“It is not possible to be a Registered Nurse with just an associate’s degree. Period.”

Go to http://www.google.com. Type in “registered nurse associate’s degree” without the quotes. Spend some time on the results, and come back and tell me it’s not possible to be a Registered Nurse with just an associate’s degree.

“Let me clarify. If you ever want to earn significant money,”

How’s $50/hr plus $1,000 every three months for travel expenses, plus $1,000/mo car rental reimbursement, plus housing, plus all utilities? No, it’s not always that high…but so far we’ve not seen a significant (if any) difference in income due to my wife only having an Associate’s Degree. The most important thing is that she has the appropriate nursing license to work in that state…type of degree is secondary (or not even an issue…I’d say that her references were secondary, and degree was toward the bottom).

“have any kind of responsibility,”

She’s able, in fact expected, to perform as well as any other RN on her unit, regardless of degree. If you mean responsibility as far as supervisory…then she has been a Charge Nurse as well.

“any kind of control over your work life,”

We choose when and where we go. We chose to go to Australia this year, her nursing credentials were recognized. Yes, she’s studying to be a midwife, but that was not technically required for her to be a nurse here (but as there’s no such thing as an L&D nurse in Australia, she had to become a midwife to continue working in L&D).

“and any kind of professional respect,”

She has a huge stack of references from managers and coworkers praising her abilities as a nurse. I guess that takes care of professional respect.

“you need to have at least a Bachelor’s degree in nursing.”

Nope. Yes, it might make it a bit easier, and yes some hospitals may really want you to have a Bachelor’s Degree, but you shouldn’t just jump straight into a 4yr degree if you want to be a nurse. Research your options. If the hospital you want to work in absolutely requires a 4yr degree, so be it (though I’d still look into taking as many classes at a community college as would transfer over to the 4yr university).

Again, I’m not stating that a 2yr degree is the one and only way to be a nurse (or any profession). I’m just saying that you should examine your options thoroughly and take the best course of action for yourself. If you want to be a registered nurse, and can work as a registered nurse after a cheaper 2yr community college degree…I think you should absolutely consider that.

interesting & thought-provoking post.

When we really look into it, we are often our own worst enemy. through our life experience we build up all kinds of limiting beliefs including our own views about ourselves.

More and more these days the path to ‘success’ is not the traditional one, as changes in the economy and advances in technology and the online world open up new possibilities.

Living life on your own terms is really important – for your health as well as anything else – easier said than done perhaps but the least you can do, as you rightly say is not to live a life stuck trying to satisfy others expectations of you.

Sometimes an intuitive action or decision doesn’t seem to make sense at the time, and other people may try to talk us out of it. But we’re the ones who have to live with the consequences if we choose not to follow our inner compass.

Still, mistakes are part of life, including career mistakes. If we’re willing to learn from our mistakes, they can teach us how to trust ourselves next time.

However, it is unlikely that you can stay in it long-term unless you stay in school — at least through a BS.N. If you want to go anywhere further professionally, you’ll need higher degrees.

If you don’t know if you will like it, start with a Certified Nursing Assistant certification, and then head up if you do. That is about a 6-week program. But don’t count on a real satisfying career if you don’t continue your education.

It is not possible to be a Registered Nurse with just an associate’s degree. Period.

I know it may sound strange, but I think about how much easier it would have been for me to get my business up and running if I wasn’t so afraid of being rejected. I believe if I was forced into a sales position as a youth where my income was based on a commission would have served me well now.

Ah well, you live and learn. And I had to learn how to sell the hard way by forcing myself to get over my irrational fears. Better late than never, as they say.

Define “nowhere”. Ok, it may take you to the middle of nowhere, if you like Alaska (twelve months in Fairbanks, five in Anchorage). Is Australia also nowhere, because they recognized my wife’s US nursing credentials (side-note…they may now require a bachelor’s degree, I have no idea…but they didn’t two years ago). There’s still Associate’s Degree programs for RNs, so it’s got to be an option for SOMEBODY out there.

True, some hospitals are now requiring a bachelor’s degree, and even more require a certain percentage of nurses to have a bachelor’s degree or higher (so an associate’s is still the minimum to get in, but if they are already near the limit…). But still, my point was to research your options. If you want to be a nurse at a certain hospital, then call and see what the requirements are. If an associate’s degree is good enough, then that is an option. Knock out your two-year degree for mere thousands and get a two year head-start on your career. Later find out you need/want a bachelor’s? Well, hopefully you already checked this out, but if the local four-year university gives you credit for the classes you already took, then you only have two years of expensive university to attend (which you can more easily afford, since you’re already working as a nurse, right?).

I’m not saying it’s a bad idea to get a bachelor’s degree to be a nurse. Just saying it may not be the only path, and you need to do some research before you just jump right in.

I’d say the number is 0.1%, outside of our core family (i.e. myself, spouse, and kids).

Let’s say I was truly 50/50 on a major decision, such as whether to stay put at our home in Tennessee or go off to Australia for a bit. I’m completely on the fence. Certain family members tell us that we should not, under any circumstances, go to Australia. Ok, then we’ll stay home. But if our desire to go vs stay is so much as 51% vs 49%…then we’re gonna go, and our (extended) family will just have to deal with it.

I know I know…but what about obligations, family members in failing health, kids won’t get to see grandparents as much, etc. That was already factored into our decision. I’m saying that the huge guilt-trip that’s laid on us is worth, at most, 0.1%.

Ooh, ooh, that’s me! I was “called out” for taking advantage of my wife on a travel nurse forum (I posted there because I dealt with the agencies, setting up contracts, etc.), though a few emailed me privately asking for pointers so their husbands could do the same thing. Wife’s side of the family thinks I’m a freeloader. My dad…well we don’t talk anymore, partly due to him saying I should “man up and get a job.” Now, if I were the one working, and my wife was taking care of the house and kids…I don’t think people would have the same reaction. I bet our son’s teacher wouldn’t ask my wife if she was currently looking for a job when she said she was a stay at home mom (side-note…his teacher is really awesome…it was just a bit unexpected to be asked that).

At this point in time, this is what works for us, societal pressures be darned! If we lived our lives the way everyone keeps telling us we should…well there’d be nothing wrong with that life per-se, but it just wouldn’t be the right life for US.

“(Ask me how I know.)”

Ok…how do you know?

Let’s just say there’s definitely a thoughtful way of pursuing your passions as a career and a less thoughtful way. People who skip forward without a backup plan are taking big risks.

I would be very sad if I told myself I’m okay with doing the job I am currently doing, for the rest of my life. And I’d also be lying to myself. There’s nothing wrong with having a job that only pays the bills, but though I try not to be judgemental, I do feel sorry for people who are “okay” with that for the long haul.

With all of the time and life energy that’s expected out of us in our work (whether it is paper-pushing, or toilet-brushing) I desire my output to go towards something that in the end I can support and that I could leave a mark on. I mean, if I’m working on a project, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 30+ years…there’s gotta be an outstanding, fantastic, BAM kind of outcome right???

sadly, not usually with many American companies today being more profit-driven than quality-driven. It’s getting more and more difficult to find a job you respect (let alone one you’re passionate about).