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Dear Donna

Donna Cardillo, RN, well-known career guru and president of Cardillo & Associates, is a speaker, entrepreneur, humorist, and master of the career universe. She uses her expertise to help you polish your rough edges and shine in your career.

"Experience is not enough in today's fast-paced, competitive world," notes Cardillo. "You must look good, speak well, appear confident, have the ability to perform with increasing daily demands on your time, and through it all maintain a positive, upbeat attitude."

Cardillo brings more than 20 years of clinical, management, and business experience to her new role. She is the top-rated speaker at Nursing Spectrum Career Fairs and takes a down-to-earth approach to career advice. Cardillo has appeared on television and radio and written many articles on career and professional development topics. Most recently, Cardillo was a career consultant with monster.com, but she left that position to assume her exclusive Dear Donna! relationship with Nursing Spectrum/NurseWeek.

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Everyone I speak to discourages me from pursuing nursing, but it’s what I want to do. Am I crazy?
Wednesday November 19, 2008
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Question:

Dear Donna,

I’m a 47-year-old male, and I’m a secretary at a university. I only have 50 credits toward my BA, although I haven’t declared a major yet. I haven’t taken any sciences since high school. Here is the situation: I want to be a nurse. I’m taking self-study courses in biology and the like. I’m going to do volunteer work at a hospital so I can get a feel for the job. Once I get into nursing school, it’s going to be one that offers a program on evenings and weekends, so it will take me three years to finish. Everyone I speak to discourages me from doing this, but it’s what I want to do. Am I crazy?

Joe



Dear Donna replies:

Dear Joe,

Let’s see — you’re asking me if you should follow your heart and go with your gut and do what you want to do or if you should listen to the nay-sayers in your life and let then chart your future. Hmmm … I think you know the answer to that question. Who is it giving you advice? If they are unhappy and disgruntled nurses, then why are they still in nursing or not moving forward with their own careers? If they are not nurses (or even if they are), what business do they have telling you how to live your life? There will always be those who tell you why you can’t or shouldn’t do something. You only have to answer to yourself. Don’t let someone else stand in the way of your dreams. You are the creator of your own future.

You have a dream, a vision, and a plan. Work that plan and move forward. Visit http://www.discovernurse.com and http://www.nsna.org for more information and inspiration about nursing. Also check out the American Assembly for Men in Nursing at http://www.aamn.org.

Best wishes,
Donna



Donna Cardillo, RN, MA, well-known career guru, is Nursing Spectrum/NurseWeek’s “Dear Donna” and author of Your First Year as a Nurse: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional and The ULTIMATE Career Guide for Nurses: Practical Advice for Thriving at Every Stage of Your Career. Information about the books is available at www.nurse.com/CE/7010 and www.nurse.com/CE/7250, respectively. To ask Donna your question, go to www.nurse.com/asktheexperts/deardonna. Find a “Dear Donna” seminar near you: Call (800) 866-0919 or visit http://events.nursingspectrum.com/Seminar.



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