I’m looking for some feedback here. As some of you may know, I’ve been considering going to nursing school. I worked in medicine when I was in the military and enjoyed it (except for the part where I always felt like I didn’t know what I was doing!)plus all the career profile type tests and psychology profiles you can take to help determine a satisfying career path have always had nursing as one of the options. I’m just not satisfied being an administrative assistant/secretary anymore. I’m good at it, but its just not as fulfilling as it once was and I don’t see that changing in the future.
My local community college has the best 2-year RN program in the state and I’ve applied for next year’s program. However, this would mean full-time school. As in, they send you your schedule and show up on their time table. It’s not the “I’ll take a few classes after work and on the weekends kind of thing.” Wrap in the factor that I’m 33, just got a good job at one of the 4 Holy Grail places for clerical/administrative folks in Lansing (the others being a State job, a City job or GM) and my husband doesn’t make enough to support us while I go to school. Actually, I still need some type of full-time income. I am uncertain as to whether my manager would be willing to let me work varying hours around my school. They were aware when they hired me that I wanted to possibly attend nursing school but we both agreed that I would give this position an opportunity.
Because I’m not an unmarried, 17-year old crack whore with 5 children, I’m not eligible for a Pell Grant and my GI Bill benefits are gone because I waited too long to use them.
I’m not whining here. What I’m looking for is some feedback from people who have said, “I’m tired of what I’m doing - I’m going to change.” and have done it. Have you been happy? Was it as hard as you thought? Did you finances shrivel up and die as a result? Would you do it again or was it the worst decision you ever made?
For those of you who are nurses: What do you like best about your job? What do you absolutely hate? I would think that military medicine is similar to civilian but its been a long time since I was in it and don’t want to have painted myself a rosy picture.
I’ve started looking at all sorts of scholarship information and loan programs. I haven’t been accepted to the program yet but I’m pretty sure I will be. I have good grades, my military experience counts (they work on a point system) plus my military experience was in medicine which also counts. So, I’m trying to get a jump on things and think some things through. Trying to figure out why I’m deciding to do this now. Asking myself, “Are your reasons good?”, “Are you really ready to do this?” etc. I know myself pretty well and know that I have a tendency to get all gung-ho about a certain topic/item/issue and then lose interest after 6 months or so. Not because I can’t stick with anything - mostly because I end up learning enough to satisfy my curiosity and am satisfied with that. However, this is a little bigger than piano lessons and such.
Sorry this is long - I just wanted to paint a clear picture of the situation.
Any feedback from Dopers out there?
I am an RN. I was 30 with kids 9 and 14 when I started college. I had a good job working at a hospital as a secretary. I stayed clean all day and I got to dress nice in skirts and sweaters. I never had to deal with blood, shit sweat or tears. I was also bored to death.
I was able to attend school full time and work almost full time by scheduling as many of my classes as possible on Mon-Wed-Fri, I would give my school schedule to my manager and she would schedule my work days around that.
I applied for every scholarship available and got a lot of them. I also took advantage of tuition reimbursement offered through my work. I took student loans for the rest but in the end I only had to borrow about $3,000.
Oh and I also had my kids in just about every extracurriclular activity you can think of. Dance, gymnastics, sports, school events and YMCA.
For three years my life consisted solely of work, school, and study. I always had a book with me and studied during any freee minute. I had no social life and my family and friends never saw me unless it was in passing. It was very hard but fulfulling. I learned a lot about myself while I was at it. I learned that the world will not end if you make boxed macaroni and cheese, and no one really cares if your closets are a mess as long as you value their company.
I love my job. As corny as it sounds I like helping people through education, which is what I feel is the most important part about nursing. Anybody can give a pill or a shot. It’s more inportant to know WHY you give that particular med. What’s most important is teaching people about their condition and give them the knowledge to handle it in the future, be it diabetes, cancer, lung disease, pain management or psychological illneses.
Mermaid, thanks for the info. That helps! I just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing, which, of course, no one but myself can tell me that.
Would you mind if I emailed you with a few more general questions? I have a tendency to get way, way ahead of myself and already find myself thinking of the “what-ifs” of school and work etc. If you’d rather not, that’s fine but it would be most appreciated if I could bother you with a few questions.
Everyone else, I’m interested in hearing people’s stories about any career change - not just ones into medicine.
Thanks! You guys are the best!
Did you know about this option?
I don’t know how MSU’s nursing program compares to LCC, but it’s closer, and you may qualify for a tuition credit as an employee sometime soon.
Other stuff: my mom is an RN. There’s a lot of options open to an RN besides the hospital route. She is a visiting nurse (Don’t know the official name) She may go to the homes of people who need professional medical care, but don’t need to be hospitalized. She may be giving vaccinations to a whole office full of people, or to the public at a drug store, say. She may administer drug tests to new hires somewhere. Her territory takes her all over the state, and has taken her to Wisconsin sometimes, too. The hours and travel can seem excessive sometimes, but I think she enjoys it. As you look around at what an RN degree can offer you, don’t forget to investigate careers outside the hospital.
Ralf, Thanks for the info. I guess I hadn’t really considered MSU 'cause of the length of time it would take me to get my degree. However, it is an option. I probably would be better able to take classes on an “as I can” basis whereas that isn’t possible at LCC. I believe the University would pay for LCC too, if I could work out the whole “work-school” thing.
I’ll check into MSU’s program though - thanks for the link.
My interest is mostly emergency medicine but I know that having a nursing degree really opens up an incredible number of doors - there’s so much you can do with it. Sounds like your mom has a fun job - I like to travel too.