I'm going to school for Nursing is it a good idea?

I have been taking classes for the past 2 years part time off and on and I was wondering first of all if the clinicals are hard? I already did my CNA yuck! The students had to do all the nasty work. Second is it a good career choice. I'm 40 years old and I guess this is my second career I'm a divorced mother of 2 and I want to be able to suppor my kids by myself and after I get my Associates degree I want to get a bachelors degree and hopefully keep going. It seems that everything gets in the way and I was just wondering if anyone else had a hard time with trying to finish the Nursing program and if so what kind of problems and would you choose this career again.

If you're turned off by doing the "dirty work" of nursing, then you might want to consider changing career paths. While RNs have different job functions than CNAs, it is inevitable that you will still be performing some of those activities of daily living that are commonly thought of as a CNA's job even when you're an RN. Not all hospitals have enough CNAs to provide those kinds of cares. Nobody really likes cleaning up after bowel movements or vomit, but you do get used to it the more you do it.

It takes a special kind of person to be a nurse - you need to be a "people" person, be patient and kind and empathetic and non-judgemental in order to really connect with your patients and do your job well. If that isn't you, that's another reason to maybe choose another career.

If you still want to be a nurse, nursing school as a whole is very challenging and demanding. I didn't feel the clinicals themselves were hard at all - but the paperwork you have to do both in preparation for those clinical experiences and afterwards can be very time consuming (but not necessarily "hard").

You will get out of nursing school what you put in. You have to study a lot. You have papers to write that take a lot of time and research. The tests progressively get harder as you learn more. But it's totally do-able. Even for a "non-traditional" student who is older and is trying to juggle a family and possibly work, too. Oh, and it's virtually impossible to work full-time while in school. It's too hard. Try to cut to part time, and apply for financial aid and get some loans to help pad your income to get you through. I had to rack up over $40k in student loans to avoid working so I could make it through school. The debt is huge, but it was totally worth it, and working as an RN, I can pay that off pretty quickly.

Good luck to you, you'll get through if you're persistent enough!

Yes! PERIOD!

Nurses are in extremely high demand. Pay, benifts are excellent all across North America.

The only drawback is schedualing (sorry Canadian), most shift rotations, are picked on seniority....so don't expect all day shifts, or to get those holidays off, until you have been working for quite some time.

I am a nurse. Yes it is a good job that affords you the opportunity to go as far as you want to go.
The clinicals are not hard. They are just another learning opportunity. You are under the supervision of an instructor while in clinicals and they will give you rules and instructions on what are to do and not do. You dont just fly solo when you go to clinicals, so dont be intimidated by it. If you have done CNA work, you will have a jump on many of the students in your class. You will not be overwhelmed, so dont worry.
You are also a mother. That is half of what being a nurse is. They will teach you the skills you need to do your job, and how to critically think like a nurse, so that you will be great at what you do.
There is such a satisfaction that goes along with becoming a nurse that all the hard work is worth it. Don't be swayed against nursing. It is a very honorable, lucrative, wonderful career choice to get into for anyone.
You will be so surprised to see how many guys get into nursing. Masculine, straight, loving caring men are coming into the profession quite a bit now. It is such a wonderful thing to see.
I recommend anyone looking for a new career consider nursing.
Once you get your Associates, you can specialize in a certain area of nursing. I suggest you do the ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) course and work in an ICU for a period of time after you graduate. This will make you so high in demand that you will nearly be able to set what YOU want to make per hour.
Nurses work in so many different areas that the opportunities are wide open. From schools, prisons, hospitals, government clinics, doctors offices, in private homes, nursing homes, in the court system, in administrative positions, in mental health facilities, for insurance companies, in factories........... the list is nearly endless.
Then..... some nurses travel. Once you are an RN with a little experience, you could be a travel nurse and go to different places. They pay for your housing, your travel, your wages while you work..... all you pay for is your utilities. They also provide a great benefits packages.

Good luck...
I know you will do great!

no...high burn out ... lots of politics