Life Changing @ 31

[Seth0163]

Hello all, (please first forgive me of any mispells and/or typo's here) I am 31 years old. I am a single father of 3 children (13,11, and 6) I have custody of my three children, I am currently working in Law Enforcement where I hold the rank of Lieutenant (shift supervisor) where I supervise 8-10 other Deputies. I have done this job for 13 years now, and I only have 12 years to go for retiremnet with full benefits, but I have come to relize Law Enforcement has changed over the years I have become part of my profession in hopes of providing a good life for my family as well as serve the community I live in. I find it almost a diffculty to go to work anymore, to have to make those tough choices I have to everyday....... two years ago I started my education in the world of Nursing, but as it so happened worked called and I had to drop it. I know find myself at a cross road, do I continue my journey I have been on for 13 years, or do I start over (nursing being my prime choice of a new career).

I am intrested in any man/or women who has been in my shoes and took the path of Nursing how it has helped or hindered their family life, How they feel about themselves. I have talked with several friends on the force and they tell me I need a vaction (well I have been on 2 this year and the same Problem is still here, I feel stale, I feel like I have noting left to contribute to my field...... and I never really thought about giving up and starting over, until now....)

Any help would be great!!! Thank you for reading!!

[Ricu]

Hello all, (please first forgive me of any mispells and/or typo's here) I am 31 years old. I am a single father of 3 children (13,11, and 6) I have custody of my three children, I am currently working in Law Enforcement where I hold the rank of Lieutenant (shift supervisor) where I supervise 8-10 other Deputies. I have done this job for 13 years now, and I only have 12 years to go for retiremnet with full benefits, but I have come to relize Law Enforcement has changed over the years I have become part of my profession in hopes of providing a good life for my family as well as serve the community I live in. I find it almost a diffculty to go to work anymore, to have to make those tough choices I have to everyday....... two years ago I started my education in the world of Nursing, but as it so happened worked called and I had to drop it. I know find myself at a cross road, do I continue my journey I have been on for 13 years, or do I start over (nursing being my prime choice of a new career).

I am intrested in any man/or women who has been in my shoes and took the path of Nursing how it has helped or hindered their family life, How they feel about themselves. I have talked with several friends on the force and they tell me I need a vaction (well I have been on 2 this year and the same Problem is still here, I feel stale, I feel like I have noting left to contribute to my field...... and I never really thought about giving up and starting over, until now....)

Any help would be great!!! Thank you for reading!!

Dear Seth,

Wow, you have a lot on your plate! It must be really hard to be working at a job that doesn't gratify you a whole lot anymore and be a single parent too. It will be difficult to do all that and attend classes too but nothing is impossible. I went through career retraining to become a nurse about ten years ago, but I had prior education in a related profession as well as the benefit of a loving and supportive wife who took care of the kids and earned income. It was difficult for us but likely much easier than what you are facing. It sound like you are very motivated to make the change and will do what is necessary. I hope and pray that you have some help with caring for your kids and putting dinner on the table. They are young and need someone around when dad is either at work or in class and you will be too tired to cook. Good luck. I'm in your corner.

R

[carpenter115]

I'm not in your exact situation, but pretty darn close. I was a LEO for 10 years (EMT for 18 as well), and became increasingly disillusioned with the direction LE is taking. For the last 4 of my 10 years, I talked more and more (to the wife and a few trusted coworkers) about leaving and obtaining my RN. And, as fate works, I wound up in an racing accident in April 05 (fx C5, was immobile for a little bit...two months in hospital, left with a bone graft and two rods, as wlel as a few wicked scars, but I am 99% back to normal), and decided that was my "opportunity knocking", and resigned from the Department the day I was accepted into Nursing school. Money is a little tight, but wife is a NICU nurse (12 yrs), and I also cashed out my pension, so we'll survive the remaiing 1.5 yrs I have left.
It's not an easy transition...the old adage "once a cop, always a cop" rings very true, and there are days I miss it greatly. But, by the same token, I feel I am doing more good now that when I was just around to break up fights.
On the positive side of things, you bring with you the ability to make snap decisions, the ability to remain calm in just about every situation thrown at you, and you'll find building a repore with patients no matter what their background is relatively simple.
I'm always available via PM if you want to talk more in-depth.

[jasonh]

Seth,

I'm 32 and an RN working in an ER. I'm also still a full-time paramedic supervisor for our county, which is comparable to a Sergeant for a major city or county police/sheriff department. My favorite saying is, "there's nothing better then a job you don't need." I can drop either one of my jobs and still afford my 4k/month mortgage and support my wife and two kids. It takes a huge load off my mind that if something happened to my paramedic job, I'd still be fine.

Nursing has way more career paths then either a LEO or paramedic. Which makes it a great back up career. Just do it and work per-diem to get a taste of what it's actually like. I can tell you working as an RN in the ER I work in is a heck of a lot harder than being a field paramedic or a paramedic supervisor, but it's good to have in my back pocket. We're also looking at relocating. It would take me years to work my way back up to a supervisor position and make good money as a paramedic. RN's make good money right from the start and they are given credit for years worked as an RN. Paramedics normally have to start at the bottom of the scale even if you have a lot of experience.

Jason - Male RN

[SoldierNurse]

Seth0163, I have no LEO experience, and was a single parent [Dad] of two, not three sons. However, I was definitely a single parent [Dad] just like yourself, and did change careers [I was an aircraft electrician] like you may do from LEO to RN. Getting into the nursing profession is one of the best decisions I've made in my +45 years on this planet.

So, I can say go with what your heart tells you, then no looking back!

Good luck!

[jv_625]

Hi Seth0163,

They say that a person changes career on average 3 times in his/her lifetime. Like you, I'm also 31 and decided to change gear. I finished a PhD in the sciences and also found out that I was not happy with what I was doing. I have no regrets in taking nursing (so far). It's a big shift from what I used to do but I feel happier and contented with my decision.
Good Luck!

[MountainMan]

I am posting this from a reply I did in a different thread so if youv'e seen it already pardon me, but good luck and don't be afraid to change. Your Law Enforcement can only be good if you want to be there.

I am a 50yo General Contractor in Denver and have decided to change horses in mid stream. I still outwork most of the guys in their 20's 30's and 40's , not out of competition but simply out of ability. However I ended up in construction out of shear undirected coincidence. Caring about and for people is more about me than building houses. I care about the people I build things for, but that only gets you run-over in the end and cuts profits by a huge margin.
I quite confidently tell the tough-ass guys I've employed and worked with over the years I am becoming a nurse and to my face they take it very well, perhaps a little puzzled but very well. My friends all react alarmingly consistently "you would make a GOOD nurse', almost as if they expected it of me. I might add most of my friends are in health care, from Coding-Specialists to Doctors.
I may have the underlying knowlege that most anyone who thinks me effeminate or a sissy wouldn't last 2 hours working along side me in construction. Quite honestly it is a mid-level aerobic charge 10 hours a day 5 days a week, so I don't have a reluctance to state my intentions.
In the end it is about whether you are tough enough to be a nurse or not, regardless of gender. Some women are tougher than some men, and you, if you want to be a NURSE have to be tougher than most men!

[dougb61]

I've been a nurse for 15 years. I graduated nursing school at the age of 30 and am now 45. I spent 2 years in ICU and my last 13 in Emergency Room nursing. When I started nursing school it was after 4 years of military service as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. Right now I'm about to start a new job (stillworking as an RN) but totally away from the bedside and out of the hospital (finally!!!). I think we all come into this profession with the idea that we will be helping people, and we do, but that is not all that we do. We are introduced to the souls of our felllow humans and at times this is not a gleeful experience. I can say that over the past 15 years my view of people and society has changed. I've invested a lot of me into my work and the return has not always been favorable. You have to turn off a lot of yourself just to get through some 12 hour shifts. You have to come to work with a suit of armor many days or you will go home broken. You are there to help and to heal but you find that you don't even have the time to perform the bare minimum for each patient. At times the work load is overwelming and down right dangerous for both the patients that are sick and the nurses that hold a professional license just to care for them. In the past 15 years the healthcare environment has changed. Hospitals are facing many crisis and one of their favorite ways of dealing with their problems is to put more work on the backs of individual nurses. I think the main cause of the nursing shortage is the hospitals and the way they treat nurses. I think a good nurse has their own personal standard of care that extends beyond the standards set forth by the institutions they work for. When they can't meet those standards because they are overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the responsibilities of taking care of more and more patients, filling out more and more paperwork, demanding families, rude doctors, and uncaring managers, they leave the profession. It is a tough job!
To get to your question of how it has helped/hindered family life... The part of the job that has kept me there for this long despite the downsides of the job is that there are those few people that really do apprecieate what you do for them or their loved ones. There is that occasional life you touch and perhaps actually save and you know it is all worth it. Don't expect recognition from your managers, you won't get it there, they are often too busy trying to keep their own jobs to care about you. I make good money, have a nice house take long distance vacations or go on mission trips to foreign countries. For most of my 15 years I worked only 3-4 days (nights actually) a week leaving a lot of time for other persuits. With this new job I'll make better money than I've ever made as a nurse and won't be working directly with hands on patient care. I'll actually be working to help keep people healthier and out of the hospital which sounds great to me.

[orionseal]

I made that decision @ the age of 31 myself and I'm not ashamed to say I was darn scared of what was in store for me. I have in the past made a living of being a Bulldozer Mechanic, Welder and an explosives tech. I also spent some time in the US Navy (EN2) in my younger days. Now I can say that I relax at home with my wife ,3 cats a dog and oh yea did I mention I have 6 children and I live on a small farm.
Irealy dont qualify to give advice to a cop who wants to make the switch to nursing, but I can say this some of my friends are cops 2 have city jobs and 3 are State Troopers they all congratulated me on my decision to make the switch and a couple have stated that they have thaught about it themselves. They say they only wish they had the courage to just do it like I did. One even said he was to scared to step out of his comfort zone even though he hates his job.
After all that jibberish all I can say is we would be exceptionaly glad to add you to the roster of men who have had the courage to make the jump (gender bias be damned) into the wonderful world of nursing.
:houra: :houra: :luck: :houra: :houra: