Paralegal wanting to go into nursing..

[HRhopefulRN]

Hello all! I am 28 years old and have been a legal assistant/paralegal for about 6 years. I have a BA in Political Science and have come to a point in my life where I realized that being a legal assistant/paralegal and sitting behind a desk is absolutely NOT the job for me and I've come to loathe it. I need to be around people and I enjoy caring for others, so naturally, I've been tossing around the idea of going to nursing school and becoming a nurse which would involve an entire career path change. I've applied and been accepted into my local nursing program. Here is the issue, I have several family members who think that I'm making the biggest mistake of my life by giving up a well paying job and going to nursing school and I've even tried to talk myself out of it but for some reason my gut is telling me to move forward and my husband is 110% supportive. Can I hear from some of you who have done a complete career change and gone into nursing and loved it, or maybe didn't love it? Was it worth it? I understand the rewards of my choice as well as the possible consequences. I've even spoken to every friend I know that is a nurse and they all agree that it's worth it...but still here I sit on the fence, teetering. Oh, did I mention that I have no experience in nursing whatsoever? Again, probably a reason why my family thinks I'm insane, but I'm telling you, my gut keeps pointing me in the nursing direction (maybe my calling? I've done a lot of praying about this)...thoughts for a fence sitter?

[Nonetheless]

Read about how hard it is to find a job and see how you feel

[HRhopefulRN]

I've seen that its very difficult to find a job and may especially be harder with the new health care system coming. Maybe this is something that I should put on the back burner for awhile?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

It may be wise to postpone your decision for a while. We know that the ACA is changing the entire healthcare landscape, but no one knows exactly what that means. So far, we are only sure of a couple of general trends, including"

+ fewer acute care nursing jobs.. due to declining reimbursement & (long-term) growth of 'wellness' and non-acute services

+ BSN required for nurses in acute care and other high-tech/complex health care environments

+ Job growth for 'rehab' therapy careers (PT, PTA, OT, OTA, etc)

There are a lot of healthcare professions besides nursing. Most of them have much more stable job prospects, better career advancement/salary progression, preferable work schedules, etc. One of these may be a better option for you.

[HRhopefulRN]

Very helpful! Thank you HouTx!

[Nurse2Banesthetist]

It really depends on your area that your looking for work because here in Arizona there are still jobs available. I would definitely look up jobs on job search websites so that you can see what jobs are available in your area.