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I currently have a bachelor's degree & have been contemplating to change careers. Will I have the same job opportunities if I get an associates degree in Nursing. I would like to continue to get a Masters degree in the future. Will my current bachelors degree be enough with an associates degree in nursing or should I just get another bachelors degreee?

thanks for the posts!

How long have you been a nurse? I am getting excited because I am gathering info so I can start volunteering at the hospital!

Great insight! Well, let's see where I begin with what my profession is or was. During undergrad, I worked with children with autism for 3 years. After graduation I took another position as a case manager. At 23, I was thinking about graduate school and trying to map out my life's adventure. And during that process, I decided that I wanted to leave social services and try something new - fulfill my creative outlet. I decided not to go to grad school and went to art school and got a BFA Interior Design(1 1/2years later). I have been working in the architecture/design industry for about five years as a commercial interior designer (law firms, corporate offices, hotels, etc). In the beginning, I loved design. It is not a bad industry/profession. My husband is an architect and its his calling for sure! But its not for all of us. There are good and bad aspects, similar to other professions. But my bad aspects are out-weighing the good which in turn has lite my curiousity towards nursing. I miss helping people. I feel guilty a lot designing expensive spaces because I think how much those funds could help & be used in social services. Also, I really do not enjoy sitting behind a cubicle all day (and a lot of times we too work overtime - I have worked 80 hours weeks!!!). And my poor wrist is hurting from all the drawing with the mouse. And unfortunately, the design industry can be very superficial. Have you seen the movie "Devil wears Prada" My design director is very very similar to her. I want to shoot myself sometimes and wonder if she really thinks that the world really evolves being a designer. But I do not want to disrespectful the industry because there are plenty of hard-working individuals too. Unfortunately I do not know how much longer I can survive in this industry. But we'll see what happens in the next year. For now, I am researching all options. Thanks!

Thanks c behore rn! I like that there are options and you can transition to other specialties. I can't do that in my current profession. I can change firms, but pretty much its the same thing over and over again : ( This may seem like a stupid question. I am 29 & my husband thinks I am crazy for wanting to change careers. We want to start a family but I also want to start transitioning before time flies by too quickly and I have to hold off pursuing another profession. Do you think that I am going to pull my hair out trying to do all this in the next few years? I am sure there are plenty of nurses who have juggled this, but I don't know any.

wow, thanks for all the honest feedback! i am excited yet hesitant about pursuing yet another degree/career. but at the same time, it never hurts researching all my options. and i appreciate the comment " i feel like i have significant creative outlet (although not in the concrete sense) because nursing is as much art as science" how high is the turnover rate? burnout rate of nurses?

thanks Whispera! I have been reading a lot of comments and am trying to set up informational meetings with nurses in my area. I am going to volunteer at one of the hospitals in my city. Just so I get a little sense to if I like it or not. Hopefully I'll find someone I can shadow there too. And I am trying to coordinate times to meet with the department chairs to ask more questions. Thank you for your insight on nursing!

I am so happy your son is healthy : ) And I love that you still love nursing. What do you love about it? And as a side note about lawyers - just with the experience I have had with working with them - I have designed a few lawfirms in my career and can say that they are the worst clients ever!!

Hello Malaski - Thanks for your comments. I agree with the "I longed to do something with more "substance". How long were you a fashion designer? Do you miss it? My biggest worry is that I am going to miss being creative - but then I think about it and only 10% of my job is being creative and the other 90% of my job is sitting in a cubicle and drawing construction documents, meeting clients, project management, working with bosses who are similar to Meryl Streep In DEVIL WEARS PRADA & deadlines deadlines deadlines. But as you stated - I need more substance. I don't want to give the Architecture & Design Industry a bad name. Architecture & Design is a field where we are to sculpt spaces with the health, safety & well-being of individuals in mind. I loved the idea that I was going to sculpt spaces(corporate offices, hotels, law firms, healthcare) and make an impact in people's lives, but at the end of the day, I do not feel as though I am making a difference. And its probably bc its not for me. When I look at my colleagues and they love it - I have to step back and wonder why I can't do it anymore. I don't know if nursing is the solution and love that I get to read everyone's response and really appreciate the honest answers.

Yes you are right. I might have culture shock. I am going to try to volunteer at one of the hospitals. And I am trying to set up some informational interviews and hopefully shadow someone. Thank you for your honest opinion. And you are right that interiors is cleaner too : )

Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback. And I am excited to keep researching my options. I am going to first start volunteering at one the hospitals in Chicago. Do any of you know which Chicago Hospital would be a great place for me to get a good feel of the environment? I love that some of you said that you do not get bored. AND SUBEE - It is so good to see that you would do it all over again. I just need to keep asking and interviewing nurses and hopefully get into a program this fall/winter. Thank you !!!!!!!

Thanks for your feedback. I am afraid that will happen once I start the profession. I am an interior designer at a commercial firm in Chicago. And when I tell people, they think that I have a fabulous career, but in fact, I hate it. I have similar reasons - bad bosses, fake co-workers, demanding clients and stressful deadlines. The perks of the job is seeing the final product, but I have concluded that its still not worth it. And I understand that every profession will have similar frustrations of not liking my bosses (difficult & poor management skills), caddy co-workers (try working in an industry where design and being presentable is shoved down your throat), and feeling unappreciated. But does knowing that you are impacting someone's life make nursing better? I went into design thinking that I was going to be sculpting spaces to improve the health, safety & well-being of individuals. Unfortunately since money dictates the world, I am not designing in the best interest of the clients employees, but how I can build a space under budget for law firms, hotels, corporate offices. I am sorry that I am so wordy - I think this is somewhat therapeutic (can you tell that I have been beaten down in the architectural industry??) I am thinking of getting my masters to be a NP or CRNA after a few years of being a RN. Do you think that this will make a difference or will I find that it does not make a difference? Thank you so much for your time!

I am a young 29 :nuke: and I am thinking about changing careers into nursing. I was so excited to transition, but now after researching different sites, I am starting to get second doubts because of all the blogs I have read about why nursing is bad and how people hate nursing. I have read wonderful blogs about loving nursing but its sad how reading so many negatives one stick in one's head! Do you love nursing? Do you hate nursing? Why?? Has anyone changed careers to do nursing and realize they love it or hate it? I appreciate your honest feedback. Thanks!!!

Thank you for the advice! It is a big decision and I want to make sure that this is the right path that I need to go down. I hope you don't mind, but why did you choose to change careers and go into nursing? Thanks.

Thank you for your responses! And I will take all into consideration. I was concerned that the demand for nurses has decreased. I have heard both sides of the fence where there is a shortage or nurses and a surplus of them. Are recent graduates not finding work similar to other professions?

I am thinking about changing careers and becoming a nurse. I would really appreciate anyone's feedback on what are the great things about nursing and what are the bad things on nursing. Also, I am trying to understand how to map out the next few years before committing to a career change. I have a BS in Psychology and BFA in Design. After practicing as a nurse for a few years, I would like to transition into becoming a nurse practitioner or crna and am not sure how to move forward with choosing the correct programs. Should I be looking into another bachelor's program, accelerated nursing program, local community college, or online program? Does the reputation of my nursing program affect my chances of getting into a master's program? Thank you for your time!