potentialrn24

@magicpandora Funny you mentioned being a flight attendant. Currently I'm bartending at a major airport, so I'm pretty familiar with the industry. Was actually considering becoming a pilot until I got up in a Cessna and realized it wasn't for me. You mentioned the higher pay and increased options, do you mind me asking what your other motivations for going into the field were? Also, if you're in an MSN program, I assume that means you don't have an RN license currently. Does this prepare you more for the administrative side of nursing?

WOW!, thanks for that and the link. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't expecting such a positive response ?

Hi Tricia, Thanks for the suggestion. I looked into this a bit and it looks like the only way to do this that would make sense would be community college. Even still, that would require about two years of classes. Some of the other private programs are in the range of $20-30k. At that point, I might as well just commit to nursing providing greater career and earning potential. Also, that is a good point, at 31 I do still have some time to change course a few times. To your point, that was one of the things that attracted me to nursing, the vast number of directions you can go with it.

Good Afternoon Everyone, I'm currently a 31 year old male, and have been following AN for a few years now and have finally decided to write in. I'm writing this post as I have struggled a LOT with deciding if I want to go into nursing and thought that it's time to get some feedback from those with more experience. Disclaimer: I know no one can make this decision for me. I graduated from college in 2013. Worked corporate jobs- HATED sitting at a desk, doing meaningless "irrelevant" work. I've also worked in the restaurant industry bartending in some very busy places, so I know what it's like to hustle and have a running list of 30 things to do at all times and constantly having to prioritize all the while solving everyone's problems. I do like the energy, but sometimes it's just exhausting. 4 years ago I thought to myself- Well how about nursing? It seemed to fit a lot of things that I wanted out of a career. Decent pay, flexible schedule, flexible time to enjoy other interests, ability to travel, rarely boring, meaningful/interesting work, not sitting in a chair for extended periods of time, and lots of options. I've shadowed in ERs, Cath labs, Oncology, and PACU. ER was kind of cool- I shadowed an AWESOME nurse, and I liked the interviewing and problem solving aspect of it, BUT it's also very stressful and I saw some things where I thought to myself, I truly don't think I could do some of this (maybe it just requires being desensitized, IDK). Lets be real, some of it is just gross. I really actually kind of liked the Cath lab- from this experience I realized I like the more procedural side of things. I wish I had the opportunity to shadow in the OR, but where I stand, that is the unit I would be most interested in working in if I pursue this. In my current bartending job, I will go out of my way to help people who are nice and I have no problem doing it. I have gotten along well with most people in every job I've had, and been described as a people-person. I know I'm a caring person, but I have my limits, and I am not a "martyr type". I'm compassionate, but also have a bit more of a tough love approach. I'm not cold, but I'm not super warm and fuzzy and some times I have a hard time feeling bad for people who don't do anything to help themselves regarding their health. Having said all of this, sometimes I think of myself in the future as a nurse and feel a sense of identity with that- it's kind of hard to explain. I've taken all the prerequisites, was accepted into an accelerated ADN program last January and withdrew in the last minute. I couldn't get myself to sign up for 40K in student loan debt, not be able to work for a year, and only have an associates to work with. I also had personal debt that made the choice difficult to commit to at the time. At that point, I gave up the idea of nursing. Months later, revisited the idea and I can't seem to shake it, but I also can't seem to commit to it. I'm thinking of applying to another program that would give me a BSN in two years and allows me to work through it so as to minimize overall debt. (Sidebar- I just got myself out of personal debt, and it's an awful place to be. I REALLY don't ever want to have to go back into debt unless absolutely necessary. So I'm also looking at this from an investment standpoint as well.) I have looked and continue to look into MANY career options and I KNOW there are EASIER ways to make money, but I don't find sitting at a desk doing soul-less work to be EASY at all. So having said all of that I hope I've been able to give an accurate and honest portrayal of my dilemma. I appreciate you taking the time to read all of this and if you chose to, input your thoughts. I expect positive and probably negative responses, I just request that any feedback be constructive. Thank you so much! -Ahhh! LOL