Not sure what I want to be when I grow up

[mustlovepoodles, RN]

Okay, I'm 52. I've been an RN 32 years. My most recent job as a school nurse was one of the most stressful job I've ever had, worse than the NICU or the ER. I suffered severe anxiety and a pretty intense, prolonged bout of depression this year, complete with two hospitalizations to save me from myself. The result is that I have completely lost my confidence. The meds are working well, but my short-term memory is about this [] short. I have a hard time concentrating on things like TV shows and driving(I have almost wrecked the car about 7 times in the past 3 months.) I have bouts of high anxiety brought on by PTSD.

Obviously, I can't work as a nurse like this. I have the opportunity to go back to school in the fall. I can enter a BS-to-MSN program(I have a BS in Elementary Ed) or I can just go for another major altogether, like foreign language. I'm just not sure what to do. What if I invest all the time and money into the MSN only to find that I really just don't want to work as a nurse anymore? On the other hand, a major in Spanish would be usable pretty much everywhere (I live in GA, the state with the fastest growing Hispanic population.)

I actually have thought a lot about being a ped nurse practitioner, but I'm 52. But as a NP, how would I find work, part-time? I can't work full-time anymore due to family constraints(my husband and youngest son are disabled.)

The thing I love about school nursing is that I work with young teens and a large part of my job is educating them about health & illness. The kids are great--the principal and parents, not so much. I'd love to see the love for school nursing carry over into something else, in nursing or not.

Halp! I've fallen and I can't get up!