getting out of aviation

[capt. megadeth]

I perfectly understand that I will NEVER, EVER be rich being a nurse, nor would I if I stayed in aviation, but I am a firm believer that I am getting into a profession that I am very interested in and is light years ahead of aviation in job stability. Oh, by the way MEGADEATH, you should explain why you don't need the ratings because your a "chick". That's what your avatar says anyway! Do you think that you should be given a job just because you're female and a more qualified pilot should be passed by?

Bell,
Good luck to you. I firmly believe that you should enjoy what you do for work because you will be doing it alot and for a long time. If nursing is that for you, go for it. It has certainly been a great supplemental income. That's where it stops for me. Working like a dog 40 hours a week and not being able to take care of my patients the way I would like to because there is no time, is not something I care to do for the rest of my life.

In response to your questions:
1. Went over your head.....I am being sarcastic.
2. No. I think that people should stop assuming that I got my job BECAUSE I am female.

 

[701EV]

Bell,

Let me give you my 2 cents. My wife has been a Nurse since 1982 and she hates it. It was great for about 5 years and while I was at Riddle and it put food on the table. My wife has worked in the emergency room, operating room, recovery room, labor and delivery, surgical floor, and the medical floor. Here is whats in store for you. You will be physically and verbally abused by doctors and patients. You may look down the barrel of a gun depending upon were you work. You will be spit on, puked on, pissed on, and sh!t on, You may catch HIV, Hepatitis A, B, C, Tuburculosis or God knows what else. You will develope veracose (sp) veins. Your back and feet will hurt like they have never hurt before after being on you feet for 8, 10, 12, or 16hrs, remember that OT at time and a half.

The pay is ok nothing great. You can make more if you want to work more than 8 hrs a day or 6 days a week but, there goes QOL issues. Certain parts of the country the pay is better. ATL it sucks. FLA was better. Go find the nurseinfo.com forum and talk to nurse's who have been in it for more than 5 years.

On the upside you can always find a job. If you have a chance to become a CRNA go for it. It is probably equal to being a 777 driver but, you will now be on call besides doing your normal shift work.

Just my 2 cents from spending the last 24 years married to a Nurse.

701EV

 

[AirCobra]

I just had a few more points but I could not finish my last post because I had to leave really quick. I know there is a lot of talk about travel nursing and how much you get paid but in reality not many nurses want to do it for the liability issues involved. Walking into an unfamiliar hospital and putting your license on the line when you can't even find the floor you are supposed to work on takes a special person. This is not a position for a new RN. Your orientation will be days instead of weeks and they expect you to hit the ground running.

I was just trying to give Bell47 a reality check. I don't think job stability is a good reason to be a nurse. You should want to be a nurse because that is your lifes ambition, because you get satisfaction caring for patients. There are other jobs with more stability and easier ways to make $15.00 an hour (new RN pay in the Southeast).

Most of the stuff about nursing posted on here is best case scenario. Like saying I am a CFI but one day I will be a Captain on a 747. Sure CRNA's make great money, but malpractice insurance can exceed $25,000 a year, you are on call all the time, school costs $50,000, takes two years, and has a waiting list.

Think hard about what you are doing. My constructive suggestion would be become a nurse in the Armed Forces. Join an ROTC program while you are in nursing school. A five year O-3 RN in the Air Force pulls in $80,000 a year. You will never see that kind of money from a hospital. They will even put you through CRNA school and pay you to go. Retire at 20 years with a pension, and then you will have some income if you decide to back back into aviation.

 

[30West]

I've got a good friend who has made some mega bucks doing contract nursing. He's got a RN and will do 4-6 week rotations at various places, often with reduced-cost housing offered to him and he's paid off a lot of debt this way. Go even further and become a CRNA and you're gold.

Hey that's a great avatar! When did that happen? Have a few hours in that FIT bird and don't remember hearing about that one!

 

[pgcfii2002]

Uh................

 

[RedPrairie]

Bell47,

From someone who once was in aviation and got out because of low pay only to return to flying professionally, I think you're going to miss it. Sure, Nursing is the "hot" ticket career RIGHT NOW but think about what CaptMegadeath and AirCobra posted. Both of those individuals offered wisdom that should be heeded.

Get into Nursing because it's been a long-term goal and ambition; not because it offers stability or an out to a bad situation right now. To be a nurse, and this is from a former EMT, takes a LOT of energy and compassion. Be a nurse because it's what YOU truly want to be. Anything else sells short your future patients.

From what you've posted, and this is from the outside looking in to your thoughts, I think you're making a decision to leave aviation based on emotion rather than logical, critical thinking. But you need to do what you feel is best.

Best of luck to you. Hope it works out as planned.

Red

 

[Alex429595]

So....your a male nurse Fokker?

 

[dskflyr]

Lvn > 80-100k???

I call BS!!! NO LVN (licensed vocational nurse) is making that kind of scratch legally!!! A RN working Nights and weekends in a CCU might make 80K with a lot of overtime. As far as "right at 100K" if they are Advanced Practice Nurses it's possible.

oh by the way as a RN or LVN you have a 100% chance of getting a job in any major city....and believe it or not you can make MORE money in a rural area if you are picked up by a staffing company who is contracted to fill the "underserved" rural areas

in addition, you get to hang out with hot chicks at the hospital all day long, and maybe save a life or two.

On your days off, if you work for the local EMT squad, or Care-Flight company, etc, you can pick up additional bucks.

I know for a confirmed fact of LVN's and RN's making high 80's to in some cases right at 100K

yeah, guaranteed employment, hot chicks, "make a difference",....pretty tough decision....

 

[Number$Cruncher]

Just my two cents...

Make sure you're running toward something you really want, not away from something you fear.

 

[MachPi]

Bell47, good luck. I'm in my 2nd semester at nursing school now; pm me if you have any questions.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Forget nursing. I'm going Truckmaster! :laugh:

Leaving this sausage fest for nursing? More pay, more....'company'.

I dream of cutting the chain. Instead of debating nursing, why not post
other careers that parallels the the skills and knowledge of aviation.
(or even careers that don't)

I'll leave the industry in a heartbeat as soon as I figure out what I want to do.
....and I'll never look back.

CE

 

[CapnVegetto]

Don't lose faith....there ARE good aviation jobs out there. I've got one. The industry is in a downturn right now. It'll come back up.....it's just a matter of time. The days of the $300K a year DC-10 captain are gone forever, but you can still make mid 100's to 200's in both corporate and airlines.

 

[X man]

Crimson Eclipse
Yea right truck driving, what a great bunch of people to have a conversation with. That is the hard part. Everytime you pass an airport, you will try to convince yourself you made the right move, it might work for awhile, but it is in your blood now, like being a vampire, only certain things are going to satisfy that thirst.
I tried that route, thats why I say this. If you give up, find something you would like to do better, that is really more rewarding with out having to really ask if it is.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Crimson Eclipse
Everytime you pass an airport, you will try to convince yourself you made the right move, it might work for awhile, but it is in your blood now, like being a vampire, only certain things are going to satisfy that thirst.

You sound like my crack dealer...except you didn't say "first one's free"

CE

 

[bell47]

Thanks everyboby for the feedback! Machpie, I'll be in touch, thanks.

 

[Gatorman]

You will never be able to leave aviation.....everytime you hear an airplane, you will look up at it and say to someone "I use to (do whatever) on those planes"


You'll be back!!!!

 

[bell47]

You will never be able to leave aviation.....everytime you hear an airplane, you will look up at it and say to someone "I use to (do whatever) on those planes"


You'll be back!!!!

HAHA! I already say that followed by "thank god I don't have to do it anymore!" Your right I can't get away from aviation, I'm looking forward to getting out of nursing school and going for one of those hundred dollar hamburgers I hear so much about. You know the ones that you fly somewhere to eat JUST FOR FUN!!!

 

[IslandDriver]

Good luck with the nursing school. I did nursing school while flying for a 135 mostly summer operation. Was the best thing I ever did.

After 1 year working in an ER....right out of school mind you...no pay for training either...actually they gave me $2000 if I promised to stay a year...which I did....I then got hired by a "commuter" FO pay was tough but $250.00 a day as a per-diem nurse made the difference....now I am a captain at the same company.....The QOL of life is good at my company....I made $55,000 at the airline and $10,000 at the RN job...averaged to 3 days a month at the hospital...not too bad since my average days off at the airline was 12-14 days....I even had the oportunity to work 4 hours in the morning at the hospital and still work at the airline that night so sometimes it did not even eat into the days off....

To my point though...one of my RN friends i graduated with made $58,000 nursing with an average of 1 day a week overtime...so I actually made more as the Pilot/RN....with a lot less work.

Trust me flying an approach to minimums...even in ICE in the winter is a lot easier than working your third cardiac arrest on an eight year old car accident patient....in a busy ER an eight hour shift is a lot harder than a 16 hour day in the cockpit....at least when the door is closed and I am on my 6th leg of the day I can have peace and quiet of just me and my FO....

But do the nursing school...you may come back to aviation...but you will have the backup of nursing...a great peace of mind...when I hear of possible layoffs etc...I say to myself who cares I will just go back to an ER and have a great career there....

Oh and being a man in nursing is like being a female in the aviation realm...no offense to the gals but we all know that in aviation if a male interviews with an equally qualified female pilot...who do you think gets the job easier....same in nursing......GOOD LUCK!

PM me if you have any questions...i like to hear of other pilot/nurses

 

[Flywhite]

Actual nursing salaries: https://payflow.hodes.com/nbhd/

Looking for a CRNA that wants to be less than one hour to Charleston West Virginia doing all types of anesthesia working with 8 other CRNA’s and 5 anesthesiologists starting salary is between $130,000 and $150,000 with a $5,000 sign on bonus call is one in six and there is always a day off after call this is a great job for any CRNA that wants to be in West Virginia for more information please call Dan Stasiukiewicz from All Star Recruiting 800 928 0229 or reply to [email protected]

 

[bell47]

Good luck with the nursing school. I did nursing school while flying for a 135 mostly summer operation. Was the best thing I ever did.

After 1 year working in an ER....right out of school mind you...no pay for training either...actually they gave me $2000 if I promised to stay a year...which I did....I then got hired by a "commuter" FO pay was tough but $250.00 a day as a per-diem nurse made the difference....now I am a captain at the same company.....The QOL of life is good at my company....I made $55,000 at the airline and $10,000 at the RN job...averaged to 3 days a month at the hospital...not too bad since my average days off at the airline was 12-14 days....I even had the oportunity to work 4 hours in the morning at the hospital and still work at the airline that night so sometimes it did not even eat into the days off....

To my point though...one of my RN friends i graduated with made $58,000 nursing with an average of 1 day a week overtime...so I actually made more as the Pilot/RN....with a lot less work.

Trust me flying an approach to minimums...even in ICE in the winter is a lot easier than working your third cardiac arrest on an eight year old car accident patient....in a busy ER an eight hour shift is a lot harder than a 16 hour day in the cockpit....at least when the door is closed and I am on my 6th leg of the day I can have peace and quiet of just me and my FO....

But do the nursing school...you may come back to aviation...but you will have the backup of nursing...a great peace of mind...when I hear of possible layoffs etc...I say to myself who cares I will just go back to an ER and have a great career there....

Oh and being a man in nursing is like being a female in the aviation realm...no offense to the gals but we all know that in aviation if a male interviews with an equally qualified female pilot...who do you think gets the job easier....same in nursing......GOOD LUCK!

PM me if you have any questions...i like to hear of other pilot/nurses

Hey thanks Islanddriver, I may PM you in the future. You have the same attitude towards it as I do. Like I've said in previous post, I still love aviation, I just don't want to depend on it for a living. It sounds like you have the best of both worlds. Also, in my expieriance if an employer knows that you don't have to take any crap, because of other good income, then they don't tend to give you as much crap!