Making the change from teaching to nursing

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Hello all

This is my first post to allnurses and a huge step for me in my career. I like others before am a licensed teacher (but not currently teaching). I have my degree in elementary education. I went into teaching with great enthusiasm and commitment to the field. However there have been many changes in my life which have pushed me to seriously consider making the change. First off I come from a family of nurses needless to say when I "rebel ed" and became a teacher I worked hard to establish myself by myself. I worked as a pre-k teacher but due to the economy the school closed which lead me to substituting. Things in the field of education seemed unstable and for the first time I really began to doubt everything. Over time things improved however I want to get into nursing.I have a supportive husband no children but I think now is the time to make this change. At times I feel somewhat guilty for making this choice like I'm turning my back on something I worked hard to get. Anyone have a similar experience of sadness and guilt?

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I admire your spirit. But to be nurse, you REALLY have to want to be a nurse.

A word of caution...right now the nursing profession is experiencing a glut of nurses. I like to caution those entering when they mention how the recession (which is a depression in my opinion) has affected their jobs so they are looking at being a nurse. Nurses are having a hard time finding positions especially new grads and some have been searching for jobs for a year or more. Hospitals are closing as well and services are being consolidated all across the country. The recession has affected nursing as well nurses expected to retire did not and cannot. We lost a majority of our retirements in 401K's when the market crashed... many/most hospitals do not provide any pensions. Nurses returns to the field when their spouses lost their jobs and have become the bread winners. The masses flocked to the "recession proof" profession and to the :nursing shortage" threat as of right now does not exist. Nursing school popped up everywhere online and began churning out unprepared graduates in alarming numbers.

One of our members wrote a blog.....ruby Vee, For Those Considering A Career In Nursing

https://allnurses.com/nursing-career-advice/those-considering-career-653061.html

The Big Lie?Without a doubt, the main source of frustration experienced by recently graduated and licensed but still unemployed nurses is what could be called "the big lie."In other words, the television commercials that encourage young people to become nurses -- and then abandon them for months (or years) without employment; and the educators who tell them that the associate's degree is perfectly adequate to guarantee employment, that they will have their pick of jobs when they graduate, and that there is plenty of time to get a BSN later on. Who knows whether it is greed, ignorance, or wishful thinking that underlies the fairy tales told to nursing students about their future job prospects? Whatever the motivation, the disillusionment of our new grads is palpable. The jobs they expected after all of their hard work just haven't materialized, and some grads are getting pretty desperate.

The Big Lie?

Losing Our Skills

The Holy Grail

Take a Job, Any Job

Get Out of the Hospital

Back to School?

Does Uncle Sam Want You?

Feel Like a Little Golf?

Give Us a Chance

Medscape: Medscape Access requires registration but it is free (no strings)

Has the Nursing Shortage Disappeared?

It's that time of year again. Graduating nursing students are preparing to take the NCLEX and are looking for their first jobs. This year, many are finding those first jobs in short supply.Reports are rampant of new graduates being unable to find open positions in their specialty of choice, and even more shockingly, many are finding it tough to find any openings at all.

These new RNs entered school with the promise that nursing is a recession-proof career. They were told the nursing shortage would guarantee them employment whenever and wherever they wanted.

So what happened? Has the nursing shortage—that we've heard about incessantly for years—suddenly gone away?

The short term answer is clearly yes, although in the long term, unfortunately, the shortage will still be there.

The recession has brought a temporary reprieve to the shortage. Nurses who were close to retirement have seen their 401(k) portfolios plummet and their potential retirement income decline. They are postponing retirement a few more years until the economy—and their portfolios—pick up.

Many nurses have seen their spouses and partners lose their jobs and have increased their hours to make ends meet for their families. Some who left the profession to care for children or for other reasons have rejoined the workforce for similar reasons.

In addition, many hospitals are not hiring. The recession brought hiring freezes to healthcare facilities across the country, and many are still in effect. Help wanted ads for healthcare professionals dropped by 18,400 listings in July.

Has the Nursing Shortage Disappeared?

I wish you the best in your endeavours. Nursing is a tough profession in many ways but is worth it in many more.