nursenikki

Hi Carlos I hope I can help a little. First of all don't be worried about the fact that most nurses are women, more men are becoming nurses and we need male nurses. If you want to go into medicine, become a doctor, it is my belief that becoming a nurse first is a good idea. You need a bachelors degree to attend medical school so getting your bachelors in nursing will qualify you. If you want to specialize in nursing anesthetics does pay the best, however you can become a nurse practitioner and also be paid fairly well. You can attend a two year nursing program, they are cheaper then bachelor programs, and become an RN. You can then begin working as an RN while you get your bachelors degree or there are also programs that allow you to go straight from your two year degree to a masters degree (nurse practitioner). I hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions.

Hi Cara, I just graduated from Lake Sumter Community College in Clermont, about 15 miles west of Orlando, and it has a fantastic program. When I joined the program they had the second highest pass rate in the state. I'm not sure what it's ranked now but it's probably the same or close to it. If you're in west orlando you might want to consider applying. There were some people in my class that drove more than an hour to attend the program. Nikki

I am a graduate nurse and starting out at $18.00/hr at an Orlando hospital, no doubt with experience you will make more. The cost of living in Orlando can be expensive but I have relatives in the UK and they say that things here are much cheaper. For an apartment you can expect to pay about $800 a month or more, and a decent home is at least $120,000. Groceries for a family of four I would say cost about $600 a month. Car insurance about $100 a month, gas $2.00/ a gallon, health insurance $200 a month for a family and factoring in other expenses car payment, cell phone, etc. It might be tight living on your income alone but I think you could manage. You can always pick up shifts or work two jobs(full time at one PRN at another), no fun but in a pinch it helps. If you work for an agency, where you work at different places depending on need, you can make more money but generally you don't have benefits. Central Florida is a fun place to live, it is sunny most of the time and there's always something going on or someplace to go.