Thinking of a Career Change to Nursing

[bw987]

Hello everyone,

I am a 30 year old male living in NY with a bachelors of fine arts and currently working as an art director for a company that prints a few publications. I've decided that this is not the career I want to pursue for the rest of my life, it is too unstable and keeping up with the technology has become increasingly more frustrating and will only become worse. One other reason I want to switch careers is there is absolutely no satisfaction in sitting in front of a computer all day. I would really like a career where I felt that I did something good and useful. Due to all of these factors I am strongly considering either nursing or trying to join the NYPD. The stability, room for advancement and helping either patients or the community seem very appealing and I really respect both careers. Currently I am leaning toward nursing and I would really appreciate any feedback/advice anyone in the field might have. Thank you so much.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

Your reason for joining nursing is a very good one. I'm glad you didn't just say for stable work or for money. You would be disappionted with either career if that were the case. In my opinion, i think that nursing lends itself to more possibilities beyond the standard idea of bedside care.

[Music in My Heart]

Personally, I'd choose the NYPD if the option exists... In these parts, cops get paid really well and have fabulous benefits and retirement - much better than most nurses.

Since you're even considering the PD then I'll presume that you know something of a cop's life and that the work would be interesting to you. Rather than be a beat cop, though, I'd probably choose to be a state trooper.

Heck, if I'd have chosen to become a cop way back when I first considered it, I'd be just a couple of years from retirement.

When I was much younger I thought that interest in one's job, even a passion for it, was paramount -- in my mid-40's, though, I've come to realize that - so long as I don't hate my daily work (been there, done that) - then the compensation and stability are the most important things, closely followed by lifestyle impact.

Even better than nursing or the PD, however, would be the fire service (great pay and bennies, and 5-day weekends). Of course, these days, there are literally thousands of applicants for every fire service job.

[Music in My Heart]

Coming from another career, one thing that you should know about nursing: You have very little, practically none, autonomy; this can be a shock to someone who's used to having it.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Well, nursing is not exactly a stable career at this point for many nurses.

Depending on what the economy/gov ends up doing for/against us, we don't know what our future will be like. I hope you plan to stash away some cash as you may be needing something to live on for quite some time. Many nurses are without jobs these days. New grads are especially in trouble.

[fungez]

If I had it to do over I'd get a career in law enforcement; well, as a detective. I've seen what street cops have to put up with and there's no way I could do that. I'd get arrested myself for giving some mouthy little criminal a little too much stick time.

I picked nursing because I needed a stable, flexible career and so far it's been good too me in that respect, but I want to tell you some of the drawbacks.

1)Low pay - yes, really. For what we do and our education, we start out at far too little. I'm doing okay now (after 20 years!) but I started at $12.01 which I bumped up to about 14/hr by practically killing myself with night shift.

2)Little to no creativity.

3)As someone said about, no autonomy. Also, everything is your fault. Seriously. The tech doesn't take vitals at the right time? Your fault. Dietary brought the wrong tray? Your fault. Also, too much work. A job I recently quit wanted us to fill out a three page sheet documenting, among other things, if there was mold in the ice maker and broken ceiling tiles. This is a maintenance issue, not a nursing issue, but the dummies in charge still wanted us to do it.

4)Too many weekends, too many holidays. Yes, I understand that's part of hospital work, but it gets real old real quick.

5)Little respect - from management, from some patients, and sadly, from each other and from ourselves.

Of course, now that I think of it, being a cop probably shares a lot of these drawbacks. I would strongly suggest you try and shadow a nurse a few days before making up your mind. Good luck to you.

[SarahZ]

This spring I am graduating with a BS in Env Sciences. Guess what? No jobs! I think the job dilemma is everywhere and has effected every career field. Even the public schools here in Wake Cty, NC are on a hiring freeze. This is the fastest growing public school system in the state! You know it is getting bad when teachers can't find jobs (at least that is the case here anyway). Unless you have years of experience it is very difficult to find entry-level positions, even if you are offering free services (ie- UNPAID INTERNSHIPS!!!). I am considering nursing because of the lack of human interaction within the Env Science field. As I stated in another post, trees don't exactly talk back... Some may think this is absurd but until you try your hand at field/lab work, don't argue. It was too late in my degree for me to change once I realized it was not quite my calling. But until I get into a nursing program, I will have to practice my wind whispering...