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3/4/2012
Location
OH
US
How many of you in your lifetime have switched careers. Just up and said fuck it, I can't do this anymore. I have no idea why I even thought I wanted to do this...etc. I thnk i'm to that point. But really don't know what else I want to do. That doesn't help.
Anybody out there have a specialized degree and just left it? Once you have a degree its hard to swallow just abandoning it.
Anybody out there have a specialized degree and just left it? Once you have a degree its hard to swallow just abandoning it.
The nice thing about welding is there are different types( Aerospace, Pipe, Structural,ect) and that's what always brings me back to it.
I'm currently on a break from it. My last job got to mundane and i said fuck it but now I'm looking for a new welding job.
Hope this helps.
I still dip back into the design / web world from time to time as it's hard to leave it completely behind (I still love designing) but I was getting pretty depressed dealing with shitty clients and feeling like I'd never break out and do what I'm really passionate about. Funny enough, I stepped back into the design / web world and redid the vitalmedianet.com site a couple months ago.
To me there is "working for someone else" or "working for yourself"... If I ever make a career change it has got to be starting my own business.
As long as I am working for someone else I don't really care what I am doing within reason and as long as I am being paid reasonably well.
The Shop
But about 2 months ago I did tell my company to F it, and returned to the thing I love the best. A bit scary of a jump at first, but my stress level has diminished greatly and I get to live in an absolutely fantastic place.
As of my 3 year old self my ultimate dream and goal was and still is, is to work and live in USA (Texas:whistle
If i did not found my wife that soon at age 16 i would probably already be there and probably be married to an American.
So being in a relationship with 3 kids make's the dream only harder but i'm not ready to give up on it
I graduate in May. I'm in 3 classes now and have one class left in the spring. My degree is in CIS. I currently hold a non IT/IS position at work and am on the fence if I want to pursue an IT job. Problem is, like you, I have no clue what I really want to do. Like it's been mentioned, I want to work for myself, but it's difficult to take that leap when there's so much doubt in your mind.
I spend so much of my day propping people up, and trying to boost morale that I come home miserable and irritated. And my fiancé (and vital too) only gets the negative side of me. The job just sucks the soul out of me. But my patients and families don't know it. I work in a death factory. You come to me in dire need and we either save your life. Or you die. It's a factory of death and sadness. However nationwide study proved the specific unit I work in had a 55% recovery rate vs most others having a 55-60% mortality rate. So I see death constantly. And I'm getting to point where I don't want to see it anymore.
Ontop of Govt regulation makes my job more difficult. Because we are mandated to do things day after day. That inhibit patient care. We are constantly pulled to a damn computer to chart monotonous things. All in the name of reimbursement.
Families are overbearing. (Rightfully so, the people I take care of extremely sick. So I understand if they ask alotnof questions and demand things) however at some point you have to let the caregivers do their job.
We are constantly being pressed for more education. More advanced degrees. Now in theory this is wonderful, more educated personnel will produce better patient outcomes. WRONG. College is a scam. We spend the time doing worthless schoolwork that does not help us do our job. So from producing death day in and day out, AND wasting 20-40 hours a week on worthless collegiate job prep. I'm getting burned out.
"Just keep at it. It'll pay off they said." It's not paying off. Student loans draw interest daily. And it compounds. You can't pay the crippling debt while in school or working because tuition is out of control. There are days I've figured out that about $6 an hour is what I get to put in my pocket after all bills, mortgage, tuition payments, and supplies.
So that's why I'm ready to say fuck it all. All these nurses that have 64 initials behind their name never practiced at the bedside, well most of them, they practice theory in a book. And you won't be looked at for a promotion unless you have a ton of initials.
Example: this just happened but names are different:
Linda RN for 42 years is an assistant nurse manager. Because she doesn't have a bachelor degree she was forced to go back to the bedside and replaced by Mary a 24 year old new nurse fresh out of school with a masters degree that DOESNT KNOW SHIT ABOUT MANAGING an intensive care unit. Linda the loyal RN is getting flushed down the toilet in the name of MAGNET status which is directly connected to reimbursement. So even though the MSN nurse sucks at her job, the hospital gets more reimbursement because of her initials. Not because of her accomplishments of skill. We are fucked. Because that's the type of mentality that is taking over. And I'm sick of it.
Healthcare is imploding itself. The idea of higher education to produce better outcomes is actually doing the exact opposite because skilled personnel are not allowed to stay in their job because hey don't have he initials after there name. If you spend 10-15 years in school how the hell can you take a job of a hands on nurse that knows how the hospital in the real world works?!?! WHY WILL NOBODY FIX THIS? Because it's a female dominated profession and they won't stand up for themselves and speak up. Majority of nurses sit down. Shut up. Do what they're told and are afraid to say anything because "they don't want to get in trouble." What are we toddlers? Nurses are their own demise. They'll never work to fix the problems they'll only bitch about it In a break room. Nurses don't even have a seat at the table to fix the problems. This is just scratching the surface. again, burned out. If I woke up 19 again I would of stayed at UPS and told college to shove it.
My first job interview went like this:
Interviewer: "I see you only have an associates degree, you'll need a bachelors within 5 years or you will be let go."
Me:"that seems reasonable, is there a pay difference for bachelor prepared nurses vs associate prepared nurses?"
Interviewer: "oh haha, no. It's the same. Really I wish I could pay more for BSN but it just isn't feasible"
Me: being 50k in debt and loan payments becoming due: "well, OK. I'll commit to getting my bachelors in 5 years"
Hospitals need BSN nurses to maintain MAGNET status which means more reimbursement for the hospital.
I got into the profession for the right reasons but after 6 years of getting screwed (and it got exponentially worse after obamacare) I'm just over it. Ready to withdraw from NP school and give my job 2 months notice so they're not screwed more on losing an experienced staff member.
The government isn't helping with more regulation. It's adding fuel to the implode-fire. If we go to a single payer I'm fearful the govt will say "oh your an Np you're worth 45,000 a year.And that's what we are gonna pay you." If that happens there won't be a table to sit at. And my 80k student loans will still be due each month. Call me paranoid but the road we are going down is bad. Don't turn this into a political thread, it'll get clipped. I just saying the combination of hundreds upon thousands of issues are finally starting to make the water muddy especially in my profession.
In regards to your question, could you find yourself in the position to travel abroad and bring your expertise to areas that would be grateful for it?
One small fish can't change the government. But it's funny that the same problems in nursing are worldwide as the Belgian described his wife complaining of the same problems.
I think I could cut the operating cost of the hospital just through nursing positions so much so that it would off set the magnet reimbursements so they wouldn't care about getting magnet status. The savings on operating cost would nullify the reimbursements. But anything I would suggest you wouldn't see the progress for atleast 3-5 years and we all live in a quarterly world economy.
LIcensed practical nurses, registered nurses, bachelor prepare registered nurses, masters prepared nurses all have their place in nursing. But all hospitals want to do is recruit masters. Sorry not everyone wants a masters degree and those that get them miss alotnof bedside experience that turns into cost savings over the long term. DNP doctorate prepared nurses are being pushed for now as well, except nobody know what to do with them. The colleges can't figure out where they would fall into place, but if they can write up a 30 credit hour syllabus that sucks another 30-50,000 out of the student what do they care how a DNP should be used ?! Now how can you get a quality usable education IF THE COLLEGE HAS NO IDEA HOW THEY ARE TO BE USED IN THE REAL WORLD? You get a shitty, poor college, poor quality education that isn't transferable to the real world. So all it does is set the student/worker back as many years as it took to be poorly educated.
The problem is multi faceted. You shouldn't be in a suit in upper management if you've never experience the cuts and bullshit at the bedside.
Pit Row
after a quick check true some job sites it seems that you earn a lot more in usa and have seen signing bonuses up to 5000$
You sound liked you need a change. Even when I just worked as a CNA I got burnt out with all my health care jobs within the first 6 months. You have to mix it up. Is there any chance that you could do travel nursing? It solved all of my problems. I hated my last job. It's more money, less involvement in the day to day BS with the management team. You can even travel locally if you can use a mailing address that isn't local.
I totally agree with you thoughts on higher education. Most education is a scam. I started working on my bachelor's degree and then stopped as soon as I didn't qualify for the Pell Grant. I'm not going to pay 6 grand per semester to do group activities and a bunch of other bull shit just to get a piece of paper that will not get me a raise.
My wife got her NP and isn't using it at all. You can make more money with the degree if you want to practice as an NP, but so many nurses just end up comfortable with their bed side job and don't use it. That rumor that nurses would have to have their doctorate by 2015 to be an NP was definitely a scam. This rumor just created so many more health care providers in America, which honestly is exactly what we need.
Another thing is I have a straight DAY position. Which is practically unheard of. It took me 3 years of feeling like a zombie swing shifting to get a days spot. Well I got it. Its like the longer you stay somewhere the more you're stuck there. I don't want to add additional stress going to school. But there are days where I'm like, I don't want any of this. I dont want the job, I dont want the schooling.....I don't even know what the future holds in the profession. Nothing is guaranteed. I don't know what to do.
I can't believe your wife isn't using her NP....if she has it, USE it....it would be roughly doubling her income....
I just know i'm 30 years old. If i'm about to change my career I feel like the sooner the better. Either stick to it, and may of 2018 I graduate.
I've even applied at like 5 different factories. Sounds crazy, but I have plenty of friends who are working local factory job with no student income debt. No major degrees, and aren't being hounded to get these degrees and are being promoted to management levels. If they produce, they get paid, plus production bonuses etc. No matter how much I produce where i'm at now, i'll always get paid the same.
I think I need to find a company that wants to hire a nurse to provide all in-house screenings, injury/accident prevention and follow ups...things like that. Then maybe I wouldn't be surrounded by so much death and the government wouldn't be as in control as it is now in the hospital systems.
You're definitely right though. You probably shouldn't switch jobs in the middle of NP School. I graduated right before my wife started her last year of NP School, and it worked out really good because I could take care of more bills while she needed time off to focus on her school. How much longer do you have? An ICU NP could be a good gig. You could basically operate as an intensivist in a rural area, or just cover nights and spend a lot of time sleeping while everyone else does the real work!
My wife is doing pretty good working per diem in CA. She's actually working a strike currently and is making more money than I would have ever imagined. Nursing can be fun, exciting, and lucrative. You control how crazy you want it to be. But I would definitely travel of you don't have any kids. The tax breaks are ridiculous. ER and ICU definitely have the most travel opportunities too. It could really help you put a dent in your debt. I'm about to pay off my credit cards after my first 16 week contract.
People will always need nurses to guide them to their final destination, my current hospital is just propped up with govt money.They actually closed down for a brief period, but re opened some how. Nobody pays their bill. We need to govt for money, but they also need us to take care of all their deplorables.
"We need to govt for money, but they also need us to take care of all their deplorables."
I know I just need to suck it up, and finish. In a time where nobody can find work, I dont have a hard time finding it at all, so I can be thankful for that.
I was exposed first hand to that this past summer as an intern. While I knew very little about working in the field, many of the workers that were "below me" did not respect me and never really gave me a chance to learn from them and gain valuable knowledge.
I know that work ethic is not a teachable trait but it is pretty shitty when more experienced people aren't willing to teach said college students because we supposedly think we are better than them. I guess a few bad eggs ruin it for the rest of us.
I'm in the process of getting my Hawaii license. It's going to be a three month paid "vacation." You need to do it before you pop out some kids. You have the perfect career if you want to travel. You might as well do it! Your current job will always be there to come back to.
And this is why they don't respect college kids. Because most college kids come out of college, treating people without a degree in any field as "beneath" them. Now I'm not saying you're like that, but you did say workers that were "below you" did not respect you.
Problem 1: Colleges teach kids that they should be respected because they're getting a degree.
-WRONG. They should be teaching to get respect you must EARN it.
Problem 2: Kids come out of college thinking anyone without a degree is "beneath them."
-WRONG. Colleges should be teaching kids that nobody is beneath anyone.
The people that wipe up the countertops, sterilize the operating rooms, clean my floors in patient rooms and sanitize the medical equipment are just as important as I am when involved with treating septic shock. In the work place, nobody is beneath anyone. You're all there to do a specific job, and without eachother the job doesn't get done.
Common in nursing, a fresh out of school Registered Nurse thinks a 20 year experienced LPN is below him/her. That LPN isn't below anyone, and could probably run circles around any new grad RN/BSN or MSN/DNP prepared nurse at the bedside.
That's a problem I wish the schools would fix. All the harping about fairness, but somehow promoting an atmosphere of everyone is beneath anyone that doesn't have a degree.
I'm not trying to offend you david, or calling you out. I don't blame you for that level of thinking because we are products of our environment, and colleges at the present time are poor environments teaching all the wrong things, and charging an obscene amount of money to do it. David if you go into any situation with the attitude that everyone is on an even level, and nobody is beneath you it will get noticed and you will earn a lot of respect in a very short amount of time, and your co-workers will go out of their way to help you. Co-workers can also go out of their way to make your life miserable, and that seems what was happening at your internship--probably (not because of you personally) because of previous snotty nosed interns that thought everyone was beneath them. We are products of our environment, cant blame the workers for snubbing you....because they've been snubbed and snubbed and snubbed by an intern every summer, and will be replaced by a dozen more each following summer. Does that make sense or am I crazy? But you're right, yes, a few bad eggs ruin it for the rest of us unfortunately.
I know that you are not making personal attacks on me but I agree with you that higher education is getting a bad stigma. I think part of the problem is that many of my classmates have never had a job before and they really don't know what it is like out in the real world. They should just be fed everything to them. I see it everyday that kids gripe and complain about receiving bad test scores when they never come to class that mommy and daddy is paying for!
I don't want to get too far off topic of your original post, but I'm not sure if you should have to pick a career at 18/19 years old. I went into engineering knowing very little about it and at this stage I am too committed to back out. My parents and I have thousands of dollars invested into it, so if I don't enjoy it I will have to deal with it. Fortunately I do.
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