the day when there wouldn't be endless options. unsolicited advice - have clear cut goals for your career. reevaluate them frequently and always be moving forward toward them.

good luck!

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Specializes in LTC.

I would! Nurses rock!

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Yes. :)

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If I had it to do all over again, I'd have followed my first instinct and become a physical therapist. Still a pretty flexible career for a mother, getting a job these days would be much easier, the pay is better, less stress and responsibility, and no night shifts, lol.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

I would not. I would have followed my heart into Veterinary Medicine.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

I don't know. Maybe. I do know that if I had my nursing career to do over again, I would have

made wiser choices. Like an above poster, I've changed jobs too many times and I've made

some poor choices while employed.

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

I honestly do not know. There is good and bad like everything else.

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Specializes in ED.

I would, definitely. Believe me, there have been times when I wished I had done something else, anything else. Like NurseCard said I have also made poor job choices in my short career. I am now in a job that is so far off the path to my goals that it will take major effort to get back on. Some of the choices were out of necessity, like when I found out I was pregnant and had to have health insurance immediately, I couldn't afford to pass up an offer and hope for something better to come along. That job was in an asthetic clinic and I didn't have the opportunity to work on my bedside nursing skills.

Still, I have hope and I'm determined to get my career back on track. In my short time as a nurse I know I have helped people and even saved one life for sure. That is what keeps me going in this crazy profession. I have a long career ahead of me, and although I know it will get ugly sometimes, I know I will be a good nurse.

T

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Yes. I've been a nurse for 12 years. I've been a medical floor nurse on nights for the majority of that time period. I love my job. I work at a decent facility (awesome facility, compared to some I see discussed here), I feel I am appropriately paid, I love working three shifts a week. I love that my job is both physically and mentally challenging.

Every job has it's positives and negatives. I'm in general a pretty happy and satisfied person, so perhaps that's somewhat key. I've never had a job I didn't like. I like interacting with people, I like responsibility, and I'm not afraid of hard work. I think not everyone has this attitude.

My only regret is that I didn't get on the nursing path earlier, and when I did, I went CA->LPN->RN->BSN. It would have been better to have switched majors and complete a BSN right away as a 21 year old, than finish my first degree and THEN start a long, slow educational path in nursing.

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absolutely. i would never have done the things i've done and gone to the places i've gone to, or met the fabulous people i've met, without it. sure there have been times when i wanted to go work in a small quirky bookstore or be a river running guide (almost did that once :D) but there's just something about being a nurse; that is what i am.

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