nursing

[benefactor]

Hmm as an RN I've worked MD's offices and hospitals. I think what I'm taking issue with is your statement "There are tons of nursing jobs, but not all of them are desirable. You will probably be stuck with a crap shift/job in the beginning but the experience is necessary to go where you want to go...which would be working for a doctors office or a clinic of some kind where you can get bankers hours. MD's offices/clinics usually have better perks than straight hospital shift work too." I think this is true if you are looking at nurses as most people do, which is that any woman wearing scrubs is a nurse or any man in a hospital is a doctor. But if you are making the case for Registered Nurses, most of your statement is false, I believe. If you are referring to LVNs, LPNs or aides then you are spot on. The "crap shift jobs" (although I wouldn't call 3- 12hr shifts per week "crap") are some the best paying jobs in Registered Nursing , with the exception Home Health Care which is like real estate--you'll make as much money as you work. The RNs with "bankers hours" are in highly specialized roles either clinically or administratively, and those require education/degrees well beyond the 3 or 4 year nursing degree and Registered Nurse license.

So I still say, if someone is interested in a career as a Registered Nurse, go for it. There's a place for everyone in nursing, because it is such a diverse field.

No...I don't see any woman in scrubs as a nurse or any man in a hospital as a doctor. I think you missed the part where I said I have been working in hospitals for over a decade...everything from level one trauma, to ortho/neuro specialty to psych.

There are plenty of jobs besides administrative jobs that have good hours(and yes, I know that you would need a BSN or higher to get those jobs). The RN's that worked side by side with the pain management doctors I used to work with had good hours. They only were there during the day when the docs had cases or in their offices when they had patients to see. The RN's that work with our psychiatrists only work while the docs are there and then they get to go home. I have a good friend(RN) who worked with me at my hospital that just transferred to wound care because of the good hours. The only extra training he will get is a week long class in Ohio that his office will pay for.

I'm sorry if I came across like all shift work sucks. I didn't mean to stereotype all hospital shift work. I work 12's...and I enjoy working 3 1/2 days a week(though my 12 is 5 to 5 and not 7 to 7). I was more inferring that a nurse staring out...RN or LVN...is probably going to go to the least desirable floor of the hospital and have to take the least desirable shift. I've seen it a hundred times with nurses that come straight out of school. After a while a better floor or shift days may open up. This is why I said there was a good chance he would need to do what he had to do in the beginning...meaning take something that is not his dream job...in order to get where he wanted to go. If he likes the 7 to 7 thing and wants to stick with that then so be it.

[mrsmaalox]

No...I don't see any woman in scrubs as a nurse or any man in a hospital as a doctor. I think you missed the part where I said I have been working in hospitals for over a decade...everything from level one trauma, to ortho/neuro specialty to psych.

There are plenty of jobs besides administrative jobs that have good hours(and yes, I know that you would need a BSN or higher to get those jobs). The RN's that worked side by side with the pain management doctors I used to work with had good hours. They only were there during the day when the docs had cases or in their offices when they had patients to see. The RN's that work with our psychiatrists only work while the docs are there and then they get to go home. I have a good friend(RN) who worked with me at my hospital that just transferred to wound care because of the good hours. The only extra training he will get is a week long class in Ohio that his office will pay for.

I'm sorry if I came across like all shift work sucks. I didn't mean to stereotype all hospital shift work. I work 12's...and I enjoy working 3 1/2 days a week(though my 12 is 5 to 5 and not 7 to 7). I was more inferring that a nurse staring out...RN or LVN...is probably going to go to the least desirable floor of the hospital and have to take the least desirable shift. I've seen it a hundred times with nurses that come straight out of school. After a while a better floor or shift days may open up. This is why I said there was a good chance he would need to do what he had to do in the beginning...meaning take something that is not his dream job...in order to get where he wanted to go. If he likes the 7 to 7 thing and wants to stick with that then so be it.

Oh no I did not miss the part that said you've worked in hospitals for over a decade. Are you an RN? I'm just curious because the experiences you are relaying are more typical of ancillary nursing staff (LPNs, LVNs,aides, and techs) than RNs. At least here in Texas.

But I still advise the OP, go for it

[benefactor]

Oh no I did not miss the part that said you've worked in hospitals for over a decade. Are you an RN? I'm just curious because the experiences you are relaying are more typical of ancillary nursing staff (LPNs, LVNs,aides, and techs) than RNs. At least here in Texas.

But I still advise the OP, go for it

[florige]

A friend of mine is currently in nursing school. She is trying to get on being a nurse at the jails. Is that a good opportunity?

[robino2001]

get on the waiting list for nursing school now. It is about 1.5-2 years long. Once you get on the waiting list, find out what classes you can take to get a jump (your basics). Be very careful with this though, your basics for nursing school aren't the same as your basics for regular school.

This...

There is a nursing school shortage in TX... if you seriously want to do the nursing thing for a long term career, go BSN and don't just settle for an RN - especially if you have a lot of the prereqs out of the way. The downside is there are very few BSN programs available and they're tough to get into. UT Austin, UTHSC-SA and the new TxState nursing school only accept ~100 applicants per semester with at least 5x that applying now. If time is a factor, go ahead and do the community college nursing schools, Baptist health system, etc.

There are TONS of jobs out there... variety of times, locations, etc - as others are discussing - but focus on the school part first and see if you can swing that because you're at least almost 3 years from a degree at the earliest if not 4-6.

[redraiderinfiji]

Ya know "that guy" or kid in high school that never got any recognition for being cool, but he still followed the "cool crowd" hoping one day he would be fully recognized. Thats lebomb.


lebomb is a low-confidence, wanna be, little tyke that jumps on anything he can because he cant think of anything witty himself!

lol utsa

[mrsmaalox]

I work in the pharmacy...but over the past 7 years I have been involved pretty heavily with nursing administration regarding policy and procedure, new nurse privledge setup for our automated dispensing machines, area access, etc. I've spent a lot of time communicating with nursing staff over the years and I'm basically going off their experiences here in Tyler...which has a very large medical community for a town of it's size(two 500 bed hospitals, one a level one trauma center, in town of about 150,000. There are also several specialty hospitals).

You're a pharmacy tech? And why aren't you encouraging him in that direction? THAT is an excellent field to be in and you get pretty good patient interraction without actually having to touch them Are you trying to get into Pharmacy School? Man, if I had it to do all over again, that's the racket I'd get into I know how tough and compe ive Pharm school is but it's definitely worth it. I only ever wonder why every Pharmacist I know, with the exception of a couple of Pharm D's in my family, all dislike their jobs so much. From the outside, rolling pills all day looks like a pretty sweet gig

[florige]

You're a pharmacy tech? And why aren't you encouraging him in that direction? THAT is an excellent field to be in and you get pretty good patient interraction without actually having to touch them Are you trying to get into Pharmacy School? Man, if I had it to do all over again, that's the racket I'd get into I know how tough and compe ive Pharm school is but it's definitely worth it. I only ever wonder why every Pharmacist I know, with the exception of a couple of Pharm D's in my family, all dislike their jobs so much. From the outside, rolling pills all day looks like a pretty sweet gig

Exactly. They make over 100k and don't have to really get their hands dirty like MD's do. From what I get, it seems like it is a pain in the ass for them dealing with the Doc's office.

[Summers]

This...

There is a nursing school shortage in TX... if you seriously want to do the nursing thing for a long term career, go BSN and don't just settle for an RN - especially if you have a lot of the prereqs out of the way. The downside is there are very few BSN programs available and they're tough to get into. UT Austin, UTHSC-SA and the new TxState nursing school only accept ~100 applicants per semester with at least 5x that applying now. If time is a factor, go ahead and do the community college nursing schools, Baptist health system, etc.

There are TONS of jobs out there... variety of times, locations, etc - as others are discussing - but focus on the school part first and see if you can swing that because you're at least almost 3 years from a degree at the earliest if not 4-6.

This is what I was going to say. If you're not familiar with the different levels of education in nursing and licensure, look it up. Right out of school, there might not be much difference in pay between a 2-year nursing degree and a BSN, or an LVN and RN, but the higher degrees will open more doors into management for you. If you're interested in moving into management/executive positions, also consider doing a fast-track masters degree in nursing once you have your BSN.

My mom's been a nurse since I was a baby. She worked ER (in Houston!) for years, then moved into home health/ho e, then moved into management and then consulting in that field. Now she does her own home health consulting and loves her job, but she hasn't done patient care in about 15 years.

[TDMVPDPOY]

go for it man, who gives a what others think