What Is The Deal With All The Highly Educated & Professionals Becoming RNs?

[PMFB-RN]

So I pretty much always have nursing students with me. I have senior BSN students who are doing a critical care class (six 12 hours shifts), ADN students from 2 different programs doing their preceptorships (eight 12 hour shifts), ABSN students doing clinical (six 12 hour shifts), and direct entry MSN students who shadow me for a shift. In addition I come into contact with a variety of other students who are being taught by my RN co-workers. My hospital also has a "student nurse technician" program where they hire nursing students to do CNA type work. So I regularly talk to 5-10 nursing students a week and nearly always have a student with me each shift.

What I am so shocked about is the level of education of these students who are in nursing school. I can't even remember the last time I had a ADN student who didn't already have a bachelors degree with me. Of course the MSN and ABSN students already have bachelors degrees, but what is surprising to me is that so many are already professionals in others areas. I had a student who already has a bachelors and masters in architecture and worked for a well known local firm, I have had lawyers, police officers, scads of teachers, and a few engineers among others. Even a guy who is an MD in Russia.

Why do all of these people want to be nurses? Have any of you experienced this?

Back when I was in nursing school there were plenty of 2nd career types in my class but they tended to be factory workers, truck drivers, farmers, military vets who were moving up to become RNs. A few had bachelors degrees but not like now.

I actually find it frightening and a little sad. Frightening cause I suspect this is a symptom of a very bad economy and terrible job market. Sad cause I know so many of the will struggle to find work after making huge sacrifices to get through nursing school.

Some of them are SHOCKED when I tell them it's a tough job market out there for RNs and they will have to work hard and keep on their toes to find any job. Some simply refuse to believe me (nearly all the direct entry MSN students, ironic since they will struggle in our local market more than the others). Others already have this figured out and are already bitter about it.

[Swellz]

As a second degree BSN, I was expected to go to college after high school, so I went. I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I certainly didn't know how to do the whole college thing and actually get an education. I don't regret my Anthropology degree; I learned a lot from my instructors and it did expand my mind in the stereotypical way that it is supposed to, but it was not useful unless I wanted to be a professor and write a book and do research all at the same time to pay the bills. Nursing was what I also wanted to do, thank goodness. Lots of the grad students who were in my medical anthropology classes were nurses, so maybe there is a PhD in my future... if I want to teach and be a nurse lol

[IEDave, ASN, CNA, LVN]

Guess I'll throw in my 2 drachmas on this one as well...

For me, while getting broadsided by the Great Recession was a contributing factor, my decision to go into nursing was not. A bit of background - back in '79, my dad passed away when I was 15. My mom was employed as a waitress/hostess/bartender/assistant manager & just wasn't bringing in enough to meet all the financial obligations, so she secured state funding to get cross-trained as an LVN. Did a spectacular job in school & joined the ranks in '81. Had job offers lined up before she'd passed her boards - ended up working FT in a hospital & per diem at a SNF. As for me - went to college, got an AA & a BS in Computer Science; my Bachelor's was conferred just about dead center of the S&L crisis in the 1980's, so it took me about 6 months to get a job as a computer operator.

Fast forward to 2008 - I was my mom's primary caregiver when she passed away, which left me emotionally drained & battered. Lost my Sr. Programmer/Analyst job 7 months later, which gave me some time to think about what to do next. I considered the 2 primary options; one, go back to school & upgrade my skill set in computer technology, then return to a field where I literally started shaking before I left for work some mornings due to stress-related burnout; two, take a look at a job in healthcare, since at the time the healthcare industry was about the only segment of the US economy that hadn't completely pancaked. Option #1 ended up being more expensive, since I'd almost have to start from scratch and get a new CS degree due to the amount of change the field had gone through during my 23 years as an IT pro; Option #2 not only had the advantage of giving me more professional flexibility but also gave me a nice fallback position as a nurse informaticist, plus it put my flair for life sciences to much better use.

Attended an ROP training class for pharmacy technicians, which ended up being a mistake - did well enough in the class, but none of the local pharmacies wanted to hire a 48 year old man fresh out of ROP training.

Did some follow-up training as a CNA; had a job lead 2 days after the completion of my class & an actual job 6 weeks after the end of the class. Mind you, in my previous IT career I'd never had a job with less than 9 weeks of searching - typical was more like 12 weeks.

Now - starting LVN class August 14th, with an estimated completion time of mid-December 2014.

Will I burn out? Possibly, but I tend to think it less likely due to having learned a bit about setting boundaries, time management, stress management, etc. during the previous 25+ years. In any case, after having spent some time as a full-time LVN I'll re-evaluate & see if nursing still holds its appeal for me. If so, I'll proceed on to a BSN & ultimately an FNP, possibly in hospice. We'll see.

----- Dave

[PMFB-RN, RN]

As a second degree BSN, I was expected to go to college after high school, so I went. I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I certainly didn't know how to do the whole college thing and actually get an education. I don't regret my Anthropology degree; I learned a lot from my instructors and it did expand my mind in the stereotypical way that it is supposed to, but it was not useful unless I wanted to be a professor and write a book and do research all at the same time to pay the bills. Nursing was what I also wanted to do, thank goodness. Lots of the grad students who were in my medical anthropology classes were nurses, so maybe there is a PhD in my future... if I want to teach and be a nurse lol

*** Would have been a lot cheaper to expand your mind by spending a year or two traveling around the world with a back pack with very limited funds. Support yourself by working any odd job from cow milker to sailor to bartender or whatever. The limited funds force you to avoid hotels and stay in local homes. I highly recommend it as a mind opening experience.

[Swellz]

*** Would have been a lot cheaper to expand your mind by spending a year or two traveling around the world with a back pack with very limited funds. Support yourself by working any odd job from cow milker to sailor to bartender or whatever. The limited funds force you to avoid hotels and stay in local homes. I highly recommend it as a mind opening experience.

I entirely agree. I would have learned an entirely different set of skills that are far more applicable to being a person than lots of random stuff about random cultures around the world. But that's not what was acceptable. It wasn't even an option in my eyes at the time. I got trapped in the mindset of my area, and frankly, if that is the biggest mistake I make in my life, I am pretty okay with that lol.

I would LOVE to travel more though.