Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 10, 1991 TAG: 9103100237
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
"They've been so supportive. They know this is something I really wanted to do," said Smith, who at age 39 has seen her career take a new direction. She was a grocery chain's district representative, but the company pulled out of the area.
Left without a job, she turned to nursing, fulfilling a childhood dream. Her 36-year-old sister, who also is raising a family, joined her at the school of nursing at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where both are seniors.
In the past, nursing students tended to come straight out of high school "because there wasn't the availability of other careers open to them," said Mary Schwarga, assistant director of the nursing school. "But today's high school student is exposed to so many other opportunities. They're not selecting nursing."
At Norfolk General, the average age for graduating students is 34, a good dozen years past what would be expected for entrants directly from high school. Of the nursing school's 183 students, about half are married and have some college credits.
"Who we are seeing enter the school is a good number of women who want to pursue nursing as a second career, ones who've either been homemakers and waited until their children were older, or ones who've wanted to change from careers they weren't happy with," said Schwarga. "Now they see nursing as a challenge and a way to fulfill their needs."
Raeann Marshall, a 27-year-old former interior decorator, found her former career limiting and financially unstable.
"It was creative, but I felt that I wasn't using my full potential," she said. "Now that I've gotten into nursing, I see there are so many areas of the field you can get into and deal with so many different types of people."
by CNB