I'm a 41 year old single mom (joint custody) who will be an empty nester in 4 years. I'm not sure if I'm going through a midlife crisis but lately my corporate insurance job no longer lights my fire and I am yearning for a career that gives me a strong sense of purpose and the feeling that I'm doing something meaningful.
I have family members who are nurses and they've been encouraging me to consider Nursing.
I'm looking into getting in the GEPN at University of Hawaii- Manoa on the DNP path.
I know that once I start, there's no turning back because I'll be using part of my IRA money for living expenses while I do the 1 year intensive prelicensure before taking the NCLEX.
Do you think Nursing school is a good return of investment at my age (41)?
Nursing has changed significantly in the last 10 years. I am not going to dissuade you from entering the field but all the feel goods that I used to have have dissipated. I also left the corporate business world. It is nothing but a money game today. Sad times.
I would also be leery of quitting a good job just because you don't feel a fire. What if you fail out if school or don't pass NCLEX? I'm not trying to squash your dreams, but this happens. Then you'd be out your retirement money and your job. I was on another nursing site this morning and saw this exact thing being discussed. The woman (38yrs old) set up a go fund me page trying to recoup because she deemed it unfair. People were not being kind as they pointed out that she should have educated herself before doing this. I've noticed that post disappeared quickly. Again, thoroughly review your options before you make a move that drastic
I would also be leery of quitting a good job just because you don't feel a fire. What if you fail out if school or don't pass NCLEX? I'm not trying to squash your dreams, but this happens. Then you'd be out your retirement money and your job. I was on another nursing site this morning and saw this exact thing being discussed. The woman (38yrs old) set up a go fund me page trying to recoup because she deemed it unfair. People were not being kind as they pointed out that she should have educated herself before doing this. I've noticed that post disappeared quickly. Again, thoroughly review your options before you make a move that drastic
I don't disagree with your advice here, but at the same time, life is full of risks. After my mother passed away and I finally dealt with the house, I took pre-reqs at one school, then applied to an accelerated program at another school, which (to me) inexplicably didn't take me (I had good grades in pre-reqs, among other things). Then somewhat on a whim, I moved back to NM, where my ex and I had lived (but in another town), where I knew no one, rented a place that was larger and more expensive than I wanted to pay - so I was definitely in a 'sink or swim' situation. Didn't really want to go back to my previous career. Thought about quitting nursing school in 3 of the 4 semesters. Had a bumpy road finding my first job. But now, with almost 6 years experience and a decent job, and thinking about things like travel nursing, I think 'hmmmm, those late nights studying WERE worth it'. But as we're all saying, I can only speak for myself.
3 words, don't do it. Look for things or activities that bring you joy and meaning outside of your job. Your job is a means to pay the bills. Nursing will not bring fulfillment. Even with DNP, you are giving up nights, weekends, and holidays with your family. Unless you have MD after your name, you are expendible in the medical world. Nursing breaks you physically and mentally, and the money is not that great.
I would recommend that you stay in your current profession. Many people have disillusioned view about the nursing field. Feeling the need to help does not need to be done through nursing. There are many many ways that you can help people.
Well, I am so sorry to read from so many members here that Nursing is currently just a horrible profession to enter. I can't say I disagree.
Perhaps you would do well to heed the advice of so many others here.
Of course, you must decide for yourself.
You are at a crossroads. Soon to be an empty nester, not having the opportunity to advance where you are, at midlife, probably hormonal changes happening.
I wish you a lot of luck, whatever path you choose.
As one person said, there are numerous settings in which nurses work. The NP role you mentioned is only one.
There are many others, here are just a few examples you might not have thought of:
Nurse at schools (grade schools through colleges, also online schools)
Occupational Health Nurse (Is there a nurse where you work?)
Nurse on a cruise ship
Summer Camp Nurse
Ski Lodge Nurse
Public Health
Military Nursing (although you have probably passed the cutoff age for this)
Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
Midwife
Parish Nursing
Home Health
Private Duty for those who can afford to self-pay you or who qualify for a nurse in the home
the Red Cross or similar businesses
advisor in Hollywood
Of course, there are all the areas within a hospital - OR, ER, ICU, Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Mother-Baby = Labor and Delivery, Post-Partum, Nursery, Neonatal ICU;
Medical - Surgical,
Specialties like Neurology, Cardiac, Eye, ENT, etc.
Clinics and doctors' offices - so many these days are owned by the big groups, not by the individual physicians
I think you should try to visit/shadow the areas of Nursing you think you want to explore further, especially the NP role (since you mentioned it).
Again, here's wishing you all the best.
Have you thought about going into Real Estate? Tax Preparation? other non-Nursing work or other area within the business you have been doing? Explore all options.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
I wouldn't do it. I am so sorry to be negative but I agree with everyone else. Volunteer, help friends, anything...but nursing school is a gamble at this point. Good luck to you!
I'm sorry, too, but my first reaction is "Oh, hell no." I graduated in my early 20s, when I had a strong body and high BS tolerance. My career has been good to me, but it cost me a lot, too. I've been retired a year, working on improving my health and just added a third blood pressure pill. After a while, the chronic stress doesn't go down on its own and the orthopedic injuries don't heal as well.
After a life of sitting at a desk, eating when you're hungry, sleeping when it's dark out, enjoying holidays and vacations with your family, are you really sure you want to give all that up? And gamble away your retirement nest egg?
If your main motivator is to gain new purpose in life, as others have mentioned, there are SO many excellent ways to do that without gambling your health and future. I'm really sorry to be so negative; I did enjoy my career. But when I read and hear what new grads are going through, I breathe a sigh of relief that it was nowhere near this brutal when I was starting out.
I'm glad later-in-life nursing careers have worked well for other people, but I would hate to be my age and have so many working years ahead of me. Especially when you already have a retirement portfolio that would take years to rebuild.
Nursing is a second career for me. I spent thirteen years working in patent law, but grew tired of it. I did a volunteer trip to Calcutta, and thought nursing would offer me a better work life balance (working 3 days a week), and be more meaningful. So I became a nurse at 35.
I make decent money, but six years later, I can tell you honestly that my life was so much better in a M-F office job. I had no aptitude for nursing prior to choosing this as a second career and that is something I wish I had considered. There are people who go into nursing because it genuinely interests them, and then those that go into it for job security, and or because they envision being some rock star nurse. But the truth of the field that I have experienced is that the work itself is exhausting and stressful. And the commonly heard phrase that nurses eat their young is an understatement. In 13 years of office work, I never experienced the level of lateral violence that I see on a daily basis in nursing. Yes, there are those days where I leave feeling like I gave my best and made someone's life better for a little while, but I know I did not need to go into nursing to do that. When people tell me they are thinking of becoming a nurse, my first recommendation is for them to think long and hard about their reasons why. I think there are a lot of people like me who went into nursing for the wrong reasons.
I'm in an Accelerated BSN program. I have seen people fall by the wayside because they did not have their eyes open when entering the field and find they can't stand bedside nursing. I love it, but some days I feel like the exception (most just want to go straight into a graduate program). Still, it's impossible to avoid the bedside altogether, and it's a slog if you realize you really dislike it, even with advanced practice on the horizon. Please don't dip into your IRA unless you are sure this is what you want to do. The advice to volunteer or shadow is good. I was in the corporate world too and volunteered in a perioperative setting for 2 years before deciding I wanted to make the transition. It is so worth it if you heart is in it, but I wouldn't advise the switch for any other reason. Nursing can wear you down, and you have a high chance of becoming disenchanted if you're not fully committed to your path.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Here's another thing that needs to be considered: When you have a M-F desk job, you can take for granted that you can go to anything. Weddings, funerals, graduations. Bridge club, garden club, bowling league. Church on Christmas Eve, opening gifts Christmas morning, New Year's Eve party, New Year's Day sleeping in. Fireworks on July 4th.
When you're a nurse, you can't plan on anything. It will be very difficult to belong to anything that meets on a regular basis. Even if something falls on your day off, you will still have to work that night or the next morning which will cramp your style. When a family member gets sick in another state, you will wonder who's looking after your loved one, while you're busy looking after someone else's loved ones.
Maybe all this has occurred to you and you're fine with it. But it is something to think about when you're used to living in sync with the rest of the world.
Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.
You will probably have to pay your dues as an RN to be competitive as a DNP. Unless you work in a hospital (especially in CA or WA) you won't make that much money as an RN. Maybe there is some other high paying state, not sure. I was really excited by the role for a few years, but over time have come to realize that I could have taken a different path that might have been less hard on the body, mind, and spirit. In fact, after over 6 years I am considering a different masters path, though might stay in the profession for longer until something comes along that is financially sustainable. I may decide to become an NP not sure yet.
Work in hospitals in any specialty will be very hard, physically and mentally and changes a person. There are many times I do feel rewarded by helping save a life, but the at least half of the time I see the failings of the health care system, rude obnoxious ungrateful infantile behavior in adults who come to the ER, and sad cases of people who don't value their own lives enough to take care of themselves. It has definitely given me a glimpse of the dark side of humanity. But then there are the positive aspects, the excitement and the ability to touch lives every day. But it is taking a toll on my body mostly and there will be a point where I can't do this anymore and I am relatively young and healthy. I just don't want to be exhausted all the time, I want to be able to have the energy for me and my family, not just strangers.
I am not saying nursing is not rewarding, but if you have a career that pays you well, is less taxing on the body and is interesting, I would stay with it. Maybe you can try to open a business that benefits humans or animals, volunteer work, or something else that gives you purpose. I would urge you to shadow a shift as an RN (that's where you'll start) and see what it is like. You will have to clean poo, be exposed to diseased carrying body fluids, risk catching diseases, and smell things that make you want to barf). And you will do this every day as an RN a hospital, day in day out. Most NPs start there because that's where the experience lies, in getting your hands dirty and hard grueling work.
gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN
610 Posts
Nursing has changed significantly in the last 10 years. I am not going to dissuade you from entering the field but all the feel goods that I used to have have dissipated. I also left the corporate business world. It is nothing but a money game today. Sad times.