cfrimer

Thanks for your reply. The short answer to why I am leaving is that I am basically burned out. Not enough time to spend in the way I want to spend it with patients. (Or rather, I AM spending the time, but then work too many hours too often to be sustainable for my life.) I do love working with patients, and ideally would find a position that includes some proportion of clinical time - just not 100% of time. What I would love is to find a research position that includes both clinical time and research time... I am still looking!

I am currently practicing as an APRN doing full-time clinical work as an NP in MA. I am thinking about leaving clinical practice though, and am interviewing for non-clinical non-patient care types of jobs. If I go down this path, I would like to maintain my RN license (although probably not my NP certification). What is required to keep the RN license active? I looked at the mass.gov nursing website, and it appears that I only need to have 15 contact CEUs per 2-year renewal period in order to renew??? Is that right? There is NO clinical practice hours requirement? (I know the NP cert requires 1000 hrs clinical practice per 5 years.) Can anyone in a similar position of maintaining active RN license but not doing patient-care-related work comment? Thank you very much!!

I am currently working as an NP (due for first ANCC renewal next year), and am looking to change gears and leave the NP role behind. There is a job as an RN care manager that I am thinking of applying for... however, I am concerned that they won't consider me because of my advanced practice certification. I am thinking to address this concern in my cover letter. My idea is that I could just not renew with ANCC next year, and explain this plan in the cover letter. Does this strategy make any sense, or should I not say anything about it at all? If I do address it, is the cover letter the place to do so (vs hope for an interview to discuss it there/then)? If the idea is not totally off the wall, how in-depth into my reasons for this career shift should I go in the cover letter?

Wow, I'm so glad I looked into this thread! I'm still in nursing school (final semester), and my second day of clinical was yesterday. I'm feeling totally ignorant and incompetent at this point, like all the info and skills I learned last year have evaporated from my brain. The thought of taking the NCLEX in the winter and god-willing getting a JOB as an RN is terrifying; I feel that I'll never be ready in time; maybe if I had another 10 years of nursing school. MAYBE. Reading all your comments makes me feel so much better to see that my learning curve isn't out of whack! Of course, I KNOW this intellectually, but this thread helps me feel it emotionally as well! Thanks, all!

I second Daytonite. I am just finishing my first semester of an accelerated program, and I was so nervous in the months before classes started. I had to ban myself from reading this site, because I found it to be too upsetting; I was questioning my decision, feeling like I wasn't cut out for the job and even if I was, who would want to do it, since it seemed like all I was reading were accounts of horrible, mean-spirited, back-stabbing, or unfair practices. The good news is that so far (knock wood) I haven't encountered anything like the stuff that I read here. As Daytonite says, it's not a walk in the park, and my program is far from perfect, and I still have a long way to go, but I just have to take it one week at a time. I think in the months before school, what helped me the most was to try not to think about it too much -- to relax as much as possible and enjoy doing things that I enjoy. During this first semester, it has been a real effort to do anything that wasn't school related, because I am always so busy. So really sitting back and having fun should make sure that you're prepared when school finally starts! Good luck!

I am switching to nursing because I wanted a better reason to get out of bed in the morning than meeting business objectives and contributing to the shareholders' net worth. I want to spend the time and energy I have in this life in contributing in a meaningful way. What will keep me in nursing is the continuing knowledge that I am contributing. Also, the profession's flexibility, stability, and endless opportunites to explore new things.

I just finished my first day of psych (geri unit), and it was a very positive experience for me -- of course, not happy, since the patients are all in so much mental pain, but positive in that I felt like I was helping them just by being there with them, even though I (and in fact no one) can "fix" them. It helps to keep in mind that the patients there are just people who need our care, after all. Once you get on the unit and see them, you'll know what I mean. It is a little scary knowing that patients on a psychiatric unit are sometime less predictable and less easy to understand or connect with than patients with only medical problems, but as a student, it is quite unlikely that you will be in a situation where you are in danger or will need to be managing aggressive patients on your own. That may come in time, of course, but going in for your first day, the staff/instructor will hopefully be gentle with you!

hlfpnt, that's a wonderful story! It must have been amazing and meaningful for both you and your daughter to be in school together. She must have been so proud of you acheiving your dream at long last! I can just image the ceremony with her yelling out her pride in you for all to hear!

Romie has great advice! I have a similar problem with some of my family, in that they always take the defeatist viewpoint. The thing is, that viewpoint has nothing to do with YOU and everything to do with them. Here's what I mean. After college, I briefly was considering med school (out of the blue; I'd never considered it while in college). When I casually mentioned this to my folks, the first words out of my dad's mouth were "You'd never make it through med school." Thanks, Dad. Well, I decided for reasons of my own that med school wasn't for me anyway. Now, years later, I have decided to pursue nursing and have been accepted to a direct entry Nurse Practitioner program, which starts in a couple short weeks! I even have a scholarship! This is all great news! But what does my dad say now every time the subject of nursing school comes up? He says, "Why didn't you go to med school?" ARGH! His problem is that LIFE IS NEVER RIGHT FOR HIM. Med school wasn't right, but NOT going to med school isn't right, either. This has nothing to do with ME. No matter what choice I make, it will somehow be the wrong one, in his eyes. Not because he doesn't love me or want me to do well, but because of the way he sees the world. It is hard to learn not to listen to him, since he is my dad and all, and is supposed to be wise (and he is a very smart man). But I figured out that he just doesn't have the right perspective to give me truly helpful advice or counsel about my life. (This is why I didn't tell my parents that I was even considering changing careers to start nursing until after I'd done all my research, made my decision, completed all the applications, and received the acceptances. At that point my mind was made up and no amount of negativity could influence my path. It is still painful to listen to, but I can just roll my eyes now without be burdened by second-guessing myself.) It sounds like your husband is supportive, and I think he has the right idea! Get a solid foundation in the basics, not just because the info is important, but because of the confidence you'll have going in to the nursing school process (which will be priceless!).

I don't think you have anything to worry about. The GRE is just one part of your application, first of all -- and honestly, I think it's a relatively small part, ie, many Direct Entry programs don't place a gigantic emphasis on standardized scores. Second of all, those scores are fine! From what I've read in various schools' FAQs, they consider "competitive" anything in the 450-550 range (per section); and check out that Quant. score of yours! That's WAY above the typical profile for acceptance! My gut feeling is that, as far as the GRE goes, the difference between a decent score vs a stellar score on your apps is negligible. If you were bombing out -- and by this I mean TRUE bombing, not the perfectionist's notion of "bombing" (which is anything less than perfection! And I am not passing negative judgment here, as I totally include my own self in this category too -- I think we end up torturing ourselves and enjoying things WAY less than we could be/should be!), then maybe that would be an issue... but you're DEFINITELY not bombing out! Good luck!

Like many others, I too had never thought about nursing. I studied Neuroscience in college, briefly entertained and then dismissed the thoughts of either a PhD (couldn't stomach animal research) or an MD, then went into medical writing instead. The whole time, though, I've felt like I wasn't finished "finding" what I wanted. In the past couple of years, especially, I felt restless, like my job was meaningless and there was no reason to get out of bed in the morning (not depression, just severe lack of motivation -- note that this feeling only came on work days!). I liked my job and my coworkers, but I was also volunteering at a crisis hotline and a hospice and wishing that I had more time to devote to those enterprises, since I felt that my actions actually counted for something real, rather than helping the shareholders get rich. The preciousness of time was weighing more and more on my mind, as was the importance of spending the time that we have here on earth in the most helpful, beneficial, and productive, way possible. It sounds corny, but it was when Hurricane Katrine hit that it finally crystallized for me. Whenever I would read of disasters in the news, I would have a frustrated feeling of wishing I could do something to help the people affected, but knowing that since I have no skills, if I showed up as a volunteer, all I'd really be able to do is get in the way of the real aid workers. I began thinking about what people need on the most fundamental level -- food, shelter, medical attention -- and how I could contribute to providing those needs. Finally the epiphany illuminated my mind. Nursing! It was almost like divine revelation, almost like "Well, DUH!" Part of me can't believe that it took me this long to realize that this is what I want to do. But the rest of me is so relieved to know. It just FEELS right. Of course, a tiny part of me is also scared that I'm WRONG and that nursing isn't for me. Time will tell. At the moment I'm just thrilled to be on the road. I never thought it could happen this fast, either; it was just one year ago that the concrete goal of NURSE became solidified, and here I am a few short weeks away from the beginning of my direct-entry NP program. It's been a whirlwind of GRE studying and prerequisite cramming and school applications... I didn't even tell anyone (except my boyfriend and the people I asked to write my letters of referene) that I was applying because I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off... but here I am!! My bp cuff and white Birkenstocks arrived in the mail yesterday... my stethoscope and scrubs are on the way... my textbooks are bending my bookshelves with their weight. The thought of my first day of clinicals makes me a bit giddy -- with nerves and excitement!

Hi there, I haven't yet started nursing school (I'm in the US), but had harbored fantasies of being able to work in the UK upon graduating. Looks like maybe my fantasies are over! But what about advanced practice nurses? I will be in a Nurse Practitioner program (specializing in gerontology)... do you know if advanced practice nurses are still on the immigration short list? (Fingers crossed!)

This is my exact fear too. I'm starting my nursing program in September. My biggest worry is vomit. I can't even watch fake vomiting on TV. Even the SOUND of someone vomiting in another room makes me have to hold back my own. I did read in one thread on here about a nurse helping a patient vomit, and basically the two of them took turns vomiting into the wastbasket. She said the patient wasn't offended and they ended up laughing about it. That made me feel lots better. Here's the quote from the post by stidget99:

I love this! It's direct without being rude in return, and it leaves the person room to correct his or her ways without losing too much face.

Hi Tracy, I don't think this sounds out of line at all. It certainly can't hurt to give it a try! I withdrew from a class myself and was ultra paranoid to be sure that the withdrawal request was properly processed, for fear of just such a situation as yours! I hope it all works out for you.