41 yr. old business executive going to Nursing School

Oldmahubbard · Dec 20, 2018

If you were working at Taco Bell for minimum wage, I'd say go for it. If you're over 40, reasonably financially secure, and just looking for change, I'd say ...reconsider. Healthcare is big business, not the Kumbaya crap we see on TV.

Amen!

Oldmahubbard · Dec 20, 2018

My thought for you is to keep your present job and retirement funds, get an EMT or even paramedic certification and volunteer with an ambulance company.

From what I have observed it is almost never a good idea to borrow both tuition and living expenses for school as an adult. You would essentially be borrowing from yourself. The debt is too deep.

I was an RN for 13 years, now an NP for 15 years. Words fail me to express how much I disliked the RN role.

The NP role started out rather rough, but eventually was good to me. Some of that was chance and random luck. I know people who have been NP's for 15 years and have nothing to show for it.

As far as making a real difference, yeah, that'll happen once in a while. Once in a very rare while. In my nearly 30 years, I have made a big difference a handful of times.

A patient also died directly from the medication I prescribed. Sobering.

There are threads here about people becoming NPs and just not making the role.

The jobs that called my name as an RN (in Community Mental Health Clinics) did not pay a living wage. I did them for experience.

As others have said, if you were 40 y/o and working at McDonalds, we would all encourage you to better yourself.

So, the advice doesn't have much to do with your age. When I did my ADN, there were quite a few people 40 and up. Average class age was probably 30.

car48 · Dec 20, 2018

Do not take $ out of your IRA. If you want to go the entire graduate degree route over lets say 6 years (being optimistic), just not contributing the max amount to your IRA will cost you 142k by the time you retire (at an average rate of 7% return). That's just not contributing, every penny you take out right now will cost you because the market is down, and you lose the ability for that money to compound annually. And lets not forget, IRA money taken out early gets penalized 10% by Uncle Sam.

This whole thing will cost you 100's of thousands from your financial description. If it is worth it to you, go for it. But be aware you are downsizing your retirement in a HUGE way.

Oldmahubbard · Dec 20, 2018

An old high school friend of mine became an RN not too long ago at the age of about 55. Thirty plus years ago, she married a man who could support her and any children. She had a silly Bachelor's degree from an Ivy league school at the time, where she met him. She stayed home and the kids obviously grew up.

She didn't give up any retirement accounts to become an RN, etc, etc. It was something she wanted to do.

Who knows if she will get ROI. She may do it for a year or two or three and decide this is all BS. Which it mostly is.

But she isn't out a ton of money.

Or she may take some type of day shift/semi hobby RN position.

I am her age and cannot imagine standing on my feet for 8 hours.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Dec 20, 2018

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.

This is true. In all likelihood I would not have met my husband had I stayed working in the hospital. We meet through a meetup group where we went to trivia weekly on Mondays. I never would have joined such a group while working in the hospital because my schedule was so unpredictable.

This is also why, the last 2 times I've job searched, I've only pursued M-F jobs. I never thought I wanted it but now that I've been doing it for 6 years, I can't imagine going back to the nights, weekends, holidays, etc.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Dec 21, 2018

ESP808, I have been thinking about your situation and your question.

I wonder what you would say to this - how about considering working as a promoter of nurse unions? With your business/insurance executive background, you might be a natural.

It is so distressing to me to read the remarks of so many people here who have found that Nursing is miserable these days.

I haven't had quite the same experience, but my heyday is not as recent. Nurses have always, I guess, been considered handmaidens for physicians, 2nd class citizens. For me, as a male, not so much. I got promoted because I did good work, got along with folks, helped other staff, and was not going to be going out on maternity leave.

In the community in which I grew up, becoming a nurse was a greatly applauded aspiration and achievement. Nurses were tremendously respected. It hurts and angers me that the profession has been changed so much by people who run it only as a business.

And a big reason for that change is that nurses are not organized. There are a few of unions in the US, but most nurses are pretty much on their own.

Do you think you could see yourself helping to help nurses be more aware of what they can personally do to turn the ship about?

This would be a huge and rewarding accomplishment and a real help for nurses and people in general.

dianearc, BSN, RN · Dec 21, 2018

A lot of valid points from former posters but I disagree with some of the dissuading comments. Nursing is a great stable career and a great return on investment. You have family members who are nurses which is helpful. I suggest shadow a hospital nurse (for the full 12 hrs like someone has said)- at a hospital, because nursing homes and home care are different from hospitals. Consider having to work weekends, holidays, nights etc. Also go straight for the BSN. A lot of hospitals require than lately. I initially did a BS in public health and a masters in healthcare management and consulted for a bit and that wasn't as great and then I did an accelerated 1yr BSN. I was 30 when I did nursing as a second career. I do not regret it at all and I have never had such a peace of mind career wise. Is the job hard? Absolutely! But it is rewarding. You also don't have to work in a hospital if you don't want to. After passing my boards, it was the first time in my life that my main problem was deciding which offer to pick. As someone mentioned, in Hawaii, landing jobs at a hospital as a new grad may be dire. It is the same thing in NYC unless you know someone, but just move, get the hospital experience in some other hospital for a year or two then move back to hawaii or wherever you'd like to be. In nursing, your pay also increases with experience. Or you can decide to work in LTC or nursing home as you can land a job in these, fresh out of school. When I was doing my accelerated 12month BSN, all the students in my class were second-career people. One was a 45 yr old MD from Cuba who did not want to go through the boards and 4yrs of residency all over again in the US (as that was protocol if you were an MD from another country) but she still wanted to work in healthcare for it's rewards and choose nursing. There were accountants, an IT guy, graphic designer etc etc...One doctor on my unit used to be a lawyer then switched to medicine...what I'm trying to say is that people have a change of heart and it's ok to follow your passion. It is never too late. Just be aware that nursing is a hard job but definitely rewarding. You will also never be bored like you state and learning is continual. For instance, I am just completing my 1yr as a general surgery nurse at a great hospital and now in my 2nd year I just got an offer in oncology at another competitor hospital and I am already reading up. Prior to picking oncology, I shadowed for openings in the cardiac OR, general OR, Trauma med/surg and MICU but loved and decided that oncology it is this time. Basically, I am saying that you will have your options to pick from.

Also you don't need to do your DNP now as most hospitals pay for schooling. So why spend the extra money now. I personally don't care for being an NP, even though the hospitals I work at offer tuition reimbursements. One of my main reasoning is that, although the work-life balance will be better with great day hours as an NP, I do not want to get bored & complacent once I specialize as an NP, nursing gives me the option to diversify specialties much easily than it would if I were to go on to be an NP. I am also not of the entrepreneur mindset, meaning I have no intention of having my own NP practice. A nurse who worked on my general surgery floor for 15yrs just recently switched to go into the NICU, a new passion of hers. The general surgery NP who's been there much longer than she has been would like to switch but she still hasn't been able to do so. This is not to discourage you, you can still go for it, but I'm giving examples for you to work with. With regards to dipping on your IRA for funds, there are hospitals that still offer pensions and retirement benefits and you can easily research that and find out when the time is right. So you will resume good benefits in nursing and get your returns back. Lastly, do not go to an overly expensive nursing school, especially now. I wish you good luck on this journey. I'm sure you will not regret it. You will have those days that are hard at the hospital but if you have a passion to get into nursing, I don't think you will regret it.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Dec 21, 2018

A lot of valid points from former posters but I disagree with some of the dissuading comments. Nursing is a great stable career and a great return on investment. You have family members who are nurses which is helpful. I suggest shadow a hospital nurse (for the full 12 hrs like someone has said)- at a hospital, because nursing homes and home care are different from hospitals. Consider having to work weekends, holidays, nights etc. Also go straight for the BSN. A lot of hospitals require than lately. I initially did a BS in public health and a masters in healthcare management and consulted for a bit and that wasn't as great and then I did an accelerated 1yr BSN. I was 30 when I did nursing as a second career. I do not regret it at all and I have never had such a peace of mind career wise. Is the job hard? Absolutely! But it is rewarding. You also don't have to work in a hospital if you don't want to. After passing my boards, it was the first time in my life that my main problem was deciding which offer to pick. As someone mentioned, in Hawaii, landing jobs at a hospital as a new grad may be dire. It is the same thing in NYC unless you know someone, but just move, get the hospital experience in some other hospital for a year or two then move back to hawaii or wherever you'd like to be. In nursing, your pay also increases with experience. Or you can decide to work in LTC or nursing home as you can land a job in these, fresh out of school. When I was doing my accelerated 12month BSN, all the students in my class were second-career people. One was a 45 yr old MD from Cuba who did not want to go through the boards and 4yrs of residency all over again in the US (as that was protocol if you were an MD from another country) but she still wanted to work in healthcare for it's rewards and choose nursing. There were accountants, an IT guy, graphic designer etc etc...One doctor on my unit used to be a lawyer then switched to medicine...what I'm trying to say is that people have a change of heart and it's ok to follow your passion. It is never too late. Just be aware that nursing is a hard job but definitely rewarding. You will also never be bored like you state and learning is continual. For instance, I am just completing my 1yr as a general surgery nurse at a great hospital and now in my 2nd year I just got an offer in oncology at another competitor hospital and I am already reading up. Prior to picking oncology, I shadowed for openings in the cardiac OR, general OR, Trauma med/surg and MICU but loved and decided that oncology it is this time. Basically, I am saying that you will have your options to pick from.
Also you don't need to do your DNP now as most hospitals pay for schooling. So why spend the extra money now. I personally don't care for being an NP, even though the hospitals I work at offer tuition reimbursements. One of my main reasoning is that, although the work-life balance will be better with great day hours as an NP, I do not want to get bored & complacent once I specialize as an NP, nursing gives me the option to diversify specialties much easily than it would if I were to go on to be an NP. I am also not of the entrepreneur mindset, meaning I have no intention of having my own NP practice. A nurse who worked on my general surgery floor for 15yrs just recently switched to go into the NICU, a new passion of hers. The general surgery NP who's been there much longer than she has been would like to switch but she still hasn't been able to do so. This is not to discourage you, you can still go for it, but I'm giving examples for you to work with. With regards to dipping on your IRA for funds, there are hospitals that still offer pensions and retirement benefits and you can easily research that and find out when the time is right. So you will resume good benefits in nursing and get your returns back. Lastly, do not go to an overly expensive nursing school, especially now. I wish you good luck on this journey. I'm sure you will not regret it. You will have those days that are hard at the hospital but if you have a passion to get into nursing, I don't think you will regret it.

All of this! Well said!

Editorial Team / Moderator · Dec 21, 2018

My thought for you is to keep your present job and retirement funds, get an EMT or even paramedic certification and volunteer with an ambulance company.

That was going to be my suggestion. When I worked in corporate publications for a government consulting firm, I became an EMT to volunteer, then continued for an Associates-degree-granting paramedic program and continued to volunteer where I lived. When I decided to leave my corporate job to work in an ED, I knew it would be a pay cut but I also knew what I was getting into. I finished my ADN/RN at age 36.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Dec 21, 2018

You are forgetting the direct entry MSN programs. Start with no nursing background or experience, come out in 2-3 years an NP. People are doing it every day. (Not saying I think it's a good idea, but the programs are there and v. popular.)

The local direct entry MSN program where I live is a clinical nurse leader (CNL) degree. The new grads are still new grads, and all of the people I know who have graduated from that program still start out at the bedside - they are still new grad RNs who don't know what they don't know! I can't imagine going from zero to NP in that amount of time.

TriciaJ, RN · Dec 21, 2018

ESP808, I have been thinking about your situation and your question.
I wonder what you would say to this - how about considering working as a promoter of nurse unions? With your business/insurance executive background, you might be a natural.
It is so distressing to me to read the remarks of so many people here who have found that Nursing is miserable these days.
I haven't had quite the same experience, but my heyday is not as recent. Nurses have always, I guess, been considered handmaidens for physicians, 2nd class citizens. For me, as a male, not so much. I got promoted because I did good work, got along with folks, helped other staff, and was not going to be going out on maternity leave.
In the community in which I grew up, becoming a nurse was a greatly applauded aspiration and achievement. Nurses were tremendously respected. It hurts and angers me that the profession has been changed so much by people who run it only as a business.
And a big reason for that change is that nurses are not organized. There are a few of unions in the US, but most nurses are pretty much on their own.
Do you think you could see yourself helping to help nurses be more aware of what they can personally do to turn the ship about?
This would be a huge and rewarding accomplishment and a real help for nurses and people in general.

A thousand likes to this.

virgogirl · Dec 21, 2018

Go for it! I went back at 49yrs old, graduated with a BSN at 54 and now four years later I'm starting graduate school in 2019...I currently have no plans to retire anytime soon! My hope is that my brain and body will hold out! ðŸ‘