Is this a bad time?

It is partly due to the economy. This is just my opinion. Nursing is not the greatest job from what I can tell. I do like doing paperwork and talking to old people so I think it will work for me. I am going to work in a nursing home I think. So many baby boomers will be in nursing homes, but the population is increasing in general. It seems like the role of a nursing home has changed from what I remember too. We have younger residents where I work also.

In my intro to nursing class, we talked a lot about mental health nursing and from what I have been told by my professors, it has a great outlook and is a fast growing field. Your life experience and the fact that you already hold degrees, in my opinion will be a plus when you start your job search. If nursing is something you really want to do, I don't think you should let your fears hold you back. Besides, The occupational outlook handbook for the US has registered nursing as a job with a great outlook and a projected 26% growth in jobs predicted all the way until 2020.

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Healthcare/Registered-nurses.htm

Hi turtlezoup-

Career changer and interested in psychiatric nursing too (around the same age). I would agree with Shorty. If nursing is what you want, go for it. It's hard to predict how things will look 4 years from now, but I would have to say that you finishing 4 years from now is most likely much better than those who finished between 2009-2012, and maybe those who will finish in 2013-2015. In case you're interested, the congressional budget office projects unemployment rate to be around 6% in 2016.