then again, maybe not

A lot of it depends on why you wanted to go into nursing to begin with.

So why did you want to go into nursing?

grossly inadequate pay

vicious, on-the-job competition

back-stabbing coworkers

These things could be said about various other professions, though.

Howdy! I'm a recovering secondary teacher (taught for 12 years) and I'm currently a BSN student. I love it! I'm SOOOO glad I quit teaching. Current nurses may argue this point, but having seen both secondary teaching and nursing, nurses actually seem to get more respect than teachers do. As a student I've felt more respect than I did as a seasoned teacher. Also, as a teacher I had between 80 and 120 students every day. There was no way I could give them the attention they needed. Nursing is time consuming, but there are fewer people to deal with. I don't think I get to spend as much time with each patient as I'd like to spend, but it seems more doable to me than trying to meet the needs of 120 people.

Hey, Hamilton. Nursing is such a rich science, there is no end to the intellectual stimulation you can get from it. Maybe my colleagues would say I'm a nerd, but I've always thought the job was one that kept me on my toes mentally, made me look up and learn new things, exposed me to something new every day...

This message board people come here to vent about their frustrations so it does seem overly negative. I myself have a thread about a coworker I'm having trouble with.

Thank you all for replying. Each comment was helpful. The BSN program I am considering is a one year second degree bachelor's. Cost is about $22,000 dollars for a January to January series of classes which is a lot for my family right now. One other complication is that I am in my early 50's - kind of old to go back to college for a bachelor's. However, my kids are in college so I have the time. I had almost decided to apply but then read some of the posts on this site. I would love to do something worthwhile, something actually useful, and something less chaotic and more disciplined than teaching which would provide a decent salary and in which I could progress through more education.

Thanks again for the comments.

Howdy! I'm a recovering secondary teacher (taught for 12 years) and I'm currently a BSN student. I love it! I'm SOOOO glad I quit teaching. Current nurses may argue this point, but having seen both secondary teaching and nursing, nurses actually seem to get more respect than teachers do. As a student I've felt more respect than I did as a seasoned teacher. Also, as a teacher I had between 80 and 120 students every day. There was no way I could give them the attention they needed. Nursing is time consuming, but there are fewer people to deal with. I don't think I get to spend as much time with each patient as I'd like to spend, but it seems more doable to me than trying to meet the needs of 120 people.

You are not too old! A lady in my group of second degree people was a teacher and is in her mid-fifties. She is doing quite well academically, and she enjoys it.

So far I think this is a better fit for me, so maybe that's why I think it is more attractive than teaching, Judee. I agree that when I'm out there on my own with a full-time job is a much different ballgame than when I'm a student. I'm well aware of many of the problems that nurses face, and I'm not a starry-eyed youngin' who thinks she'll change the world.....I just think I've found what I'm meant to do. We'll see.....

Good for you. Please come back and tell us how things are going when you have been working at the bedside for a while.

:roll

LOL!!! I was thinking the same thing.

I had (note the word "had" LOL) a friend who is an RN that while preggers she explained to me that there would always be one rule in her home. She gets one hour to herself daily. No kids, no screaming, no whining, no "I'm booooooored," no "I'm HUNGRY!" She'd have none of that!

She promised herself she would get one hour daily to herself and that's just the way it would be.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Big dreams, such little bubbles to pop.

Hey, Hamilton. Nursing is such a rich science, there is no end to the intellectual stimulation you can get from it. Maybe my colleagues would say I'm a nerd, but I've always thought the job was one that kept me on my toes mentally, made me look up and learn new things, exposed me to something new every day...

Very well said.

A lot of what is posted here is just people venting about things we can not change. I would like to think that not one of us would change our careers for anything (except maybe a million bucks and a trip to Jamaica:clown:

This forum is the best place in the world to log on and vent anonymously. Log on, rails H#$@ and go to bed and go to sleep. Nobody gets hurt and hopefully nobody's feelings get hurt. We say things on here that we wouldn't dare say to a patient or family member.

Please don't let your age deter you. When I graduated 6 years ago at the age of 40, I was about middle of the road as far as age goes. If I remember correctly, we only had about 5 or 6 students who were under 25.

Thank you all for replying. Each comment was helpful. The BSN program I am considering is a one year second degree bachelor's. Cost is about $22,000 dollars for a January to January series of classes which is a lot for my family right now. One other complication is that I am in my early 50's - kind of old to go back to college for a bachelor's. However, my kids are in college so I have the time. I had almost decided to apply but then read some of the posts on this site. I would love to do something worthwhile, something actually useful, and something less chaotic and more disciplined than teaching which would provide a decent salary and in which I could progress through more education.

Thanks again for the comments.

Good luck to you. I think you will do great. I'm struck by your statement that you're looking for something less chaotic and more disciplined. That wouldn't be my job. LOL.

Seriously, best of luck to you.