I am considering going to nursing school to become an RN. I am hoping to get feedback from others who have also changed to this career. I’m a 51 yr old male college graduate (20 yrs ago) and have worked previously as a photographer then retail. I’m also a cancer survivor and hence my motivation. I’d like to work with cancer patients. Any honest thoughts would be welcome. Thank you.
My wife is a nurse. I also have many friends who are nurses. I am a paramedic and a fire fighter. There are many of us who make that move and will work part-time as a nurse or do it post-career. I considered it.
My thoughts are this. There is good money to be made as a nurse. Shift work is great for scheduling your life around. You will be working some holidays and almost every weekend (at least a day or two, rarely do you have a whole weekend off). It is a pretty stressful job-in that it is task oriented and you don’t really get to decide on the tasks.
Your outlook would likely be pretty good as you have that cancer-survivor motivation. You will be able to empathize better than some about people who are suffering.
I don’t know you though, and it is really hard to say whether it would be a good move for you or not. Not everyone would make a good nurse. If you know any people who are nurses (friends relatives) who know you well and you can rely on to give you an honest opinion, ask them. They will be an invaluable resource.
Bernie
I would only do the nursing thing if I was going for an advanced degree. Or even a Pysician’s assistant.
Have you looked at Radiation Therapist? I see lots of opportunities for that and sometimes wish I was qualified.
Songraphy (ultrasound) is also a great field.
x2 that there are pretty good job opportunities in ultrasound, and this will only improve as the older techs retire. Only trick here is that the usual educational path to ultrasound school is through x-ray school, and with jobs in this field drying up in many parts of the country (for the time being), many of the radiography programs have been shrinking or closing altogether. (Radiography as a career is no longer the well-kept secret that it traditionally has been.) Nevertheless, some hospitals are nervous enough about the worsening shortage of sonographers that they are willing to sponsor students in return for a commitment to work for them.
Of course I’m partial, but radiography is in general a pretty good field, and job opportunities in MRI, CT, and PET/CT are going to continue to be in demand. CT (on a daytime shift) and PET would certainly give you a good amount of contact with cancer patients, if that’s a major consideration of yours.
Might be worth it to check out other allied healthcare (non-nursing) careers, such as respiratory therapy, as well. I’m less familiar with the current job market for many of these.
I would only do the nursing thing if I was going for an advanced degree. Or even a Pysician’s assistant.
I am not sure if the nurse to P.A. path is such a good one. While they are both in the medical field, the duties are pretty distinct. Most nurses I know who are seeking advanced degrees either go to school to become a Nurse Anesthetist or a Nurse Practioner-both are Master’s degrees. I know of some that get MBA’s and head into administration.
Another interesting avenue to pursue is to get an RN and then pursue a job as a pharmaceutical rep or durable medical goods field.
Bernie
I would only do the nursing thing if I was going for an advanced degree. Or even a Pysician’s assistant.
I am not sure if the nurse to P.A. path is such a good one. While they are both in the medical field, the duties are pretty distinct. Most nurses I know who are seeking advanced degrees either go to school to become a Nurse Anesthetist or a Nurse Practioner-both are Master’s degrees. I know of some that get MBA’s and head into administration.
Another interesting avenue to pursue is to get an RN and then pursue a job as a pharmaceutical rep or durable medical goods field.
Bernie
Some good points here. Upshot is that there are a bunch of different career niches available, of varying degrees of obscurity, once you get your foot in the door. Many of them are pretty much “targets of opportunity” that pop up once you’ve got some experience in your primary field.
I work in a research lab at a cancer treatment centre. I spend a lot of time with new nursing grads in their 20’s who are treating cancer patients. I overhear many conversations and it saddens me to hear them speak of their patients as if they were annoying customers at banana republic. I am speaking very generally, I only have contact with this particular group of nurses.
As a cancer survivor, your compassion and understanding for your patients would be a welcome addition to the field.
Goodluck!
Talk about timing. My wife just returned to school last week to get her nursing degree. She already has a BS but it produced no real $$$ and she realized once she got out of school her job was the wrong fit for her, go figure. Before you enroll be sure to check on what, if any credits will transfer.
I worked every third weekend when I was an ICU nurse. OR nurses rarely work weekends. Get a job in a clinic and don’t work any weekends. Often times there are opportunities for 8, 10 or 12 hour shifts. I worked 7pm to 7am three days a week. It was great.
I started as an RN in 1998. It was frustrating that I was making $30K a year when all of my friends were making more in computer related fields. Fast forward to now and I’m guessing that the starting salaries in my area are around $45-$50K. Most of my friends are in second or third jobs.
I read in the papers that many hospitals are slowing down the hiring and the “nursing shortage” that everyone has been talking about is on hold. Nurses are working longer careers and that does not open up too much room for new grads.
I’m not sure on the RN to PA thing. Most RN’s I know would go the Nurse Practioner route (NP’s and PA’s have similar roles in my hospital).
Not much point in becoming a nurse, then a PA- too much time/money spent in schooling. Better to go directly into a PA program if that’s you’re chosen path. For civilian schools (they are myriad- some bachelor’s, some master’s, several per state), many require prior medical experience (EMT, tech, some accept volunteer service). The pre-reqs are very science heavy, but it’s not bad if you have a prior science degree (13 additional hours, in my case).
Many PA programs are now master’s; this is the direction the profession as a whole is heading. There are A LOT of opportunities out there for PA’s, and a wide variety of work settings/schedules.
I agree.