OldIsNewAgain

Thanks for the answers. With our area we would be at the same hospital. And as a hospitalist the only area she doesn't work is the ER. That's great except for me seeing over and over that new grads shouldn't work in an ER.

Wow and I'm the dumb newbie that posted in the wrong spot I believe. Skrry.

I have been considering a career change, and nursing appeals to me. However I have also found a few things in my research that have me questioning whether this is the right decision. First, I have been successful in my field so money isn't a driving factor. When combined with my wife's income I could easily just walk away from working. The reason I mention this is because several of the nurses I have spoken with seem very income driven. Since nursing appears to be dependent upon a "bonding experience" with other nurses, I worry different goals could become a problem. Second, men are less common and on at least one floor of the local hospital the nurses admit to seeing male nurses as somewhat of an intrusion. Is this actually a problem or just people acting silly? Third, my wife is a physician. Is that something that could cause more than a little gossip? Finally I have a somewhat strong gag reflex with smells. It wouldn't stop me Fram being able to do anything but it is also something that I've never found a way to control. While I assume over time that could change, initially it would happen. My concern isn't with me, but with patients. When another person is cleaning you after a bowel movement or the like I imagine some folks are uncomfortable. If the person cleaning you started gagging it seems that would be worse. So am I awful for considering putting them into that position? I know that much of what I mentioned will seem insignificant to others. But the big issues don't intimidate me. I've always been very successful in the classroom and just for fun took enough biology courses to find myself needing only organic chemistry to have a biology degree as well when I got my bachelors degree. So in the classroom I'm confident. I've always connected with people easily and have worked with people from every imaginable background so that doesn't bother me. Performing under stress stopped being an issue long ago when I was in the Marines. The big things play to my strengths. It is the little things that have me trapped doing research at 2:00 AM... so any thoughts are appreciated.