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Looking for advice from anyone with experience as a nurse. I would like to make a career change to nursing but am not 100% sure it is for me. What is the best way to get my foot in the door? I work full time and do not have much time for volunteering. What do you think of becoming a CNA to get some experience with working in a hospital setting?
Posts: 1 | Registered: Oct 2014
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I'm in the nurse education process, with a possible diversion into Physician Assistant because 1) I already have a BA and 2) Nurse Practitioner is now a doctoral degree.
I have taken all my application prerequisites at community college, which is really good if you have a full time job. I was able to take several classes online or in the evenings.
I'm in midlife, so making the decision to pursue this career course involved a big "why" process. I've worked as a medical assistant, and if I'd recommend that route more than CNA, though I may need to get a CNA certificate if plans A and B don't happen. (Plan A is the PA program, plan B is the BSN program, though I may just try plan A next year rather than Plan C, which is RN program at the community college. Though the RN to BSN program might get me to the DNP track more smoothly).
When I was first contemplating nursing, a couple of nurses I know IRL where like "Why, for pete's sake?"
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I transitioned to an LPN when I was 39. I had been a medic in the Army years ago, but never continued. I was a successful manager for JCPenney, but when the economy crashed I was at a little store and got laid off. I went back to school, and the LPN was a one year program.
I won't say it's easy, or always fun, but I am glad I did it. It pays fairly well, and there are always openings for you to learn new skills, get additional education, and make a life for yourself and your family.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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My wife has been an LPN for 15 years now. She gets paid pretty good, but at the hospital she works at the LPNs do the same job as RNs, just with less pay. So she plans on going back to school for the RN license.
Her job is gross (taking care of wounds at a specialty hospital) and I could never do it, but she enjoys it.
Posts: 298 | Registered: Sep 2011
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I decided to go change to nursing later in life and it's been an awesome switch! There (at least in PA) is a lot of funding for people looking to go into healthcare because it's an "in-demand" field. I could have gone with no student loans, but ended up taking advantage of the loans to help pay bills for our family of four throughout the year. (i did a one year lpn program.)
Posts: 1355 | Registered: Jul 2006
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What do you think of becoming a CNA to get some experience with working in a hospital settin fifa 15 ultimate team coins. (Post neutered by JanitorBlade because the segue-way was kind of funny.)
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