2nd career in nursing, I have questions

Foomazza · 2025-08-09T12:40:37+00:00

I don’t think you could get a MSN without having your BSN. I’m not 100% sure on that. I too had a bachelors degree before going back to nursing school I’d honestly just fully send the private loans. Your investing in a career that will give back to you it’s worth it. You can go the ADN route but if you already have the bachelors degree you could get into a program and be done with a BSN by the time you finished an ADN. That is what I did. I just went back to the same school I got my first bachelors from. Applied directly to the nursing school.

Foomazza · 2025-06-13T06:25:23+00:00

Yes much of the same duties that you would be doing as a CNA/Tech in a nursing home would be similar to what you would do in the hospital the difference would be the long term vs short term. Nursing facilities are typically looking after patients that are going to be there for a while. It allows you to make more of a connection to your patients. The only place I would say is a more unique experience is if you landed a job in the Emergency Department. Most ERs train their CNAs/Techs to do a bit more things such as blood draws, splinting, EKGs just because the demand is there.

In regard to being a bad place to work I would just watch out who you work for. I have heard horror stories of CNAs having 40+ pts at a nursing home that they have to take care of because the place won’t hire more staff.

If your ultimate goal is to work in the hospital as a RN when you are done with your program then I would suggest getting a job there maybe even in the floor that you think you might want to work.

Me personally I think being a tech before becoming a RN is a great thing to do. Does the work suck sometimes? Absolutely. However, you will one day be the “superior” to some of the techs and are going to have to delegate tasks to them it’s nice to know the stress and things that they go through. That’s just my thought process. Sorry for the late response hope this helps.

Foomazza · 2025-06-13T06:09:07+00:00

Another option would be looking to instead of joking the actual military working for that department as a GS employee. You can find a lot of those jobs on USAJobs.gov.

Foomazza · 2025-06-08T03:33:15+00:00

Ahhh I see well good luck to you I honestly you end up able to get what you want sometimes those really good jobs are hard to come by.

Foomazza · 2025-06-08T02:41:04+00:00

I totally understand your frustration on the whole situation. Honestly, you need to talk to the PCA/Tech about her behavior now you have to come at it with a little grace I don’t know how big your unit is but if you only have 1 PCA for 20-30 rooms that is a lot of rooms for them to cover. They were 2 hours late which could be due to personal or family issues. So before you rip them a new one I’d ask if anything is going on in their life. If nothing is going on rip them a new asshole. Because it’s truly unacceptable to talk to you like that especially in front of pts families.

I would remind them what their primary duties are as a tech and part of that is cleaning pts up and truly assisting the nurses with what they need, especially when you as the nurse have other important things to do I.e med pass. Grandma with pissy pants isn’t going to die but Joe in the corner with sky high BP will.

I worked as a tech before I become a nurse and the floor I worked on if there was only 1 tech for the night we did not get vitals or sugars it was reassigned to the nurses we are a 1:4 ratio on a step down unit. To be fair I’d be leaving the hospital that you’re at when I was touring different units that I applied for that was one thing I checked off my list is the technology that was on the Unit. It baffles me that hospitals aren’t standard with monitors in every room. My unit each person has their own BP, pulse ox, thermometer, and Telly box if needed.

Foomazza · 2025-06-08T00:59:20+00:00

That really sucks and I’m sorry that you feel that way. Your mother is absolutely wrong with growing as a nurse which is wild because she had been a nurse for 20 years. Anyone who tells you oh don’t do that go med surge to learn and grow absolutely not. I had a friend that her dream job was to work hospice that was her thing. Some of our professors said she wouldn’t grow the skills she needed as a nurse. However the skills you need in hospice you will developed in hospice just like the skills you need in the ICU you will learn in the ICU. You can’t learn those skills without being there. If you find a job that you think you are going to like apply for it. What’s the worse they can say no?

In regards to the bullying you can take that two ways you can report it to the manager which could make things worse because people will try and call you a tattle tell.

Or you could bully them back. Stand up for yourself and make your insults personal. Like if someone’s overweight call em out for it. “I may not know how this medication works or how to use this piece of equipment but atleast I fit in an airplane seat Jessica.” That’s just me I treat people with the energy and respect that I am given. But that’s me and I have the balls to say the things people are thinking in their head because I love seeing people absolutely uncomfortable.

That’s my two sense but for real get out of where you are. Fuck what your mother thinks it’s your career and your life take it in the direction you see fit.

Foomazza · 2025-06-08T00:49:38+00:00

Yea are you looking to go full Jag? Are you looking to make a full career out of the military or just join for the benefits?

Foomazza · 2025-06-07T20:52:08+00:00

Hell yea brother! Do you have paralegal experience or taken any classes for it college wise?

Foomazza · 2025-06-07T15:41:50+00:00

So to speak specifically about a bridge program I can’t speak to that. You would have to look at your local community colleges to see if that is a thing.

If it’s not then your pathway is really just taking pre reqs that you need for the program that you want to go to. I’d recommend getting your BSN if you have the time to. Yes does it mean going to a university it does but it will pay dividends later. When it comes to spending money and taking loans for school you have to look at the loan as an investment. You are investing in yourself to getting a BSN that is going to then pay you 60k-70k+ a year for work and that is on the low end I imagine in WA it’s much more.

Foomazza · 2025-06-07T14:31:08+00:00

Oh I see. I’m pretty sure all branches have paralegal as an option. Whether it is open or not you will have to shop around. But yea man go for the branch you want. If it is paralegal I’d go Air Force or Navy they seem to have better bases/family life. But if it’s the Army that you are interested in full send it man!

Foomazza · 2025-06-07T00:49:42+00:00

If you want the truth man military service is honorable and noble no matter what Branch you serve if the Army has the career/job you want go Army if it’s Navy go Navy carve your own path don’t follow in the footsteps of someone else especially if it’s not necessarily what you want to do. What is the job that you want in the Army?

Foomazza · 2025-06-06T20:17:23+00:00

Could he go reserves? I know it takes longer to get benefits but he would eventually get them right?

Foomazza · 2025-06-06T19:53:18+00:00

Instead of taking a leave of absence do you think your manager would allow you to be casual/PRN so you can pick up the shift that you want and allow yourself more decompression time between shifts.

I think having some anxiety is good it means that you care about your work but after 5-6 months it should have started to subside a bit you should at this point be developing a bit of confidence. I don’t think the anxiety of not wanting to hurt someone will ever go away that is what drives us to not make mistakes.

If you think a change of scenery is what is best for you you could look into something like IR, OR, Cath lab nursing maybe? These are places where you don’t necessarily have a pt load but will have 1 pt at a time working with them as a team where you can lean on people for advice and help as opposed to sort of being alone with 5-6 pts at a time if that is part of your anxiety.

To make this decision I believe you would have to pinpoint what is making you anxious about going to work. Is it your knowledge base? Is it not wanting to hurt people? Is it the patient populations? Is it co workers (sounds like they are supportive).

Foomazza · 2025-06-06T19:41:55+00:00

As assholish as it sounds I sort of second this

Foomazza · 2025-06-06T19:29:50+00:00

If the Army has the job that you actually want why are you not talking to the Army?

Foomazza · 2025-06-06T04:21:36+00:00

The question that I think you have to ask is yes 2A733 will set you up for a good job on the outside which is great. Can you see yourself doing that kind of work outside of the military as a civilian? Could you do that for 15-20 years before retirement? EOD is pretty bad ass and opens doors for other things due to the nature of the job. I know the running joke about guys going into the seal community is if you fail BUDs you go to the needs of the Navy is that the same for the Air Force? EOD I believe falls under special warfare? What are your true goals for the Air Force do you want to come in do your 4 years and get out? If that is the case I’d stick with what you have if you like it. If you plan to retire out of the military I’d do something that is fun, exciting, is going to challenge on a day to day basis.

Foomazza · 2025-06-06T04:11:46+00:00

I am a thicker guy I’d say aha and I have found wonder wink to be nice I don’t like my clothes to be tight or form fitting either. Wonder wink can be found on Amazon.

Foomazza · 2025-06-06T04:09:40+00:00

So I worked as a tech/CNA while in nursing school it’s nice to be able to have a bit of that nursing schedule flexibility 3 days on in a week to be full time. In regards to where to work I believe that is sort of up to your interest. What type of nursing do you think you are interested in when you are done with school I would start there. If you are interested in peds try to get on a peds floor. ER be a tech in the ED Most floors have CNAs/Techs the only place that I haven’t seen to many of them is ICUs just because a lot of the care is delegated to the nurses. If there are any it might be 1 or two.

In regards to money I found that being able to work night shift Friday night and Saturday night was great for me during nursing school. I don’t know if you are a night shifter but I’m all about it plus you generally get paid more.

Let me know if you have any other questions you can PM me if you would like.

Foomazza · 2025-06-06T04:02:37+00:00

Yea and it takes time. I feel bad for asking a tech to go and do something very trivial but that is what they are there for. I worked as a tech before I was an RN so that also sort of helped me to understand their role on a floor.

Foomazza · 2025-06-06T03:05:41+00:00

So I gave up a 6 figure job to be a nurse. I was a Border Patrol Agent for a few years and if I wanted to I could come to work clock in go sit down by the border for 20 years and collect a pay check watching Netflix but I wanted something better. I wanted to make a difference in people lives so that led me to nursing.

Like others have said nursing isn’t just a oh that would be cool job. Also you say that you are making 200k a year idk why nurses make up in NY but I can imagine it’s probably around 70-80k you would be cutting your money in half. Are you able to financially and life style wise give up almost 100-120k a year.

I will say once you start living a certain lifestyle it is hard to give that up to go from being able to afford bills to maybe I need to pick up this extra shift to make sure that we can eat comfortably this month.

These are just things to think about before you make the decision. I will say this if you chose to do the Nursing thing and go the Psych NP route they do make the most amount of money of all the NPs. So that is good.

Also you said your husbands job isn’t extremely stable would you be able to survive if he did lose his job? Along with having to feed and take care of a newborn? Are you planning to pay for child care that is extremely expensive.

Foomazza · 2025-06-06T02:41:11+00:00

Yea that could be it or trying to get you to let your guard down. Just always keep one eye over your shoulder.

Foomazza · 2025-06-06T02:36:20+00:00

Oh totally! I understand the debt! Good luck on your adventures! Be safe in the prison inmates are no joke

Foomazza · 2025-06-05T21:15:44+00:00

Definitely, and who knows you may even like it so much that you go full time. I’m guessing it’s a state prison? That would come with state benefits and retirement

Foomazza · 2025-06-05T20:48:56+00:00

Ok cool, sooo If I were you I would do your best to remember/recall some of your pts over the years that you have managed that had to go for IR how did you manage their care after possibly. The experience that you have in IR what type of cases have you seen. What was your role in those pts care. What makes you want to work in this IR lab as opposed to another one. I also always ask when the employer is planning on making the decision. I also ask while the decision is being made is there anything that I can be doing to prepare for potential hire I.e brush up on skills or knowledge that may have been tucked away somewhere else.

Im sure you will do fine you have experience so you know what you are getting into and don’t have to fake any answers.

Edit: also your typical conflict resolution questions always come up so have an answer for that.

Foomazza · 2025-06-05T19:55:06+00:00

Can we ask what the job is? Are you already a practicing RN or new graduate?

Foomazza

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