Hey, you! Yes, you! The nurse who is thinking that he/she might like to get that advanced degree and becoming a nurse practitioner or a nurse-midwife. What are you waiting for? Get on the ball! You can do this. Seriously. If I can do this whole graduate school degree thing, then you can do.
So you're a parent-wife-husband-grandparent-fulltime worker-parttime worker-not currently working? Yeah, you. You can definitely fit an advanced nursing degree into your life.
This is definitely the wave of the future for nursing. More and more hospitals are requiring higher education degrees (BSN or MSN) to work as a floor RN. Why not work on advancing your degree before it is a requirement for your job?
You can thank me later ;-)
Sincerely,
Me
14 comments:
if only it was free...i am still trying to pay off my RN loan..ugh
i love this. i was apprehensive to make the commitment but now i'm so glad i did.
Having just spent the first week in 30 years on the "wrong side of the bed" [having a total hip replacement; last admission was for elective C/S in 1983], I can tell you that nursing has changed in ways I don't really like because nurses are now too removed from bedside nursing by their degrees. [And I'm a CNM!] I don't think nurses ought to be proud when a fresh post-op and immobile patient isn't offered a toothbrush or the opportunity for a wash in three days, but is conscientously required to reply to questions about pain level while the meal tray is left out of reach. Bed linens aren't changed but vital signs are charted q.4h around the clock and patient documentation is extremely scrupulous. The only real nursing care is done by auxiliaries, it seems, nowadays. I'm saddened to write this. Yes, my hip is healing as it should; but I was left in tangled, sweaty linens, unfed, with a mouth like a desert, and a smelly desert at that, while the nurses played with various technological devices connected to me [they were very good at that]. When my daughter went to the nurses' station and told the staff there that her mother needed some basic care, she was told that when the nurses' aide in room X was finished there, they would send her to me. That wasn't the kind of nursing I learned back in the 1960s.
I'm a great believer in advanced education for nurses, as long as nurses don't forget the basics of nursing [I was, btw, at one of Israel's premier teaching hospitals]
AYC: You are a gem! You are one of my inspirations for doing exactly what you have suggested. I have six kids, too (all girls - what a motivator for becoming a CNM!). I have a ways to go - finish pre-reqs for nursing school, get into nursing school, get a job as a L & D nurse, do a community nursing pre-req, and then apply for my MSN in Nurse-Midwifery. It should take me about 8 years! So, I'm one busy mama and CNM-to-be!
My goal was to be a CNM by age 40. I'm cutting super close, but I'm doing it. You can do it too LauraT!!
I also look at it this way: I'm getting older, no matter what. Either I can be older and be a nurse, or just be older. That got me through nursing school. Then I said, I can be older and be a midwife. Or I can just be older. So, I'm still working on it, but I'm almost there!
I hope to become a CNM one day... trouble is I have three kids four and under. They need their mom!! At least for now.
I agree with you, Mama Ve. These years with your little ones will be priceless training for your future career. I have found that to be true at least. My youngest one will be starting kindergarten when I start nursing school. The timing was right and I have so many years of great, character-building memories with my kids.
I have followed your blog for years and have been motivated by your choice to pursue your CNM. I am almost finished with my 1st year of my MSN and I read this post after submitting my online pathophysiology assignment this morning. I always say that time will go by regardless.....I may as well do something as time marches on. I have been an RN for 17 years and it took me several years to finally have the courage to start classes and I love it. I was an L and D RN for 13 years and I do wish that I had spent more of my time experiencing other patient populations other than OB, especially as I have struggled with pathophysiology this semester. Learning feels good to this 43 year old mother of 3 daughters....15, 13 and 8 and a busy hubby. But, we are making it work. I love to tell people that it is going to take a village to get me through this and I am so touched by the number of people that are supporters of my MSN degree pursuit and members of my "village"....Thanks for a great post!
Also, to AYC and Anonymous: I find many women are comforted by the older, more experienced female caregiver. Those of us who have had children and have lived some years of life have a perspective that younger women don't have and most value from a caregiver - or so we hope!
Oh - I am well on my way! My first degree was in El Education in 2001. Then I completed my post-bacc nursing degree in Dec 2007 all while working FT in a management position and birthing my first baby in 2006. My goal as well was CNM by 40! I am now 32 and I will likely be applying to Frontier within the next year! I have my pre-req stats class this summer and then I am ready to apply whenever! My husband is supportive and I might actually meet this goal by 36! Oh, and I still plan on working - but at least I've done this school/working gig before. I am a little scared - it's been awhile and I've got 2 kids 3 & 5 years old, but I'm still so excited to finally be so close.
You're part of my inspiration for returning to school. I'm a mom with three kids less than three years apart in age (3.5 y/o, 2.5 y/o, and a 10 m/o). I just started an entry-level MSN program in January. I won't be an APN when I graduate, but it's a stepping stone. I plan on getting my DNP in CNM as soon as I get some experience under my belt. I was already (unofficially) offered a place practicing with one of my favorite CNMs in the area, and she's offered to write me a recommendation for the local DNP program. I'm so excited I can barely stand it. It's so many years away right now that I have to keep reminding myself to focus only on the current.
-Danielle
Antigonos CNM: I totally agree. Bathed, fed and cared for is way better than having scrupulous charts some days.
ATC:
BTW I didn't even become a nurse until I was nearly 40, and I'll have my master's just before I turn 45.
I can't wait!
I'm working on it! My goal was also to be a CNM by 40. I just turned 30 and am now 3 years from my RN.
I'm not an RN, and because of that have been wondering a little about the CM degree. Do you have any thoughts on that pathway to midwifery?
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