Hello,

I am currently  living in Houston I  work at Hca in the collection department  I have decided to switch my career in the nursing field .I have alway had a heart  for helping others.i am 35  married with no kids and I  believe this is a perfiect time for me to  persue  my career  in nursing without any distractions. I would like to  hear  form experienced nurses  that  started later  in life as well as those who have been there .Has anyone truly regret their decision in becoming a nurse . Thank you for your response  

I have been a nurse for 20+ years now, and I started late. I had three children! I say go for it, if this is what you really desire.

I often tell clients to picture a scenerio.:

How old are you going to be in 3 years? In your case you will say 38. I will then say, how old will you be in 3 years if you do not go to nursing school? You would say 38. How old will you be in three years if you DO go to nursing school? You will say 38. So you are going to be 38 in three years whether you go to school or not. Think about it.

Awesome for you, Jevell! Pursuing your dreams!

Awesome, Javell! Congratulations!

TO Jevell: I will say thank you for choosing nursing AND Psychiatric Nursing. There are so many NURSES who think psych nursing "isn"t nursing" because we are not doing the manual tasks of bathing patients, hanging IVs/blood, wound care, etc. But.. to quote the United Negro Fund: A mind is a terrible thing to waste (or lose).On my unit where I am the Nurse Manager, in addition to our straight psychiatric patients, we get transfers from the medical floors. My staff do wound care, we've done peritoneal dialysis, we've had patients in full body casts(from jumping out of windows),patients with crutches, wheelchair bound patients, blind patients, deaf patients, patients with colostomy bags, open wounds, pressure ulcers. Working with psychiatric patients is mentally stressful. We are talking, listening, trying to decipher what's going on. We are cursed at, called names, hit, spit upon,but at the end of the day,the reward is seeing that patient able to realize they need to bathe, eat, comb their hair, go to a group,interact appropriately with staff and other patients and their families, make a plan and then get discharged. there is joy and laughter on my unit because we recognize that aside from the mental illness, there's a real person inside. I LOVE psychiatry and I hope you will too.