This may be in a thread somewhere but I am curious... How long have you been a nurse? What degrees/certifications do you hold? Would you do it all again if you had the chance?
I'll start! I've been a nurse for 15 years and I have my BSN +my School Nurse certification. I am contemplating going back for my MSN but I'm not sure it is worth it!
I don't know how to be anything other than a nurse and I'm not sure I would want to be anything else :) but I'm not sure I would do all the schooling again! I would have to find another way to become a nurse lol
I've been a nurse for a little over 3 years. And I've spent every moment of those 3+ years in school nursing. I wouldn't change that for the world!
Nursing is a second career for me. My first bachelor's degree is in television! I was going to write TV scripts and move to LA. Fast forward to senior year, where LA was the last place I wanted to be. I did a ton of theater in college, so used a connection I had through my TV program to intern with the Technical Director at the Boston Ballet. It was a blast!
And because of that experience, I worked in theater administration right after college (theater is a passionate hobby of mine these days), then I transitioned into working in higher education administration for nearly 7 years. (You think school nursing pay is low, spend some time in theater administration. Yikes!)
My then-jerk-of-boyfriend-that-I-was-convinced-I-loved-but-I-was-young-and-naive broke my heart. I knew I was getting a bit bored at my job, and deep down, nursing had been something I was interested in. I took my nursing pre-reqs at the college I worked at (for free!) over the next two year, realized I could do this, and applied, was accepted, quit my job, and entered a Direct Entry NP program. It was after I completed the BSN portion, passed the NCLEX, and got my first nearly full-time school nurse sub gig, that I started to realize the NP wasn't for me at this time. I wanted real world experience. So I took my bachelor's and withdrew. Don't regret it.
School nursing almost seemed like it was meant to be, now that I think about it...
I have been a nurse since 1990. First career choice, and would never consider anything else, it is really my gifting. Have an ADN, as back then it was the mantra of nurses to be grandfathered in, yeah, right. Only regret would be not getting BSN pre-kids, though I appreciate my clinical skills that my ADN afforded me. Must say, BSN prepared nurses are woefully lacking that, but are made to fake it until they make it now that they are employed with license in hand.
JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN
3,035 Posts
I've been a nurse for a little over 3 years. And I've spent every moment of those 3+ years in school nursing. I wouldn't change that for the world!
Nursing is a second career for me. My first bachelor's degree is in television! I was going to write TV scripts and move to LA. Fast forward to senior year, where LA was the last place I wanted to be. I did a ton of theater in college, so used a connection I had through my TV program to intern with the Technical Director at the Boston Ballet. It was a blast!
And because of that experience, I worked in theater administration right after college (theater is a passionate hobby of mine these days), then I transitioned into working in higher education administration for nearly 7 years. (You think school nursing pay is low, spend some time in theater administration. Yikes!)
My then-jerk-of-boyfriend-that-I-was-convinced-I-loved-but-I-was-young-and-naive broke my heart. I knew I was getting a bit bored at my job, and deep down, nursing had been something I was interested in. I took my nursing pre-reqs at the college I worked at (for free!) over the next two year, realized I could do this, and applied, was accepted, quit my job, and entered a Direct Entry NP program. It was after I completed the BSN portion, passed the NCLEX, and got my first nearly full-time school nurse sub gig, that I started to realize the NP wasn't for me at this time. I wanted real world experience. So I took my bachelor's and withdrew. Don't regret it.
School nursing almost seemed like it was meant to be, now that I think about it...