from nursing to engineering: 5 golden tips

The principal reason that makes nurses go to engineering classes is burnout and lack of purpose.

In this post, we will give 5 golden tips for people who think or want to go from nursing to engineering. So keep reading  to laern from other people’s mistakes.

Can you switch from nursing to engineering?

There is no problem. You can switch from nursing to engineering but the intelligent way to do that is to find engineering college programs that have subjects you have fulfilled before in your nursing degree. As a result, you will not have to go and study them again, which reduces the effort and time needed to get your engineering degree.

In addition, you have to read thises 5 helpful tips before making any decision.

1 take classes in math engineering

The first thing that nurses should know about joining engineering is they have to take math classes. Nursing is a field that doesn’t require math except for some algebra subjects, including normal math operations like:

  • addition
  • subtraction
  • multiplication
  • division

Things are completely different in engineering classes. Engineers take the hardest math classes like calculus and linear algebra. In other words, you will need to take theses following math courses before you join engineering school:

  • Trigonometry
  • functions
  • complex numbers
  • conic sections
  • vectors
  • series
  • limits and continuity
  • derivatives
  • integrals

These subjects are the principal, but the important ones to study are calculus and linear algebra, which all engineering classes require. So before making this decision, you have to look at these math subjects and know if you can handle and absorb them.

But in general, if you were good in 11th and 12th high school math classes, you won’t have any problem with math in engineering school.

But if you were struggling in high school math, you have to understand that the math of high school is nothing to compare to engineering school or college.

Loving something doesn’t always mean that we could do it. This is not to offend you but just a reminder before making serious decisions.

So first thing, go and test yourself by studying these subjects and see how things will go.

2 – prepare for spending a lot of time and money

An engineering degree is not cheaper. It can cost you $100,000, so the question is. Can you afford to take this risk of going into debt.?

. In addition, you will have additional fees related to printing, textbooks, etc.

So you have to be ready and talk with your spouse or partner because your financial situation will be completely different in the next 3 or 4 years.

In other words, you will need to cut a lot of things from your budget and deprive yourself form a lot of sweet things like going on travels and buying optional stuff.

For this reason, you must have a supportive spouse helping you to go smoothly from nurse to engineer. But at the end of the journey, you will be rewarded according to the high pay you will get in your new occupation.

You have to know that it might take you up to 6 years to study engineering. Because working while studying in college will force you to take less credit, so expanding the studies time.

But the intelligent thing you should do is find college engineering programs that already have credits you fulfilled in your previous nursing degree. In this way, you can take a bachelor’s in less time.

For example, as a nurse graduate, you won’t need to study an English subject in the engineering class because you have already fulfilled your nursing curriculum.

3 – you will need to be patient because it is going to be very hard

Going from nurse to engineering is not an easy process, to be honest. It is very hard, not because of the subjects. But because of the new work-life balance, you should support.

In this 4 or 3 years journey, you have to do these all things together:

  1. work in your nursing occupations
  2. take care of your family
  3. study engineering
  4. take internships

So you can imagine working 8 hours, and sometimes nurses work even more, up to 12 hours, in addition to studying simultaneously and finally taking some internships.

Many people who went through this situation worked night shifts and attended classes in the morning. So you can imagine the hustle and the sacrifice they were making.

We’re not trying to keep you away from this decision or offend you, but you will need to know what it takes. So if you don’t have a potential drive or a will, you won’t give up.

4 – engineers study a lot of physics, so be prepared

Nurses don’t study a lot of physics like engineers, so you have to be ready to study many phsyics topics.

The physics course intensity depends on the engineering field you choose. but in general, engineers study these principal physics subjects:

The principal topics that engineering focuses on in physics are statics and dynamics.

  • Statics is studying non-moving objects, for example, bridges and buildings, which civil engineers and architects do.
  • While dynamics is studying moving objects, for example, cars and planes, which mechanical and aerospace engineers do.

It will not make any problems as long you have solid math knowledge.

But if you are interested in choosing computer science, making a transition from nursing to engineering will be much easier than in other engineering fields. So we will discover why in the next paragraph.

5 – if you like to go from nursing to CS science, you’re Luckey

Yes, it is right. If you want to become a programmer or software developer engineer, you are Lucky, but why.

  1. You will not need to have a degree from a college to find a job. Computer science is a top high field demanded in the industry.
  2. You won’t need to take an internship, meaning going out of the house to companies. You can do all that from your home learning coding.

This is not the case for mechanical or electrical engineering, where you need to move everywhere to train yourself in specific machines. So if you are one of them, you can watch this inspiring video below.

Conclusion

In general, going into this journey requires having patience and finding good supportive people like your wife, parents, or the community (people you study with).

In addition, it needs taking internships to build a good network with people, as a result will help you to find a job in the engineering field as soon as possible.

Taking internships is helpful in building a good network with engineering industries, but finally, you have to remember that:

Making a shift from nursing to engineering requires a lot of sacrifices. But, it is worth it to do something you love and bring you more money than you were making as a nurse.

But if you were running from engineering because of stress, you might be wrong because engineering is also stressful.

I will let you the best engineering programs at this link.

good luck

yassin.ajanif

Yassin ajanif is a physics graduate and electromechanical engineer width more than 5 years in the field. My goal and my team are to share our experience to help you succeed in your career as a stem major. we talk about all tips, problems, and struggle STEM students face in their career and how to overcome them.