Second Bachelor's.......BSN??? (this could be funny)

Fun2, BSN, RN · Dec 24, 2004

I'm not what your question is exactly. All I can say is, if you want to be a nurse, go for it. If you truly love what you do, then burn out won't be that bad. There are so many options as a nurse, when times get rough.

Good luck in making your decision.

jaimealmostRN · Dec 25, 2004

Bill, I say go for it! Every job has it's negatives and I think people empathize those aspects most b/c if your happy, well then your not complaining, so people aren't hearing about it. Take a tour of a hospital, shadow a nurse, look at the class schedules and really ask yourself how you feel...if you feel excited after all this, then maybe Nursing is for you! But it sounds like you want to make a change, so at least look into it! Good luck!!! :)

suzanne4, RN · Dec 25, 2004

Hi,....and Help,
Can someone out there help a guy who has been a frustrated accountant/financial type, for years, when I have always wanted to go into nursing, (both my folks were and are Social Workers, my dad taught Social Work at the local University at the graduate level for 30 years)...but feared some of the same issues and stigmas that plague you guys today...
I am obviously not the first to look for some interpersonal meaning in a profession, but with the burn-out rate in nursing much higher than some of the worst administrative, data-nazi, middle mgmt. positions, (along with per-patient ratios pretty much unregulated, and being pushed to the limits of human tolerance and beyond, by fat greedy hospital/healthcare execs,) the pronounced pecking-orders, (as with any workplace, but more so in single-gender dominated professions), along with the obligatory catty-backstabbing working environments, and now a coming invasion of cheaper and much more compliant immigrant Nurses....sounds pretty ducky to me!!
Any kind, honest, or brutal, or all the aforementioned... thoughts here??
Bill

The immigrant nurses are no longer coming on temporary visas, only with green cards. This means that they are [paid the same as American nurses, the only eway that this is different is if the agency that recruited them is taking a cut. This is US law.

Now for your original question, there are so many fields to nursing, hospital work is a big part of it, of course, but the sky is the limit. You just need to find what makes you happy..............

Good luck in whatever decision that you make....... :balloons:

PennyLane, RN · Dec 25, 2004

I changed careers and got a second Bachelor's degree in nursing (a few days ago!). I found many of the issues you mentioned in my previous career in the business world. Every single person I worked with in Dilbert-ville was looking for another job when I quit to go back to school.

The difference? In nursing I'll actually be helping people, not working with computer programs. I'm sure I'll be frustrated at times, and I'll have bad days and good days, but I know that the work is worthwhile.

Only time will tell if I actually like being a nurse since I just graduated, but so far so good!

And actually, the overwhelming response I've gotten from other nurses has been positive.

walterrn · Dec 25, 2004

I was a house painter for 15 years. I hate painting, but can make a piece of wood look like a piece of glass. Had my own business, set my own hours, hired who I wanted and paid what I wanted (well, I might add). But I wasn't happy in what I did. I was introduced to nursing by taking a part time job as a psych tech at an adolescent facility while convalescing from a seizure (paint fumes). I looked at what the nurses were doing and thought, "I do everything they do, except pass a pill now and again, and they make three times the money? Something aint right." So I went to nursing school and receinved my diploma at the young age of 39. I've been in nursing now for ten years and have never looked back. The pay is good (speciality pays more), the work environment is pleasant (psych nurse - don't have to deal with yucky blood and pus..........unless someone slits their wrists), I enjoy my peers company and actually believe that I'm doing something useful and needed.

If in doubt, go take an A&P class at your local college or university. If having your hands in a dead body doesn't gross you out, you may be on your way.

Walter the nurse

wje9516 · Dec 25, 2004

Bill, I say go for it! Every job has it's negatives and I think people empathize those aspects most b/c if your happy, well then your not complaining, so people aren't hearing about it. Take a tour of a hospital, shadow a nurse, look at the class schedules and really ask yourself how you feel...if you feel excited after all this, then maybe Nursing is for you! But it sounds like you want to make a change, so at least look into it! Good luck!!! :)

Thats true, normally discussion boards aren't for happy run of the mill reports, as most of life should be....maybe the questions could all be distilled down to...in your opinion, and by the way, are you full time, how many years, RN, how are men, more mature men..., perceived in you profession...I would eventually like to become a PA, or ARNP....

Thanks for replying, not everyone would take the time!!!!

BIll

rngreenhorn · Dec 26, 2004

Hi Bill,

I work in an acute rehab unit. I find the job very rewarding (and that actually says alot, considering I hate people in general). And I should preface this by saying I am new to this gig, I got my RN license in May of this year.

The average patient stays in our unit for 4 weeks, so we really get to see their progess. And we get to know the them, their families, and even their pets. It is not uncommon for the patients to come back and see us once they have left the hospital. It's nice to see a person with a new spinal cord injury come through the door, doing "wheelies" and thanking all of us for what we did for them.

Our unit is small (15 beds), and staffing is not so bad, usually 5:1 with a CNA. Suprisingly, the "obligatory catty back-stabbing" doesn't happen. We all seem to get along pretty well (if the catty back stabbing is happening, I am not aware.... hummm I wonder if I should be worried?). Of course, we do have the obigatory red-tape, and administrative types, but hey, I think that is mostly unvoidable now a days.

Rehab nursing is totally different from other types of nursing... if you are into a fast paced, adrenaline rush working environment... then rehab in not for you. The rewards in rehab are much more subtle... like the first time a patient gets out of bed, or when a trach comes out, or the first time someone takes a step. I'll be running down the hall screaming the first time one of my patients codes.

Well... something to consider.

Justmeandmycat · Jan 6, 2005

Hi Bill,
I work in an acute rehab unit. I find the job very rewarding (and that actually says alot, considering I hate people in general). And I should preface this by saying I am new to this gig, I got my RN license in May of this year.
The rewards in rehab are much more subtle... like the first time a patient gets out of bed, or when a trach comes out, or the first time someone takes a step. I'll be running down the hall screaming the first time one of my patients codes.
Well... something to consider.

You're pretty funny! :rotfl: I needed a laugh today. Thanks!

wje9516 · Jan 6, 2005

You're pretty funny! :rotfl: I needed a laugh today. Thanks!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, went into Nursing and generally hate most people, sounds a little like me....and scarey too....Would like to hear more about your take on the job market, what awaits the recent grad., did you get this as a second degree...that kinda stuff...

Thanks....

graymare · Jan 13, 2005

Nursing isn't all you've cracked it up to be, Bill. I worked in Corporate America for 30 years and hated it for the same reasons you stated in your message. Nursing is soooooo much more than that. I"ve been

a nurse for 2 years and worked in my hospital for 5 years in different unlicensed positions. There's nothing like nursing. When you go home you KNOW you've helped someone whether it be to live or to die peacefully. Each day is different with different challenges, you never stop learning. Some times you cry and some times you rejoice. You are pretty much autunomous because you make your own decisions based on you knowledge base but someone is always there to help you (the nurses you work with). I'd say go for it and talk to some nurses in your local hospitals - see what they say - face-to-face.

Good luck!

Graymare

"QUOTE=wje9516]Hi,....and Help,

Can someone out there help a guy who has been a frustrated accountant/financial type, for years, when I have always wanted to go into nursing, (both my folks were and are Social Workers, my dad taught Social Work at the local University at the graduate level for 30 years)...but feared some of the same issues and stigmas that plague you guys today...

I am obviously not the first to look for some interpersonal meaning in a profession, but with the burn-out rate in nursing much higher than some of the worst administrative, data-nazi, middle mgmt. positions, (along with per-patient ratios pretty much unregulated, and being pushed to the limits of human tolerance and beyond, by fat greedy hospital/healthcare execs,) the pronounced pecking-orders, (as with any workplace, but more so in single-gender dominated professions), along with the obligatory catty-backstabbing working environments, and now a coming invasion of cheaper and much more compliant immigrant Nurses....sounds pretty ducky to me!!

Any kind, honest, or brutal, or all the aforementioned... thoughts here??

Bill

wje9516 · Jan 13, 2005

I'm in the search and destroy mode, and easing out of it finally, I appreciate your response...you guys have been sooooo much more human than the suits I have been and worked with for twenty years...

Bill