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A New Trend in Nursing

A new trend is emerging as professionals of various trades and ages in search of new career opportunities, flexible work schedules, educational benefits and job stability are returning to school to pursue nursing as a second career.

"I had an epiphany while pursuing my first degree and realized nursing was the career I should have chosen all along," explained Salley Birkart, a nursing student at the College of Nursing and Health Science at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. "Nursing is such a rich and diverse field. It has provided me with so many opportunities and allowed me to really make a difference."

Nursing schools and programs across the country are noticing the change and are encouraging and targeting second-career and second-degree seeking individuals into this rewarding profession.

"Our data indicated a growing increase in people interested in going to nursing school who already had a bachelor's degree," said Dr. Marvel Williamson, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF and dean and professor at the Kramer School of Nursing at Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma City, Okla. "Because of this, we designed the Bachelor's-to-BSN program to provide an opportunity for the men and women who have bachelor's degrees in other fields to complete their nursing degrees on an accelerated schedule."

Recognizing the growing interest in nursing as a second career, Kramer School of Nursing has recently increased its efforts to promote the Bachelor's-to-BSN program at community career fairs, through targeted advertisements and through their Web site – even outside Oklahoma in markets with potentially greater numbers of job seekers. The school continues to observe a notable increase in applicants to the program each year.

Employment prospects for registered nurses are excellent, and they'll only get better as the population ages and requires more health care, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Using state-of-the-art technologies, telemetry nurses monitor and interpret patients' cardiac function.

Telemetry Nurses Help Heal the Heart

For nurses specialized in telemetry nursing, a patient's heart takes center stage.

These specialized nurses care for patients in telemetry units who are recovering from cardiovascular surgery or those suffering from congestive heart failure, arrhythmias or other cardiovascular disease by continually monitoring cardiac function through various state-of-the-art technologies and transmitting critical data to physicians.

"A patient's heart lies in our hands," said Kathi Johnson, RN and telemetry unit nurse manager at Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria, La. "We are charged with monitoring and interpreting the heart functions of patients who have undergone a cardiac procedure by connecting them to instruments that measure up-to-the-second information."

Specific cardiac and respiratory courses and certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support prepare telemetry nurses to respond quickly and efficiently to urgent medical situations, such as when a patient's heart rate, rhythm or electrocardiogram results significantly change.

These nurse specialists function in highly independent and specialized roles in hospitals or in the clinical environment as they assess and monitor patient health problems and develop nursing care plans for patients.

"The advanced technology and equipment combined with a personalized approach and quality care from a collaborative health care team, helps provide patients with the stability they need to return home," said Johnson. "There is nothing more rewarding."

For more information on telemetry nursing, visit www.discovernursing.com.

Online Resource for Health Care Professionals If you or someone you know is considering a health career, ExploreHealthCareers.org is a free Web site designed and dedicated to help health care professionals and students explore the array of health care jobs available. With information on more than 100 health careers, ExploreHealthCareers.org provides helpful career planning tips and searchable databases of pre-health enrichment programs, funding sources to help you pay for school, and academic and vocational training. Visit www.ExploreHealthCareers.org. Register on the site and you will receive a free Health Career Planning Kit!

CHRISTOPHER TOWER, RN
Stony Brook University
Medical Center
Stony Brook, N.Y.

Q: When did you decide to pursue nursing?
A: I spent 26 years of my life as a Buddhist monk, for most of the time, living in a monastery in the mountains of northern California. During my last few years in the monastery, I was part of a small group of monks who took care of my aging teacher, the Abbess of the monastery. A couple of the monks were RNs, and they showed us how to provide the care that was needed. After my teacher passed away, I left the monastery and eventually ended up in the northeastern U.S. helping to take care of my father who was ill with cancer. A little while after he passed away, I decided I needed to find a new career.

Q: Who or what was your inspiration for becoming a nurse?
A: I looked back and realized how much I'd enjoyed taking care of the people and how much I'd learned from the registered nurses in the monastery. At 54, I needed to find a career in which I'd be employable and able to use some of the skills and interests I already had. I decided to give nursing a try, applied to nursing school and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in the second degree program. I was interested in possibly trying hospice nursing.

Q: What advice would you offer to individuals considering a career change to nursing?
A: Take life one step at a time. As a monk, it's what we practiced, and I still try to do it. First, research the many nursing schools and degree programs and find the one that is most flexible and sensible to your needs. Try to get some extra clinical experience through an internship. In my experience, employers really appreciate the experience and wisdom that second career nurses bring to their work and to the profession.

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