Career Advice: RN

[Larry]

OK, Laryr's been continuing his thinking about "what will Larry do when he isn't taking care of Mom any more".

The plan that seems to be the best fit for my circumstances seems to be that my local Community College has a five-semester (two tears, one summer) resulting in an AS degree and an RN certification.

Frankly, I'm not really certain that this is the career that would be the best fit for me. However, I have to admit that because of many past things I've screwed up, the best fit for me really isn't realistically open.

I'm really intelligent (shut up, you!). But I'm quite a bit better at things that are logical, mathematical, and absolute. I'd be a lot better as an engineer or a programmer than as a teacher, say. (I have pretty much no creativity at all.) But, I've really messed things up on the two occasions I've gone to college. I don't think there's any way I could get admitted to an engineering school right now, and I likely couldn't get hired after I graduated, because of my past. And because of my age, I'm up against a time limit. (I'm 51 right now, and my day of freedom from Mom may be a year or two away.)

I think I can be a pretty good nurse.

Frankly, one main reason I'm considering this career is that it looks like the one that will get me the most money for the next 10-15 years. And because of the poor decisions I've made in the past, that's the factor that I have to pay the most attention to.

Some questions I'd really like to find out about:

1) I get the impression that "RN" really isn't a specific job. That people with that certification do lots of different jobs. (Computer programming, when I was in it, was like that. When you were a rookie, you were a "computer programmer". After six months on your first job, you were a "programmer experienced in writing financial accounting software in COBOL on HP minicomputers". Whatever job you did for your first job, that's what you were labeled as for the rest of your career.

Is nursing the same way? (If your first job is doing intake in an ER, then are you going to be labeled that way for the rest of your career?)

And if so, can people tell me the advantages/disadvantages of various labels?

2) One thing I'm making a major factor in this: When I first began researching the various flavors of nursing (like RN, LPN, CNA), one bit of research I did was to go on monster.com, and see what kind of openings they had listed in Orlando (I'm not fixed on Orlando, but I figured it was good for research purposes). monster.com didn't list salaries, but they had links to a web site, salary.com, which claims to have numbers showing the average salaries of various jobs in various cities.

And according to salary.com, the average RN in Orlando makes $65K.

OTOH, according to salary.com, the average RN here in Gainesville makes $55K. One of my former co-workers ex-wives is an RN, with 20 years experience. And she works in Bronson (about 30 minutes away from Gainesville), because in Bronson, she can get $36K, whereas the best she says she can get in Gainesville is $22K. (Gainesville, because of the presence of the University, tends to have very low wages and low cost of living compared to the rest of Florida.)

And I'm not going to be the average RN. I'm going to be a 55 year old guy who just got his certification. My previous employment will have been repairing computers.

I'm not going to be the typical applicant. And I know how much HR departments prefer typical applicants.

I don't expect to be making $65K, six months after I come out of Community College with my two-year degree. I'm going to be starting at the bottom. But if the bottom is $20K, and maybe in five years you'll be up to $25, then that's really not what I'm imagining.

So, can people tell me what real-world life is like for an RN? Is there a different option I should be considering? Any other advice?

[BigMike619]

have you looked in to a computer tech school?

you know enough to be dangerous and most schools start off with people who have no clue. and depending on what program you choose you can make some real serious cashola doing programming or system administrator work.

[Major Harris]

larry.

did you miss this?

http://extremeskins.com/showpost.php?p=6300561&postcount=1

[zoony]

Well first, good luck to you Larry. You're way too smart a guy to not be adding significant value in some way some where.

As for nursing, I have never done it of course, but I have a few ex-nurses who have worked for me in the past, and a few friends who used to do it. They all say the same thing- that the job is extremely difficult to do. Rewarding at times I'm sure, but also emotionally and physically draining.

Bottom line, what I get is that it certainly isn't for everyone.

Which probably explains why the job pays so much. You can do very well as a Nurse.

You might send a PM to es member FeatheredX. He knows a few things about it .

[brandymac27]

My mom is a nurse. She actually got her masters a couple of years ago and is now a FNP. First of all, I would say that nursing is something you should really really want to do. I mean, there are a lot of different options as a nurse (hospitals, doctors offices, etc) but most of the clinical work can be very demanding and stressful, plus the hours can really stink too unless you work in a doctors office.

The other option as a nurse is working for health insurance companies like Blue Cross etc. They have phone lines where people call up with health problems/questions and nurses there take the calls and refer them for treatment etc. My mom actually did this after she was diagnosed with M.S. b/c it was less stressful.

The other thing too is that a lot of people your age are going back to school for all sorts of things. When I was an undergrad, there were people older than you going to school for nursing, computer science, etc. So, don't be bothered by your age.

Ultimately, I would say go for it if it is what you really want to do.

[boofMcboof]

Having been treated in a hospital I have nothing but respect for nurses, especially those working in the ER, operating room, intensive care and infusion center.

[PeterMP]

My mother is an RN. She started in a hospitial in a post-op floor, moved from there to an oncology floor, moved from there to an OB-GYN doctors office, and from there to the State Health Dept.

From that perspective, it doesn't seem that you are locked in (I will add that outside of the hospitial all of her job transfers have been faciliatated by knowing somebody in authority to where she was going).

I will also say (from teaching nursing classes) that nursing is a popular thing amongst non-traditional students (e.g. returning students) so I'd be surprised if HR people aren't at least somewhat used to that aspect (though I have yet have a 50 year old male (have had some females in that age range though)).

Again, from seeing my mother, nursing pay differs greatly based on the job. Hosipitials tend to pay well. I know my mom took a pretty big pay cut going from the hosipitial to the doctors office (but no weekends, pretty much 9-5, and no holidays).

I also know that you can make a TON of money as a traveling nurse (which means you work for an agency and you might be in some city for 2 months, and then they might move you to another hosipitial in another city for three weeks, etc., etc.), which it seems like you might be able to do.

[PeterMP]

If you are comfortable programming or something similar have you considered picking up jobs at places like Craigslist and seeing where things go. I have a brother that went a route like this, took something he wrote to a couple of companies and one ended up hiring him. Technically has a BS is in Physics, but got hired for his programming and from there went into management.

Myself, I only ever had one semester of programming C back in the day and formally never had a statistics class, but now program in a couple of different languages (at various levels) and know a ton about statistics, and I'm told next election cycle in tow years there will be major interest in my services. I know the fact that I happened to know somebody involved in campaigns helped me get some attanetion and having a PhD probably helped too (even if not at all related to computers, statistics, or modeling).

I guess doing something like that is less likely to result in money quickly, for sure.

[Grizz]

My wife is a CRNA. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist . We spoke about me going to the same type of program your thinking of. She said unless I would be happy doing lower end stuff then I should pass on that type of program and find a 4 year program. Apparently there is a lot of politics and those that don't have 4 yr RN degrees get the short end of the stick.

[armstrong001]

Are you going to be tied down to one location (family, don't like travel, etc)? Because from what I understand, the big money in nursing is for those who do sort of temporary work at different hospitals all over the country. Of course, you might need more experience before they want you. But if you are looking for high paying, this road may be worth looking at.

I think the correct term is Per Diem nursing. It looks like even harder work than regular nursing, so you have to make that decision.

If you have experience with computers, you could probably get a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certificate fairly quickly. My step-father teaches adult education classes for this kind of thing. People who know how to run a network are always in demand, at least from what I've seen.

[Dan T.]

Mrs. Dan T. is an ICU nurse, and a good one at that. In the past she worked at a nursing home and as a visiting nurse on the side.

A couple advantages of nursing as a career choice... there is great demand for nurses, the job travels well, and there can be great flexibility with your schedule.

Larry, good luck with your choice.

[Prosperity]

Good luck, Larry

[bcl05]

I'm a doc, and work with a bunch of RNs. I personally think its a great job, and your description of your mind and strengths/weaknesses seems like a good fit. Attention to detail is, in my opinion, what separates a great nurse from one who isn't.

One of the great things about nursing is the remarkable breadth and flexibilty of it. There are OR nurses, ER nurses, floor or clinic nurses, not to mention a bunch of administrative/oversight RNs. There are nurses with additional specialty degrees, like nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, and nurse practitioners. I don't know anything about salaries in FLA, but what you're describing sounds low to me. I know that in some parts of the country there is still a pretty dramatic nursing shortage, so if you had some flexibilty with location, I bet you could make a pretty decent salary.

[Special K]

I'm sitting next to my roommate on the couch right now and she's a nurse. She has her bachelor's and works in the ICU.

I just asked her a few of your questions:

1. No, you are not confined to or labeled with a specific area of nursing upon recieving your degree.

2. She says the advantages are flexible work hours/days. She works 3-4 days a week on average and makes bank.

3. Also, there is a shortage of nurses nationwide, so they are ALWAYS in demand.

4. Disadvantages are stress from the job simply because there are shortages of nurses everywhere

One of my other best friends has her AS degree. Works in neonatal ICU at UCSF. She has always said practically the same thing my roommate just told me.

My mother has her master's in nursing and was the head of peds ICU for several years before I was born. However, she could not handle the emotional stress of the job...dealing with families losing their children, especially when she had us kids and we were the same age of the kids she'd see dying in her unit. From what I hear from her and my other friends, emotional stress seems to be one of the biggest detractors from the job.... so keep that in mind.

Good luck.

[Larry]

Yeah, my brother (who's the reason I checked this profession out) was pushing me towards something called a BSRN. (An RN with a BS, rather than an AS, degree in nursing.) Says he'd dated a woman with that certification, says the certification is in really high demand, and says that she "only" makes $90K. (But she could make $100-120 if she were willing to work the dirty jobs and the unwanted shifts.)

But it looks to me like it would take me 4 years to get that degree, if I could get into UF. (And I don't think there's a way in Dallas they'd admit me.) And, I'm age 51 right now (and might be taking care of Mom for another year or two.)

Best job in the world doesn't get me a decent retirement if I don't start till I'm 58.

I'm thinking a two-year RN looks better, financially, than a four-year RN does.

[GoSkins561]

Larry I understand your mother isn't well and I am not familiar with your situation so I have a question. Feel free to tell me to pound sand if you don't feel like answering my question, I will understand.

Why couldn't you start your training now instead of waiting for a couple of years?

[Larry]

Right now, I'm pretty much handcuffed to Mom, 24x7.

She's crippled by arthritis. (She can walk, but just barely, and is constantly in danger of falling.) Her mind has been going for years. (Alzheimer's, and some paranoia, too. She's "functional" as long as her life consists of doing the same thing, every single day. For example, every single meal we've eaten for the last six months has been at two restaurants, and she only eats one item on each menu. Lately, I've stopped asking her where she wants to eat, because the question "what do you want" seems to upset her.)

Lately, she's been having problems with, shall I say, bodily functions. (She'll typically get up once an hour or so, and announce that she needs to go to the bathroom. When she makes this announcement, it usually means I have 5-10 seconds to get her there.) (She refuses to wear diapers, so I get to clean her up, on average, I'd say once a day.)

I'd say in the last six months, the longest I've ever left her alone is about 20 minutes. (And that's only once or twice.)

A year and a half ago, (when I was still working), I went to a local Sports Bar on Sunday to watch the Skins game. I'd spent several days letting her know about the plan. I'd explained that the game wasn't over till 4:00, so we couldn't do our then-usual ritual of going to Outback at 2:00. But I'd made reservations there for 4:30, and we'd go then. She insisted on writing a post-it note to herself, saying "Outback 4:30" and sticking it on the wall next to her bed before I left.

When I returned from watching the game, she swore that I'd snuck out of the house without telling her I was leaving. That she'd thought I was home until the dogs wanted out, and I didn't come when she called.

Result: I haven't been to see any Skins games (unless they're on local TV) for two years.

Lately, I've been putting off taking showers, because twice, recently, I've gone in to see her, explained that I'm about to take a shower, and that the dogs (who usually follow me around) might come in to see her, but this doesn't mean that they need to go out. And Mom has waited till I have shampoo on my head before yelling that she needs me right now.

All of that said, however, I don't want to say that I'm suffering or anything. Most of my day consists of sitting on the computer, waiting for her to call. (Which she does, frequently. Often for reasons such as her desire to inform me that there's a commercial on TV that has a dog in it.)

IMO, the only options I see, however, are for me to stay with her 24x7, or to initiate steps to have her involuntarily committed to a nursing home. I'm absolutely certain that doing so will be a devastating blow to her, and my gut feeling is that doing so would likely cause her death from one cause or another within a few months.

So, given the alternative, sitting around the house, chatting on ES, and cleaning up her dirty clothes doesn't seem so bad.

(Actually, what's really hard on me is watching her mind decay. She seems just fine, most of the time. But recently, for example, I was working on her taxes. Needed to call the IRS. IRS needed her to get on the phone and give permission for me to discuss her taxes. As part of the verification the IRS guy had to ask her questions to get her to prove her identity. I had to tell Mom what her birthday and her address (where she's lived for 15 years). In another case recently, I needed to get the title for Mom's car that's been sitting unused for the last three years, so I could sell it. The clerk needed to see Mom sign the paperwork. We take the paperwork out to the car where Mom is sitting, and tell her to sign here. She begins printing. I tell her she needs to sign. She signs her first name. I tell her she needs to sign her last name, too. She asks me what it is.)

Those things hurt.

-----

Net result: The likely way things are going to work out in Larry's life for the short term are:

I'm taking care of Mom until I can't take care of her any more. (Estimate a year or two.) During that time, I can to things like buy books and study them, but that's about it. (For example, I can't even take a test on the internet, if the test is timed, because I can't be certain that I won't get interrupted in the middle of a test to take care of Mom for the next 2 hours.)

When Mom goes to a nursing home, then my time becomes a lot more open. I can get a job or go to school. However, for financial reasons, I pretty much have to stay here in Mom and Dad's house. (Dad is in a nursing home now.) (My parents have been refusing my advice over the last 10 years to see an estate planner. The house is pretty much the only part of my parents once-million-dollar estate that the nursing homes won't get. But, they only don't get the house if the house sits there until they both die. If the house gets sold, the nursing home gets the money. If it gets rented, they get the rent money. But if it's neither sold nor rented, then I'm allowed to live in it,rent free, as caretaker. And when they both die, then the house is their estate. Therefore, I'm pretty much attached to Gainesville until they both die. I estimate a couple of years.)

Then, I'm a free Man. I'll be age 55 or so. Unemployed for the last few years. My most recent job will be repairing computers, for $22K/ear, for the previous 10 years. I'll have 10 years (15 if I find a job that I can work till age 70) to get myself set up for retirement.

(That's why a job that pays better is better than a job I like. If it were up to what I'd like, I'd probably get a job parking cars at Disney, where I can work surrounded by happy families. But I need the money.)

[GoSkins561]

Larry,

Thanks for sharing, I am familiar with your situation watching my Mom take care of my Dad who has Alzhiemers. For the most part, he is a pretty happy guy and I love him to death, but the dude is a pain in the butt. There is nothing like answering the same question 45 times in an hour, right? Some times I feel like putting him in a head lock and giving him a noogie. As far as hygiene, he is absolutely horrible, when I am watching him, I make him wash his hands 2x after he goes to the bathroom. The only way to stay sane is to give him a note that lists everything about his day including what we are having for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

With that being said, my sisters and I have noticed my Dad starting to wear my Mom out, so we started looking into Adult Day Care. I can't imagine taking care of your mom in all of the ways that you do, you might want to consider some alternatives at least a couple of days a week. You probably already know all this but, there are companies out there, where nurses will come in, help take care of things around the house, and take care of your mother(baths, cleanign her head to toe etc.), it really isn't that expensive if you could do it a couple of days a week. There is also the option of taking her to a center for the day, from what I have heard, some of them are really not that bad. If you could find some help 1. you could get away and get some much needed time to yourself 2. you could start taking classes now to prepare for your future, just a thought.

[Larry]

Already been pointed out.

No way in Dallas Mom would allow anybody else. After we had a leaky roof due to some hurricane damage, it took me 2 years to manage to get her to allow me to have the leaky roof fixed, because every contractor who came out to look at the roof, she found something unacceptable about them.

(Looking forward to the day I inherit this house, and get a mold report.)

[brandymac27]

You probably already know all this but, there are companies out there, where nurses will come in, help take care of things around the house, and take care of your mother(baths, cleanign her head to toe etc.), it really isn't that expensive if you could do it a couple of days a week. There is also the option of taking her to a center for the day, from what I have heard, some of them are really not that bad. If you could find some help 1. you could get away and get some much needed time to yourself 2. you could start taking classes now to prepare for your future, just a thought.

Just to add, there are a lot of companies that send home health aids or home nurses assistants that do that and are pretty affordable. A lot of companies here in NC even take medicaid/medicare so there is little to no out of pocket expense.

I really commend Larry for what he is doing, but everybody needs a break. Larry, If you did something like this, your mom could avoid a nursing home and you could have some time for yourself.

[brandymac27]

Already been pointed out.

No way in Dallas Mom would allow anybody else. After we had a leaky roof due to some hurricane damage, it took me 2 years to manage to get her to allow me to have the leaky roof fixed, because every contractor who came out to look at the roof, she found something unacceptable about them.

(Looking forward to the day I inherit this house, and get a mold report.)

This might sound harsh, but what if you don't give her an option? Tell her you need some time for yourself, and it will only be for a few hours a day. Tell her it's either that or your sending her to the Home lol !

[LaxBuddy21]

I work with a lot of RN's. I coordinate multi-center clinical research trials so I talk with them on a regular basis at hospitals all around the country. It really is a tough job that is both physically and mentally draining. Many of them would prefer my job. That being said, my job is something you could do with an RN. You could be a clinical research coordinator working for either a separate organization or you could do something like that inside a hospital if they are a research hospital. Having the computer background really might help you in that area. I know it would with my company because we design our own software and such for clinical trials research. Just some options you might want to consider.

[ldysknzfn1]

If you don't think nursing would be a good fit..don't waste your time w/it. It's not a job for everyone and if you don't like nursing you won't be a good nurse no matter how well you do the "nursing" part of your job. It's not just the medical part of the job, you have to have the compassion part as well (at least that's the way I feel about it). We have lots of folks who are in nursing for the money and believe me it shows.

You have to have patience, compassion and a rather sick sense of humor..(nurses here will know what I mean by that statement.....)

*edit..In all fairness, I'm not a nurse, I am an Xray tech...but I was a hospital corpsman when I was in the Navy so I know how to do (and more often know more than the RN) nursing duties.

[jbooma]

Larry,

We need a lot of RN's so there is nothing wrong with becoming one. Regarding your mom do you have anyone helping you like a home health aid?? Depending on the disability and insurance you could qualify for certain medicare/medicaid programs that can give you the help you need. Even if you get a CNA to assist once in a while it will mean a lot to your mom as well as yourself.

Good Luck!!!!

[GoSkins561]

This might sound harsh, but what if you don't give her an option? Tell her you need some time for yourself, and it will only be for a few hours a day. Tell her it's either that or your sending her to the Home lol !

I agree with Brandy on this one, my Dad can be very rude to people he doesn't want baby sitting him, he doesn't have another option. We had to make a decision to 1. let my dad kill my Mom or 2. Get help. I am not saying your Mom is going to kill you, spending 24 hours a day with her isn't going to help you either. I know it's a tough decision that she will probably hate, at some point sooner or later you should probably start to think about yourself.