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Questions on becoming a Nurse

cabaiguan juan

cabaiguan juan

Fucking Pandas
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
10,231
So as I've been enjoying my time as a stay at home Dad, I've been giving some thought about what I want to do when I reenter the working world and a few people have said that I would make a great nurse. I don't know much if anything about what it takes or what the various nursing levels are. Can anyone educate me?
As a background I have a BS in civil engineering and have worked for 10 years as a project manager and as a scheduler. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Jon
 
At the basic level I believe it is only a two year degree. If there is a community college nearby try checking them out. You may even be able to start taking a few classes while taking care of the kids. I am sure the docs on the board can give much better info though.


ETA: I will try ask my mom a few questions this weekend. She has been a nurse going on 40 years now. If you have any specific questions I can ask her, shoot me a pm.
 
I was googling nurses and there a bunch of alphabet soup. Is there a hierarchy? Also are there certain specialized types which are in higher demand? And how does one with a previous career and BS get into this?

And Doc, I'm too old and too married to go join the navy to take care of Marines
 
Had a colleague who did his bachelors in 3 years, then his masters in 2 but he had a full course laid, worked weekends and long regular work hours, has no kids. How he did it, I have no idea. He's a little of an overachiever as well. So I can't see most doing what he did.
 
Ok those are some good questions I will ask her but here is what I do know. Once you have the nursing degree you can start to work yet continue your education geared toward the type of work you eventually want to do. My mom has that alphabet soup after her name. She worked in an ER for many years so took lots of classes that dealt with traumas. She even got certified to work aboard the medivacs. Currently she works at a clinic on the army base here and basically runs the whole thing.
 
At a minimum you need a BSN if you want to go any where in the field. Familiarize yourself with bed pans, catheters and all the colors feces and urine come in and what diseases the colors indicate. Learn how to make a bed with some one in it. Memorize all the side effects and untoward effects of the medications an MD might prescribe. Learn to be oblivious to the smells of puke and worse. There's more, but that's a good start. Go to a good school and don't take any short cuts. Oh, btw, since your a man, you will be discriminated against. It's a woman's world and they won't let you forget it.
 
Doc
 
Since you already have a bachelors degree, look for a bridge program where you can get your LPN and then RN.
 
If you decide to purse a nursing career get into a specialized unit like Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) because it's more money and a low patient ratio like 1:1 or 1:2. Most people coming out of nursing school are steered toward med. surgery because they are told it builds better organizing skills working with multiple patients, but that is a crock. Good luck!
 
I couldn't do it, but I do think nurses are underpaid for what they deal with on a daily basis.
 
bfreebern said:
I couldn't do it, but I do think nurses are underpaid for what they deal with on a daily basis.
Click to expand...
I can assure you, my wife is not underpaid.
 
Doc
 
Devil Doc said:
At a minimum you need a BSN if you want to go any where in the field. Familiarize yourself with bed pans, catheters and all the colors feces and urine come in and what diseases the colors indicate. Learn how to make a bed with some one in it. Memorize all the side effects and untoward effects of the medications an MD might prescribe. Learn to be oblivious to the smells of puke and worse. There's more, but that's a good start. Go to a good school and don't take any short cuts. Oh, btw, since your a man, you will be discriminated against. It's a woman's world and they won't let you forget it.
 
Doc
Click to expand...
Thanks Doc. I've had a taste of what you have described including the discrimination. You'd be amazed how abrasive Stay At Home Moms can be when a Stay At Home Dad enters the group.

I wonder if hospitals have a 'Ride Along' like the police do. It might be a good idea to shadow a nurse for a shift to see what it's like.
 
You can definitely do candy striping at your local hospital but I don't know how much patient interaction you will be allowed.  And it'll get you the feel of how hospitals are run but with nurses you have wide range of environments you can work in outside of the hospital as well (at home care, out patient care, etc).
 
In my opinion, nursing is a nicely paid profession. My sister got a 2 year AAS nursing degree and started making $74k working 3 days a week in a hospital in NYC, I don't know of many professions that will pay that much for only 2 years of education (you can get two full time positions working 3 days a week each and make around $150k easy). She is now going for her BSN and the hospital is paying for her education.
 
I have a computer degree and I work as a network administrator in a Nursing school. Last year I got my LPN license and I'm now working towards my RN license. My goal is to get into Nursing Informatics and the starting salary for that is about $121k here in NYC.
 
I will second what Doc said about getting nothing lower than a BSN if you are going to get into the profession.  My wife got her BSN 9 years ago and is now thinking about going back for her Masters.  Nursing is a great field to be in, but it can be very difficult emotionally.  My wife started out her career in the Pediatric Oncology Department at a children's hospital, and she was only there for about a year.  Now she is working as a public health nurse doing home care to low income families with young children.
 
I would suggest finding a few different schools in your area and talking to a counselor about what would be needed to apply for the program.  With a BS you might not have that many classes to take to be eligible for the program.
 
Speaking of pediatric oncology: Everyday, early in the AM, a young fella, about 5 or 6, would be wheeled by the Master at Arms shack on the way to his treatments. We made much of him and got to know him quite well. It was the highlight of our Watch. One day he didn't come by anymore. That was tough.
 
Doc
 
I know my mom had a few hard cases come through the ER. We were watching the news one night and a report came on about a young child that had died from being struck by his dad/stepdad. My mom started to cry during the report. Turns out the boy had been brought to the ER she was at and was one of the nurses treating him. Unfortunately they couldn't do anything for him. There were times though that they could do something and she got a lot of satisfaction from it. Just have to learn how to balance the good with the bad.
 
Community colleges frequently have a good accelerated nursing program that can get you your RN in two years . . . they're strong on practical skills, but if you want to advance beyond the "on the ward" jobs an MSN is your ticket.
 
When I went back to college at 32 it was actually with the intent of entering an accelerated program, but it was so popular at the time there was actually a waiting list to get on the waiting list (three prerequisite classes that all had waiting lists of their own) and since I was already there I ended up taking classes that interested me, and before I knew it I was a damn English major.  But teaching's a good life and I haven't regretted it one bit.
 
~Boar
 
Since you have a BS you could look at taking a few more pre reqs and go to PA school. My wife is an derm PA and does very well. She had an offer before she finished her clinical rotations, and starting salary was $119k. She's a few years in now, and really enjoys it.

It's really difficult to get into PA school though, they admit a small number of students and have a huge pool of applicants. Her class had over 1600 applicants for 90 spots.

PAs follow the medical MD model, instead of the "nursing" care model. PAs diagnose, and can prescribe medication. She had someon in her PA class that had an under grad in chemical engineering. As long as you have all of the pre req requirements you could be admitted, the course structure is 12 month didactic period and 18 months of clinical rotations (residency). It's a very intense program. They basically squeeze the first 2 years of med school into 12 months. its not for the un motivated under achiever, but can be very rewarding.
 
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