Nursing News:
Ample opportunities entice mid-career professionals to peruse nursing

by Ana Flor
A meaningful job, mobility and ample employment opportunities are leading all sorts of professionals to switch to a new career: nursing. And the accelerated program at St. Louis Universityıs School of Nursing in Mourssi is drawing people from all over the country. Mark S. Brooks, 48, a retired Army officer and former lawyer, didnıt think about being a nurse when he was younger. But as he retired, the appeal of working in a new area grew stronger. ³The idea of practicing law became less and less attractive,² Brooks said. ³I wanted something better, something that would make a difference and (that) I would feel I did something good today.²
Nursing also seemed flexible enough to allow him to move to other cities with his wife, Dawn Brooks-Gallahan, an Army officer. So Brooks decided to give nursing a try. His undergraduate degree in psychology helped, he said. As the classes started in May, he discovered that students also must handle intensive work in the accelerated program. ³This is extraordinarily stressful,² he said of the classes this summer. They ran from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and he had homework.
Dr. Dotti James, associate professor at SLUıs School of Nursing, said the accelerated-program students really must want to be there. She said more people are considering a nursing career because of the fieldıs growing opportunities. A few years ago, most nursing jobs were in hospitals. Now, nurses work in a variety of other situations - independently or in patientsı homes, for example. Set up 32 years ago, the St. Louis University accelerated-nursing program is the oldest of its kind in the United States, James said. In the three-semester course of study, students take a range of classes, such as pharmacology, pathophysiology and management. The clinical practice, James said, takes almost the same amount of time as traditional nursing-education programs.
There are tough prerequisites. Besides a degree or a minimum number of university credit hours, nursing-program candidates must have college credits in areas such as chemistry and anatomy as well as a high grade-point average. If the students lack the required credits, they must take those classes before starting the nursing program. The course of study starts in May and ends 11 months later. During that time, James said, the student nurses ³have been in all areas and can pretty much work in any area.²
Since James joined the program about seven years ago, she has seen students from a variety of backgrounds, including education, law and even physicians from other countries. The current class of 74 students includes 12 men. The number of male students, in a profession traditionally dominated by women, is growing in accelerated programs as well as in traditional nursing-degree courses. One reason an increasing number of men are entering the field is the shortage of nurses and abundant jobs in the field. In June, the administration of George W. Bush said that in the next 50 years the number of health-care workers would grow to 6 million from 2 million.
Brandon Jones, 29, had worked for six years in airline-supply companies, but after being downsized, he started searching for another field about two years ago. With a business degree, Jones said becoming a nurse ³never occurred² to him before. In May, Jones and his family left Arizona and settled in St. Louis so he could start working toward his nursing degree. The growing job opportunities for nurses, the flexibility and a desire for more job satisfaction were key reasons for his decision. He plans to earn a masterıs degree after he graduates next spring and hopes to get a job as an intensive-care nurse.
For Michelle Monteilh, 34, the program offered a fresh start. A former pilot for Trans World Airlines, she and her husband, also a pilot, were laid off last year on the same day. She had thought about studying to be a doctor, but the accelerated nursing program helped her decide to become a nurse instead. Still, she said, ³Itıs not a picnic. This is a lot of work.² The career switch made Monteilh realize how important it is to go back to school. ³Iım already planning a masterıs degree,² she said.
Reprinted with permission of the Post-Dispatch.