You love your children dearly, but you have so much that you can do and offer to others that it would be a shame not to realize your full potential. You have a caring and nurturing side, and you also have a desire to help others. Nurturing your desire and passion for a career in nursing does not make you a bad parent, and it will not make you a bad parent. Pursuing a career does not mean that you will have less time to dedicate or devote to your children. It does, however, mean that you will be fulfilling your ambitions and dreams, and these are things that you might have put on the back burner since having children. So, just how do you go about pursuing a career in nursing while still having children at home (or being home with the children), and what should you be thinking about?

Thinking Ahead and Planning for Your Future

You need to start thinking about your future as soon as possible. Time does fly, and if you do not think about your future, you could end up getting left behind. If you get left behind, you may realize too late that you have run out of time. Thinking about your future and thinking ahead gives you direction. When you have direction, you have a purpose, and you have a plan. Of course, just because you have thought about what you want to do and by when, it does not mean that you have to start putting the wheels into motion just yet. 

Having a Plan of Action

Once you have thought about what you want to do, you then need to begin putting together a plan of action. Your plan of action might not be put into action straight away, but shortly it will ensure that you focus your efforts on building one that works for you. Within your plan of action, you must include the route you will take to get the career of your dreams. For example, if you know that you need to enhance your education, just when will you make this happen? When you are putting together a plan, you also need to think carefully about timescales. For instance, do you want to start advancing your education within the next 3-5 years? Do you want to start when your children have finished high school? Your timeline and your plan of action will be unique to you and your circumstances. Creating one that works for you will help you realize your ambitions and your potential.

The Right Time to Pursue a Career

There is no right or wrong time to pursue a career, especially a career in nursing. There is, however, a time that is right for you and your family. For example, this may be when you feel that your children are growing and gaining a little bit more independence. It may also be when you feel that you want to make a life change. There is no one size fits all approach to pursuing a career, and to make it work for you, you need to look at your family and your circumstances. Taking a good look at your family situation and the dynamic currently on offer will help you decide if the time is right now, in the next year, or the next three years.

Why Nursing?

You may have looked at lots of careers, but nursing seems to be a career and industry that keeps being of major interest to you. The good news is that there is always a demand for nurses. Nurses on the frontline emergency services and also specialized nurses have always been sought after. If you have a caring nature and a nurturing personality, then nursing is right for you. Nursing gives you the chance to reach your full potential, and it also allows you to make a real difference in the lives of others (such as those patients in your care). As the demand for nurses seems to be soaring, you could build a career that spans decades if you want to. Within nursing, you can have a major impact on other people’s lives, and you can also improve the care and quality of care that they receive.

Opportunities Within Nursing

Of course, once you have qualified to be a nurse, then there is no stopping you now. There are lots of opportunities on offer within nursing. For example, you could be a nurse in charge, or you could go on to be involved within the leadership of a health organization or hospital. There are a lot of opportunities on offer within nursing, and you may feel that you want to pursue these opportunities as your career advances. Of course, you do not have to go for every opportunity that comes your way, but it is nice to know that there is potential for you to constantly grow and develop.

Utilizing Your Skills

As you are a parent, there are already a lot of transferable skills that you already hold – skills that you have learned from being at home and looking after children. For example, you are already a master at balancing multiple things at once, and you are also the master of helping people feel better when they are low or ill. Your skills, which are things such as the ability to multitask and the ability to spread your time equally, are all going to be valuable in your future nursing role and also in your time spent studying. You have a lot to add to the nursing profession, and you have a lot to bring to the role and patient care. Utilizing skills and attributes that you already have will help reaffirm this for you if you are ever in doubt.

Turning Your Vision into Reality

When you are ready to start putting your plan into action, you are ready to start turning your vision into reality. To get the ball rolling, you need to ensure that you stick to your plan of action as closely as possible. Having children and then deciding to pursue a career may mean that your attention and time can get easily diverted. To ensure that this does not happen, you need to stick closely to your plan. When you are bringing your plan of action to life, it is important to realize that not everything might work out as you have previously planned. As plans can change, it is important to see your plan of action as a guideline that you follow to achieve your goals and your ambitions.

Studying Online 

Something you have to focus on to realize your career goals is your education. To become a nurse, you have to have specialist knowledge and experience. You cannot just sail into a nursing role; you have to return to studying to make your dreams a reality. When it comes to returning to education, you want to ensure that you approach your education as positively as possible. It can be difficult returning to education after having a break, and this is something that you will need to take into consideration. Fitting in your studying and your education doesn’t have to be as daunting a prospect as you think. For example, you can study for an MSN-MBA Dual Degree completely online, which gives you both the freedom and flexibility that you need.

Balance Studying with Family Life

When you are studying, you have an extra plate to keep in rotation, and you must maintain balance and order as much as possible. To get the most out of your studies, you need to balance everything that you are doing and everything that you want to do. Of course, time constraints may mean that you have to seek assistance or help from family and friends, and this is something that you should never be ashamed of or embarrassed by. Getting a balance when you are studying may not be something that comes easily or quickly. It is hard work trying to pursue a career while having a family, but it is not impossible. If you can spend some time working on a timetable or a schedule, you can then ensure that you fit in everything you need to, then you can ensure that your family is happy and content and that all deadlines are met.

Putting Your Family First

No matter the route you take to get into nursing, and no matter how long the process takes you, you need to remember that your family always needs to come first. Your career will happen when you are ready and when your family is ready. When you put your family’s needs before your own, you ensure that everyone is happy and content both now and moving forwards. To ensure that you always put your family first, you need to think about action and consequences. Thinking through decisions that lie ahead of you and planning out as much as you can ensure that your transition into a career is as smooth and as seamless as possible.

This is a contributed post and therefore may not reflect the views and opinions of this blog or its author. ☺