Is Nursing Really Family Friendly?

It really depends on the nursing setting. Working in a nursing home is a lot different than working in an ER. In my experience, there are a lot of call offs in nursing and therefore you will be asked to fill in on a frequent/regular basis. Also, full time first shift nursing jobs are in high demand. Everyone wants first shift...not everyone can have it. A lot of positions are 'part time' (but really are closer to a full 40 hours per week) so that you do not qualify for benefits (if the health reforms are not overturned you should be able to get health insurance but don't necessarily plan on paid vacation). Nursing is stressful and, again depending on the setting, physically strenuous. Also, a lot of nurses I personally know are gossipy, catty, overly dramatic, competitive and just plain mean.

Good luck.

It depends on your training and the demand for that training. I work for a group of anesthesiologists. These nurses are in high demand as such there are a variety of shift choices they can take. Some work three 12s so they can spend the rest of the week with their kids, some four 10s, some the usual 8s. Others are part time with or without benefits.

I guess I am saying they can create just about any schedule they want so long as there is a need for the time they can work.

My bff is an RN. I have looked into the schooling a few times and done a little research. Here, we have two routes. A strenuous nursing program at the community college. It is really hands on, lots of clinical hours, very competitive, hard to get into, and produces highly sought after, highly paid nurses. But the program is HARD and hard to get into. Nurses coming out of this program have an associates in nursing and are snatched up to work in ORs and ERs. Long hours, shift owrk, overnights, weekends, but high pay.

The other route is the University program. They'll take anybody with $ in hand. It's a more classroom oriented program. Lots more book work than hands on. It's more like college and less like a vocational program. The nurses that graduate have a Bachelors Degree in Nursing and end up in 9-5 nursing administration jobs. They dont pay as well, but you have a m-f 9 to 5 schedule.

For me, I would go the admin route. More manageable schedule wise both in school and after graduation. But, you don't get the hands on helping satisfaction. Of course these are just my local observations. It may be differant where you are.

I don't know if it's any different in CA, but in Illinois, it's VERY difficult to get into a Physician's Assistant program. Most require you to have previous experience in the medical field, and it's a very strenuous and time consuming program.

And as far as nursing, the people I know that have gone into nursing say that the first few years are filled with a lot of long, overnight shifts. Not sure if that would really work with your family life....

There are so many different varieties/specialties/possibilities that it's hard to answer your question. I personally am not a nurse, but my sister is. She's an LPN (Licensed Practicing Nurse) & tested into an extremely competitive program in NJ that was an 18 month accelerated course with no prior degree required. They told them at the beginning to plan on not seeing your family pretty much at all for the duration of the 18 months &, to be perfectly honest, that's kind of how it really was. She now works full-time in a pediatrician's office & while the work is hard sometimes, she seems to love it & she makes very decent money.

My advice to you would be to do a good bit of research & see what type of nurse you'd be interested in, then take that information & look for similar programs that cater to that, but be sure that whatever you choose is in at least medium-high demand & projected to continue to be that way for a good while.

My husband is currently an ER RN (BSN), currently working on getting his masters to become as Family Nurse Practitioner. From what he has told me, if this is the route you are wanting to take, the PA would be the way you would want to go. Otherwise, you would have to become a nurse before you could be come a NP, which would tack on that many more years of school. He works PRN with 2 different hospitals, and make more wages, but does not have benefits. However, he also can pretty much work when he wants/needs to. It is worth not having the benefits because we are able to get it elsewhere (right now through the college) cheaper. He generally works 3-4 days a week in the ER, 12 hour shifts. If we need more $ he works 4-5 days. Yes, long hard days but he loves it and it does pay well. So, it may be worth becoming an RN and deciding the area you like best. Hubby has done both ER and ICU/CCU, but you may like babies better! If you have any questions that you think he may be able to answer, please messege me! Good luck!!

Career wise, like everyone else has said it really depends on the route you go and the end result you choose. Where you live and are able to find a job will make a big difference too.
I just wanted to hit the schooling aspect of it, which is, well...brutal. My husband is finishing up the BSN side of it now (he has a business degree, but has never loved what he's done work wise, so nursing school started from scratch, CNA on up), and it has been a brutal couple of years. Even if he weren't also working his full time job to support our family, it would be all consuming, so I'm sure you can imagine what it's like with a job in addition to school and clinicals. We really don't see him much at all. The original plan was to go on and finish a DNP, but we'll see if everyone is still up for that after he gets this first round out of the way. (just a few more months!!)
If it is something you really want to do, it's worth it. Just make sure it's something you *really* want to do since you are jumping into it now when you already have a family. It is a huge time commitment, a lot of sacrifice for you and for your family while you are in school, and a big financial investment.
For us, it's completely worth it for my husband to have a career that he loves, and despite the incredibly difficult schedule and the stress and time away that school has brought, he is loving the clinicals that allow him to actually be working as a nurse-it's like seeing him alive again to be doing a job he enjoys. Classes and homework still stink though. :P
Best of luck making the right decision for your family!

Well I am not a nurse personally but my MIL is and I have a good some friends that are. My MIL worked the whole time her (5) kids were growing up. She worked nights a lot and just worked a schedule opposite my FILs so they never had the kids in daycare. But they weren't together with the kids much, so that did take a toll. They aren't a totally unhappy family, but they could have used more time together in my opinion. I have a very good friend who is a home health care nurse and she works Sat/Sun/Mon. She charts on Tuesday, so their little girl is only in daycare on Mon and Tues. It is h*** o* my friend bc she works all the time but it works for their family life bc her husband takes care of their daughter all weekend while she works. I have another friend who is a school nurse so she is off on the same schedule as her kids and has summers with them and doesn't have to stay late or grade papers or any of that. She loves it. She did have a baby recently so I think they just did daycare for him. So there are options out there. As far as hitting the books, get ready girl! I was going to be a nurse but got married and decided not to pursue nursing school and they even said that you basically had to prepare yourself not to take vacation or have a baby or take a honeymoon bc your life was going to be theirs! I did all my per-requisites and had all A's but I was like the only one in the class that way bc I didn't have kids and I studied my butt off and I was in the lab constantly. You will have probably have practical exams that are brutal and have to study extremely hard. Before my practicals I would spend the entire weekend at the lab, and as I said I was the only one who was making A's in my class, I always jacked up the curve ;) Now with kids, I don't think I could do it. But I just had my third and can't keep up with dishes. If your hubby is very supportive and understands the commitment, you may be able to do it. Good luck, I know Cali is beyond expensive, we almost had to transfer there and were blown away at housing costs!! But the ocean would have been nice :D

One of my best friends is a nurse and she loves it - has been doing it for 14 years. She also has kids that are 6 and 2. Right now, she works four 8-hour shifts per week. Each shift is from 3 p.m. - 11 p.m. It allows her to be home with her kids in the morning and still do activities with them (music class, swimming lessons, etc) and to volunteer int he older one's classroom. Her husband is a stay at home dad, so he's there whenever she isn't. She does work every other weekend, so that's something to consider.
Many of her friends are per diem nurses, so they work when they want and don't have a set schedule like she does.

I am an RN (will finish my MS in May) and am currently teaching in a nursing program in OK. We have LOTS of students that come to us from from CA because the wait to even start nursing school there is so long. As far as NP or PA vs just plain RN, I would think you would be much more likely to be able to work the hours you want not being a PA or NP. They work along with doctors, often seeing patients in an office or rounding at the hospitals and seeing the physician's patients there. They are on call a lot (hey, the doctor doesn't want to be answering the phone at 3 am!). That said, they get paid more. Working in the hospital I have always been able to set my own schedule, with the minimum that I have to work one shift per pay period (2 weeks), so you could work full time or part time depending on what was going on in your life at the time. Hospital benefits are fantastic, often no copay or deductible if you seek care where you work. I switched to teaching when my son was born, the hours are much better and I don't have to do 12 hour shifts. The money, not so much! There are a lot of different opportunities out there, I would suggest calling the nursing school you are thinking of attending and talking to an advisor. To be an NP you have to first get a BSN (4 years), then go on to a graduate program (so think another 2-3 years). To be an RN, you can either get an associate's (2 years if you have the prereqs done) or a bachelors. Both take the same licensure (NCLEX) exam upon graduation to become an RN. Some states pay more for BSN, some don't. Keep in mind most science courses must be retaken if it's been longer than 5 years, so you might end up taking courses you completed the first time around. It is a challenging but rewarding field to get into, feel free to message me if you have any questions!