Leaving different profession for nursing

[soulsearching]

Hi all,

Are there a lot other professionals who have left their field to go into nursing? I am a 32 year old Chartered Accountant who has close to 15 years of school and experience in my field. I am really good at what I do and am currently in a fairly high position of a large corporation making six figures and have limitless opportunities.... the problem - although I enjoy the stressful deadlines, pressures, and problem solving ability, etc. that the job demands, the context in which I work is so wrong. I've audited many different industries and businesses during my time articling at the firm, and have now worked for 2 large corporations and I find that my work mandate goes against all my beliefs and practices in my personal life. Basically I've had it with all this excessive corporate greed and growing businesses for the sake of the bottom line, and I'm a direct contributor to it!

I have many friends who are nurses so I've been privy to the good and the bad of the job over the years they've been practicing. After having a c-section, I developed thrombophlibitis and was very sick in the hospital for 5 weeks. I felt so comfortable there and my respect for nurses went through the roof during that time. I must have seen 50+ during my stay (I was moved around to different wards, went for CT scans every other day, MRIs, etc...) Anyways, my point is that I really felt connected to these professionals and have so much respect for what they do.

I think I've given my profession all I could and I just don't think it's right for me. Switching to work for another company is not an option because I work for a highly respected company and I'm unlikely to find better here. My husband is extremely supportive but he wants me to consider starting my own practice and helping smaller businesses where I would get some intrinsic satisfaction and they would really appreciate the help. That could definitely be a viable option for me, but I am overwhelmed with a desire to become a nurse right now. I think years of watching corporate greed has left me jaded towards my profession.

So my question is... for all you who left professions to pursue nursing, was it a hole you were trying to fill and did it fulfill that need? Are you happy you left or do you wish you would have done more with your previous profession? I know I can do this, but my husband is worried that after the first couple of years actually working as a nurse I will miss many elements of my current job and that nursing will become boring to me.

Thanks all!

[Fiona59]

Nursing will never bore you BUT you will come to RESENT it.

You have very little control over your life if you have a position. Rotating shifts, working every other weekend, working stat. holidays, not getting your vacation when you want it due to seniority issues, managers who will attempt to deal with issues in your home life and accommodate your needs to an extent.

Now people will tell you you can find all kinds of nursing positions. Well yes you can IF you have the experience and the seniority.

You are NOT going to walk out of nursing school and find your dream job with hours that you want.

I'd say do the small, independent business. Volunteer in a healthcare facility if you want.

The job market is bleak in several provinces despite the "nursing shortage" being constantly discussed. Reality is full time jobs are hard to find.

It's taken me nearly a decade to find a position that I really enjoy with hours that work for my life. I picked up casual shifts for five years when my children were young, no sick leave, no job security, the worst assignments on units nobody wanted to go to. It still happens to nurses that have to work around family arrangments. I've worked with nurses who left positions and went casual when they had family illnesses that needed them, when their husbands were deployed overseas.

[jaylily]

I left a professional career to pursue nursing and know I made the right decision. I had 7 years university and 5 years experience in my previous career and dreaded each and every day I went to work. It was making me a miserable person. I explored my options by working in different sectors and different countries, but realised it just wasn't the career for me.

I had always been interested in health care and decided to pursue nursing. I'm just finishing up my degree now, so it's just early for me, but I know I made the right decision. I'm preceptoring in emergency and couldn't be happier, I absolutely love emergency nursing. I actually look forward to going in and enjoy what I do when I'm there. I love how any day there can turn at the drop of a hat; there are times when it's slow and quiet, but the next thing you know a stage 3 trauma is coming in. It's exciting at times and tragic at others, but what's most important for me is that I actually CARE about the work I'm doing there. In my other career, the only emotion I felt was dread.

There are certainly aspects of nursing that I dislike, but it is a profession far better suited to my personality.

So my advice is go for it. There are 2 year degree programs that are perfect to get you immediately immersed in it. If you try it and find that it's not what you expected, then you've always got your idea for a small practice to fall back on.

But believe me, when you find a job that you love - it's amazing!

[soulsearching]

Thank you both for your input!

Fiona - I work close to 10-12 hours a day 5 days a week, plus I'm in the office most weekends and sometimes holidays. I take my job home (laptop) when I really can't get something done at work... so trust me, the lack of weekends, holidays or night shifts do not scare me. Also, I have taken 2 vacation days this year and the majority will be carried forward again because there is no time for me to take because I'm needed here all the time. I actually took a day off last week because I was so ill and people were still calling me at home asking me for things, so didn't even get a good rest!

I don't care if I get full time employment in nursing because I am VERY fortunate to have the option to not need to work full time hours. As I've mentioned, I have many good friends who are nurses so I am well aware of the schedule (or lack of one). I plan around them constantly (i.e. meet for lunch during the day because I often miss them at night when they are doing nights) I give 110% to my current job even though I'm not happy, so I can only imagine what it would be like if I truly felt good about the work.

Jaylily - thank you for the positive reinforcement! I know that I always have my original career to fall back on, but if I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to pursue my real passion, then I'd love to take it.

There is no perfect job out there, but I'm just looking for one that gives me a reason to be here. I'd love to hear success stories about people who have left their former careers for this and haven't looked back.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

soulsearching

Nursing is the most rewarding career I can imagine. The appreciation and respect you felt for the nurses you met when you were in hospital, is what I feel from patients every day. I feel honoured when patients share their most intimate thoughts with me, I feel respected when patients ask for my opinion, I feel appreciated when patients thank me. I know how lucky I am to have this kind of job satisfaction, but I am not unique, many of my collegues express similar feelings and I hope, if you give nursing a chance that you will feel this way too.

dishes

[soulsearching]

dishes - thank you! I'm so happy to hear that there are many of you out there who feel such intense satisfaction from the profession. I believe that I have a better grasp on what I want in life now as opposed to when I was 18 years old and deciding on my first career. For some reason I thought that money and status was going to make me successful, but instead it's left me with a hole in my soul. My mom was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers a few years ago and has all but forgotten my name recently. We put my 2 grandmas in nursing homes over the past year and they are now suffering dementia. I had a very close relationship with all of them and now I watch them completely surrender independence of both mind and body. They would all be mortified if they knew this was going to happen to them, and they deserve so much compassion because they were such strong women only a few short years ago. I think these things have made me start to examine my life and are having me question my purpose. I'd rather take care of people like these ladies in my life than a bunch of greedy shareholders.