Second Bachelor's.......BSN??? Help!!

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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

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Bill,

In spite of the draw backs to nursing, I am choosing this as my next career. I would like to think that the skills I have learned in my previous careers will help me navigate through the cr*p that seems to be part and parcel w/ nursing.

I would also like to think... ok, maybe this is just my idealism... but there seems to be quite a few people moving into nursing from other walks of life, ie business, teaching, etc. I would like to think that the experience brought into nursing can only improve the environment.

Good luck w/ your decision.

SJ

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you make an interesting point, the field is getting a good infusion of diversity, experiencially, ethnically, demographically....which in theory should strengthen it...what's your opinion on the insourcing trends...???

Thanks for responding, not everyone would take the time

Bill

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Can you be a little more specific on your question re "insourcing trends"? I'm not sure what you mean.

SJ

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Nursing is a fine profession for anyone interested in being constantly challenged. It is never boring. There are many ways to practice nursing, so the profession fits lots of personalities. I think the co-worker negatives you mentioned can occur in any job.

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I was an accountant for 20 years - first in credit/collections management, then departmental management, then finally a tax accountant (ok - yes, I know... that was stupid - I was miserable).

The nursing bug bit me several times before I paid attention to the itch, and decided to take up work as a CNA part time prior to nursing school. This was a blessing. And it would've been a blessing even if it had told me that nursing was NOT for me.

I am now entering my second semester in one of the best RN programs in my state (pass rates from 98% to 100% on the NCLEX), and I love this. The analytical critical thinking you had to train yourself to do in accounting is going to be a key tool for you in nursing; more so than I ever would have thought. Yes, there are drawbacks, including liability and backbreaking work. But if the bug has bit - at least try to scratch the itch.

I am fortunate - I have an amazing husband who didn't have a problem with me leaving a well-paying career behind. I had been home with my kids for several years anyway, so we had already adjusted to lower income. Now, he plays Mr. Mom while I study (he's self-employed and has wonderful flexibility in his schedule).

My point is... if you can swing it, try it. This is an amazing thing we do... and I'm glad I made the switch.

Good luck!

Deanna

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Insourcing-

Many haelth-care corporations and hospitals are importing nurses from foreign countries. There are many nurses from The Phillipines working in The U.S., for example.

As for advise, I would not recommend nursing as a career. I've been a nurse for 12 years.

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I also came to nursing after finishing a BS in education and not wanting to teach. Although the nursing profession has its drawbacks (I got burnt out in my first nursing job in less than 2 years, mostly due horrible staffing and the nurses being way underappreciated for what we did). After moving on and finding a less stressful job, I still enjoy the flexibility of nursing and my salary has increased by $5/hour since I started 2 years ago. I would highly recommend working parttime as a CNA before you invest in nursing school to get a taste of what patient care is like. Good luck!

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Well, I can say that I like you guys just for your interest in responding to what I'm sure is a continuous concern, very mature answers, wow...

I grew up with social worker parents, and have always been very uncomfortable in a repetitive black and white business world, all day seat belted to your screen, analyzing extremely dense data all day long...And some of you look at that as a nice change too....grass is greener kinda thing...maybe?

....Do you guys feel my years in accounting and healthcare finance and a BSBA in finance will make any difference to employers when paired with the BSN...I want to do patient care, probably in the same areas everyone else prefers, which will make it harder, but be able to also move into other areas....eventually go into a PA program...

Really, you guys are so different, you must be nurses or something :-)

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Insourcing-

Many haelth-care corporations and hospitals are importing nurses from foreign countries. There are many nurses from The Phillipines working in The U.S., for example.

As for advise, I would not recommend nursing as a career. I've been a nurse for 12 years.

I'd be interested in hearing more about this aspect....how bad is the importing, and do you see it really offsetting demand....because they not only are much more compliant and willing to take more crap from anyone, mainly because they were so desperate to get their Visa, and move from mostly third world conditions, eg Philipines, India, Mexico City...central America...etc., I've visited some of these places, and the intense overpopulation, extremely low wages and living conditions, make the US seem unrealistically heaven like...

Thanks again for your thoughts..

Bill

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I know that if you puruse many of the threads here on this site you will absolutely find that many nurses do burn out and many do have varying degrees of problems from the poor staffing, to poor mgmt, to just poor treatment by Doctors, staff and pts.

I for one feel truly blessed that I have found a great place to work and a great team to work with. I will admit that not everyone there feels this way, I don't want to offend anyone but it is my experience that some people are never happy no matter what the situation, I also feel blessed that I am one of those goofy people that are fortunate enough to just wake up happy every day, I made a comment just recently that you may find interesting "I must be one of the few people that is smart enough to do this job, but stupid enough to enjoy it!" I will tell you that it is not easy, but let me just list a few of the jobs I did prior to entering nursing and perhaps you will see why I find it enjoyable.

I worked as a roustabout for about 3 years, working for an oil company I went around doing manual labor such as building cattle guards,(digging the holes and placing the posts and building the fence)I made watergates, (same basic prinicple except over a creek)I scubbed the derricks after they were brought in from the field before they went back out, built fences around tanks and derricks and offices and did some night security for the sites.

I worked in a rubber plant for 7 years, making packer parts and cement plugs and all manner of pipeline fittings for oilfield and pipeline type applications, I started on the MFG line where giant presses with heating plates are used to mold the parts, giant metal molds are pulled apart with brute force and winches you break it apart the molds are 300 hundred degrees and the heating plates are 320-350, you pull the whole thing apart and get out the steaming rubber parts then place a big chunk of raw rubber into the mold and put it all back together and push it in and press it to mold they heat from 20-45min depending on size and i ran a line with 6 presses after you pull the hot part out you use a box knife to trim off the excess and run from press to press unloading, reloading and trimming parts in a corrugated steel building with a total of 18 presses all at 320-350 dgrees in Texas (in summer heat outside 100-110 degress) and you have to wear longsleeves because you are working with hot metal and hot presses.

So yeah to me nursing is a pretty sweet job, I work indoors in a temp controlled environment, talking with co-workers and Pts and other therapuetic modalitites, I use my social skills to make Pts feel at ease and relieve tension and use my teaching skills to alleviate fear and explain procedures, processes and exactly what they can expect from every intervention. I use humor to help others feel better and keep things lite and as someone said Laughter is the best medicine. I work hard but not unbearably so, I give baths and assist Pts up to chairs or bathrom and turn pts and change linens and assist all the other nurses to do all of these things, I pass medicines and meals and start IVs and assist with procedures such as central line placement and artline placement and I do dressing changes and I take care of ventillator Pts and suction secretions and do oral care and clean stool and vomit and blood from where ever it is coming from, I do open heart recovery I can run IABP or CVVHD, I monitor CI and CO and PA pressures and Blood pressures and interpret cardiac rhytms, do EKGs and pull arterial lines and sheaths and central lines and catheters.

It is a wonderful, demanding, rewarding, disgusting, work your butt off for little appreciation, but feel marvelous about the help you provide to others kind of a job! for more you may read this article if you like.

http://www.okcnursingtimes.com/specials/newsletter_view.asp?newsid=344&catid=88&active=0&mode=current&count=0

Good Luck in all your endeavors and especially with your choices in life, and as always if God is a part of your life look to him to show you the right way to turn.

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You can really make a difference in a patient's life. Even as a student, I have been able to advocate for my patient by getting the doctor to change the pain med the patient was getting--with very satisfying results. I have the smarts for medical school, but I'd miss the patient contact.

NurseFirst

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

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