Shange

I think nurses should be paid much more across the board. I'm not a nurse yet, but I'm just thinking about returning to school to become one (and not for the money). Nurses have saved my life and improved the quality of life for me and my family. To me, $50 per hour is too little compared with what nurses do. Ten years ago, as a copy editor at home, I made more than that per hour, and I wasn't even changing someone's life, helping to sustain it, or caring for a newborn. It's ridiculous how much money relatively unimportant jobs command...most of my friends work in entertainment, and they make a lot of money...$241,000 per year to start...and those are not jobs that make a difference in someone's life. You nurses should DEMAND higher pay. You are making real-world, real-life differences.

National Public Radio just did a story about Occupational Therapy. Do a Google search at NPR.org. It aired a few days ago, but I cannot recall which show it was on. It might have been on Morning Edition. Just Google it. They talked about men going into the OT field, but some of the other things that came up in the story were very interesting.

Hi, all. I'm not a nurse, but many years ago, I'd thought about becoming one. Back then, my high school counselor dissuaded me from that choice. "Why on earth would you want to do THAT?" she'd said, so condescendingly. Hurt, I decided to study journalism instead. While in college, I earned average grades in my journalism classes but received my first A+ in anatomy/physiology! I was thrilled about anything medically or scientifically related. To make a long story short, I became a freelance editor, a newspaper reporter, and a health care writer. All the while, I was building a family, too. And my husband was moving up the corporate ladder and is now a television executive. I became a stay-at-home mom and have been one for 10 years. My dilemma is this...I am now 48 years old. I have a 13-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy. I manage the health care of my mother-in-law and father-in-law. In the back of my mind, there's this nagging feeling that I should return to school and become a nurse after all, even though I am almost 50. And although my husband earns a lot of money, I feel that he doesn't manage it well. And his industry is changing quickly (and he seems blind to it all). As a back up for providing a future for our children, I'd like to be able to contribute financially even though I don't really have to at this point. Does that make sense? Above all, I want to give back to society somehow and leave this world a tiny bit better than I found it. Nursing could be one way to do that. There have certainly been nurses who have made my life better...made me want to face another day after the myriad crises I'd met with (Postpartum depression, breast cancer, pneumothorax, miscarriage). I will NEVER forget any of those nurses...especially Dave...because they were God's way of saying to me..."I've got your back." I want to love and care for others the way my nurses loved and cared for me. Fortunately, my dear husband is very encouraging and will pay for any and all classes I'd like to take. I'm at home all day just cleaning and working on my scrapbooks, so there's plenty of time for me to go to school and study before the kids come home from school. I am a fast-learner, and an energetic and friendly person. And I genuinely love helping people. But is it TOO late? Am I TOO old? What kind of physical requirements would I be expected to fulfill, and would I be able to? I am healthy now, but time and chance happen to us all (so says the Good Book). Can I combine my journalism background with my love of technology and nursing? I don't want to make a mistake. Sorry for the long post, but I had to get all of this off my heart. While I wait for y'all to respond, I will pray that God sends me a "Go or No-Go" .