ThePrudentStudent

I appreciate everyone's candor. Of course, I was hoping for more positive feedback but I wasn't hanging my hat on it. I know that the last 15 months have only made an already tough job unbearable for some. I don't blame anyone who advises against this. I am grateful to those who have taken the time to share and, because of that, I have read each post carefully and seriously. I was a paralegal in my first career and, though I would never compare it to what a nurse takes on daily, I have advised people to run fast and hard from that profession. Everything is relative. I love medicine. I love science. I love problem solving and research. I love taking care of people, even when they don't want me to. ? I thought, despite the stress and the difficulties, this would answer those desires and get me working. In another life, I would of started this much earlier. I am not privileged nor young enough to kick back into a long, educational path without working. I thought this may get me into the field and answer a call to service. I am not romanticizing this profession in the least but I am in awe of each and every one of you. I know none of you signed up for what has been thrown at you.Thank you for your continued advice on this thread. It has given me some things to think about. I sincerely hope all of you find some peace and appreciation in what you do.

I am here looking for opinions and guidance from those in the field. I will be entering a nursing program in Spring and am having second thoughts. I am an older student (late 40s) and put my desire of entering the nursing field on hold for many years. During the early stages of the pandemic, I felt a call to fulfill this more than any other time in my life. Subsequently, I turned my Covid layoff into an opportunity, went back to school, completed all pre-reqs and was accepted. However, I did not anticipate the amount of vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers and the fact that I live in a state with no vaccine requirements for schools and healthcare workers as well as a leading transmission rate of the Delta variant. ( I am fully vaccinated). This is coupled with fluctuating opinions of many nurses I know personally advising that the industry has changed and they have been treated as expendable and to run hard and fast to something else in the medical field. This has me doubting my decision and questioning if I am unnecessarily putting my family at risk in pursuit of something that, according to others, may not be what I had built it up to be. (I should mention I am being offered a place in a Microbiology bachelor's program so I do have options but it is a long, competitive road to a master's and I need to provide for my family now.) If you had to do it all over again, would you become a nurse? Would you go into another field? Do you think an older individual would have a rougher time at present? I get that this may sound whiney but I have met some tired, angry nurses lately who are ready to chuck it all if they have not done so already. Thanks all.

I am not in the transitional program but I can tell you who to take for Micro and Stats. Menard for micro and Kilgore for Stats. They are the best hands down. Stats is difficult no matter what (most classes have the final and midterm as 70-80% of your grade) but Kilgore is extremely fair and drops your lowest grade on tests and quizzes. She lets you use Excel and she is also available and gives spot on exam reviews. Menard is just loved by students. Very smart and wants you to succeed. He gives you everything you need to know on your exams. There is really no way to fail his class if you read the material. His lab is fun. I took A&P 2 and Micro together (along with some other classes) in Spring and accelerated Stats and Psych during the Summer. All virtual classes. I was laid off due to Covid so I was not working at the time but had the extra stress of a job search. It can be done while working, however. It just depends on how much knowledge you are going in with and what your study habits are. You will need to give, at least, 10 hours a week to each class. I, personally, would not have been able to work full time and take these together. The second half of the Stats semester is a lot of work, Hope this helps. Good luck.