Katharine

No I didn't apply yet. The hours available conflict with homeschooling my daugther.

Thanks for all your replies that helps clarify it very well.

So how does that work-- you apply, get hired, then can enroll in the class with your continue employment being on the condition you successfully complete the class? What are the hours for a 12 hour shift day/evening or evening/night?

I am interested in applying for entry level job to get my feet wet in the medical field. I'm interested in both nursing and healthcare management. I see several jobs open at St. John's Mercy for Patient Care Associates, but the requirements aren't very clear. It says applicants need to have completed a PCA/PCT class. Does that mean they want applicants to complete a CNA course prior to applying? Second question: what are the average shift times for day/evening shift and evening/night shifts? I want to make sure the hours will fit with my family before I apply. Thank you!:heartbeat

No I decided to delay pursuing medical transcription since I wasn't absolutely sure what I wanted. I'm so indecisive! I didn't want to my financial aid on the transcription then wish I'd pursued another medical degree. Although it is not my top choice, I do have still on my list as a possible back up plan if the nursing or HIA degree aren't possible. That's great that you are going back for nursing!

Thanks for wondering! :) I was surprised to see this thread have recent posts, but I realize that there are many of us who consider school later in our adulthood. As for me, my school got delayed, both by my indecision and financial reasons. I am still homeschooling (my daughter has 2 1/2 yrs to go) and working from home. I am absolutely sure I want a degree in healthcare. Although I know I could get an HIA degree in a 2 yr period and work the office side, I keep wondering if I'm selling myself short since I know I am very good with people and enjoy helping them.

Watching my school expenses is a hire priority. Once reason I want to go back to school is to make a better income to pay off our debts which includes past school loans. I figured the medical transcription, From research I've been doing, can potentially be a good way to begin doing that as a work at home job. I plan to look into scholarships and found one that might be good: they pay tuition, books, and a monthly stripend in exchange for working at understaffed facilities. I would consider that one if it looks like others aren't an option. Another option I might have is doing medical transcription for a local employer who refunds tuition costs.

Thank you for the replies. I will stop fussing over my age now! LOL I'm going to take the plunge and do the medical transcription. It will be an income at home for me while I'm homeschooling and starting my prerequisite classes. Plus it will help me break into healthcare.

Thanks for all your thoughts and advice. Yes the physical part was part of my wondering. I will definitely keep all this in mind while making my decision for my future. :heartbeat

I am 44 yrs old. I will be homeschooling my daughter until I'm 48 yrs old. In order to start earning money at home, I'm considering doing medical transcription. But long term I want something more and have been interested in nursing for sometime. Do you think I'm too old to consider entering into a nursing career? I'd prolly start school so I could start job hunting the summer before I turn 49. Am I nuts?! If I weren't going into nursing later, I'd prolly try to continue my school in med. office admin. or healthcare mgt. I'd prolly be good at those, but I enjoy taking care of other people and I think I would enjoy being a ob/gyn or pediatric nurse. I don't want to sell myself or my potential short by giving up on the idea but yet I don't want to be thinking something that crazy to consider lol. I also have to carefully plan this because of past school loans I've got from about 3 yrs of undergrad in liberal arts, business, and Biblical studies.

No I never did. I decided to go another route in healthcare. I'm beginning a medical transcription program. After a couple years of that, my daughter will finishing highschool and I may go forward in medical office assisting and/or a bachelor's in healthcare management. Nursing still interests me a lot, but it's next to impossible for me to take classes on campus and hard to afford even with loans since I've got student loans in the past.

Since you have a master in education, I wonder if you could work evenings as a tudor or for an online college as an instructor while you go to school days. That way you benefit from the getting done with your nursing degree faster and still earn an income with your current degree. There are online tudoring websites that also look for teachers to tudor students. Or get CNA certifed and work parttime nights for income plus patient care experience. While learning more about nursing programs, I have seen degrees availalble to those who have a 4 yr degree already. They are second degree programs and are faster to finish than traditional programs. I am in a similar situation. I have have less than a yr to get my bachelor's in health care management but I'm very interested in being a nurse instead. It almost looks better and faster for me to finish my first bachelor's then enter a second degree program for nursing. I first thought to do LPN then RN then BSN, not finishing the management degree and diving right into nursing to start getting education and experience in it, but it would take me about 5 yrs compared to 3 yrs. I am considering getting my CNA certification, but I am having trouble finding a program that has evening or weekend classes which I can't do atm homeschooling my daugther still.

I've been wondering if it was. I see such great fabrics at the store sometimes, and I'm guessing since so many practically live in their scrubs, they want some variety. My background is in the craft business so it's always thinking of ideas like this hehe!

Fabric stores like Joann Fabrics has $1.99 patterns sales all the time. Almost every pattern company has some scrub patterns. You can also find a lot of them on Ebay at a decent price. I had thought about making scrubs and selling them on ebay, but I need a better sewing machine and I want a serger too. hehe

Sometimes stuff in fabric can stay in there awhile. I switched from store bought laundry products to some natural products. It took about 3 washings before I saw the big difference it made in our clothings. Store bought detergents build up in fabric making them irritable/harmful to our bodies, and dingy looking. Shaklee and Melaleuca both sell wonderful safe laundry products that reduce allergic reactions and are actually safer for your family and the environment. If you are having this happen with those clothes and not all of them, it might be something in the fabric.