JohnWatson

My wife and I would like to thank everyone very much for all of your help and insight. You have given us a much more clear picture of what we have to think about and discuss. I think this has all caught my wife by surprise and it will take some time and a continued interest on my part for her to come around. She does not want me to jump into something blindly, only for me to change my mind. I've set up appointments with advisors at my local community college as well as the university. Getting an ASN does sound like a much more cost effective option. My only fear is that my local community college has a rather large waiting list. The advisor has told me over the phone that the waiting list is close to 2 years long. I'm sure there are other options out there. I will have to do more investigating. Trying to get a job in a different but related position at a hospital or other facility while I wait could be an option. I imagine this could help with networking and having related work experience when applying for a position as a graduate. Thank you again everyone, JohnWatson

Hello everyone, I guess I should start by saying, 10 months ago my wife and I had two beautiful, healthy baby boys. In the time before and after their birth, we spent a reasonable amount of time (more time than I have ever spent before) in the hospital taking classes and recovering afterward. During that time, while being given a tour of the NICU, I mentioned briefly to my wife that I would love to work in the hospital helping people instead of doing what I do now. We both talked about what a difficult job it would be (stress-wise, emotionally, physically) and that was as far as the conversation went. One week ago I told my wife that I was unhappy with my current career path, and that I wanted to do something more valuable and meaningful with my life, "like being a lawyer, or a doctor". She told me that she didn't think I had the personality of a lawyer, but that she could see me as a doctor. I'm sure that she regrets saying that now. I immediately got on the internet and started looking into medical school requirements and what it took to become a doctor. While reading, I happened upon an article on howstuffworks.com written by Dr. Carl Bianco, M.D., an Emergency Physician who received his undergraduate degree in nursing and pre-med. I had never thought of getting a degree in nursing or becoming an RN until that point, but it made sense to me that nursing was a great place to start a career in health care. Everything I've read since then has only reaffirmed that nursing seems like the right choice for me, and that from there I can grow and move into other positions (whether that means completing my pre-med and going into medical school, or not). All of this, however, has my wife very concerned. We have been discussing/arguing the pros and cons of the profession and what it would mean for our family ever since. I am hoping that you might be able to answer some of my wife's concerns so that we have a more realistic idea of what I may be getting us into. Here are some of the things that have come up in our conversations: 1. My wife is primarily concerned that nurses work very crazy hours (lots of overtime) and because of this, they do not get to see their spouses and children on any regular basis. I have read on a couple places (including on this forum) that most nurses working at hospitals usually work three 12-hour shifts a week (I am interested in working in ER/trauma, OB, ICU, or OR). Can anyone elaborate on what their work schedule is like? Does your shift change often? Do you work the same days every week? Is there a lot of mandatory overtime? 2. I have read that some nurses may be on call. To what extent are most nurses on call? I have read about the shortage in staffing for nurses. Does this happen often? 3. My wife is afraid that I will not get to spend any holidays with the family if I become a nurse. I have read that nurses are required to work holidays (which makes sense). How are holidays usually scheduled in hospitals? Is this seniority based? 4. How much vacation do you usually start with as a nurse? 5. Another concern of my wife's is that I will constantly be around sick individuals who may have infectious diseases/viruses. I personally don't feel as worried about this, because I am sure there are many precautions taken and many preventative measures in place to keep hospital staff safe and healthy. Do any of you get sick more often due to your work? 6. Finally, we are concerned about the cost of my nursing education. At present, I am looking into a CCNE accredited BSN program at my local state university. After looking at the curriculum, I would still have about one year's worth of prerequisites to complete before I could apply to the clinical portion of the program. I am meeting an adviser to ask more questions in a couple weeks. What types of additional costs/fees should I expect while going through nursing school? I keep telling myself that the negatives of the job would be manageable when considering the good I would be doing. But, I also have to consider my family and how important they are to me. I realize this is a very long post and I want to thank those of you who have read this far. Thank you for any assistance you can give us in making this very important decision. Thank you again, JohnWatson