Second Thoughts on Becoming a Nurse

[ThePrudentStudent]

I am here looking for opinions and guidance from those in the field. I will be entering a nursing program in Spring and am having second thoughts. I am an older student (late 40s) and put my desire of entering the nursing field on hold for many years. During the early stages of the pandemic, I felt a call to fulfill this more than any other time in my life. Subsequently, I turned my Covid layoff into an opportunity, went back to school, completed all pre-reqs and was accepted. However, I did not anticipate the amount of vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers and the fact that I live in a state with no vaccine requirements for schools and healthcare workers as well as a leading transmission rate of the Delta variant. ( I am fully vaccinated). This is coupled with fluctuating opinions of many nurses I know personally advising that the industry has changed and they have been treated as expendable and to run hard and fast to something else in the medical field. This has me doubting my decision and questioning if I am unnecessarily putting my family at risk in pursuit of something that, according to others, may not be what I had built it up to be. (I should mention I am being offered a place in a Microbiology bachelor's program so I do have options but it is a long, competitive road to a master's and I need to provide for my family now.) If you had to do it all over again, would you become a nurse? Would you go into another field? Do you think an older individual would have a rougher time at present? I get that this may sound whiney but I have met some tired, angry nurses lately who are ready to chuck it all if they have not done so already. Thanks all. 

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

So, I have been a nurse for 6.5 years, all in acute care.

If I had to do it all over again, I probably wouldn't have chosen nursing. Looking at the kind of money my CPA boyfriend makes (and now, thanks to COVID, he can work remotely indefinitely) with far less stress and more respect, I think nursing is bottom of the barrel in terms of "professional" jobs (though it is really blue-collar through and through).

The amount of responsibility and lack of autonomy is unreal. Nursing can be hard on the body, especially since patients have becoming ridiculously obese over the years. Oh, and the patients? They have become more and more hostile and disrespectful towards staff to the point it has become unbearable. And the pay? What a joke. I have been an RN for 6.5 years and make a hair under $30/hr. My baby brother, as a brand new engineer, with base salary + bonus, started out making what nurses with years of experience make as a fresh face 22 year old.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some positives: a wider range of opportunities/specialties, schedules that range from your typical 9-5 to 3 12s and everything in between, and the opportunity to make extra with OT. But make no mistake: you will work for every penny you earn.

With you being in your 40s, I would absolutely NOT recommend nursing. It is hard on a 20, 30-something body, but a 40+ body will get destroyed in acute care (where you will most likely have to start off prior to being able to get the better, less physical jobs). Not to mention, are you really going to be up for nights, weekends, holidays and 13-14 hours on your feet? 

There are days when I fantasize about working in a library. If only I could turn back the watch...

[Peachpit]

As far as age, I don't think age really has anything to do with becoming a nurse as people's physical and emotional health can vary greatly which is not age specific. It's about overall ability. I know a nurse who really wanted to work OB but she has MS and while it's controlled she knew OB and the 12 hr shifts was not something she would be able to handle (she is under 30). I know another nurse who is 70 (yes 70), works nights on a step down unit and can run circles around nurses 20 yrs younger. 

Anyway, no, I would not go back into nursing if I had to do it all over again. It has nothing to do w/Covid. There will always be some illness or disease process that comes up (HIV/AIDS was it during my nursing school/early nursing career and many nurses expressed the same concerns/fears about it that I read about on here regarding Covid).

  I am grateful certainly for the opportunities nursing has provided but it's also a profession that is very difficult to move out of w/o more schooling or a back up degree of another kind. As many have already stated, it's changed a lot in the past decade. What I see are nurses being used/abused in the name of profit for hospitals/corporations that are lead mostly by non-clinical leaders who bottom line is money.  Many companies complain about the turn over of staff yet never seem to listen to the staff about why they are leaving or take a deep dive into what they can do to improve retention so they spend more money hiring new people only for the majority of them to leave in less than 5 yrs. Government mandates like OASIS for home health have changed the playing field for nurses who wanted something other than hospital based nursing. The list goes on.

I would look at coding/billing, Ultrasound tech, something along those lines but the time/money to become an RN again - no.

 

[Dohardthings]

No, I would not become a nurse again, I love medicine but nurses have become expendable punching bags.  From a perspective of an older new grad, I was 38, it has been horrible.  I look older so people naturally assumed I was more experienced and treated me like crap for not being that.  Secondly, it has ripped my body to shreds.  Medical technology is the wave of the future, I would look into that instead.

[summertx]

On 7/23/2021 at 12:08 PM, ThePrudentStudent said:

During the early stages of the pandemic, I felt a call to fulfill this more than any other time in my life. Subsequently, I turned my Covid layoff into an opportunity, went back to school, completed all pre-reqs and was accepted. However, I did not anticipate the amount of vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers and the fact that I live in a state with no vaccine requirements for schools and healthcare workers as well as a leading transmission rate of the Delta variant. ( I am fully vaccinated). This is coupled with fluctuating opinions of many nurses I know personally advising that the industry has changed and they have been treated as expendable and to run hard and fast to something else in the medical field. This has me doubting my decision and questioning if I am unnecessarily putting my family at risk in pursuit of something that, according to others, may not be what I had built it up to be. (I should mention I am being offered a place in a Microbiology bachelor's program so I do have options but it is a long, competitive road to a master's and I need to provide for my family now.) If you had to do it all over again, would you become a nurse? Would you go into another field? Do you think an older individual would have a rougher time at present? I get that this may sound whiney but I have met some tired, angry nurses lately who are ready to chuck it all if they have not done so already. Thanks all. 

If you felt the call I would say do it, but nowadays, with the covid stuff returning, that means, depending on where you work, if patients or coworkers test positive, you have to go in to testing once/twice a week even on your day off, deal with mishandlings of your own covid information, it's in the hands of some 'infection control nurse',  being shoved into the covid unit without being asked, not enough staff to deal with the covid unit, all kinds of b/s. 

[Michelle Vining-Rogers, ASN, LPN, LVN, EMT-I]

I think the most important part of that decision is figuring out where in nursing you want to work. Environments can be very different. States can be very different ( CA was a whole different experience than Louisiana , shockingly so even) If you have no background in medicine then unfortunately there is no shortcut for experience and that experience is usually best earned in bedside medical surgical nursing at least a few years. That’s exhausting at any age but yep in out late 40’s it’s undeniably harder) I have been an LPN for a long time (and will grad RN this fall) I’ve worked in med- surg, telemetry, outpatient surgery nephrology, with vents, and at an LTACH, (even tried agency work at a nursing home , not my thing but some seemed to love it) currently and for the last 11 years in behavioral health where I plan to call  home. These days the hosp staff nurses I know do mostly seem to be burning out - some even just quitting to do something else after decades , but, certain disciplines and companies tend to hold on to their nurses loyalty. Just my opinion, but staying PRN instead of endearing to full time seems to help with the overworked and taken for granted situation some.  Nursing is a calling so if you feel it follow it, but, talk to a LOT of nurses in your area, network , find your niche, figure out where they seem happy - where they aren’t and take a cue. If I weren’t doing psych I’d do (outpatient or inpatient) dialysis - enjoyed it. You’ll see jobs that look like your thing too in rotations so pay attention. And one important thing in any field: like and trust who you work with - if you find you don’t , start looking for your out while accumulating experience. Trust your gut, there are great nurses to learn from but not every smiling face is there to mentor you and don’t could out  every grumpy one as an ally. Yes it’s still a worthwhile job but yes it’s changed and a gamble. 

[Famturn]

I'm not a nurse yet but for what it's worth, I would like to share my thoughts and experience...maybe it will help. I'm a 49 year old sophomore that has left a 20 year law enforcement career to pursue what I feel is a calling. Regardless of what people say, every career field that is related to service (whether it is Healthcare or public service) employees are going to feel expendable and undervalued. The key is finding your own value/worth. Never let anyone who is disgruntled or disappointed discouraged you. I'm not saying they don't have good reasons to feel the way they do, try to shadow or work in a hospital while you're in school to get a better picture. In my area most hospitals have some sort of student nurse assistant positions. They work around your school schedule and have been incredibly supportive.  Best wishes in what you decide.