What should I do with my life?
Hi everyone!
I am a 24 year old gal who has spent the last 6 years trying to find & finish a degree that I actually enjoy. I graduated VCE in 2019 and have been properly doing a Bachelor of Biomedical Science at Deakin since 2022 aiming to finish mid 2027. It’s a long story why it’s taken me so long but covid, mental health, undiagnosed and now diagnosed ADHD and travel experiences have delayed me.
I know I’m passionate about working in the healthcare space - I was originally thinking Med (but my ADHD can’t handle the stress rn so that is a potential future plan if I end up hating SP or N).
I’ve now landed on Speech Pathology or potentially Nursing. Making good money is a big deal to me and enjoying life while I’m young with travel and fun stuff is key - I don’t want to only have lots of money/time when I’m 50+ old. For either of these options I would do the 2-year masters direct practise. I love overseas/interstate travel, exploring, trying new things and not staying stagnant for too long in the same job, but still love being in Melbourne for majority of the year.
In terms of career progression, with either of these pathways I would be interested in acute work, hospital work, locum jobs, short term interstate work (3-12 months max) and in general progression up the chain of command as quick as possible to more autonomy, clinical leadership, education and all that fun stuff.
I don’t even really know what my question is really but I’m just confused. Does anyone have any advice on how quickly you can climb the ladder in career progression as a nurse? Do you have examples of you or someone you know and how quickly they went up the ladder?
I know you have to stick out the grunt work at the start but for how long. I would be almost immediately ready to do more education to get higher up through Graduate Certificates/Diplomas/Masters of Speciality Nursing/Nurse Practioner/Clinical Education/Health Leadership. I know people say it’s really tough to get a grad year in VIC so would be happy to do it interstate (even in the NT as I feel like you would learn so much more so much quicker with way more autonomy).
Thank you so much for listening to my rant - I really appreciate any help and advice anyone has! 🩷🩷