Nursing?

[tongue_tied]

Anyone here a nurse or involved with nursing somehow? I'm thinking of making a slightly drastic career change. I need the challenge, I love science, and am maybe obsessed with the medical field. Tips? Challenges? Things you love, hate, etc.?

I should mention that my BA (yes, BA) is in theatre. So, I won't have much in the way of prereq classes.

Thanks in advance!

[Zen]

You have most of your core classes, you'll need Bio 101 and 102 and Microbiology.
It's not that hard but the A&P portion will require a lot of study. I found the class fascinating and was glad I took it.My instructor had a reputation of being tough, she was and I'm a better person for it.
I was accepted in to the nursing program but decided against it so I never did the clinical part, got a Phys.Ed. degree instead.
There is no shortage of nursing jobs but there is a shortage of teachers, that's why it's kind of cut throat to get in to the program.

That's my experience.

The End

[ny biker]

My sister was a phlebotomist for many years and then went to school to become a nurse. She worked very hard in school. (She also worked part time for the first couple of years and has 3 kids to raise, which did not make it easier.)

She now works at a hospital in a post-surgical critical care unit. The days are very long -- 12 hour shifts. She's looking for a new job that has better hours.

My cousin also became a nurse as a career change when she was in her 30s (and was the mother of 4). Again, worked very hard in school and her first job in a hospital involved long shifts. But now she's at an outpatient surgical facility and she seems to like it.

[Melalvai]

If you are thinking about a career change I strongly recommend the book "What Color Is Your Parachute?" It helps you figure out your strongest interests and skills, and what you need to shore up, to get to your new career. If I had had that book years ago I would not have meandered in postdoc swamps for many years!

[KnottedYet]

When I was going back to school for my second career, I knew what I wanted to do but I made a long list of other options. I spent a good bit of time investigating them.

Nursing was on my list, because it was similar to what I wanted and the pay was good... darn good. I have a lot of friends who are nurses who jumped all over me saying "NO! Don't do it! You're the wrong personality! It would kill you!"

They were right, which is fine, cuz I didn't really want to do nursing anyway. But I still looked into it.

If you are serious about nursing, I'd look first into getting a job as a CENA (nurse's assistant) in the kind of facility you'd like to work in. It's a very short training period, gets you right into the field, and often hospitals/clinics/nursing homes will pay part or all of the tuition for their CENAs to go to nursing school.

And you will find out very quickly if this is the kind of work you want.

[Zen]

She may have to do the same classroom work first, minus the clinicals.

[KnottedYet]

When I was investigating it, CNA was a 3 week course. MA is 6 to 9 months, PA is 2 years, LPN is around 1 year, RN around 2 years, and BSN is a full 4 years. ARNP is a BSN who works several years, then goes back to school for an additional 3 or so years.

One of the hospitals where I did a rotation had a very cool program for CNAs: they'd hire folks under some other title (patient aid or something) have them work for half their shift, and get the CNA course at the hospital during the other half of their shift. (you got paid for going to class, and the hospital paid for the tuition as well.) After you finished the 3 week course your title changed to CNA and your pay jumped up.

Experience as a CNA helps get you into nursing school (you are required to have some sort of experience in healthcare for a lot of the applications, even if it's only volunteer or observation). CNA doesn't substitute for any of the nursing classes or prerequisites or clinicals, but it does give you a leg up in the field.

[itself]

I work for Abrazo Health, and we had a meeting two weeks ago. Apparently, there are a record number of people enrolling in nursing because the healthcare industry is stable and the pay is good. The bad news is that for the money, the wrong people are becoming nurses.

I understand that many of the nursing schools here in AZ have a waiting list quite long. Good luck on your new career, what a wonderful choice!

Lisa