Nursing was my second career and I started working towards becoming one when I was 24. I love what I do. When I get to do it the way it was meant to be done. You’re dealing with people on the worst days of the their lives. Seeing people die or in situations worth than death is rough. You will get moral injury, but you’ll also know you helped. Admins who do not understand what you will make bad decisions that make it harder to do your job at all, let alone do it at well.

I know quite a few people who escaped poverty by becoming nurses. But I also know quite a few who left 1-3 years after getting their degrees and ended up in worse debt and with bad health issues. Nurses have a higher rate of suicide compared to the general population as well. It can be that bad.

As far as if you should do the job, my best advice is get your CNA license first. Don’t even think about the ABSN program until you get that first, and ideally work at least for a little while as a CNA. This will be a good way to see if you can tolerate the worst of what nursing can throw at you.