Career Advice Needed - Nursing or IT? Help!

[mayum1]

I am 37 years old, an overseas qualified Nurse but I don't have nursing experience so I have been asked to study Nursing again.

Nursing was ok, but it is not my passion. To be honest, I took up Nursing because I thought it would be my ticket to migration. I am qualified in another healthcare field and that's what I did back home. That was not my passion either - I did it because my parents wanted me to, and I was young and stupid not to fight for what I wanted to do right out of high school

I was able to migrate anyway, through my husband's job.

So now I am here, overseas, and I am finding it difficult to find a job. My other qualification is even more difficult to obtain here, and I'd be forced to get a job away from my husband.

I applied for a conversion masters Nursing program (1.8 year Nursing program in a prestigious uni here for people with previous bachelors degree in any field) and I found out two weeks ago that I got in. When I found out, I felt relieved because at least I'd know I'd be doing something next year. I have been a bum since I got here.

However when I got in, I thought why not try for IT? I mean, for laughs. I don't have an iota of IT experience. So I applied for a Masters program ni Business Information Systems, in the same uni.

They offered me a place too.

Now my dilemma is, which one do I pick?

Nursing:

Pros - would be easier for me, because it is in line with my previous learning; a lot cheaper (1/5th the tuition of the other one) and although it's getting harder to find jobs, it still has better job prospects than IT

Cons - I know I will be a good nurse. I was a good healthcare professional. I was responsible, I had empathy. But Nursing does not excite me.

Info Sys:

Cons - I am basically starting from scratch.

It's expensive and the only way we can afford it and still have money saved is if I do it part-time for the first two years (I can apply for citizenship in two years, then I can put the rest of the tuition on loan) and if I work part-time (which I would do - I am getting an Aged Care qualification so I can work in resident homes).

I am 37. I'd be in my early 40s when I finish. And the field of IT is known to be ageist.

Pro - I am excited by it.

My Nursing offer expires tomorrow. Since both offers are from the same university, I can't accept both to buy time to decide. What do I do?

Background: my husband has a good job and is deemed special in his field so there is a good chance he can afford to provide for our basic life needs (we don't have kids and may not have) so I did not place this as a pro in nursing.

Help?

What would you do with a qualification in Business Information Systems and no experience? Sounds like something the IT managers in my company were encouraged to do, but not needed by the developers, analysts or anyone actually working with computers.

I'm hoping to get into Medical Informatics. Or get an analyst job in ehealth companies. Usually that's the degree that leads to systems analyst, eventually project management positions.

That makes loads more sense
I'd go with what makes you happiest, which TBH doesn't sound like nursing.

Thank you. Need to decide today. I'm so scared of making the wrong decision.

I would go with nursing. I don't think you can say that nursing doesn't excite you unless you've tried lots of fields of nursing. I can say 'I'm a nurse' but that alone doesn't give you any clue as to what my working day is like because the role is so varied depending on where you work.

What areas did you nurse in? Have you been to any specialist areas such as theatres, A&E, CCU, ICU, Cardiac Catheter lab, angiography, cancer care, neurology, hyperacute stroke unit, renal centres, etc?

You may find that ward nursing doesn't satisfy but some of the areas where you can really get a skill set honed are more exciting.

I've just finished a return to practice course after a 7 year break and have got a job in ICU. I'm really excited!

The other thing is that if you do the nursing, you'll be able to pay your way through the IT course by agency work if you change your mind.

What did you decide OP?

Thank you for the advice, lougle. And best of luck to your return to the Nursing world - if I chose Nursing, I'd probably be choosing ICU or theatre also. :)

triathlon - two days ago, something happened that made the decision a lot easier - I got an offer for a masters program (my dream uni) I thought I didn't have an iota of chance to get into. In that uni, they offer two kinds of places - subsidised and full fee.

And they gave me the subsidised rate!!!

So essentially my masters will cost around 1/3 of what it will have originally cost.

I still can't believe it - two of the best uni here, and they accepted me both. This is not a humblebrag, I was pretty average! But I guess maybe diversity worked.

That or they probably thought I was trolling and decided to bite the bait. ;-) Kidding.

I was so happy when I got the offer and especially upon knowing that it was a subsidised fee. I was jumping up and down!

Oh by average I meant grades-wise. But to be fair, my Maths were all high.