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Hi there,
I'm working towards going into nursing as a second career, coming from a performing arts background. For those of you who are also artist, I have some questions:
Did you ever regret your career change?
Why did you change careers?
Do you ever desperately miss your old life?
How do you fulfill your artistic needs while working as a nurse?
Thank you so much for any thoughts!
This sounds as fishy to me as all the people here who post that you have to have a "calling," and nursing has to be your entire life, in order to be a good nurse. People pursue all kinds of occupations and vocations on a part-time basis, balancing it with something else that is important (or necessary) to them. Why on earth would the arts need to be "all or nothing"?
And as Rocknurse pointed out, it certainly can be done. All of the other posters are still artists in some capacity.
So... These are from my past.
I have been trying to find the time to get back in my studio, but between work, family, and too much other stuff, I have not quite gotten it together.
And there is a place for art in nursing. A lot of it is the psycho-social aspect with pts and families. And sometimes it's using the creative side of my brain to come up with solutions to the problems I encounter as a nurse.
And there's always some time to grab a camera or iPhone and take y'r best shot.
Science to a Nurse is like the knowledge of the media to an Artist. Both the Nurse and the Artist need to know how to apply this information in order to manipulate the media and achieve a desired goal.There is an Art to Nursing.
I appreciate someone that feels that way. Especially someone that is also an artist.
I also felt nursing was an art.. before the corporate masters beat that out of me.
I still hope to be the next George R. R. Martin or J.K. Rowling (pipe dreams). My ideal life would be PRN nursing, traveling the world, and writing NYT's best-selling novels back-to-back-to...you get the picture.
I have found some contentment in nursing. Though it is too early to say whether I regret my decision, I am glad I chose a marketable degree that pays a higher than average salary, helps me help my mother and brothers financially and allows me to have four days off per week.
elkpark
14,633 Posts
This sounds as fishy to me as all the people here who post that you have to have a "calling," and nursing has to be your entire life, in order to be a good nurse. People pursue all kinds of occupations and vocations on a part-time basis, balancing it with something else that is important (or necessary) to them. Why on earth would the arts need to be "all or nothing"?