Apr 1, 2018
In this episode, Sara chats with Jennifer Farrell about working in the tech industry for a decade and then going back to school and becoming a nurse. Jennifer talks about taking a pay cut to pursue what she loves, the payoffs of making her career change (including reclaiming her free time!) and the satisfyingly steep learning curve of the nursing profession. Today, Jennifer is a Registered Nurse on staff for a Surgical Cardiac Unit at Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill Campus in Seattle, Washington. Jennifer is a Preceptor who teaches new Resident Nurses on the unit, as well as a Relief Charge Nurse.
Sara and Jennifer discuss:
- How they got connected
- Jennifer getting into tech during the big boom
- The lack of stability in tech in 2008
- Wanting to interact with people more
- Wanting to use her science background
- Doing a cost/benefit analysis regarding going back to school
- The continual growth and learning involved in nursing
- Jennifer's passion for science
- Getting tired of job transitions and rounds of layoffs
- Seeing how skilled she'd already become at job change
- Feeling empowered to make a career change on her own terms
- Supporting her husband through his career transition
- Leaving her tech income behind to go back to school
- Taking out student loans
- Making an investment in her own health and future
- The time it took for her to start making comparable money again
- Working up to 80 hours a week in tech
- Reclaiming her free time as a nurse
- Doing her career change fairly "independently"
- People questioning why she changed careers
- Her high level of job satisfaction and continual challenge
- Tech involved in her nursing career
- The difference between what she envisioned, and her reality
- The steep learning curve of nursing
- Finding her sense of competence
- The dire consequences of "messing up" on the job when you're a nurse
- Jen's one piece of advice for someone who's on the cusp of career change
- And more...
Jennifer's full bio:
Jennifer Farrell, RN, BSN, PCCN is a Registered Nurse on staff for
a Surgical Cardiac Unit at Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill
Campus in Seattle, Washington. Jennifer is a Preceptor who teaches
new Resident Nurses on the unit, as well as a Relief Charge Nurse.
In 2009, Jennifer left her tech career, where she worked at various
companies in roles with increasingly more responsibility but with
less personal job satisfaction. Seeking a change, Jennifer returned
to school to earn her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the
University of Washington and she graduated with honors in 2011. The
past 7 years have provided the challenge, learning opportunities,
skill development and job satisfaction Jennifer was craving.