BSN/RN IN NEED OF ADVICE... I am currently studying for my MSN/FNP through an online program at Tennessee State Univ. I am a stay at home mom and pregnant with my third child in four years. I became a RN, worked eight months at Vanderbilt, then got pregnant and had hyperemesis. I've been home since then and plan to stay home until my unborn (youngest starts preschool). In the meantime i'm working toward the MSN.
This to say, by the time I have to leave for clinicals I will have a 4, 2, and 1 year old at home. My clinicals will require me to be gone 40 hours/wk for four consecutive semesters for 3wks, 6wks, 3wks, and another 6wks...and after these four semesters i'm finished. Both grandmothers will have to fly in to be with the little people while i'm away as we have no family here being former military. This will strain both sides of the family but they are all willing to help.
My dilemma is this...should I proceed with the MSN or walk away. I am struggling with leaving my little people at such a sweet time for so long (I know this sounds ridiculous to some...but being home with them is all I know and such a blessing). I am happy with my current degree and licensure and can make a great living as a second income with what I have. On the other hand, I can't foresee in five or ten years what my career will entail. Will I regret not knocking out the MSN while my kids are babies or will I be just as happy being a RN? I don't want to go back later, it is now or never for three reasons. One, I have a 6 year window to finish with TSU and if I don't proceed that will close (don't want to retake those core classes). Two, I don't want to wait until the kids are in school because I want to enter the workforce in my mid 40s instead of STILL being a student. Third, if I wait NP will require the DNP and well, enough said. RN VS FNP...what role do I want? Both are appealing and I have equal respect and admiration for both roles. The money isn't a consideration in the immediate...but in 15 to 18 years i'll have children entering college, elderly parents, and be pushing retirement age myself, all at once. At the same time my husband is in healthcare as well, and we would be fine with whatever I decide. Will it be worth leaving my sweet babies in the long run? Is there a NP out there who has been a RN with advice? Have any of you been home with little ones? The time is fleeting and I want to soak it all in. But I have to decide now...my 6 years to finish this degree with TSU is closing. Do I proceed or quit? Do I stick with the education and licensure I am blessed to already have? Do I go for the MSN and suck up the heartache of leaving my babies...to think that in the long run it will be the better road?
Yes, this helps me tremendously. I will even read your reply to my husband! This is very encouraging and really answers my flexibility and lifestyle questions. I think I may have a say in my clinicals because the person who negotiates them is also faculty in the BSN program I attended and has become my friend. If she isn't retired by the time I start I should be in good shape. I know what you mean about networking also. I'm pregnant with my third as i've shared and my ob/gyn also attends my church. I joke with him a lot that he'll have to give me a job if I keep having children...i'll have to pay for them at some point...he laughs...but has seriously told me that is a very good possibility. I may do a clinical with him as well. I live in a tight knitt medical community that is in Vanderbilt's backyard...so in one sense there are a lot of NPs...but in another most of them move away or stay in Nashville. I'm looking for something in a bit more rural area...so I should be in good shape. Your job actually sounds exactly like what i'm hoping for and envisioning!! That is indeed VERY doable. Actually my best friend, who has no children, is seeking her administrative license, and she is already in that boat with the phone calls and hours..not very family friendly. Well again, thank you, very helpful!! I have a couple more questions for you...I think i'm leaning toward pressing on and sticking with NP...I wasn't going to go here...but I will...it seems to me the "morale", if you will, of NPs is a bit higher than RNs...have you noticed this? Also, do you think it will be easier to do clinicals while the babies are so young? Is the pay decent (a community health center is were I think i'd most like to work as a NP)? What was licensure like? Is it comparable to RN boards?
Thanks!!!
I agree that networking is great for finding a job! My first part time job came about because my clinical preceptor was at a dinner with a couple of md's and a pharm rep, she mentioned to one MD that I was in my last weeks of clinical and would be job hunting, he was looking for someone part time, he called, and hired me...........when I left that job I took some time off, then a friend I met thru a homeschooling group happened to be a doc looking for someone per diem, she called me to see if i could help in her office part time, i did that for awhile until she needed someone more permanent and I wasnt ready to commit yet, so I still help her out on occasion per diem, the job I have now is the only one I didn't get through knowing someone!
I answered an ad in an NP journal. I just started a couple weeks ago and so far I am enjoying it. It is Psych, geri psych, so outside my comfort zone right now, but I am learning. but the best part is the flexibility, I can work as much or little as I want. I can choose the days hours I work as well. it works great for me right now and the pay is very good.
as far as morale goes, my background as RN is acute care cardiac surgery step down ..........and also some med surg too. the hospital is hard, I think nurses are pushed to the limit with staffing and patient acuity and numbers we are expected to care for in a given shift.
there are stressors in the NP role but it is very different, with more autonomy.
I think the clinicals will be easier with your kids as babies now, also I think the classes will too. As they grow and have more activities school stuff etc it will be harder.
I personally did not find the boards that entirely difficult. It was not easy, but I didn't think it was any harder than the RN boards.imo.
as far as the pay, when I took that very first NP job I did take a slight pay cut, but I had been at the hospital where i was working for several years. but it was ok for me to take the cut, it was about 3-4 dollars an hour.
the next job I bumped up to $10 an hour MORE than what I was making at that first NP job.
comparing to RN salary, I probably make per hour what I would make at the hospital had I stayed, also the nurses at the top of the pay scale probably make a few dollars an hour more than I do right now. One of my RN friends is at the top of the pay scale and she works weekend nights every week and has off all week, she makes more per hour than I do.
I look at the big picture though, and I am much happier doing what I am doing now. good luck with your decision, i know its hard.
jess818
20 Posts
thank you for your response!i will have a bachelor's degree in health science and i'm thinking of possibly doing a double major in psychology.