Elizabeth Said:

Any male RN's out there? looking for a career change and am not afraid of school!?

We Answered:

Well, they are both service industries so you hopefully like working with a lot of people and being an ambassador of goodwill! That's where the similarities probably end.

Nursing is often stressful, some positions are inherently more stressful than others, such as when you work in a fast-paced environment of an ER, for example. I'm sure your job as a restaurant manager was stressful as well, but it's a whole different level of stress when a patient's life could be in the balance.

Nursing is not for everyone. Many people get into it for the money, and those nurses don't last long in the profession, and if they do, they turn into those old, crabby, bitter nurses who nobody wants caring for them if you're a patient.

You will have your fair share of doing the messy work, cleaning up various bodily fluids, etc., which turns a lot of people off, but honestly it's not a huge part of the job. Most of what I do during the day is documentation. Charting and record keeping is huge in nursing. You need to be very detail oriented, organized, able to multitask and prioritize your tasks. You need to be a good critical thinker and be able to assess a situation quickly and think on your feet.

Good luck whatever you decide!