Supportive Hubby wants to help Wife in Career Change

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Greetings!

My wife's becoming disillusioned by her career choice and prospects (corporate HR) and while she's good at it and has received great employer reviews during her career, she's just not feeling any professional satisfaction any longer. In addition, it seems that advancement opportunities are very limited for her. Because of all that, she has long considered changing careers. After a lot of discussion and consideration, she's concluded that she'd really like to become a nurse, possibly a WOCN. I am totally on board with her decision and I want to do whatever I can to help her achieve this goal.

So right now, we're at the information-gathering phase, trying to determine the best approach. Firstly, Wifey's already got a BA in Sociology with a strong Psychology concentration (U of Oregon, 1994); I believe she achieved either cum laude or magna cum laude distinction. Consequently, we think she might be able to bypass some of the core undergrad coursework and focus mainly on the major itself. That said, we do recognize that since she's been out of the classroom for 20 years, she may have to backtrack and retake a few undergrad courses.

Her background in math is a little shaky, but as I'm an IT professional, I can tutor her and help her get up to speed on that. She's a little nervous about any Chemistry and Microbiology requirements, but we'll keep my dad (retired professor of Microbiology) on speed-dial for that.

We're agreed that Wifey will continue to work -- at least part-time -- while working towards a BSN, so it's virtually certain that she'll need to pursue the degree online. This means that she probably won't go at full speed with her coursework; perhaps she'll just do a half-load each term. Her employer does offer some tuition assistance, but we'd still like to get good value for tuition spent -- in other words, we're not looking for the costliest school or the one with the most golden reputation; a decent online nursing school with a solid reputation will be just fine. However, if Wifey can do well in her pursuit of her BSN -- and if she decides she really wants to become a WOCN -- Emory University has a WOCN program that I'd encourage her to shoot for.

So my questions are these --

1) With a previous BA and good grades, can my wife reasonably expect to bypass at least some of the core coursework (e.g. History, English, etc.)?

2) Based on our situation, are there some online schools anyone would care to recommend (or perhaps warn against)?

3) It *looks* like most of the coursework for a BSN can be done online. Is that really the case? I find that really surprising (I'm an old fiftyish graybeard), but if it's possible, then that certainly helps! :yes:

4) What's the employability outlook for WOCNs going forward? Is it an under-served specialty?

5) Any other advice or points for consideration?

We're not in a rush to move forward; we're going to move carefully and deliberately, so we'll likely take the next year helping Wifey brush up on Algebra and Statistics, as well as lining up any possible financial aid. Oh, yes, and turning our little storage and knitting-project room into a proper study. Still, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Mr. Sputters

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

To be brief and efficient:

1. Your first step will be to recognize that she will not be able to do it all online. An entry-level nursing degree and eligibility to take the NCLEX-RN (state licensing exam) will require that her education include several hundred hours of clinical work -- at the bedside, taking care of patients. They don't give licenses to people who haven't actually worked with patients during their schooling. So she will want to look at local schools where the clinicals can be done within a reasonable commute from your home.

2. Once you have identified the nursing schools that are possibilities for her (in your region unless she is willing to move) ... then meet with them individually to determine how many and which courses from her previous degrees will count towards her nursing degree. It will vary from school to school.

3. Depending on where you live (and what nursing schools are nearby), she may have lots of dramatically different choices. For example, she can start with an Associate's Degree ... or she can choose a BSN program ... or she can choose a program (either at the BSN or Master's level) specifically designed for students who already have BS or BA's in other disciplines.

So ... I think your first step should be an exploration of the nursing school options within your region. That will tell you what the choices are. Once you know the various choices available, then the 2 of you can start considering which choice would be the best fit for her.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

llg's advice is (as usual) spot-on!

If I am interpreting correctly- her ultimate aim is Wound Ostomy Continence Nurse certification, right? If so, this is a specialty practice certification - from the WOCN professional society, rather than a degree or distinction that is available via formal degree. In order to obtain this certification, she will need a BSN with at least one year of nursing experience.

Also - just a forewarning..The specifics will vary by program, but some prerequisites have a 5 year expiration date, so they will have to be retaken.

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Specializes in None yet..

First of all... GO DUCKS!

Secondly, excellent advice so far! I'll just add that in general in Washington state you need to have your science prereqs done within five years. You can get away with a bit longer for English and such. And that makes sense: SO much has changed in the biological sciences in the last 20 years.

To riff on llg Guide's brief and efficient post: I am a career-changer also. (Warning: I'll be a nursing student this fall so I'm sharing my research and limited personal experience.) I quickly learned that patient care is a huge part of getting any basic nursing credential, RN or BSN, and even nurses who end up at desk jobs first do their time caring for patients. I have a friend who is getting his BSN online but that is after a long career as an RN working with patients (after hundreds of hours of clinicals as a student.)

I'd be interested to know what the nurses think about the idea of your wife getting a CNA certification to start. It can be relatively quick and inexpensive training but will give (in Washington) two weeks of clinical time. I took a college CNA program that was once a course in the first quarter of the college's nursing school; the school decided it was more efficient to require students to take the CNA course as a prerequisite and then hit the ground running. However, there are also specialty programs that are quicker and easier. If she doesn't like working with patients, then nursing school may not be the best idea for her. (I'd also be interested to hear what the nurses have to say about this - maybe I've missed something in my investigations of the profession.)

One thing for sure, Wifey is blessed to have you!

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Greetings!

My wife's becoming disillusioned by her career choice and prospects (corporate HR) and while she's good at it and has received great employer reviews during her career, she's just not feeling any professional satisfaction any longer. In addition, it seems that advancement opportunities are very limited for her. Because of all that, she has long considered changing careers. After a lot of discussion and consideration, she's concluded that she'd really like to become a nurse, possibly a WOCN. I am totally on board with her decision and I want to do whatever I can to help her achieve this goal.

So right now, we're at the information-gathering phase, trying to determine the best approach. Firstly, Wifey's already got a BA in Sociology with a strong Psychology concentration (U of Oregon, 1994); I believe she achieved either cum laude or magna cum laude distinction. Consequently, we think she might be able to bypass some of the core undergrad coursework and focus mainly on the major itself. That said, we do recognize that since she's been out of the classroom for 20 years, she may have to backtrack and retake a few undergrad courses.

Her background in math is a little shaky, but as I'm an IT professional, I can tutor her and help her get up to speed on that. She's a little nervous about any Chemistry and Microbiology requirements, but we'll keep my dad (retired professor of Microbiology) on speed-dial for that.

We're agreed that Wifey will continue to work -- at least part-time -- while working towards a BSN, so it's virtually certain that she'll need to pursue the degree online. This means that she probably won't go at full speed with her coursework; perhaps she'll just do a half-load each term. Her employer does offer some tuition assistance, but we'd still like to get good value for tuition spent -- in other words, we're not looking for the costliest school or the one with the most golden reputation; a decent online nursing school with a solid reputation will be just fine. However, if Wifey can do well in her pursuit of her BSN -- and if she decides she really wants to become a WOCN -- Emory University has a WOCN program that I'd encourage her to shoot for.

So my questions are these --

1) With a previous BA and good grades, can my wife reasonably expect to bypass at least some of the core coursework (e.g. History, English, etc.)?

2) Based on our situation, are there some online schools anyone would care to recommend (or perhaps warn against)?

3) It *looks* like most of the coursework for a BSN can be done online. Is that really the case? I find that really surprising (I'm an old fiftyish graybeard), but if it's possible, then that certainly helps! :yes:

4) What's the employability outlook for WOCNs going forward? Is it an under-served specialty?

5) Any other advice or points for consideration?

We're not in a rush to move forward; we're going to move carefully and deliberately, so we'll likely take the next year helping Wifey brush up on Algebra and Statistics, as well as lining up any possible financial aid. Oh, yes, and turning our little storage and knitting-project room into a proper study. Still, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Mr. Sputters

WOCN is a post licensure program, and requires nurse experiences, at least one year. Your wife has a degree, and actually she should apply ABSN/MSN program, which saves time. I would not recommend online program. PM me about all your concerns. I just recently graduated, and got an offer in Georgia.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Anything she took 20 years ago will have to be retaken.She will not be able to do it all online.There will be a clinical component and likely some labs she will have to do in person.Clinical placements generally take place during the day with an early start.

Best of luck.

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