faraday68

I don't have kids. So I have 100% respect for anyone who can pull off work, school and family because it is a huge commitment when you have kids. I have a lot of respect for nurses because without them I don't know how i would have got through several medical emergencies with my mom and dad in the last several years. All the nurses were so awesome with our family and explaining things and keeping us posted.

You'r post is really among some of the most helpful because I totally relate. Wow, I congratulate you for going back to school while trying to provide for a family. You're super-mom! Med School is a big commitment at my stage of life at 40 and I do want to travel and buy properties and other things also. I'm going to have a good talk with my sister- the infectious disease doctor when she comes to visit in February and determine which route will be best for me. Life has a way of leading you by the nose- and a few years ago when my business was booming I probably wouldn't have gravitated to where I am now. Thamks for taking the time to reply. you sound awesome!

I think I would like nursing and I found an accelerated program where you get your associates in 15 months. Then i think you can take your rn test. The hours are like 8-3pm every day- then 7-7pm when you start clinicals- so gruelling hours. I like the idea of having a life outside of work which my dad never had as an obgyn. My sister is a doctor of infectious diseases and she heads up a aids research project in Malawi. She has a much better schedule with 9-5 5days a week- and she jets all over the world for medical conferences. Plus she takes off a lot of travel and vacation time. I would personally go the dermatologist route with office hours only and lots of cushy elective procedures like botox and fillers and laser treatments etc. The only thing is my age and amount of time and commitment I'd have to make now. It does seem that a lot of nurses are underpaid. At least I was reading salaries posted on this site- and with exception to some extremely well-paid nurses in Texas- it seemed a lot of nurses were underpaid. of course, thoses postings might be several years old. I'm doing some soul searching and trying to make some decisions. My business that was doing so well has all but blown up in this economy and the 200k i had socked away just disappeared in the stock market. Poof gone. The security of nursing or medicine just seems comforting to me. Once again, thanks to all that posted. It's given me a lot to think on.

I just want to thank everybody for taking the time to reply. The information is really useful and thought-provoking. I've already got a bs in Communications. I'm 40 years old and have been out of school awhile. So I was thinking it would take 2-4 years for nursing school or 4 years for medical school. Maybe more because i would have to go back and take prerequisite sciences to apply to medical school and take the mcat and get recommendations. My dad and sister are doctors but at my age I need to determine if I'm ready for the commitment. i like the flexibility of nursing. There are a number of reasons I'm considering a career move, plus my husband is a disabled vet so a good percentage of the tuition will get picked up. So thank you again for giving me some feedback on this. It was very helpful.

I'm curious why you chose nursing school over medical school? As difficult as I've heard many describe nursing school- I'm wondering why you chose nursing over medicine? I'm researching nursing right now but after reading all the work and time involved in becoming a nurse I'm wondering if it would be better to spend a year or 2 longer and become a doctor. comments anyone?

Thanks for your feedback Angel. I'm trying to do my research for nursing on this site. I contacted Concorde college here in Jacksonville, fl. It seems they have a rn 18month nursing program. And they said since I already had a bs (in communications) I might not have to take some of the prerequisites so I could conceivably become an rn in a year. I don't know if this is an expedited school, but I got the imperssion from the college that I could be an rn in 18 months or less and it wasn't a big deal in regard to the application process. Maybe i misinterpreted something. This sounds dramatically different time-wise from what you describe- so maybe i need to talk to them again. Thaks for your feedback.

Hi, I'm thinking about nursing as a new career and would like some nurse opinions. I've had my own marketing business but for a number of reasons would like to get into something new. I became interested in the idea of openning some kind of non surgical cosmetic procedures business- like laser hair removal/skin treatments, perhaps botox and fillers, microdermabrasion. I live in Florida though and it seems like you might need to be a nurse to administer these types of procedures. Although I'm not sure about other states. I've been told you can do laser treatments in most states without being a nurse. My mom and Dad say just go back to medical school and become a dermatologist. That would be the best route. Well, I'm 40 now and I'm not sure if I want to make that kind of time commitment or who knows how hard it would be to get in after so many years out of school. I'm thinking I can do everything I want in aethetics with a nursing degree, I need some feedback. I like the idea where I can work 3 days a week at the hospitals and use my free time to pursue business interests including getting prepared for a skin aesthetics/laser procedures business. I think I'd like to hear straight from the nurses mouths how they feel about nursing as a career and if anyone has branched into aesthetics or started their own business in this area. I'd like to hear opinions if nursing is the right route or if anyone thinks medical school at this late stage is still the better route. Thamks for any feedback. Farah:wink2: