I work as an staff RN and Charge nurse (Med/Surg, ICU, ER), going on 6 yrs. I also did some travel nursing in the past, but with the economy the way it is now (not getting the best contract deals out there), I have opted for a staff position at this time. The best thing about being a nurse is I can find a job anywhere in the US or world and not have to worry about getting laid off. We have a nursing shortage which has been hard, but I feel pretty lucky right now with my job. Many people I know can't even find a decent job out there. For example, my cousin is an engineer and has been collecting unemployment for 2 years b/c he hasn't been able to find a job at all. Every job he has taken he's been laid off. So I've convinced him to go into nursing and he's taking his pre-reqs. I'm lucky right now with my job that I work at a great hospital. I do both ER and ICU. They are offering loads of overtime!! I sometimes pick up 2-3 extra shifts per pay period (2 week time frame) to make extra money. It helps with my MAC and makeup cravings! So I feel like since I work so hard I deserve to pamper myself! LOL! It is hard work trying to get thru nursing school. But it is SO WORTH it in the end!
I started off as a CNA, LPN, then an RN. Nursing school was SO HARD! Mainly b/c it was so hard to get into a nursing program with the long wait lists. But hang in there! I only went to a community college to get my ADN degree and it was the hardest 2 years of my life. We took tests every single week and had to pass each one with certain points. Burn out is high. Try not to work as much (if you can afford it) while you are doing your nursing classes. I had to move back home while going to school to just survive. And I made do with work by just working the weekends. You will be writing many papers and essays, etc. The biggest thing is you have to be pretty flexible while in school b/c the program curriculum is tough and requires you to be able to change your schedules with flexibility. Critical thinking is a must and being able to think thru situations systematically thru processes. My nursing instructors were pretty overbearing. But Don't be intimidated. With nursing, the term "nurses eat their young" applies. I'm not going to lie about that. But its getting better. No where else in this field do you have so many different generations of nurses all working together. Right now I am overseeing a floor where I have staff RNs who have been working for almost 50 yrs to those who brand new RN grads going thru a preceptorship program. So when you have someone working as an "old skool" nurse working with someone who is a brand new nurse, there will be conflicts. Its a given.
It does help to have some kind of healthcare background--CNA work b/c then when you go into clinicals and actually work in the health field, you will be starting off doing bedside patient care. If you are grossed out with cleaning a person (giving a bed bath, wiping someone's butt or cleaning up vomit, blood, etc.) then the nursing field is not for you. Although this is not what being a nurse is all about, it is the basics of nursing. When you don't have a CNA working with you in the hospital, it's your responsibility to clean your patient up. I have a pretty good stomach for things, so it has never bothered me. Also with some places I've done travel nursing, it has been very shortstaffed and sometimes we take care of 5 or 6 patients each per load. With patient acuity being so high, and dealing with overbearing families, other staff, doc's, etc., it can be too much for a person. I had a difficult time my 1st year out of nursing school. I didn't think I could do it. But I'm an active learner and sought out challenges and persevered and learned how to deal with stress. And after maybe 3 months out of school, my light bulb just "turned on" and everything clicked.
Nursing is not glamorous but in this profession, you can make really great money. Travel nursing is the best. I plan to go back into it when the economy picks up. But there just is not many contracts out there right now. When I last did travel nursing, travelers where being offerred somewhere around $35-48/hour plus either housing allowance that was non-taxable or free housing. Then every OT extra shift picked up was paid time-and-a-half. I was able to travel and see many places I couldn't possibly dream of visiting like Arizona, California, east coast, etc. Where I live, starting pay for brand new RNs is $26/hr. I believe in CA (Bay Area) is around $30 per hr. Also if you work nights, weekends, float, pick up extra shifts, etc., you can get extra $$ added to your per hour rate. So there are little bonuses like this that can add up. Of course, every facility is different. But this is just to give an example of what's out there. Because of the nursing shortage, many places offer sign-in bonuses of up to $5000 if you can commit to 2 years to one facility.
So good luck in going into the nursing profession! It so SO WORTH all of the hard work you are putting into your schooling. It may be hard but you'll thank yourself in the end when you graduate and become a new nurse! I would suggest going into something like ER or ICU b/c those nursing jobs are highly profitable and the knowledge and experience you gain is amazing! If you have any other questions about nursing or need more info on stuff let me know! I do go on Specktra everyday. I don't post as much as I used to but I still go on the site every day as a lurker to check out the latest makeup gossip! Excuse me for all of the grammar/typo errors. I'm coming off a 12-hour night shift and I can't sleep! So I'm surfing the net right now!
Good luck! :]
