STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

Nurses or environmental scientists?

boobaby · Kate Spade

I'm not a nurse, but one of my best friends had a degree in urban planning. He realized it wasn't the career for him after a couple of years and went back to school to study nursing. He went into an accelerated program - I think it was less than two years. He moved to another state to do this. He has been nursing for 2 years, makes much better money and recently quit his hospital job to become a travelling nurse (he will travel where there are shortages, housing provided, etc). It has been difficult to adjust to the hours, but overall he is much happier.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Honestly, I'm not really sure that doing a master's in nursing would even be an option if you don't already have some other nursing degree or a ton of science classes/experience under your belt.

What sort of career path are you looking at? Nursing and environmental science are pretty disparate, IMO.

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

Boobaby- The travelling nurse option is actually one of the things I'd be interested in doing.

Relrel - There are masters programs in nursing for people who have non-nursing bachelors...you just have to have the pre-reqs, like anatomy, physiology, and biology. Same for environmental science.

Jahni · Dooney & Bourke

I'm not a nurse, but I do work for a hospital, and I have to say I would LOVE to have an RN degree or an MSN.

It has it's downsides (bed pans, catheters, and other gross bodily function type things) but I think being an ER nurse would be awesome...I hang out in the ER as much as possible and I'm in constant awe.

I've toyed with getting my RN degree on several occasions (my employer will pay for most of it), but I really don't have the time...

I also think that working as an agency (travelling) nurse would be great....the pay is INSANE...(i'm a lawyer, and I KNOW some of them make more than I do)...but you do have to deal with undesirable location and no benefits (most of the time)...but it's definitely something to look into!

HeatherLynn · Gucci

I'm not an environmental scientist, but I am an engineer and have recently been working in an environmental engineering position. It is something that has a lot of support right now because there is such a push to be "green" and more environmentally friendly. You would easily be able to get a job. It is a lot of science classes (as much chemistry as you can!!). If you have more specific questions about what I do let me know...

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

Heather Lynn - Thanks for the input. My dad and brother are actually both civil engineers, and my dad owns an environmental consulting firm. But the only thing their experience has taught me is I wouldn't want to work in that specific field (groundwater testing, etc). I'm VERY interested in the "green" movement, and would want to focus on that area. I'm not really sure what kinds of opportunities there are, so if you have any ideas, please let me know!

Jahni - I know so many people who have gone into nursing as a second career, and every single one of them is happier and more fulfilled. I'm glad to hear that even though you see the less than pleasant sides of nursing, you still think it's worth looking into.

Elle · Hermes

Jahni wrote:

I also think that working as an agency (travelling) nurse would be great....the pay is INSANE...(i'm a lawyer, and I KNOW some of them make more than I do)...but you do have to deal with undesirable location and no benefits (most of the time)...but it's definitely something to look into!

The pay is indeed insane! You get paid hourly for your time (which is roughly 1.5 times what you'd be paid on-staff), your housing is paid for, your vehicle is paid for. It's a perfect situation if you're married and can stay on your spouses health insurance, but with the money you'd normally spend on rent freed up you'd likely be able to afford your own (or do COBRA, etc). Some agencies offer healthcare packages. You can also work as an independant contractor. You have to pay for your own liability insurance and keep on top of your taxes yourself and it's not as regulated as with an agency, but it's great for extra money or for working a couple months at a time, etc. My husband contracted for 3 months before our wedding just one day a week, and made enough to pay for our honeymoon! He was on 4-10 hr shifts, and just contracted on his extra weekday - lots of RNs work 3-12hr shifts and it would be easy to pick up contract stuff a couple days a month like that.

You really have alot of say in where you go too - usually you stay within geographical area like the Northeast, Midwest, etc. It's a great way to get to experience different cities if you're looking to move eventually, because many places would rather offer permanent positions to contractors who work there already before opening them to the general public.

The accelerated BSN program for people who already have unrelated bachelor's degrees are pretty intense from what I hear, but it's only two years!

boobaby · Kate Spade

One downside to being an agency nurse (not sure if this is the case everywhere). My friend showed me his contract for his first assignment-13 weeks a couple of hours from where he is currently living. If you miss a shift, you have to pay them your day's pay. So basically you would be out 2 days pay. Guess he'll have to tough it out if he isn't feeling well.

Elle · Hermes

Hmm, that sounds really harsh IMO! But it is a job that requires an extraordinary amount of flexibility, so anyone who does non-local agency stuff has to know that going in. Some of it also depends on how badly nurses are needed in the area - more demand can result in high signing-bonuses, low demand can result in less than attractive contracts.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

gingembre1 wrote:

Relrel - There are masters programs in nursing for people who have non-nursing bachelors...you just have to have the pre-reqs, like anatomy, physiology, and biology. Same for environmental science.

That's what I meant...there are more than just a few pre-reqs to worry about. Also, you more than likely will need to do your clinicals before starting a master's program. I imagine there are post-bach programs out there for nursing just like there are for med schools.

littlelatina · BCBG

Hi,
My husband has an environmental science degree and he is the City Arborist for a Texas Municipality. He absolutely loves!! his job! He is out and about every day doing tree inspections, approving building plans, mitigating disputes between neighbors who want cut trees, public speaking, and coordinating tree education programs city wide. To enjoy this you truly have to love the environment and love working with people, and be politcally correct all at the same time.

I know a lot of his friends have ES degrees and they are environmental inspectors, arborists, foresters, etc...I think the options are endless, and with "green" being the way to go now, there's definitelly a niche for it.
Good luck