Nursing after pre-med coursework?

[beastykato]

I completed a bach. in biology with a focus on pre-med and was planning on pursuing pharmacy school. Unfortunately, my plan didn't work out as I hoped. I have worked in pharmacy for 3 years now and I find it horribly monotonous and unrewarding. The pharmacists I work with in retail are extremely stressed and overworked working 14 hour days without even getting a lunchbreak. That's something I do not want to deal with and I didn't even mention the robot like job duty that the pharmacists and myself have to perform in retail pharmacy.

So, I'm looking into other health careers and nursing is near the top of my list. Are there any nursing programs in or near PA that allow you to obtain a masters level nursing degree or something along those lines. The reason I ask is because all of the pre-med courses I took (anatomy/physiology/etc.) were more difficult than the classes the nursing students were taking. Do these classes count towards my degree or do I have to start all over from scratch?

[HiHoCherry-O]

The pharmacists at the hospital where I work LOVE their jobs. I'm kind of jealous:rolleyes:. They do spend a lot of time cross referencing medications, dosing coumadin, antibiotics, double strengthening drips for critically ill patients or special populations etc. They also respond to STEMI's in the ED and codes throughout the hospital. As they near the completion of pharmacy school they often get to pick which specialty they like i.e. emergency department, critical care, oncology etc. They can have as much or as little interaction with patients as they like. Most of the time it is to verify meds, allergies, follow up etc.

Also. . .as FlyingICU RN mentioned, you are only four years away from completeing an MD. . . something to think about.

[XingtheBBB, BSN, RN]

Unless you didn't make the grades, your Bio major puts you four years away from a medical internship.

Honestly, that's the route I would go.

Look into both. Not just breaks and hours but also philosophy of each. If I had it to do over, I'd take medicine but many nurses would still take nursing.

[healthstar, BSN, RN]

I finished pre-med and I decided to go for nursing and all the basic pre-med classes transfered to my nursing school ( chemistry, anatomy, biology) etc. So yes, most pre-med classes count towards nursing degree. It also depends on the college. Physical therapy, dentistry, medicine students take almost the same exact classes the first 4 years of college...and their classes change when they go to graduate school.

[shoegalRN, RN]

The pharmacists at my hospital have a sweet job. Sometimes, I wish I was a pharmacist!

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Also nurses aren't given breaks either? I don't mind a long day the reason I don't like it is because I see the pharmacists I work with and how dead they are everyday. They can barely get a bite to eat or even go to the bathroom they are so overworked. It makes me sick honestly. There have been a lot of dispensing mistakes that I think are attributed to this that I have seen and being that both a pharm. and nurse along with all the other health professions are holding patient lives in their hands I feel both should be given adequate breaks.

Welcome to our world! At least now I know we nurses aren't the only one's treated this way!:)

[jjjoy, LPN]

Nurses in many settings, especially bedside nursing, have a hard time squeezing in time for breaks, lunch and even going to the bathroom. There is just so much that needs to be done that something has to give. Twelve hour shifts easily turn into 14 hour shifts when trying to wrap up loose ends (eg finish the charting that there wasn't time to do because one was doing the things that now need charting). Of course, nurses are supposed to have their lunch break and not supposed to work beyond their shift, but sometimes there's just too much to do - which is what it sounds like retail pharmacists are having to deal with. Nurses, too, struggle with trying to minimally meet all the demands and still have time to provide personal, quality care that one takes pride in. I imagine retail pharmacy has many of the same constraints and pressures of bedside nursing... reimbursement structures and rates that don't support adequate staffing of licensed personnel who end up being spread too thin.

Maybe before making any choices about "what next" you can take this time to get a better feel for the realities of various professional options. The few hospital pharmacists I've met seem pretty satisfied with their work - much more so than with retail, anyway. Similarly, bedside nurses can be so squeezed that many people going into nursing hope to avoid it or at least only do a year or two to build up their nursing skills and then hope to be able to get into a different kind of nursing. Of course, there are other pros and cons to other kinds of nursing, such as potentially less flexibility or having to be more business-savvy as opposed to just putting in hours and getting a paycheck.

[beastykato]

Thank you all very much the responses have given me a lot to think about. My overall gpa is 3.4 not stellar but not bad either and I didnt' try my hardest. However, my pre-req gpa for pharm/med school is much higher than my overall. It's more along the lines of 3.7/3.8.

That being said I will take the advice and at least take a shot at the MCAT because I think I'll regret it my whole life if I don't at least try. My situation right now is that I'm 23 (still very young I know) and have a girlfriend and a 7 month old baby boy. I kinda wrote off medical school because I was interested in getting into the workforce as fast as possible to support my family. That's why I have been looking at nursing/PA routes over going the distance for a doctorate degree. Not getting the residency of my choice in med school also scares me and I would hate to be forced into a lesser residency if I didn't live up to the expectations required for the ones I prefer.

I guess it's not that much longer in the grand scheme of things but I have a lot of studying ahead of me if I am going to brush up for the MCAT's. It's been quite a while since I studied for the PCAT I'm gonna have to relearn a lot of material

I'll also try to get a better feel for hospital/clinical pharmacy. The descriptions you have all given me are very different from what the pharmacists I met have told me. However, I know your not just making this stuff up and I do have a real interest in pharmacy, especially if I can land a job like that where I can actually see and speak with patients about treatments etc.

[Flying ICU RN]

I kinda wrote off medical school because I was interested in getting into the workforce as fast as possible to support my family. That's why I have been looking at nursing/PA routes over going the distance for a doctorate degree.

You would find the route to NP / PA equally costly, (Opportunity cost), look up the term.

As for a residency of your choice, who cares, the single biggest advantage for an MD is the ability to hang out your own shingle, and the "Boomers" will be making that route quite profitable in the years to come.

Good luck!

[msn10]

Also. . .as FlyingICU RN mentioned, you are only four years away from completeing an MD. . . something to think about.

4 years for a medical degree but then another 3-7 years of residency after that making a total of at least 7 more years. 3.4 isn't high enough to make it into med school unless you have a stellar MCAT score.

Also, docs don't get paid what they use to. On average, only 65% of your patients pay you, and those rates are changing as well. I would suggest shadowing someone in nursing and other health care specialities before making a decision.

You could easily go into pharmaceutical sales with a bio or chemistry background. The corporations usually train you and you would be able to have a more intelligent conversation with a doctor instead of the large chested business degrees they usually send to the offices. (sorry, just tired of seeing them)