Second-Career Students: How did you decide to change careers?

FLmomof5 · Dec 27, 2009

Everyone has their own reasons and there are a lot of threads talking about career changers.

For me......

I was bored working in Space Ops so I started programming MF computers. I loved it but, unfortunately, IT is seen as a corporate liability, so they get hit hard every time there are layoffs. I am tired of looking for new work every 2 or 3 years!

My mother is a retired RN, BSN, MSN.....my sister and brother are both RNs. They never had trouble finding or keeping a job.

After raising my 5 kids as a single mom for the bulk of their growing years, I find myself at an age where one begins to think of retirement and all I have is Social Security. By going into nursing, I get out of the cubicle farm, have consistent employment, and enough to build a retirement nest egg. If I work at NAS JAX (which is my hope) then 15 yrs after I start I will be eligible for a federal retirement. :yeah:

anon695 · Dec 27, 2009

Honestly, I took a gamble on nursing and fortunately it paid off. I was working as a human resources recruiter for 8 years after college and I hated it for a multitude of reasons. I didn't like sitting in a cubicle staring at a screen all day, I didn't like getting laid off about once per year (recruiting is a very unstable type of job), I didn't like having to always lie to candidates and give them the run-around about things. Most of all I couldn't see this as a "career" that I could do and be proud of for my entire life. I wanted something that was the opposite of all this. When I was laid off for the 6th time in 8 years, in January 2009, I knew it was time for a career change. So after some thinking, talking to someone who became a nurse, and knowing that I loved working in an animal shelter as a teenager (so I didn't mind dirty, hard, on-you-feet work), I took a chance and applied to nursing school. At the time, I wasn't 100% sure I was making the right choice, but if you don't gamble you won't win. I was accepted, thankfully. Fast forward 1 year... I took A&P 1 and 2 both over the summer at community college, and took Fundamentals in Fall 2009. I absolutely loved it and got a 96 average. I loved clinical so much I can't even explain it. So if you can... take a chance!

babe48076 · Dec 27, 2009

My career was a Human Resource Manager. I was bored and tired of the typical 9-5. It was not challenging and was always curious about the medical field. Actually, when I started college I was looking into the health field, but for personal reasons went the business route. I decided to become a CNA and try out the healthcare field. The first year was very rocky. It was stressful physically. I then did a little social work in the hospital and realized how much I loved the nursing field. I am a PCT and will be starting nursing school this January. It has been the best move I ever made and so rewarding.

tango.in.paris · Dec 27, 2009

Crikey! Im on my third career change .... first commerical art, then accountancy and now nursing. When I left school I opted between commercial art, teaching or nursing, and it was the money that drew me to commercial art. Not a smart move in hindsight because my interest didnt last, and then I sort of fell into accountancy, and though I was good at it, Im not a natural with numbers so it was real hard work. Finally decided to get my act together with nursing because I needed something that would see me through to the end of my workdays; something that would get me employed anywhere in the world (I have European and Australian citizenship); something that would allow me to work arvos/nites (I cant stand mornings); and something that would allow me to work in large or small environments, public or private ...... and this is going to sound corny, but being a nurse makes me feel warm and fuzzy and I like that .... good luck with your decision! :up:

careerchanger22 · Dec 28, 2009

I am coming from the architecture/construction field. I have my bachelors in it and thought I would do it forever. I worked mainly in construction and the money was a big draw for me. I had always thought about going into nursing, even in high school, but never did... mostly because my parents thought I would like architecture better for some reason (I mean, what do you really know when you apply to colleges at 17). Now the architecture and construction industry has been hit hard by the economy and I was laid off last month. I felt like this is my chance to really get into nursing. I am applying to an accelerated MSN program and will find out in March whether I am in. In the mean time, I am shadowing a few doctor friends and a few of their friends and also volunteering at the local hospital in their Same Day Surgical Unit. Just from those experieneces I know I would love the nursing field. I would recommend trying to shadow someone if you could just to make sure its for you... good luck!

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · Dec 28, 2009

My story is very much like the other posters. When I first went to college, I was trying to decide between Nursing and Business Administration. I choose the business route. I was a multi-unit restaurant manager for six years and decided I was tired of taking calls on week-ends and late in the evening. While my career offered stability, I had no social life. I decided to go back to school and pursue my other interest. It certainly isn’t the money that attracts me to the career. I made a great salary with my previous employer. Rather, I was in need of a career that offered a balance between work and my personal life.

If you are interested in making a career change, simply make a plan and go for it. I took my pre-reqs while still working full-time. Because I decided to enter into and accelerated second Bachelor program, I decided to leave my employer to devote my undivided attention to school. I choose to use my savings to help contribute to my living expenses and take out loans to pay for school.

Arcadia73 · Dec 28, 2009

There are many, many reasons why I decided to persue nursing. I was very sickly growing up, with everything from chronic ear infections, to scoliosis, to hbp & chf in my mid twenties. I have really been through the ringer health-wise!! In the midst of all of my health issues I went to college & majored in psychology. I always wanted to help people and felt that would be the best way for me to do so. Needless to say I never ONCE had any sort of job related to my major! I mostly worked in customer service at a few companies since graduating in 1997.

Flash forward to 2006. I got a pretty cushy promotion at my company to be a provider relations specialist. I was basically in charge of educating & enforcing contractual compliance with our network of physicians and diagnostic providers as well as doing site visits to ensure quality. The money was pretty good but I HATED it with a passion in about 8 months time! So much, bullsh*tting our clients and never really getting the real info needed to properly perform our jobs from management. Not to mention the sheer incompetence of my immediate supervisor...I mean the woman could barely annunciate a proper sentence...even her emails were so juvenile it was absolutely pathetic! The office politics there was enough to make you wanna rip your own damn eyes out!!

So, I plotted my escape and gave my self about 2 years in which to get OUT of that place and get into a nursing career finally! I did get out as of this past July and couldn't be happier! I knew I couldn't just quit, but I have never worked so hard to get " let go" in my entire life, LOL! It must have worked because I got a sweet severence package and unemployment benefits as well. My hubby actually relocated to Buffalo a year ago while I stayed at home with my parents while working my old job. We couldn't afford to live in Jersey on just my salary ( he is temporarily disabled since his 2 lumbar surgeries) and we knew that Buffalo has notoriously cheap rent so we moved him up 1st until I could join him.

I start lpn school on Januray 20th!! I am going to sit for the cna exam once my 1st semester is up and work weekends untill graduation in spring 2011. Then I am going to get my RN from Excelsior. At some point I plan to get my BSN from either Excelsior or Indiana State University. I am SO excited!!

****Sorry SO Loooong!!!***** :smackingf

Queenqmw · Dec 28, 2009

I have worked in Customer Service for over 10 years and am completely burnt out!!If I have to listen to another stupid problem over the phone,I'm gonna go CRAZY!! :banghead: But anyway I've always wanted to go to Nursing school and I've finally decide to pursue my dream.I'll be starting in Jan 2010 and am very excited!! I hope u follow your dream as well!!

AndiePi · Dec 28, 2009

When I started college I had no idea what I wanted. I flip flopped between anthropology, socioiology, and psychology classes because they interested me the most. I ended up transfering to a university from my community college, and decided to major in journalism.....long story short I ended up hating it! I was never good at science and never in my life considered nursing....until I was working at a restaurant job and a very nice lady was telling me about how she was going into nursing. It was like I was struck by lightning....she was so passionate about it, and she was working full time with kids and going to school! I was so impressed by her, that I decided to look into it. I figured what would it hurt to take a CNA class and an anatomy class and see if it works out. I loved it!!! For the first time in my life classes were challenging, I ended up finishing second in my anatomy classwhich I was able to prove to myself that I can learn science! I just got accepted to nursing school and am starting in january.

itsmejuli · Dec 28, 2009

I didn't go to college when I was young, I went in the military, had children, then worked various jobs including customer service. I was never happy in any of the jobs I had. I started going to college in my 30's and had a real interest in biology classes.

Fast forward ohhh another 10 or so years and I was working paying medical claims for a large medical insurance company. I found reading operative reports very interesting as well as patient progress reports that would come in.

Then my oldest son suffered a TBI and was in a coma on life support. I watched the nurses care for him and was very grateful when he fully recovered. So I thought why not take an A&P class and see what interest I had.

But I still wasn't sure if nursing was for me so I decided to do LPN first to see if I really liked it. Well, I disliked the nursing home we went to for our first clinicals, but the next clinicals were in a hospital. I enjoyed helping the patients and interacting with the staff.

I've got one last pre-req to do and will start the LPN-RN transition program in May.

Kelber · Dec 28, 2009

I was a year away from finishing my Social Work degree, when I had a 3 month premature baby. He spent two months in the NICU, and spending so much time there, and learning so much about caring for him, made up my mind that I wanted to get into Nursing.

I was, however, close to finishing my degree and couldn't start over at that point in my life. I always said that I'd go back. Six years later, I got laid off due to the economy and cutbacks, and it opened the perfect opportunity for me to return to school.

I start in January and I know it will be more than everything I imagined.