So to clarify this, I thought I would just let you know what I am doing.
I am already a nurse, have been for 16 years. Although I trained in England and came away with a nursing qualification that was only at Diploma level. Doesn't actually make any difference to nursing as to whether you have a diploma or a degree, but nowadays when you train you do come away with a degree if you pass the whole course.
However I am bored with nursing, it doesn't hold my interest anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love helping people, I love being able to be there to support them and to educate & help them. I haven't given up nursing I just know that this is not what I want to be doing for the next 25 years of my working career. I want to try something else. Ok there are no guarentees that the something else I choose to do will fit, but then the same could be said for the career choice I made at 17 years of age!
Unfortunately when investigating other options it became very clear early on that any other profession would involve getting a degree. Sadly this would mean having to train in something else for up to 3 years fulltime to obtain a new qualification. We don't have the resources etc needed for me to become a student fulltime for 3 yrs. So we had to look at other options, like how could I train in something else in a shorter amount of time?
Answer..........have a degree and do a 1 yr fulltime course in my chosen profession.
Problem........don't have a degree!
Solution.........get a degree.
After investigating it made sense to get a degree in nursing as it is only 4 papers and I can do them parttime. Thus I can continue to work, which works well for our family.
So for the next 2 years I am doing 1 paper every 6 months. Sounds really small amount but it is 2 essays to be completed in the 4 month period of the sememster. Sounds easy but you throw in 4 days of work, boys activites, family living and suddenly the time available to study with is not actually very much per week.
I know it will be slow, but it is the best way to do it for this family. We can justify me being a student fulltime for 1yr but not 3yrs.
So I have another essay due in in 12 days time and then I will have completed paper 1. In July I will start paper 2. Next year I will complete papers 3 & 4.
Hopefully in January 2013 I will commence a 1 yr course in my chosen profession.
In the beginning of 2014 I will be newly qualified and either working back in nursing because I can't find a job or starting on a new path in my life.
I do wish things were different and I could do 2 papers a sememster because then I would have the degree by the end of this year and start training next year, but sometimes life doesn't allow you to do exactly what you want when you want, so you make the best of what you do have.
For us, this is the best we can do at present, so I am not saying no to it and running with it happily.
