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Show he Salt Lake Tribune E8 BUSINESS Sunday, November 10, 2002 Boomers Turn to Nurs‘ng Careers Job guarantee, fulfillment drives manyto change attending nursing school there “After Sept. 11, I really started to think about what I wantedto do with the rest of mylife. Teaching people to go out and make lot of moneydidn’t seem satisfying.” BY THERESA AGOVINO THE ASSOCIATEL NEW YORK Mary Darden McLeod reached several mile stones in 2002: She turned 50 celebrated her 10th wedding anniversary and marked her 20th year as a university mar keting professor McLeod also returned to school to become a nurse. It was 4 move she had consideredfor years; the combinationof fac MARY DARDEN McLEOD ing at Baby boomersstudents say Mishawka, Ind. About onethird of the students in its ac- they often envy their younger colleagues’ flexible schedules. class College their maturity makes them more understanding as they careforpatients. in celerated Bethel are baby boomers. But boomers excel in other ways, Davidhizarsaid. Shesaid Jayne Davis, also married, the mother of two teenagers and helps herfather run his small business. “I simply can’t fall behind,” Davis said. “I don’t have the luxury of cramming every thingin on the weekends.” Retumed to school to become a nurse and biology, the students outof high school do better,” said Ruth Davidhizar, dean of nurs- part-time. She is 45,worksfulltime as an administrative assistant at Bethany, Okla.-based Southern Nazarene Universi But Davis said she doesn’t mind the hectic schedule because she has wanted to be a nursesince she was20, She had pursued a business degree when she didn't get into a nursing program. “T used to think I was too old to go back to school,” said Davis whowill finish her degree in 2005, “But when I started working hereI said, ‘I coulddothis.’” Frank Franklin/TheAssociated Press ing some of life's big events and last year’s terrorist attacks prompted her to do it After Sept. 11, I really started to think about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Teaching people to go out and make a lot of money didn’t seemsatisfying,” said McLeod, who taught at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C and is now at an accelerated nursing program University at Duke “L felt like there were just all these signalstelling me to put up or shut up,” she said. -move mountains Some baby boomers eager for a more satisfying, stable reer are entering nursing at a for him. time when many established nurses are leaving becauseof mediocre pay and grueling physical and emotional demands. McLeod was drawn to the nurturing aspect of nursing. Thelure for many others is the profession's practically guar. anteed employment the exit of disillusioned veterans has caused a severe nursing shortage, with Ll percent of hospital nursing posts currently open across the country. Theprospect of secure em: ployment has also attracted men to thetraditionally female rofession. I wantedto get into a field that | wouldn't be downsized from,” said Allan Puplis who lost his job as a nuclear engineer in 1996 and entered nursing school the following year. “I didn’t think so much about being a male nurseas being 49 and going back to school.” Puplis tried unsuccessfully to find engineering work after hewas laidoff. “I had threekids to support. I didn’t think I could go back to school,” the St. Jo seph, Mich., resident said. State-sponsored retraining grants helped finance Puplis’ initial nursing education. Now he is working as a nurse and getting his master’s degree. He earns $7,000 thanhedid as an engineerbut says he’s much happier. But nursing school administrators theyare concerned thatolder students drawntothe profession byadesireiorsecu: rity orto help people might not understand its many challeng: es. Baby boomers rangefrom38 to 56. “Weconstantly stress how difficult the work is,” said Rita D'Aoust, director of Acceler- ated Bachelor and Masters Programs for Non-Nurses at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. “I look people in the eye and say ‘Areyou sure you wantto dothis?" DID YOU Puplis says he was warned but was still shocked bylife on etaRon iii & 8 fry ~ rs thehospitalfloor. For a year he workedat a large teaching hos pital where he found the bu: reaucracy disheartening and the phy | work exhausting. “Because I am older, the nurses thought I should be more knowledgeable thanI was andthat added to thestress,” Puplis said. Now he works at a small community hospital where he is much happier. McLeod, who plans to work There are many ways to show your family as a hospital nurse when she graduates next year, says she worries about the job being too demanding. “Of course you have those types of concerns as an aging baby boomer. But you have to try,” McLeod said. “My parents how much you care, One of the best is giving them access to the number one integrated health care system in the country. IHC. To make sure you can use IHC doctors, are in their mid-70s and are hospitals and programs, choose an IHC very healthy. I hope I take after them.” Health Plan. 1-800-IHC-8493 www.ihc.com The nursing shortage pushed many colleges and uni. versities to set up accelerated programs to makeit easierfor nontraditional students to en ter the profession. At the Uni versity of Rochester, someone with a bachelor’s degree can Fin IHC HEALTH PLANS earn a bachelor’s in nursing in one year Boomer students can THC Service of Intermountain Health Care present challenges for nursing instructors. For example, sci- ence classes can be especially difficult for people who have Access To More Doctors. More Hospitars. BeTteR CHOICES, long forgotten how to take tests andstudy “When it comes to chemistry poor ( |