Hi Lyn, I'm a nurse but my full time job is now as a paramedic. Before changing careers I worked in emergency in a major trauma service. As MG said, there are a lot of career opportunities in nursing and it is very flexible work which can be taken all over the world. Extra qualifications usually involve some sort of financial input though, for me to get my certificate in emergency medicine I had to pay to study. Nursing generally involves shift work. Even though there are areas, such as the area MG is in, where there are more civilised hours, initially you will most likely have to do mornings, afternoons and night shifts while you gather experience. Nurses are in demand so you are generally guaranteed a job and can work as little or as much as you like. The study is pretty full on with a lot to learn. It involves unpaid clinical blocks where you work in the area to gain experience. Emergency is a very demanding area of nursing and unfortunately rather thankless, so it can be very tiring. As MG said, nurses can cop a lot of verbal abuse from patients due to frustrations with the system (especially in emergency where people are waiting hours to see a dr). Nursing is a very rewarding career and you definitely do feel like you are helping people. Nurses are no longer the hand maidens that they used to be - they are educated practitioners with the ability to make decisions. As I said, it generally involves shift work, and having said that there are times when I was rostered on to work 10 days straight, it doesn't involve a regular predictable roster (one of the reasons why I changed careers). I still do the occasional shift (well before I went on maternity leave) to maintain my skill, and this is the beauty of nursing that you can do as many or as little shifts as you like. Good luck with your decision. Feel free to email me if you want to ask anything else nrvgi@yahoo.com.au