Any former school teachers?

neonatalRN · Aug 8, 2003

I have a B.S. in Biology, and was in graduate school to be a high school science teacher (it was post-baccalaureate program to get a teaching license) I decided teaching wasn't for me, though, and decided to be a nurse. I was almost done with the teaching program, by the way. I am just about to start nursing school in a couple weeks, so I can't actually tell you what it is like to be a nurse.

Heidi

purplemania, BSN, RN · Aug 8, 2003

Staff nurses do not have take-home paperwork. Home Health nurses often have take-home work. Managers might have, but that depends on many factors. Don't know about Public Health, Occupational Health, School Nurses and others. Regardless of type of nursing, you will "take home" your job in the sense you will replay what you said/did not say and did/did not do. Not always, of course. Some patients you never forget.

renerian, BSN, RN · Aug 8, 2003

Yes home health does alot of paperwork at home. At the hospital I was paid for time worked in home health I was not. If I was salaried I worked lots of hours over 40. Tons of paperwork.

renerian

WhiteCaps · Aug 9, 2003

Charting! Charting & more charting! Yes, nurses do a LOT of paperwork (or computer charting)!

Hospital nurses don't do homework like teachers.

But we MUST finish all the charting before we leave, no matter what plans we have after work! They say if it's not recorded, it wasn't done!

Luv4Med · Aug 10, 2003

Thanks for your replies. It seems as though most professions have a great deal of paper work. I don't mind doing the paper work, I just hate when I have to bring it home.

[you will "take home" your job in the sense you will replay what you said/did not say and did/did not do.]

Purplemania, I agree with you 100%. I often bring my job home, replaying the day's events in my mind. I walk on egg shells when dealing with my students because I don't want to say something that could "damage" them in the future. As a nurse, you must have a whole different set of circumstances to deal with. I applaud anyone in the medical field.

Heidi, I'm curious, what turned you away from teaching.

[but we MUST finish all the charting before we leave, no matter what plans we have after work!]

WhiteCaps, are nurses paid OT if charting isn't completed by the end of the shift?

I plan to contact my local hospital on Monday to see if I can volunteer to get a feel for what direction I want to take in the medical field.

Thanks for all your responses and have a good day.

neonatalRN · Aug 10, 2003

I just don't think I have the right personality for teaching. I am not a "dynamic" speaker, and am rather shy. Plus I didn't like all the "politically correct" revisionist ways of teaching the subject matter that they said we had to do.

Heidi

AJCD · Aug 11, 2003

Originally posted by Luv4Med
I'm currently a third grade school teacher. I absolutely love working with the children. However, I spend more time doing paper work, grading papers, atteding meetings, etc. rather than actually teaching. I've always wanted to pursue a career in medicine-- just uncertain what direction I want to go in. Right now nursing is one of my top choices. I'm just curious, are there any former teachers who have changed careers and gone into nursing?

As a school teacher, I put in a lot of unpaid overtime during the week and on weekends. I can't remember the last time I came home without some type of work to complete. I hope this doesn't sound like a crazy question, but do nurses take home assignmets to complete at home?

Any responses would be greatly appreciated. :)

I guess I was meant to check this board today... I've been lurking here for quite some time, but this is my first post.

I taught English at the middle and high school levels for six years. I adored teaching, but I had the same concerns you are expressing. I simply couldn't see myself doing it for 24 more years.

I left teaching and started an engineering (IS) degree. This ended up taking much longer than I'd planned, thanks to the intervention of the births of my two sons. It's a good thing, though, because although I enjoyed the coursework it just never felt "right", if that makes any sense.

Throughout my life, I've been fascinated by medicine. I told my parents I wanted to be a nurse when I was about five. They told me I should be a doctor. Well, I didn't want to be a doctor, thank you very much! I put it (mostly) out of my mind and obviously pursued other areas.

As time has passed I've never recovered from the "itch". I've even read Echo Heron's books (which I understand are glaringly accurate) and I still want to go into nursing. I also wonder, considering this, if I should seek counseling

I finally took a huge leap and told my husband of my desires this past weekend. Instead of looking disappointed, as I was afraid he would (YEARS working on an engineering degree, combined with the "status" thing), he thought it was a great idea! You could have knocked me over with a feather.

I have a message in to the contact person at our community college's RN program as of 9:30 this morning. I'm excited and a bit anxious :)

Good luck in whatever you decide!

fourbirds4me · Aug 11, 2003

My husband is a teacher and I was working on by degree in elementary ed. I saw all the BS, work, work, low pay, low appreciation and frustration my dh deals with and had serious second thoughts. So I got my BSN in nursing. I still get to teach... that's part of what nurses do. Without all the school BS. I hope to get my masters so I can teach part time in a nursing program.

Good Luck with you decision!