Older student needs help to find right fit

[supermom44]

Hi!

I'm a non-traditional student (age 52) my kids are all grown and I decided to go back to school. I'll be graduating in May 2016 with my BSN and I don't know where I want to do my capstone or where I want to work after graduation. I'm at the retiring age, but had the opportunity to get my degree and have a better future, so I chose nursing.

Nursing school has been very stressful for me! all the assignments, papers, care plans, exams, simulations, discussion posts, medical concepts, etc !!! I've developed anxiety issues and chronic head aches from the stress combined with going through menopause. I hate the stress that nursing school brings but enjoy some of the clinical experiences.

I want to be a nurse so I can give back and make life a little better for others. But, I don't want to work in a high acuity, high stress, long hours, back breaking area (ER, OR, Med-Surg, ICU, L&D...) hence, I'm considering home health, school nurse, postpartum or PACU. I've spent a day with a school nurse and a few days in a mother baby unit/lactation and enjoyed them both.

I need to chose my capstone and I'm considering school nursing, PACU or Home Health. (Our program won't allow postpartum because I've already had that area as a clinical experience).

My question is, what do you think would be a good fit for someone my age, being an introvert,I like routine and structure, very organized, love kids (I raised 4)...

I like the hours and summers off that come with being a school nurse, it would allow me to travel with my hubby and visit see my kids. The down side is the income is very low $35K a year and I'm afraid I'll be bored. I like the autonomy that being a home health allows, but I'm afraid the patient acuity may be too much for me. I think I'd really like Mother Baby/lactation ( I breast feed all my kiddos and would love to teach new moms) but it's hard to get hired at a new grad...I'd appreciate your thoughts...

[l.a.m.b, ADN, RN]

First, Congrats on almost finishing such a difficult program! We all know it hasn't been easy. Now to start looking for jobs soon.....You say that you don't want backbreaking work. Which is medsurg, Icu and Er. You would rather start in places like pacu, school nursing or home health. As a new grad, you are a huge liability right now for employers because of your lack of experience even though you have your Bsn. You are not equipped with sufficient knowledge in handling potential complications that you may experience (and you will) in home health or in school nursing. Quick, how will you handle that patient that is hemorrhaging in front of you? How will you know if you patient just had a stroke or heart attack? Oh no, they pulled out their picc, or are found unresponsive! How will you handle that special needs child that is seizing on the floor at school? You can't always just call 911, you must intervene in other ways. My experience with new grads is that they don't know how to properly assess a patient, handle medication, handle emergencies, troubleshoot simple issues that arise during a normal shift. As a new grad you are learning all of the above plus time management. You need to allow yourself a good 1-3 years to hone these skills. Minimum one year. Then you will be adequately good enough to go to home Health or school nursing where you will be on your own literally. But you still won't know it all because nursing is about learning daily. In addition, you can't command much money because you don't know much right now, too. Think about this too: while you can get a job as a new grad, your likelier to make mistakes which put your license in danger. Those are my thoughts and I hope I'm not coming off as being negative. I'm just being realistic. Mother baby lactation may be your best bet if you don't want to go through all that but you may not make much. Keep in touch and let us know what you ended up doing!