Thinking about going back to school

lonely

Mon, Jul 09 2018, 3:44 pm

HI.

I am a mother of 2 beautiful children BH and just about a few weeks ago I got my GET!.. its been a long time of separation and I couldn't be more happier... BH its in my past! Now I am trying to rebuild my home and life.. I think I am doing a great job with my kids and need to get myself financially stable.

I work in a doctors office and like the setting very much.. I am thinking about going to school for nursing RN. I just don't know if I should invest all my time and energy into something so long and tedious.. school is very long about 4 yrs and its a huge commitment. basically if I commit 2 days at work and 2 days in school I will have a huge truckload of work and responsibilities... I just don't think its possible..any input or suggestions?

Thanks!

amother

Khaki

Mon, Jul 09 2018, 4:03 pm

lonely wrote:

Don’t do nursing school if you think it will be tedious.

elisheva25

Mon, Jul 09 2018, 5:24 pm

First of all Mazel Tov on getting your Get.
As far as career choice my advice Don’t do it ... I’ve been there. Years ago when I was single, I worked in a medical office and absolutely loved it. So I thought hey let me go to nursing school . I was young and didn’t really think it through. Being a medical assistant, is quiet different than being a nurse and taking care of really sick people in the hospital. Academically nursing school is absolute brutal. The schooling plus clinicals takes over your life . But I was single and I had nothing else to do, so I stuck it out . I became an RN. In those days, you needed just an Associate degree. Half way through nursing school, I knew it wasn’t for me. The physical work @ the hospitals combined with it being gross sorry I knew it wasn’t for me . I never worked a day at a hospital. Now there are out of the box type of jobs you can do with a nursing degree , but it’s not worth it to spend 4 years in school for. What is slightly worth it, and what many of my classmates did is go on and became Nurse Practioners. The NP job is a much cleaner job. In retrospect, what I should of done, is gone to PA school. It’s not such intense schooling as medical school, you can def be in and out in 4 years. The hospital work is cleaner. It’s overall a good profession for a frum woman. There is a need. Salary is great. Many outpatient offices need PA’s. Many offer flexible hours . It’s possible to work part time while both in PA school and nursing school. I am not sure how you can pull it off, being a single mother . But I suppose it’s doable. But again if you are already going to make such a length, go to PA school instead .

amother

Rose

Mon, Jul 09 2018, 6:13 pm

I became an RN BSN in a yr in an accelerated nursing program. You can become an RN with an associate's degree in two years. It was doable and although it's a science heavy feild aka not like a social work degree we basically all made it through the program. The demand for nursing is high. The pay is good. Starting @ 60k ( tri-state area is more like 75k) and always able to pick up hours and make time and a half if need. Yes you deal with poop and pee. Depending on the floor your dealing with it more or less. Vomit mucus and wounds also come up although much less frequent. Again depends on floor. The opportunities are endless with nursing, you can go Labor and delivery, postpartum, pediatrics, cardiac, post surgical, geriatrics, forensic, mental health, Becoming an NP is also a great option once you have a better idea of your strengths and what you enjoy. Mental health NPs are in demand and can take you away from the bedside and into a more psychologist/psychi atrist role. Nurse Midwife is also cool and you can see pts in an office. Basically it's a very interesting field but it's a lot of work and you have to be ready to work hard.

lonely

Mon, Jul 09 2018, 6:35 pm

Thank u so much for ur input I really appreciate it...I will look into PA school maybe thats a good option..but I am stuck on the gender roles..its like a mind setting thing, that women should be caretakers not prescribers..I don't know how comfortable I feel in being a so called Doctor..it might be in box limited thinking but its way out of the box from what I grew up with...here women are homemakers not career woman. But of course I don't fit in exactly but I still need to find myself after divorce...I'm confused.. but exicted for my renewed life...I feel like I was born again. But I need direction. Thanks in advance!

elisheva25

Mon, Jul 09 2018, 6:51 pm

lonely wrote:

That’s really not true . There are many PA women, many many frum once as well. And I’ll say it again, it’s a much cleaner flexible job.

amother

Rose

Mon, Jul 09 2018, 7:12 pm

PAs are not at the bedside so yes it's 'cleaner'. NP is very similar to PA but you come in with the experience of being an RN and being at the bedside. My experience in the hospital has shown me that PAs and NPs are not very respected kind of like the babysitter doctors which is shame. Perhaps not so in an office. PA school is very competitive to get into and usually much more expensive. It requires a bachelors and a masters so usually takes about 5 years. Schooling is harder than nursing school obviously. Most bachelor RN programs are 3 years. If you go the associates route it is two years in a community college can be as cheap as about 10-15k total. I don't think you can a job with just an associates in the tri-state area anymore.

amother

Blush

Mon, Jul 09 2018, 7:20 pm

I work with a lot of medical professionals and I agree that being an NP or a PA is great in that the pay is better, and there are great opportunities for helping sick people - 90% of what we go to the doctor for can be dealt with by an NP or a PA. If it were me, I'd look into those. (You do need to become an RN on the way to becoming a PA).

I don't get what you are saying about the gender roles - we must come from very different communities.

It's a big investment in time, but I encourage you to continue your education. Talk to people who are RNs, NPs, and PA s, and learn more about their different jobs, what kind of schooling is required, and think about what appeals to you.

amother

Seafoam

Tue, Jul 10 2018, 11:53 am

lonely wrote:

My husband is currently in PA school and while yes it is a good job and is much shorter than medical school, it is extremely instense and there is no way you can hold a job at the same time, and you will need to have full day childcare - the first year, the 'didactic year' he was out if the house at 6am every day, came home at about 630pm, and then studied for around 4 hours a day. He recently started rotations and now will have a different schedule every 5 weeks, and be in a different location, with a strong possible of being placed in other states that are 7-8 hour drives away from home so he may not even be able to come home for shabbos if he gets placed there. Maybe some schools are different, but he is in a school that was ranked quite well on the PA school charts, and the staff has absolutely no regard for your personal life or issues, they tell you from the outset that they 'own you', and you have to just go along with whatever they spring on you, and wherever they place you.
I don't think it's the most practical schooling route for a single mom if your kids are young and need your care.... I can't possibly imagine how it would be possible to juggle and manage. Maybe if you have an exceptionally amazing memory and don't need to spend time studying then you'll have some night hours available, but it's still a long school day every day, and you still will get stuck with rotations at bad hours and locations, overnight shifts etc.

elisheva25

Tue, Jul 10 2018, 11:54 am

amother wrote:

You don’t need to be RN to apply to PA school.
You can take prerequisites at any college for 2 yrs and than apply