Karenh, Where I work in Canada, I haven't felt the economic effects within the nursing field yet. There are cuts happening in the hospital, but the jobs being let go are support staff positions, such as housecleaning, maintenance and orderly positions. I don't think they would dare touch the nursing positions, the opposition from the public would be very strong. That doesn't mean I don't question the future, I certainly do. In general, I have to say I have become pretty dissatisfied with my career in nursing. In my current position, I receive a lot of verbal abuse on a weekly basis. I am still fairly new to the field of nursing (I'm going on my 4th year) and I have worked in 4 different areas, none of which has felt like the right fit for me. I have also found that the "Lifestyle" of a nurse, with evening, nights and weekends, crazy schedules, etc has become much more of a deterent then I thought it would be. I would just love a job like "normal" people have; go to work at "normal" hours, have my weekends off like my family and friends, and not have to keep my fingers crossed that I get christmas or other holidays off. In my experience, I found only one job that fit this bill, and it was a community health job, which I actually enjoyed very much. I worked casually for a short while, but because they could not offer me full-time, I had to move on and return to the hospital setting. There just aren't that many community nursing positions, and when people get in, they seem to stay until they retire! There is very little turn over, unlike in the hospitals.
So, I have decided to return to school and get my masters. I am hoping that this will provide me security for the future, as changes may happen to the nursing landscape. I will be specializing in community and public health. My hope is to land a job in the government or in the non profit sector in policy and research. I feel as though I have had my fill of front line nursing, and would like to work "behind the scenes". I am really passionate about public health, and my dream job would tie in my interest in maternal infant health, and allow me to be able to influence policy and public health programing within this area.
I don't mind retaking the bio stuff but really don't want to take like freshman composition again or psych 100 
: anyway.
). And behavioral health is probably last on my list of areas I'd like to be in, but its experience for now...
