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Part of a growing army of nurses that has come to the field after years of working in other jobs, Erin Brown, RN, traded in her helmet for a pair of scrubs.

Entering nursing after stints as a teacher and firefighter wasn't easy for Erin Brown, RN.

Brown was drawn to the nursing profession after working with severely handicapped students and treating accident victims, but the prospect of returning to school as a 30-something with three children intimidated her. "My fear was, 'I'm too old to start,' "she said. "I remember saying, 'I can't do this.' "

But an official at Montgomery College in Maryland encouraged her to stick with it. Brown, 44, is now a registered nurse and clinical leader at University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz. The advice she received has proved priceless. "I'm so glad I ended up in nursing," she said. "I love it."

Brown is part of a growing army of nurses that has come to the field after years of working in other jobs. The reasons for changing into scrubs range from a desire to help people to the lure of a steady, decent paycheck in today's turbulent economy. Despite the hurdles, including the physical demands of nursing, these career-switchers can make excellent RNs, nursing leaders say. In particular, people turning to nursing as a second or third career often bring maturity, medical experience and time-management skills.

What's more, second-career RNs are playing a vital role in helping to solve the nursing shortage. Not surprisingly, nursing schools are reaching out to older students with programs tailored to transform accountants, entrepreneurs, chiropractors and others into RNs.

Exact figures on the size of the second-career nurse population are difficult to come by, but statistics from the 2000 Sample Survey of Registered Nurses suggest that people are entering nursing school later in life. According to the survey, the average age of an RN who graduated from a basic education program from 1995 to 2000 was 30.9. That compares to an average age of 23.9 for those who graduated in 1984 or earlier.

Motivators

That people would train in one profession and enter another isn't endemic to nursing. As the U.S. economy has become more volatile and layoffs more common, workers are growing accustomed to changing careers. But the instability seems to make nursing more attractive to people tossed around in the job market, suggested Bea Yorker, JD, MS, RN, FAAN, director of the San Francisco State University School of Nursing. "When they read about the nursing shortage, they realize you can go anywhere in the country and never be unemployed again," she said.

In fact, the stability of nursing may be luring more men into the profession, says Amy Nichols, Ed.D., RN, associate director of San Francisco State's graduate program in nursing. In previous years, of the 50 students who enroll each year in a master's of nursing program crafted for people with degrees outside of nursing, just three or four were men. That number has since jumped to 10 to 12 in the past few years.

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