ladybella

Thanks. It's nice to have some encouragement. I would love to move out of this boring hicksville town, but I might be stuck in my affordable starter home for the forseeable future. The market sucks now. That means I am stuck in my job unless I could find something stable that pays almost the same. I doubt it. I also need to get into microbiology this semester. It's not offered at a time I can take it in the summer (the semester starts before school gets out for me ). Can you take a class at two CC's at once? I could possibly look into taking that at DBCC or something. At this rate I'll be done with pre-req's, but not until the end of Fall semester '07. That's cutting it a little close. Do you know if you have to take the NET exam if you've got a previous degree? I guess I should just take whatever I can to get more competitive.

with just a regular bachelor's degree? I am looking for something that would let me get out of the classroom, work on my nursing degree, but still pay the bills. Am I looking for a flight of fancy? I have a pretty generic communication degree. I have several years of experience teaching and other things. I could do a lot of stuff, but I don't know that anyone in HR would even look at my resume. I also need to make at least 30K to pay my bills. I don't know that this myth job would exist. Anyone have any advice or thoughts?

The SCC part time one starts in January. I am trying for Jan. '08 since I don't have the pre-req's done for this Jan. I am also trying to sell my house and move somewhere I can hopefully live on just my husband's salary so I would have more flexibility in programs. I am stuck needing my salary where I am right now. And stuck in a boring, awful city no less. Affordable, but really not the place to be. I would much rather do the accelerated BSN at UCF, but it's days full time. I just feel that I am out of options with the part time track since SCC is about the only place to offer it. It's quite a horrific drive through traffic from where I am to get to downtown O-town too. And, no, I really am not interested in taking on tons of loans. I still have my first useless degree I'm paying for. I shoulda done this 8 years ago! Lesson learned I guess. I just don't want to be stuck teaching any friggin' longer than I have to. It's my 3rd year and I am hating it more and more each day. I just want a job where I get paid for my time and I can go home without worrying about the crushing workload that's waiting for me. *sigh*

Well, here goes. I am currently a teacher. I have a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication. I have a fairly good GPA (3.3). This spring and summer I am taking the 5 pre-req classes I need to apply to the RN program. I might have one more to do in the fall... it depends on if the class I need opens up. I'm sure I can ace those classes just fine. I am not sure if I have to take the NET since it's just reading comp and basic stuff (or that's the impression I've gotten... I could be wrong). If I did, I'm sure I could ace that too. It has to be easier than the GRE, right? And I did well on that one. So how competitive is SCC's RN program? My fear is that I will go through all of this and then get denied entrance to the program. Does anyone know their selection process? It doesn't look like there is even a waiting list... you just have to reapply. I absolutely can't do any daytime classes since I have to keep my day job. I also don't want to be stuck teaching for the next five million years while I wait to get into the program. I'd like to be done with all of it before I'm 30. Anyone know anything about this?

Thanks Tencat! I am not thrilled at the idea of holiday working, but I've worked on holidays and other not so savory times before. I am even less thrilled by the daily grind of teaching so... As far as it goes for my family... my husband is a teacher as well. He loves it. I do not. I sort of figure that working holidays won't matter as much because we could celebrate anytime on the breaks. If I have to work on Christmas Day, we'll celebrate on the 26th. Whatever. I sort of figure that is paying dues kind of work and eventually you can get off certain holidays. During the summer, schedules don't matter much anyhow since you lose track of the days. I can always get health care through his job too. I work in a different district. His health care is better than mine currently.

Thanks! I am not opposed to the stress. I handle stress just fine. My main reasons for wanting to go into nursing are: I want to be challenged at work. I hate office work. I like being on my feet and moving and thinking. I want to be paid for the hours I am putting in. ALL the hours I am putting in. I don't care when those hours occur (nights, weekends are not so foreign to me as I am always grading, planning, making something or whatever for class). I don't mind working my tail off at work, but I want to leave work AT work. I don't want to have to buy supplies to do my job. I have never heard of nurses having to buy needles to give patients injections. I am sick of privately funding schools so that I have the materials I need to do my job. I like that there is the potential for flexible schedules and that I could be promoted or change duties to find something that suits me. Teaching is teaching is teaching. There are no promotions. I want to make better money. Plain and simple. I won't EVER make much more than I do now as a teacher. I barely see a raise every year. My health benefits are atrocious, I won't see much with my so-called pension, and I don't make enough to save on my own. I am really sick of people thinking teaching is such a cushy, plush job. It isn't. I don't think one could really understand unless one has done the job. I still want to help people.

Is anyone else out there a former teacher? I am starting an RN program next year (after I get a few pre-reqs out of the way). I am currently a teacher. Has anyone else left teaching to become a nurse? If so, what was your experience? Were you glad you made the switch? Pros & cons? I am leaving teaching because I don't make any money, I have to buy supplies out of pocket to do my job, and I have to work, unpaid, hours upon hours each week (60-70 on average). Just looking for thoughts or advice...