Second Career Nursing student

FLmomof5 · Mar 8, 2010

WELCOME!!!

I am a third career changer! LOL!

Currently, I am 48 (just turned it last week) and a 3rd term NS. My first degree was a B.E.E.E. (Elect Eng) out of Manhattan College. I spent 8.5 yrs in satellite operations, 17 yrs as a mainframe programmer and now I am heading into the world of nursing.

I read all sorts of horror stories on this site about catty NS and evil preceptors/clinical teachers. That has not been my experience. I am in an Eve/WE class at FSCJ (Jacksonville). I am second oldest! The oldest is an Airline Pilot! Most of our class is older.....but even the younger students are great! Our teachers are wonderful for the most part and the clinical instructors and the hospitals in Jax (their employees) are great and helpful!

1. You can expect to feel overwhelmed in the beginning. I didn't find the material hard.....it was just hard getting the VOLUME of material done!

2. You will begin to think,"TV? What TV? Like I have TIME to watch!!!"

3. You will most likely walk out of the first test thinking,"What the F*** was THAT!?!?!?" It is not good enough to learn the material, you have to leard HOW to APPLY the material.

4. When you get stressed,.....just remember "Keep your eye on the goal!"

Good Luck in NS!

dudette10, MSN, RN · Mar 8, 2010

I'm 39, a second career student, mom/wife/etc. I'm thankful I don't have to work, which makes NS much easier on me than some of my counterparts, regardless of their current life stage/responsibilities.

Time management is key...having a good familial support system (if you have family responsibilites) is extremely helpful. My husband is an angel, my kids volunteer when I practice assessments. BTW, a 9-year old boy's fart when you are practicing bowel sounds is sorta like a bomb going off next to your head!

I'm the third oldest student in my class. I get along with all of them, but I'm most friendly with a woman close to my age who is at the same life stage I am (husband/kids/lifestyle). We just have more in common, both academically and socially. When the more traditionally-aged students talk about going out to a bar on Friday nights, I smile inside and just yearn for a nap! Been there/done that the first time around in the late 80s/early 90s, and hangovers at 40 are so much more debilitating than at 20! :yeah:

It is a lot of work, but you'll have the time of your life. Learning/adapting/changing is invigorating, to me at least.

ITguy2nurse · May 16, 2011

WELCOME!!!
I am a third career changer! LOL!
Currently, I am 48 (just turned it last week) and a 3rd term NS. My first degree was a B.E.E.E. (Elect Eng) out of Manhattan College. I spent 8.5 yrs in satellite operations, 17 yrs as a mainframe programmer and now I am heading into the world of nursing.
I read all sorts of horror stories on this site about catty NS and evil preceptors/clinical teachers. That has not been my experience. I am in an Eve/WE class at FSCJ (Jacksonville). I am second oldest! The oldest is an Airline Pilot! Most of our class is older.....but even the younger students are great! Our teachers are wonderful for the most part and the clinical instructors and the hospitals in Jax (their employees) are great and helpful!
1. You can expect to feel overwhelmed in the beginning. I didn't find the material hard.....it was just hard getting the VOLUME of material done!
2. You will begin to think,"TV? What TV? Like I have TIME to watch!!!"
3. You will most likely walk out of the first test thinking,"What the F*** was THAT!?!?!?" It is not good enough to learn the material, you have to leard HOW to APPLY the material.
4. When you get stressed,.....just remember "Keep your eye on the goal!"
Good Luck in NS!

You're my hero. I was accepted to nursing school for the fall (2011). I am a 45 yo male with a BSEET (DeVry) and I have been a help desk rep of some kind or another for 15 years (6 jobs). I lost my last IT job at the end of December and decided to become a certified Nurse's Aide to get my "feet wet" in a hospital. I passed the state exam on April 21st (found out about nursing school on the 15th), and was on the registry by April 28th. But it is difficult to get your feet wet when you can't get one in the door! I finally decided that it must be my dull resume. Sure, I'm certifed and I'm going to nursing school and I have a BS in another discipline with an almost unrrelated work history. I have to find those HIGHLIGHTS of my experience that corresponds with a position as a CNA (or PCA, PCT). I've taken 3 nursing curriculum classes (we get points for taking them before applying) including Pharmacology, Dosage Calculations and Pathophysiology. The classes can be challenging, but the professors always treat me like any other student. The younger students seem to think I'm some sort of study wizard; but then I've been part-time for two years. I'm about to be full-time for the first time since 1993. I'm not carrying 18-21 hours like I did then but the first 9 may kill me. Someimes I wonder, if I had taken Biology instead of Chemistry in high school and again in college, would my interest have changed? Like me, you probably approach nursing with the mind of an engineer. Has nursing school beat this tendency out of you??

Bob_N_VA · May 16, 2011

Hi. You're situation is not at all that unusual. Lots of folks here have come into Nursing from other fields and at a later stage in life. I'm 54, male and this is really my 3rd career. After college I went into the Navy as an officer, got out in the early 90's and then went to work as a Govt. contractor/IT type for going on 20 years. That is where my burn out started getting critical so about two years ago, I finally gave into my urge to give Nursing a shot since I always wondered what a medically related job would be like. So I am just about halfway through my schooling and about two years into this journey with another year and a half to go.

So what can you expect? Lots of hard work, studying and new experiences. It has been a life altering change for me, especially in how I approach things. I think I am actually starting to think and act like a Nurse lately, and the personal satisfaction you get from helping somebody is priceless.

I do see lots of threads on all the cattiness and drama that seems to be common in many classes, but honestly I haven't seen any of that in mine. We are a nights/weekends group and are probably on the older side so maybe that helps some. I am the only guy, so maybe I just dont see it, but I think its mostly overblown, I chalk it up to the fact you always hear about the bad stuff, the good goes unreported.

My philosophy is to take it one day at a time, one test, one clinical. Prepare as much as you can by keeping current with readings, completing assignments early and show up for every class (it surprises me that people routinely miss class but want to ace tests, just doesn't make sense). As far as NP goes, you really need some experience before you get into those programs. Nursing school will just get you to the point that you can pass the NCLEX and be familiar with all the duties and responsibilities you will have once you start working. The real education starts when you show up for work the first day and continues on thereafter. You need that time to mature as a professional before you would be considered for an advanced certification or specialty.

Good luck