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Intro
Jul 8, 2008 15:06:14 GMT -5
Post by chayan on Jul 8, 2008 15:06:14 GMT -5
Hello Rivka and thank you for inviting me to join this board.
Now for my intro: I am not actually a nurse and I'm not even in nursing school. A few years ago I realized that I needed to do something besides teach/freelance writing to bring in some income, and nursing seemed to be the best choice. It is a field that is growing, has openings (supposedly) and you can work around your hours because you have 24/7 to choose from. Another plus is that it's a career that is worthwhile and meaningful.
Anyway, I decided that I wanted a BSN, and my best option at the time seemed to be to earn an online degree and then apply to a BA-BSN accelerated program such as Downstate. At this point I am one semester and one required course away from my bachelor's, at which point I plan to apply to Downstate. However, now that I have the bachelor's I am not quite so sure I want to go into nursing, and I want to explore the other options available to me. So, maybe I will be a nurse or... maybe not!
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Intro
Jul 8, 2008 15:50:23 GMT -5
Post by chayan on Jul 8, 2008 15:50:23 GMT -5
After reading the threads on this board I am realizing that nursing is no picnic if you're frum... Shabbos, Yom Tov, tznius etc, not to mention taking care of your own family.
Thing is, I already put a lot of time and effort into preparing for nursing school. I have all the pre-reqs done except one.
Where to go from here? I have very good grades and GRE scores, and soon-to-be BS in Psychology. Any ideas for what else I can do? Grad school in psychology is an option but it will take a long time to finish.
Oh and I'm 34 and I have 6 children.
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Intro
Jul 9, 2008 5:26:11 GMT -5
Post by Rivka P on Jul 9, 2008 5:26:11 GMT -5
First I would like to mention, that if you want to read more first-hand accounts from nurses, check out allnurses.com. They have a whole bunch of forums with different foci, special forums pertaining to your specific geographical area etc.
I also want to say that you are correct in saying that nursing is flexible in terms of scheduling, despite our complaints about shabbos. You say you have 6 children so you may only want to work part time anyway. If you are part time, you should have no problems with shabbos at all. It's just us young nurses who haven't another care in the world who are working full time who are having some difficulty with scheduling. (I think)
An accelerated program for a BSN in nursing may take as short as 13 months, so I would say to look into it. As you mentioned, graduate degrees in Psych. would take longer. Also, can you practice with a masters in Psychology? My father found it was quite difficult, but that was a number of years ago.
Good Luck!
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Intro
Jul 9, 2008 8:24:32 GMT -5
Post by chayan on Jul 9, 2008 8:24:32 GMT -5
I've been a member of allnurses for 2.5 years, and there is a lot of helpful information there. However I don't like to post about specifically Jewish related issues since there tends to be a lot of misunderstanding (as the Shabbos thread testifies!)
I don't plan on spending the time, energy and money on earning a nursing degree to work part time. A part time job simply will not bring in the income that I need. So I will have to work full time, probably at night so I can be with my kids. If I work 3 shifts per week that will still leave me 4 full days with my kids. I don't know what the rules are like at hospitals about how many shifts you must work per week or which ones.
There isn't much you can do with a master's in Psych. A PhD is more helpful but obviously a lot more time and work will go into it.
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chanab
Junior Member
Posts: 64
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Intro
Jul 12, 2008 22:21:49 GMT -5
Post by chanab on Jul 12, 2008 22:21:49 GMT -5
Most hospitals have the option to work 3 12 hour shifts a week to put yourself at full-time. Another option I strongly recommend for people with kids is home-care. Some areas require one year of med-surg experience, others will hire you right out of school. My mother worked in home care for 10 years when my sibs and I were younger, and she was able to do the getting ready for school routines, carpool, afternoon errands, etc with us. She would just schedule her pts around when she had to be doing something with us. Granted it had its shortcomings, she would ofetn stop by school, peek in the classroom windows and then point out that we were sleeping in class to the teacher... but overall, home care was a really good option for her as a single mom with 4 kids. And I'd tell you that if you can do the nursing part in 18 months or less -go for it! You will be bringing in good money and have good job security with a nursing degree. Now as to how far that will go with 6 kids.... Also if you're looking for inspiration, my sister just went back to school for her LPN, possibly RN depending on which program she gets into first, and she has 4 kids, the youngest of whom is only 7 months. It can be difficult. But once you get past the schooling, you'll have more flexibility with your hours.
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Intro
Jul 12, 2008 22:44:13 GMT -5
Post by chayan on Jul 12, 2008 22:44:13 GMT -5
Thanks for the encouragement Chana! As it stands I'm sort of confused about what my next step is. At this point I'm just doing whatever I need to apply for nursing school and then we'll take it from there...
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