Nursing schools are rejecting thousands of applicants -- in the middle of a nursing shortage (highest, secretary)
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I strongly encourage you to investigate one of the many accelerated nursing programs, where you can get an advanced nursing degree in a relatively short amount of time. That is what I did, many years ago, and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I had a B.A. in psychology and then decided that I wanted to change course and become a nurse. I had originally applied to and was accepted into a B.S.N. program, but thanks to a wonderful career counselor, I found out about a generic Master's degree program in nursing. Back then in the late 1970's there were only 3 places that offered this type of degree, but now there are many more. If not for someone giving me this advice, that I am now sharing with you, I would have spent 4 years and gotten another Bachelor's degree - instead, I spent 2 years and got a Master's degree.
If you have an undergrad degree in another field, you are a perfect candidate for this type of program. I got a Master's degree in nursing in two years and graduated as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Since my undergrad was in psych, like you, I didn't have any chemistry classes, or many hard science classes at all prior to going to my nursing program. That wasn't a problem. It was hard, but well worth it. Not only was I eligible to practice as an FNP, I was also eligible to practice in any other field of nursing, with the exception of nurse anesthetist or others that require additional advanced education.
I spent time working as an FNP and worked in almost all critical care areas - ICU, ER, PACU, etc. I also taught nursing as an adjunct professor at two universities - Miami University and Wright State University - both in Ohio, where I lived at the time. I was also the manager of a 28 bed open heart surgery unit. I only tell you all this history of mine so that you realize that I absolutely know what I'm talking about as far as nursing and nursing careers.
I will be happy to help you and answer any questions you might have. I'm also posting a link to get you started on looking into the type of programs that I'm talking about. I hope this is helpful to you. Please don't listen to the people who tell you that what you want to do is not feasible because it absolutely is. And please don't watch television shows about the health care field expecting to get any kind of accurate information. What a joke!
There is a big bottleneck in qualified nursing instructors. I live in a small metro area. Signing bonuses up to $2,000 are being offered to any RN with a year's experience in a hospital setting. My girlfriend was in the hospital a couple of weeks ago and there was such a shortage of nurses one evening that patients were moved from one floor to the next because there weren't enough nurses to staff all floors.
That's an easy fix. Raise the salaries and watch the resumes pour in.
3 days a week = full time, you work 156 days/year, that is fewer days than teachers work even with their "3 months" summer break
swing shift isn't so bad, because on 12 hour shifts, you are so tired after that it doesn't matter if you worked days or nights, you are asleep when you get home anyway
Might look good on paper, but working a difficult job say as a RN in an intensive care unit, where YOU are basically responsible to keep patients alive and improving, (no MDs in ICU).....it's extremely exhausting on a daily basis.
By the time you get to your days off, you are still so tired...
there will still be politics, you will have to deal with coworkers, doctors, patients - any of which can give you problems at any time.
money - you wont get rich doing it.
nursing is harder on the body initially, until after a few years you can transition to one of those nurses that have a job sitting behind a desk.
also keep in mind even though its 12 hours shift, good nurses usually show up half hour before to get report. and its not unusual to stay half hour to an hour afterwards sometimes, especially with some of those complex patients.
Might look good on paper, but working a difficult job say as a RN in an intensive care unit, where YOU are basically responsible to keep patients alive and improving, (no MDs in ICU).....it's extremely exhausting on a daily basis.
By the time you get to your days off, you are still so tired...
Read what I said last, it doesn't matter if they are days or nights, they are so tired they sleep after they get home. Off at 7pm, sleep until 7am, off at 7am and sleep until 3pm and have an evening. You gain back the missed morning on the day you go back to work since you can sleep in the afternoon before going into work.
There really isn't a shortage of nurses, just a shortage of nurses with critical care experience since employers refuse to hire and train nurses without it. After so many years of this practice, the employers created their own shortage.
Read what I said last, it doesn't matter if they are days or nights, they are so tired they sleep after they get home. Off at 7pm, sleep until 7am, off at 7am and sleep until 3pm and have an evening. You gain back the missed morning on the day you go back to work since you can sleep in the afternoon before going into work.
Read what I said last, it doesn't matter if they are days or nights, they are so tired they sleep after they get home. Off at 7pm, sleep until 7am, off at 7am and sleep until 3pm and have an evening. You gain back the missed morning on the day you go back to work since you can sleep in the afternoon before going into work.
Have you ever worked a nursing swing shift? It is not that easy to get to sleep-even when tired when you get off. You still have things to do. Your family does not live on that swing shift with you. When you get off you need time to wind down. You shop, you clean, you spend time with the kids etc. Then you sleep a few hours. Rare to get an 8 hour sleep during the day-more like a 3 or 4 hour sleep before you go back in.
Also to the OP........In all the posts I have not seen a desire on your part to serve, to care for patients, to help keep people alive. Being a nurse is not about the money or about the hours , it is about helping your fellow man. Someone in it for the hours or money is the last nurse I want taking care of me or anyone in my family. I want the person who sees the hurt and has the desire to help us through it because they have the nurturing gene required to be a good doctor, nurse, or even CNA. Book learning is not the only thing required-though you need to be excellent at that too: you need to have the skills, the stamina, the quick thinking, the ability to work with others, give and take direction. etc. Do not go into nursing lightly. It is not a cushy job. It is one of the hardest jobs out there.
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