Thinking about switching majors from accounting to nursing (bachelor, doctor, school)
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i love it that you are considering nursing.
my favorite low cost no debt jr college program.
a great path is LVN 42 units and then the crossover program of 30 units to RN.
you dodge oceans of unnecessary prerequisites.
no 4 year degree no graduate program, just RN in 3 years all jr college.
military is even faster and better--- best training in the world.
Most nursing program require chemistry, microbiology and assorted associated things that you likely haven't taken. Some four-year programs require you to pass pre-reqs at a prescribed level before admitting you to the nursing program.
BSNs don't usually see a clinical moment until junior year. Have you ever done anything related to patient care? Are you at all aware of what clinical nursing can involve? I know a lot of BSNs assume they'll go into something "nice" like school nursing or administration or something, but the majority of jobs are right there with the patients (and the job market has certainly been tightening in many places and areas of practice. There are never openings in labor and delivery, for example- people like these jobs. If you wanted to walk into a critical care job, you'd need good background. The job market ain't what it used to be).
What kind of problems are you having in business, as you refer to having? I think sometimes people lump into business as a major because of the general times we live in and the assumption that there is a good job there (could be wrong). If that's you, don't make the same choice with nursing.
By the way, there is no need to have "a calling" for nursing, but you do have to have an idea of what you're getting into, and why. Best wishes.
Career counselors can be good, but they might just look up the BLS stats and degree requirements for you - or worse.
Until this year, accounting jobs were plentiful. Now positions have really dried up, with hiring at the big firms down and their laid-off staff taking many of the positions that would traditionally be filled by recent grads. Nursing is currently a more open field, though I've heard of a few layoffs. You can get an RN with a community college degree. The secret of nursing jobs and pay is out, though, and competition to get into these programs has to have gotten tougher in this recession. The programs in my area do admission by a formula that uses pre-req grades, "secondary" courses completed, and aptitude test score. I've heard that you have to come pretty darn close to maxing the formula out to secure admission.
It's really hard to know how you'll handle the death, the stress, the body fluids, the rude patients until you spend a few weeks in healthcare. You can take a nurse's aide class, which is low-level patient care including bathing, bathroom...or do an EMT class, which is a little sexier. Both can be done in around a month on a full-time basis or over a semester like a single college course. If you can get a hospital job with one of those certs, it's great exposure to different health professions, great for getting patient care experience, and great for motivation for studying! Also, you can get tuition assistance and "into the system," which makes it easier to move positions.
I'm a liberal arts grad who works as an EMT who's in grad school for accounting, so I understand your dilemma.
Being a sports rehab nurse is a fantasy, sorry. A lot of people go into physical therapy, wanting to work in sports. A lot of people, a few jobs. But PT is more like sports work than nursing will ever be.
You really have to know what you are getting into. I have had several friends that were nurses and they have since left the field because they say it was to stressful. Which I knew they were going to do anyway because it takes a certain type of person to be a nurse. And usually you can tell which ones went into it because of the so-called stability and pay. They are the nurses you encounter at the hospital who dont do their jobs, I have ran into plenty. But good luck anyway. I thought I wanted to be a nurse until I shadowed a few I changed my mind and majored in chemistry
OP, listen to the above.
I am leaving the field. Now halfway through an accounting degree.
Be very clear of what you are getting into. University does not give you any indication whatsoever what a job as an RN is really like. And the pay isn't so great, well not in Aus anyway. But, if you are that certain type of person that it takes to be a nurse, why then you may quite enjoy the profession. And that's not me...
Wow, I forgot all about this thread. In the long run, I ended up giving up trying to switch to nursing since there were waay too many requirements for me to go through and it would've set me back too far. I switched to GIS, though since I am still considering transferring schools, I may switch back to Finance or Accounting since I am unsure if the school offers GIS or not. I appreciate the advice everyone has given even though I forgot that it was I who made the thread.
Now, about this "sexy" EMT class...what did you mean by that?
I am a Budget Analyst within the Federal Government and I love it. I too was in your same situation because I could not choose between being an Accountant or Nurse. However, I finally decided that business was the field of interest that I wanted to stick to and have been working in accounting for several years now. I personally think it's easier to advance in Accounting then Nursing. I graduated in 2004, had several accounting internships, became a staff account after graduation, forensic accountant, sr. staff accountant, accountant, senior accountant and now, I'm a Budget Analyst. Once you have an accounting degree, all accounting, finance, or business jobs that come along are there for the picking. We are never, not in demand.
You see, that's exactly what I wanted to do, something gov't related. And I was going to look for some experience or internship with the FDIC or IRS to at least get my foot in the door.
Wow, I forgot all about this thread. In the long run, I ended up giving up trying to switch to nursing since there were waay too many requirements for me to go through and it would've set me back too far. I switched to GIS, though since I am still considering transferring schools, I may switch back to Finance or Accounting since I am unsure if the school offers GIS or not. I appreciate the advice everyone has given even though I forgot that it was I who made the thread.
Now, about this "sexy" EMT class...what did you mean by that?
And I dont know if you have heard but new RN Graduates are having a terrible time finding jobs. I know several of them personally, some even graduated last year and they still have not found jobs because hospitals are barely hiring new grads, they want people with experience. Gone are the days when all the students had jobs before they finished school.
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