Ida Said:

I have a degree in education and will soon be finishing up my degree in nursing. What are some career options?

We Answered:

Education is actually a big part of nursing. You could work training other nurses, like becoming an ACLS/PALS/BLS instructor, or you could work in public education at a hospital (teaching people about different diseases, or eating healthy) or becoming a certified diabetes educator and do home visits to people's houses to make sure they're up to date on their insulin and not developing complications.

you can also do public health: home visits to teen mothers' houses and do one on one teaching about breast feeding...

It might help to have a little bit of bedside experience, but not always, and probably not in public health (they're pretty short staffed--at least where I am). I was actually offered a job in diabetes case management when I was still in nurisng school during my public health clinical---but I turned it down to work in an emergency room.

Karen Said:

Nursing - if you are considering this a career, what are the barriers?

We Answered:

During my nurse training quite a few members of my group failed to complete the course. From what I could see there were a number of factors.
1. lack of ability to complete academic work, perhaps they had not studied for years and found the essay writing and examinations hard going
2. the difficulty in fitting in working a shift pattern on the practical side and finding time to complete papers and essays
3. difficulties at home, juggling husband, children, etc
4. conflict with others, whether it be lecturers or staff members in the hospitals
5. conflict with other students
6. the inability to deal with the stresses of the practical job, i.e body fluids, people in pain, people dying
7. literacy and numeracy problems

Personally, nothing would have stopped me from completing my course, my marriage broke down and I had to move house, but I still made it to the end.

Ivan Said:

Help with a way to get my future nursing career started?

We Answered:

Apply to some nursing schools./ If a GED is your only barrier then obtain a regular High School diploma.