NursingPassion11

Hi there! I'm not a veteran nurse, I am a nursing student who will be graduating soon (and this will be my 2nd career). I feel for you because I experienced burnout in my previous career and it is debilitating and demoralizing. Burnout is bad for our health and well-being. My nursing school instructors have encouraged us to start working as nurses part-time, because the stress can lead to burnout very quickly. Unfortunately, new grads usually can't start part-time. Working part-time is OK and if it's better for your mental health, it's totally worth it. However, even part-time at the same job can continue the burnout. Stress and burnout can lead to health issues and can affect all aspects of your life. My advice is to live your life to the fullest and happiest that you can. If you're not happy with your place of employment, change it. It's not worth it to stick it out somewhere that you're not happy. I have learned that being happy at a job is a balancing act of being empathetic towards people that may not know how to communicate or express their emotions appropriately versus knowing every intricate issue with each person and the organization. Being understanding of people and their situations, or our lack of knowing what their situation is, is very important to not let their behavior get to us. However, if the issues with your organization or people are driving you insane, changing to a new environment can make a huge difference in your life. Another important aspect is our own self-awareness of how our behaviors affect other people and self-awareness of what we need to do to feel "right" within ourselves. Change can be scary, but it can also be so rejuvenating. Do what is best for you. I wish you all the best in your journey! Follow your passion and never give up opportunities to learn and grow!

I'm in Washington State and Seattle University offers a program called "MSN for Non-Nurses: Advanced Practice Nursing Immersion." It's for non-nursing majors and it's a 2 year program. After the first year, you take the NCLEX to become an RN. After the second year, you become a NP. It's incredibly hard work! It's a fantastic opportunity! However, it is INCREDIBLY competitive. They accept 10-20 students per year for each of these options: Family Nurse Practitioner, NP Midwife, Adult/Gerontological, and Psychiatric. One of my friends that graduated from the program worked as a NP for a few years and then was accepted into the University of Washington Medical School, which is a very highly ranked medical school. So, I don't think the quality of a shortened program like this is by any means lower. I actually think highly intelligent, hard-working people are the only kinds of people that can survive a rigorous program like this. I don't know if there are any programs like it in other states. As people previously stated, I recommend volunteering or even becoming a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant), to really get to know what it's like to be a nurse before you go down a very expensive road. Good luck!