Male considering career change seeks advice

[Lake201]

Considering a career change to nursing, I have been reading this site for a while. While I have been impressed by the experience of the nurses posting here, I have not found the combination of information I personally need. So I thought I would reach out for some of your incredible experience.

Are my impressions of nursing correct?

I am an older, married male with young children who has been working in technology businesses. I have undergraduate and MBA degrees. While I enjoy any work, the experience of children has changed me. Nursing seems a more significant work. And it seems a work available just about anywhere, nice for me, since I live in a fairly rural area.

What exactly do nurses do during a shift?

I am thinking here of hospital floor nurses, but I would appreciate hearing from any nurses. When I read posts on this site, nurses usually speak in general terms, like "charting," "giving meds," and "checking vitals," that don't translate as clearly to me, someone who has never done these things.

Is nursing physically demanding? Dangerous to family?

I'm in very good shape physically, but I haven't had to be on my feet for long periods in a long time. Also, I probably don't have the bullet-proof resistance of a veteran nurse. Would I expect to be sick for the first few years of nursing? Would I bring home conditions and illnesses that would create health problems for my family?

Are my nursing career interests appropriate?

Though I don't have your experience to define these interests, I would probably choose to do hospital medical-surgical nursing for a while. Later, I would probably enjoy doing nurse management or administration. I might possibly be interested in case management or hospital administration. I would probably have difficulty with pediatric nursing over the long term because it involves seeing children suffer. Like any male, I might not be appropriate for maternal nursing. And since it is specialized and probably would require working in a larger city, I might not select psychiatric nursing.

What would be the best training for me?

A community college not far away offers an ASN. That program would require a commute, the lightest course load, and just under two years to complete. A large state university in a city slightly farther away offers a second-degree BSN and MSN, neither of which assume nursing background. The second-degree BSN would require a longer commute, heavier course load, and greater cost but, surprisingly, a semester less in time to complete. The second-degree MSN would require that longer commute, even heavier course load and even more cost and time. Finally, the state university offers both practice and research doctoral programs, which would allow me to do teaching and research, which I like, but which would take me away from my family for more time, though the example of my work might be good for the kids.

What is nursing academic work like?

In glancing through nursing textbooks, I see the material is very information rich, and the books are very large. The material is not usually tied up with a few conveneint formulas or concepts but is very detailed, much different than previous subjects I've studied. How much does one have to memorize to be able to do well on the NCLEX-RN? Everything and the whole book. In reading through NCLEX-RN prep books, I do fairly well on questions, though I have no nursing background beyond common knowledge about medicine and certainly know that does not reflect any ability to think like a nurse or perform nursing duties.

Finally, how might I be treated as an older male nurse?

Would I be isolated from my colleagues. Are male nurses considered unsual today, as they might have been in the past?

Please feel free to address any of the questions I've raised. I would deeply appreciate your valuable experience as I think about this issue, which is important to me and my family right now. Thank you very much.

[Bill E. Rubin]

Welcome Lake,

I can answer some of your questions and offer you solidarity. I am still in nursing school, but I am a 46-year-old male coming from a 20+ year of software engineering and management, taking the plunge into nursing. I work as a PCA (which is one of the many acronyms you may see that refer to a nurse's aide) on a med/surg floor where I also did a clinical rotation for nursing school.

Some of your answers about the nature of med/surg nursing can be found on this thread: https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/med-surg-question-265776.html

As to school, does your area offer accelerated second-degree bachelor's programs? I'm attending one at Curry College near Boston. There are others around the country. They tend to be hard to get into, but are tailor-made for people like you and me.

Best of luck to you in your new adventure! :w00t:

Karl

[gagezoie]

:twocents:In my opinion I think you would answer a lot of your questions if you could job shadow a nurse for a day. See if you like before even starting up in school. As for how much education to obtain that depends on exactly what you would like to do and how long you want to do it for. If you want to be a floor nurse for a while I think ADN would be fine. If you only want to be on the floor a short time before going into management then you will want to get your BSN or MSN. You could always get your ADN and then later continue with the BSN/MSN route. (that is my plan, i feel 4 years all at once was to much) As far as being male, I feel we need more men that will step into the role. Allnurses does have a mens forum that you could look at and ask around. We had 3 male students in our class and they were treated no different then anyone else. I hope this helps at least a little.

[K98]

Lake,

Nursing school is difficult, demanding, and rewarding, just like nursing. Don't worry about infecting your family, sick people are everywhere, not just in hospitals. My kids bring more bugs home from school. As far as being an old guy (48) in nursing, my co-workers are the best part of the job. I have never felt like an outsider, in fact, the girls include me in conversations that I wish I hadn't heard.

Send me a PM, and I'll answer what questions I can for you (without a huge long post).

:cheers:

[ICRN2008, BSN, RN]

I completed a second-degree accelerated BSN and I don't regret it a bit. Most of my classmates were older than the average college student and highly motivated. These types of programs also tend to have more males than traditional programs, which you may consider to be an advantage. My classmates were able to relate our previous careers to nursing in a way that a 20 year old just isn't able to do. Having a BSN is also an asset when you apply for management positions, even with your MBA background.

Good luck to you in your new career!

[SharonH, RN]

Hi, I haven't worked at the bedside in almost 5 years now but I am 100% positive that the basics have not changed. This is based on a shift on a busy med-surg floor. Here is what usually happens in a shift:

1. You get your assignment of patients. Depending on the day of the week, the facility, the number of available nurses and the shift this can vary from 4-9 patients. It is also supposed to depend on the acuity(the difficulty of the care) of the patient but in the 12 years that I worked at the bedside in several different hospitals, that was never considered.

2. You get report on these patients. Report consists of the diagnosis, date of admission, treatments you will perform and all pertinent medical and social history of the patient. Report may be taped or it may be face to face.

3. You assess your patients and their needs. From here on out, it depends on your preference and what works for you. I used to make quick rounds on my patients, introduce myself and visualize them so I know what is ahead of me for the shift. This is also a good time to note whether or not the patients you have inherited are dead or on lying on the floor. You want to get that out of the way as soon as possible. You then check their charts for orders, go over their med sheets to see what meds they need and when, review labs and verify treatments. You organize your shift from there.

4. Next you do a physical assessment of your patients. This involves listening to their heart and lungs, assessing their mental status, their skin integrity and any mobility issues as well as a targeted assessment depending on their diagnosis.

5. The remainder of the shift is spent giving meds, performing treatments(dressing changes, NG tubes insertion and maintenance, Foley care, IV therapy, reassessing their status), and coordinating care with other members of the healthcare team(pharmacy, physical therapy, social work, respiratory therapy, dietician, etc.) You are constantly assessing and reassessing your patients: diet intake, urine and bowel output, mental status, home needs, family issues, tolerance and effectiveness of meds, progress of mobility and many, many other things.

6. You write down most of the things you do and observe and report to physicians and other members of the healthcare team as necessary.

7. During this time you may be constantly admitting and discharging new patients or post-ops.

7. After 8 or 12 hours, you hand it off to the next nurse.

This of course is only a small window into a day in the life of a nurse. I hope that helps.

[HealthyRN]

Before you jump into nursing, you need to make sure that this is what you want to do. The best way to do this is to job shadow. Try contacting a local university or a university medical center and see if they can help you set up a few shadowing opportunities. Working as a nurse's aid would also provide some good insights into the profession. I would also seek career counseling.

If you do decide to pursue nursing, I would recommend the second-degee bachelor's degree. I think you have a great career plan and I'm sure that you could easily transfer into management after 3-4 years of clinical nursing. Good luck!

[twstdlkephillyz]

Hey,

I recently changed majors from computer engineering to nursing. Classes have yet to start, but overall I think I made a good decision. For one, this is something I'm very passionate about, unlike computers, oatients are people I can actually help in any way possible. So, you're not in changing paths, although you are changing careers, we have something in common.

[Kayartea]

Not completely on point, but very informative anyway, see the article "Care and Chaos on the Night Nursing Shift In a Search for Purpose, An Editor Changes Careers; 'He's Asking for You Again'"from the May 24, 2007 edition of the Wall Street Journal.

[jordangregory]

i am a middle-aged male who just jumped into nursing from another career. i started out in rehab and had been in the hospital as a clerk before, so the transition wasn't as hard as someone who has no healthcare experience

i have found that i wasn't treated badly by any of my classmates. while men are the minority, i never felt like i was being discriminated against.

floor nursing, such as med/surg, is very physically demanding. if you work a 12 hour shift, you will be tired by the end. there may be a potential harm to your family if you catch something at work, but the incidence of that is really low. plenty of precautions are taken. the only problem may be if you get injured and only have your asn.

i would definitely recommend getting your bsn or msn right off the bat. i was in a 15 month bsn program and loved it. the only problem is that i didn't have any time to work outside of school. the program was extremely challenging, and would have been even more so if i didn't have any previous experience in healthcare. a classmate of mine who didn't have healthcare experience struggles more than i did through school, but it can still be done.

changing your career to nursing is definitely a long road. there are prerequisites to take as well as the actual classes. i would recommend doing more than shadowing a nurse. trying becoming a part time nurses aid. from there you will really see what you are getting into.

[hbgwan, LPN, LVN]

suggested sticky in the male nursing forum

[Dr.Nurse2b]

Male 37 - BSN Student here...Married, Bun in Oven, 2 dogs, no money, eating noodles for dinner...BUT I WILL BE A NURSE!

I have worked 5+ as a medic and several years on the hospital floors as well. (tech/aid)

You will be well informed if you simply work on the floor - med/surg - side by side with the nurses. Here all the secrets will be revealed and you'll get to see first hand what its like to be a nurse...except you won't get to stick people and doctors will probable refrain from blaming you for everything. (Humor)

All kidding aside...I am just passing on knowledge that was given to me...A very experienced nurse, one who I respect very much told me "Work in med/surg...You'll know if you are a nurse"

I have met many people that could not see past the bed pans and quit. I found med/surg to be demanding...like marathon demanding. So IMHO if you can make through a year on the floor and run with the big dogs then you're set for a new career. Jury is still out on me...I hope they let me stay.

Hope this helped...