ppleprson

Still looking for any advice please and thanks :)

Just a question from someone who is considering going into nursing with a herniated L5-S1 had numerous injections but surgery is not an option. Will I survive being a nurse? Did you all get your injuries from the job? This is a bit scary as my injury was from a car accident and I have had years of pain and frustration and don't ever want to be back in the acute phase again. Any thoughts would really help my decision before I commit to school. Thanks

well as of now you cannot get a bachelors in OT as they have incrased the minimum educational requirement to a masters. From what I can see here in bc (and this is just from hospital position postings which still only say bachelors so I'm assuming if hired with a masters you would be upgraded to the next pay level) the range is ~$30 - $38 per hour. Nursing at the same pay level would be about the same...but remember if the minumum level is a masters for OT I would think you would be upgraded to the next pay scale. Best thing to do is find a copy on line of the allied health professionals agreement for your area.

I totally understand your dilemma. I'm finishing my pre req's but am still worried that I'm not cut out to be a nurse as I have a weak stomach. Not the poop, pee, vimit, mucus stuff...I can deal with that. For me it's the site of blood and the thought of wound packing and care. I've been watching short videos on youtube to try and get use to it but am finding things like picc line insertion, wound flushing and packing, and iv's a bit much. Not sure if this is something everyone goes through and can be overcome. any thoughts and/or advice would be great!

I'm so glad to see someone else was thinking the same way as me...! I have no bachelors currently and have been considering nursing or OT a possible career move. Having no post secondary education I thought getting a BsN would be the best option as upon graduation I would be earning around $30/hr here in BC and any other areas I was interested in all required a masters anyways so I could always use my nursing degree for another field if I chose to or if I found that bedside nursing wasn't really all I had thought it would be. Currently I am applying for my last few pre req's then hopefully be in a nursing program fall2011.

I've been considering the same thing. I am 30yrs old, have no post secondary education except a few courses so I'm pretty much a blank slate. I've been considering either nursing (BsN) or OT. I live in BC and you can't shadow a nurse in the hospital so other than this site and chatting with a couple of nurses I don't know if it is the right fit for me, but I was able to visit the OT department at my local hospital and get a tour. All the OT's seemed very happy, but the job doesn't seem to have the same variety as nursing would. What I have been thinking is getting my BSN nursing for a while in the hospital (I too wish to work in Pedes or Nicu) and then I can always go back and get my masters in OT if I don't like nursing and need the change, or don't like doing all the yucky stuff...I just know I want a career that allows you to make a difference, is not a "business" job, and earns a descent income, which both occupations do in BC. Any further thoughts would be so helpful!

Hi there, I have been reading a lot of threads on this site for quite a while and although they have been very insightful and helpful I was hoping to get some opinions/advice/thoughts for my personal story. If this is too long I'm sorry...I've been struggling with this issue for quite a while so bare with me pls. I have been considering a career change for quite some time and one area that keeps popping up into my mind is nursing. Some background...I am 30 yrs old and currently work from home full time as a marketing/sales/education programmer for a small company in BC (lower mainland). I have found myself in the past couple of years slightly unsettled with my work and future (hence the thought of a career change). Before this job I was working in the entertainment/film/tv industry and also still fancy myself an actress Some of the things I like about my job are the flexibility (work from home, able to flex time for personal things like acting and vacation - family in England and Germany, and very outdoorsy etc.) and also working with kids, training employees, teaching. The thing all of my jobs have had in common is working with people - mostly children, and the flexibility I have for personal time and acting opportunities as they come up. However I have not felt settled as these jobs have not offered me the security, income (currently gross ~38k/yr), and long term interest I so desire. My passion is acting, but this is obviously not secure and so I have been wanting to find a career that I will enjoy, will hold my interest long term, allow me to still have my life (family, travel, acting), and secure a good income. I also feel like I am entering a new phase of life which may also include marriage and kids with my long term boyfriend who is a firefighter and works shift work (2days, 2nights, 4off) and want to be able to coordinate life with my hopefully soon to be husbands shifts so we can still see each other (we currently only get 2 weekends off together every 2/5 months due to his shift rotation), raise a family, and travel to our extended family overseas (his job is perfect for this). The reasons I thought of nursing was of course the flexibility (I have a friend who is an ICU nurse 3/4time working 3 on 6 off which is very appealling), security, income potential, job variation, and the ability to have a career that doesn't just make money for someone else while you slave away with little benefit. Reasons why I am uncertain about nursing are blood (not the best with lots of blood and gore - do you get use to this?), and the physical toll it takes on your body working 12 hour shifts in a hospital (although I am VERY active and sporty, I have had a low back injury due to a car accident), I don't know if I will be able to make it through night shifts, and oh my gosh...nurses have to know so much it's a bit intimidating. Basically I am hoping to get some advice/thoughts/opinions from similar and non-similar people out there who may have had the same questions/concerns and are on the other side of it all. Do I give up a semi-good job and go to school full time for 4 years to get BSN (once accepted) or not? Thanks to everyone in advance for reading this long (but therapeutic) note and for all their posts:)