jenrn615

I am an RN of 13 years and married to an airline pilot. I think your career change is a fantastic choice. My husband is very active in the union so I understand your experience. My husband's highly profitable airline will also be shutting down soon also, ironically, so I know the career change you are facing and feelings you must be having. As a pilot, your prestige comes from being able to tell people your a pilot and having an exciting profession and knowing you have alot of experience. I can tell you as a critical care nurse, I too felt that pride in telling people what I did for a living. So you can understand better... working on a regular (ortho, neuro, etc) floor is comparable to working at the commuters as a 1st officer. When you set a goal to specialize you will be taking a step up (critical care, Cath lab, Endo, recovery, etc) In these sort of jobs you get treated better by physicians, administration, families. Doctors were always respectful to me in the unit. The rely on you a great deal there. This is like being a 1st officer at southwest or american airlines. There will be a learning curve and you will have to be humble. There are very few nursing positions that will equal being a captain @ UPS or FEDEX. Every hospital is different though. Every hospital has a culture. Evn every floor in a hospital has it's own culture! The difference between the airlines and nursing is that you can change jobs much faster and with less fan fare. No delays for a class dates! You just get a job, see which doctors you work with and what specialty interests you... then educate your self, network and move into those fields. My husband now needs the computer to apply to what flying jobs are left out there! good luck! I wish I could talk to you. I KNOW what you are going through. Also, not all nurses are union. Nashville, TN (where I work) is not. Working the floor is ALWAYS going to give you lower staisfaction, but the best expeirence to learn what you need to learn and move up. Coming from the level of professionalism that you have come from, I would advise you to get your RN asap. Being an LPN will not give you the job satisfaction you desire.