please vote--change career mid life?

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Have a master's degree in nutrition. I am 33 years old. Currently making $37,000 with 5 years experience. Considering going back to nursing school because of my low pay. Considering the cost of tuition and the many years at this school, would this be a wise decision? I do like helping people--- but I cannot stand seeing someone in pain and I am not sure if this is something one can overcome. I want to go into nursing because of the better pay. Any advice? I have a very flexible salaried position. Married with a 2 year old, and hoping for another in the next one year or so. Current work hours are 9 am to 4:30 pm.

There are LOTS of areas nurses can work in..NOT ONLY A HOSPITAL!!!

Homecare is good if you want flexibility with hours, days etc etc.

I have homecare nurses that come into my home for my daughter......All except one of them has another job...one is a school nurse by day, and works in my home 3 nights a week from 5-10pm and is going for her masters on top of that, another is one that works with developmentally disabled adults 2 other days per week besides my home, another works in a state hospital for mental illness.....You can go into a bunch of areas..the opportunities are endless........so do what you feel is right for you........but do make sure you are doing it for more than just the higher pay........you have to really want to help & care for other people and not be in it for just the money.....good luck on your endeavors.....;)

P.S...I almost forgot..none of my nurses work holidays in my house..I don't expect them to be away from their families so it is good for those who work in home care...plus in homecare you are 1:1 with the patient.......so the patient gets more attention than if you were in a hospital setting with 5-7 patients to yourself.........you could also do visiting nurse as well....which usually isn't holidays/nights etc unless you are the one on call which may be 1x per month on a weekend ........or you could work just sat & sun with 2 12 hr shifts & have the whole week off for example ..which I plan on doing IF I go to work in a hospital for some experience as soon as I am done in Dec......... good luck!

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Specializes in CWOCN.

I have a Masters degree and am starting nursing school in the Fall. I am making the transition to nursing because of my interest in a specific area of health care. I know nursing is the direction for me.

Depending on where you live in the U.S. will determine the salary. In NYC, new nursing graduates are starting at $58,000 and as high as $65,000.

Another option you may want to look into is a Ph.D. in nutrition or public health. One of my A&P professors had a Ph.D. in nutrition. With a Ph.D., you could teach at the university level and still maintain flexible hours.

You could also consider entering an Accelerated BSN/MSN program with a direction toward nurse practitioner. You could recycle many of your credits.

There are many jobs that pay well. You want to ask yourself what your long term goals are and how you can maximize on what you have to get you to a more interesting and lucractive career path/passion. It is important to be practical. You will have to work another 30+ years before you can retire so you want to consider the kind of work you would like to do.

When my children were younger, I had to do work that paid the bills and that enabled me to be present for my kids. Now that my kids are grown, I am exploring what I want to do for the remainder of my professional life.

Good luck to you in your search.

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Specializes in ER,Neurology, Endocrinology, Pulmonology.

i think that going to nursing school is the fastest way to a good-paying career, but it takes a lot to actually become a nurse - you must love what you do and have amazing patience to deal with people who are hurting and want to hurt you at times, because they are scared, sad and helpless.

Yes, there are many rewards, but when times get rough, I think even the most dedicated ones get a wrinkle or 2 on their face.

Working in a doctor's office is probably much better than being on the floor, but the pay will not be much more different than you are getting now.

So, I wish you to find happiness and all the best no matter what u decide.

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Specializes in Acute care, Community Med, SANE, ASC.

Wow, I'm surprised how many people are voting that you shouldn't change. I'm 37 and am just starting my nursing career. It won't necessarily cost you a fortune. I have an associate's degree that only took 7 quarters to finish at a community college. I live in central Ohio and was just hired at one of our major hospitals starting just under $22/hr with an additional $4.75 shift diff with another $4.75 diff on top of that for weekends. I will work 2nd shift, 40 hours a week. I'm very pleased with that starting pay--this will be my first nursing job.

As one of the others said, you don't have to work in a hospital so your hours aren't necessarily going to be awful just because you are new, especially if there ends up being a shortage in your area at the time you graduate.

I do think it's important that you at least have some interest in medicine to decide on a nursing career. I think nursing offers tons of options of what to do, where to work and hours to work so it's a good choice for me.

Good luck to you.

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If you don't mind me asking, what exactly about your current position, besides the pay, do you not like? I agree with many of the others who said that you should not go into nursing just for the money. No amount of money in the world is worth it if you hate your job. However, if you have a strong interest in nursing and feel that it is something that you may really enjoy, go for it!

I am a new RN and I am thinking about going back to school to get my master's in nutrition. I disliked nursing school and my current position is not exactly ideal. I know, I know, it takes time to feel comfortable in the role of a nurse, I could find another job, etc. The truth is I really feel that nursing is not what I want to do for the rest of my life. I plan on finishing up my first year and then returning to school. I have always wanted to own a gym and I see a lot of potential in combining a nutrition counseling practice with a gym. Have you considered alternative practice settings such as this? I may or may not become rich off such a business venture, but at least it would be something that I would truly enjoy. Good luck in your decision.

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Mid-life?? Not realy, I was just looking for a catchy phrase. I don't expect to kick the bucket that early --I have a lot that I need to accomplish!

I really appreciate all your feed back. What a great forum! This was my first post and I have just recieved free career advice from people with real experience and a heart to help others.

I work in the community and design and schedule my own nutrition programs as I see fit. After reading all the posts, I have decided that going into nursing would not be a wise decision since it is not a profession that I am personnally attracted to. Family is more important right now than making more (which may not be the case). I also currently have great benefits and a wonderful boss and co-workers.

Reading your posts made me appreaciate what I do and I will look for ways to advance my current career.

God bless.:thankya: :loveya:

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I have started at midlife. I can work as many years as my health will allow me and at some stage I would like to do travel. Nursing gives me many opportunities. I worked in marketing for a fortune 50 company for years so I think that, too, gives me an advantage. I am loving school and have learned so much. It is also good for my children. They look forward to the days when I get my test grades so we can all celebrate! :)

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Mid-life?? Not realy, I was just looking for a catchy phrase. I don't expect to kick the bucket that early --I have a lot that I need to accomplish!

I really appreciate all your feed back. What a great forum! This was my first post and I have just recieved free career advice from people with real experience and a heart to help others.

I work in the community and design and schedule my own nutrition programs as I see fit. After reading all the posts, I have decided that going into nursing would not be a wise decision since it is not a profession that I am personnally attracted to. Family is more important right now than making more (which may not be the case). I also currently have great benefits and a wonderful boss and co-workers.

Reading your posts made me appreaciate what I do and I will look for ways to advance my current career.

God bless.:thankya: :loveya:

I'm glad you've decided not to give up your great schedule, your office job, your weekends, nights, and holidays off, and your relative freedom in order to make more money while cleaning shyt, blood, pee, vomit, and sweat, lifting heavy patients, having doctors disrespect you and Management abusing you, working every hour on the clock and every day or the calendar, all for a pittance when compared to the responsibility and liability, only to have families yell at you for stuff that you have no control over, so you can break your back, stress your arms and shoulders, and get varicose veins. Geez, you didn't even pretend to care anything about people or helping them. I don't really think I'd like to be one of your patients, as it sounds like you don't even care at all about other people. But good luck in dietetics. You'll be a supervisor before too long, I think. Sorry if I sound upset - I just am galled that you don't even mention the first thing about caring about PEOPLE, yet you think nurses have a great-paying job and you are so completely uninformed about what nurses do. Doesn't being an RD require any concern for people? How have you been able to stand working in that field up until now?

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There are 101 ways of helping people. Being a good nurse is just one of them-but not all nurses fall this category.

Please calm down, take a deep breath, relax, and I promise you tommorow you will be feeling a whole lot better.

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Specializes in ICU, Tele, Dialysis.

This is not a job you can do for any amount of money. I'm going to be 38 and have been in healthcare since I was 16, started out as a CNA and have been an RN for the last 10 years. I personally am on my way of of the field. My body is pretty well shot (arches, knees, hips, back, bladder), the stress and tension we have to deal with upwards of 12 hours at a time, management, etc. I was at the top of the payscale and it still isn't enough to make it worth it to me anymore. That's something you really need to explore to see if this is the career choice for you. Good luck with whatever path you choose.

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Why don't you just kick back and enjoy your family. Consult for diatary managers at LTC's and make a little money. I changed at 42, but I had no degree and made 45,000 year working my gluteal off. Good luck with the pain issues, nurses see people at their worst. Do you have any poop issues or necrotic tissue smell issues. How about germs. Do you freak out on those little bugs, might bring them home on your cell phone or hair clips. Although, all these are part of clinical I know a nurse that can't handle thickened liquids, so she works in an office.

good luck, try pray about it:chair:

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Specializes in ER,Neurology, Endocrinology, Pulmonology.

Gabie, that was really mean!! , but I couldn't help not to crack a smirk because of the negative things you describe about nursing - I think you have covered pretty much all of them. This is how I feel sometimes on a bad day.

But I really don't think the OP is a horrible person, it wasn't right to slam her like that.

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