40 yo retired military, should I go into nursing?

[Tony1790]

hello all,

I retired from the military last year, I finally got a decent paying job as an operations manager for the railroad, my pay is currently 45k, moves up to 52k in Dec.

I've been an EMT(15yrs ago) and a NA (before you had to be certified). I've been thinking of going into nursing for 20 yrs now, and now that I'm retired I don't know if I want to make the leap.

Problem is, I finally got a job that pays decently (52k), but it is salary and that means I usually work 50 - 60 hours a week and my boss works 60 - 70 hours a week. I will be working every weekend, every holiday and mostly at nights with mid week days off. Duty assignments are based on the needs of the railroad, currently I'm in MO, but I'll be moved to an unknown location sometime in the next 4 - 6 months.

So you can see, I went from one organization (military) to another (railroad) that expects that you give all to them for the stability of a regular paycheck. I'm not sure if this is something that I want to do for another 20 - 25 years before I can retire.

Any suggestions on what to do? Give up a job with good pay to jump into an unknown field? If I wind up not liking nursing or not being able to get into or pass the courses, then I'll have given up the proverbial bird in the hand for one in the bush.

I get the GI bill, plus Army college fund, plus kicker cash that should equal somewhere around $1600 per month for school, plus I clear a little over $1500 per month in retirement cash (not much retiring on that kinda cash).

I think that I would like to be a nurse, I know that I'd like the ability to work less time or more time and the ability to move to a lower cost area if I desired. But I won't know for sure unless I give it a go, but I'll be dumping a good paying job that promises lots of upward potential if I do well and stay with it.

Any thoughts?

Tony

[USMC2LPN]

I spent 15 years in the Marine Corps. At the age of 35 I went back to school to be a nurse. It's scary starting over.

If there is one thing I have learned in life, and one thing I can pass on to you, it's to follow your dreams. You can have all the money in the world and if, at the end of your days, you look back on your life and say "what if" then was it really worth it?

I chased a dream, and have never been happier for it.

[orionseal]

Originally Posted by Tony1790

hello all,

I retired from the military last year, I finally got a decent paying job as an operations manager for the railroad, my pay is currently 45k, moves up to 52k in Dec.

I've been an EMT(15yrs ago) and a NA (before you had to be certified). I've been thinking of going into nursing for 20 yrs now, and now that I'm retired I don't know if I want to make the leap.

Problem is, I finally got a job that pays decently (52k), but it is salary and that means I usually work 50 - 60 hours a week and my boss works 60 - 70 hours a week. I will be working every weekend, every holiday and mostly at nights with mid week days off. Duty assignments are based on the needs of the railroad, currently I'm in MO, but I'll be moved to an unknown location sometime in the next 4 - 6 months.

So you can see, I went from one organization (military) to another (railroad) that expects that you give all to them for the stability of a regular paycheck. I'm not sure if this is something that I want to do for another 20 - 25 years before I can retire.

Any suggestions on what to do? Give up a job with good pay to jump into an unknown field? If I wind up not liking nursing or not being able to get into or pass the courses, then I'll have given up the proverbial bird in the hand for one in the bush.

I get the GI bill, plus Army college fund, plus kicker cash that should equal somewhere around $1600 per month for school, plus I clear a little over $1500 per month in retirement cash (not much retiring on that kinda cash).

I think that I would like to be a nurse, I know that I'd like the ability to work less time or more time and the ability to move to a lower cost area if I desired. But I won't know for sure unless I give it a go, but I'll be dumping a good paying job that promises lots of upward potential if I do well and stay with it.

Any thoughts?

Tony

WHATS TAKING YOU SO LONG TO MAKE UP YOUR MIND?

GET A MOVE ON AND GO SEE ABOUT SIGNING UP FOR CLASSES.

20 YEARS HAS GOT TO BE LONG ENOUGH TO COUNT IT AS AN OBCESSION.

STOP REPRESSING YOURSELF AND SET A FIRE UNDER YOUR SHORTS AND GET GOING!!!!!!!!!!
S L O W -W --W ----P O K E .........

[SoldierNurse]

Tony, some of your questions can only be answered by one person... yourself. However, I will say since you have considered being a nurse for over 20 years that you should now go for it. Especially, with the GI Bill, retirement pay [thanks for military service!], etc.

Go for it!