Nursing Field

I found it tobe a very rewarding career.  As Connie said the pay was not that great.  I found great satisfaction in helping patients and families get through their illness.  I always tried to take care of patients the way I would like my family taken care of.    There are so many different opportunities in nursing today.  I feel there will always be a job for nurses. 

I can understand you wanting her to finish her business degree. College is so expensive.  Maybe your daughter could work as an aide or med tech to see what nursing is all about these days.

nursing gives flexibility in hours, but I worked many weekends and holidays.  I still miss not working, but could not do the 12 hour shifts I was working. I  am happy I chose nursing as my profession.

good luck to both of you making decision.  In peace and caring.

jazzy1 said:

Ro

You too....had no idea!!  Well if she wants "satisfaction in a career" seems like nursing would be a potential fit.  As well looking at the NP (nurse practioner) and PA (physician assistant) degreesl.  One of them here in my state, Missouri, is now an additional 2 years on top of the nursing 4 yrs with RN.  Come to find next year it'll be 4 yrs, not 2 yrs,as the requirements have changed.  Gee...might as well be a doctor...well not really, but one must really love school after 8 years.

Yes I had nurses with me during my hysterectomy time in hospital and all were on 4 days/week with 12 hr days.  All I heard were complaints of the long hours as anything past 9 hrs they were "fried" and not as functional.  Makes me worry about that as surely don't want an RN helping us falling asleep when should be monitoriing us.

She might "shadow" a nurse some time over this summer as looking for some more thoughts on what the job is like.  Hoping it's on the weekend, night shift so she really sees it full tilt.

Thanks again Ms. Ro~

Jan

I am also a nurse and can't think of anything I would rather have done for the last 35 years.My daughter also questioned her chosen field but did finish and worked in the business world for a couple of years.She went back to school on a fast track program and got a nursing degree in 18 months,she is very happy in nursing.There are so many choices for nurses now,With all the changes that are taking place it would be good to work in the field for a couple of years and continue education for nurse practioner if you found you were happy in nursing.

As someone who taught at the university level for years, I'd add that it's really important to do what you want to do for yourself. And it's also smart to shadow or take other jobs before embarking on a long-term commitment. Practical, first-hand knowledge of day-to-day life at work is indispensible.

That said, if she can manage to hang on to finish her B degree it would be strategic. Could she take some classes in health care management as a senior? There might be several classes that would eventually be helpful.

If it works as planned, Obamacare will likely bring more patients into the system, which is not necessarily a bad thing, especially for underserved populations. We do have a shortage of medical personnel now, and those in the field will be even more overworked until the bottleneck eases with more people getting trained. However, nursing schools have been turning prospective students away for a while because of a shortage of instructors, too. There are no immediate or easy solutions.

Good luck to your daughter as she seeks to identify her vocation.

cheerful said:

 

Hi Jan:

  I saw your post regarding your daughter and her deciding on her career so I wanted to give you my thoughts on this.

   Regarding law, I have worked in legal as a legal secretary for 20 years and worked 10 years in litigation.  I also worked in Corporate Law for a few years and did real estate law which I really enjoyed.  I was let go from a position back in 2007 as it did not work out as I was there for a few months and I was looking for full time work as a legal secretary before my cancer diagnosis back in 2011 and once I was diagnosed back in Feb. of 2011, I stopped looking for full time work because I did not know how I would react going through the chemo which ended up making me extremely tired and exhausted after each of my 6 treatments so I decided to look for part time work last year (2012).  And right before I started chemo in March of 2011, I was offered a full time position in law, but I turned it down because I knew I would have to take 2 days off for each of my chemo treatments as I was going to start chemo the following month and the timing was not good at all and I did not know how I would feel after each of the chemo treatments.

  The legal field right now is very difficult to find part time work and the hours that you want, but I refuse to give up my search and will continue to look for part time. I just read in my local newspaper that the economy is supposed to strengthen later this year so one of my references who is an attorney I worked with at a big major law firm in Phila. for many years mentioned I should continue to look even though I have been looking for a part time position. I also have been looking under Admin support in my area. I have my resume posted on one of the major job boards. Right now, I also am interested in a temporary assignment for a day or so to see how I feel. I also am on medications for my heart for cholesterol and high blood pressure so I do take a number of medicines. 

  I would like to go back part time 2 days a week as a part time legal secretary (the days my son does not attend college) because my son is going to college for 3 days a week they are half days and I pick him up those 3 days from school which is a 15 minute drive from my house.  Also, I am older, and more experienced in my field and this could by why that employers want younger workers for their positions with their company although they do not have the legal experience to offer like I do.  Anyway, I will continue to look and search in my field.  I will be able to collect Early Social Security in Sept as I will be turning 62 next month which will be a big help to our family.    

  If your daughter wants to go into law, I assume she would want to study to be an attorney or even a paralegal, but as I mentioned, the legal field is not good right now, but it is improving - there are many more full time jobs out there than part time - also I have my resume in with a number of recruiters as well.  

  I also would recommend your daughter going into Nursing because I do have a very close friend who has been a Nurse for many years and always has had a job even through this difficult economy. I also have a cousin who retired to Florida a few years ago and she was a nurse in the Wilkes-Barre area and lived in that area for many, many years until she and her husband retired to Florida.  

  I hope this was of some help to you.  Good luck to your daughter in whatever career she decides on.

Warm Regards,

Cheerful - a/k/a Jane

 

 

Hi Jan!

I just wanted to put my two cents in since you have always been so helpful to me....

I have 3 daughters in their 30's and only one went directly to college after high school. The two who didn't had no idea what they wanted to do that early on. Although I would have liked them to get started on their careers early on for a variety of reasons I understood where they were at. Like you say sometimes the best way to find out where your passion lies is to get out in the world and work. I was a homemaker and did not complete my degree until I went through a divorce at 30. By then I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

So since your daughter is only 21 I can understand at her age the pull to something different than what she started out wanting to do. I would suggest since she is so close to finishing her degree she do that, and then like the good suggestions above if she wants to pursue nursing she can transfer some of the credits she has already accumulated to her nursing program.

I believe nursing is a calling like some other fields and the pay, the hours, and other issues are something someone destined to go in the field will tolerate because they are dedicated to the work they do. I have worked with many clients who went into this field and never regretted it. Some seemed to find some really great positions as LPN's where they worked 3 days week/12 hour shifts and this was considered full-time with benefits. They had the rest of the week off. I would love a schedule like that, but how it really shakes out can really only be verified by someone who is a nurse...some things sound great, but in reality there are drawbacks.

I wish your daughter and yourself peace and wisdom as you both work through this process. I think both fields are a good way to go, and like it is said when you see some folks graduating from college and entering the work force at 40, 50 or above it is not so important WHEN, but that you accomplished the goal at all!

Kathy

Hi Jan:

Nursing would be a great career for your daughter, but like you said she should really want it.  I was a volunteer paramedic and loved it.   I started out as an EMT.   I was also a legal secretary.    Your daughter is just going to have to go out and try some stuff.   Just when they think they know what they want, they change their minds!   I have three sons.  My 22 yr old is just graduating from college.  My 20 year old thought he wanted computer science, but now that he is going into his third year of college changed to Teaching/History.  (which is a 5 year program).   My youngest son just graduated from high school and is going into vocal performance.

My oldest son changed his mind many times, although it still revolves with him wanting to help people.   He started out with law enforcement and graduated with psychology degree.   He may go to law school, but like you indicated in one of your posts, graduates from law schools are having a hard time finding jobs that pay enough to cover their school expenses and firms are not hiring as many due to the economy.    

Getting a business degree is not a bad idea.   She can also volunteer too at a hospital to get an idea if she should really like nursing.  

Kathy

P.S.  Funny story.  When my oldest son just graduated (still not knowing what he wants to do) said now what do I do.  My husband and I said "Get a Job!"