She doesn't have a clue!

Nottanurse1 · Aug 16, 2001

Neither do I know of a teacher that makes the mega bucks! When comparing education requirements a nurse makes far more money than a teacher. An ADN degree is usually a 2 yr degree when a teaching degree is minimal 4 ys. However the 4 most underpaid jobs consist of nursing, teachers, police officers and firefighters.

JenMarie · Aug 16, 2001

I am a nurse, but am leaving the profession to become a teacher. I am currently doing a high school teaching programme. I used to be really passionate about nursing - love my job etc. But after working in places where charge nurses rarely speak to me and a mangement who doesn't give a toss....I just weanted to get out.

In my last job management were invited to come and talk to us on the ward. I asked what were they going to do to keep nurses working at that hospital as so many, especially young nurses were leaving the profession. The response was....that it was a ward responsibility to give staff that support. Wow that was really going to happen in that place when the charge nurse talked to me only twice in the whole 14 months I worked there....not! In my last job I had hoped that I would feel like a team player, but I was just treated like one of the many flock of sheep on the ward.

I know that nursing is stressful....another reason for wanting to get out of it. However teaching is incredibly stressful to. I am up to 3am most nights preping for the next day's lessons. Teachers also are expected to give up their evenings, Saturdays and sometimes whole weekends to be involved in extra-curriculum activities.

It is not easy! Some people find that working shift work really works out for them. For me it has never worked out for me. SInce I qualified 4 years ago, I haven't had any Christmas's with my family, 1 new year and very few special times with them. Most of my family live a long way away and so getting together is tough. I found that doing shiftwork I could never get involved in anything as life revolved around shiftwork. I had hoped that I might actulally get a life when I became a teacher, but I think I am sadly dis-illusioned.

I will get slightly more money as a teacher. Also I believe that as a teacher that being a team-player is even more vital, no matter how junior one is as a teacher.

I also aways wanted to be a respected member of the community and to feel I made a difference. Despite the fact that as a nurse we are supposed to be altrustic, I found that this trait of me no, longer exists because of the way management treats its' staff and me.

I believe that once a nurse, always a nurse. I may return to nursing one day. But not until I find somewhere that appreciates me and my 110 % I attempt to give.

Just a thought

Jen

MollyJ · Aug 16, 2001

Originally posted by JenMarie
....I know that nursing is stressful....another reason for wanting to get out of it. However teaching is incredibly stressful to. I am up to 3am most nights preping for the next day's lessons. Teachers also are expected to give up their evenings, Saturdays and sometimes whole weekends to be involved in extra-curriculum activities.

It is not easy! Some people find that working shift work really works out for them. For me it has never worked out for me. SInce I qualified 4 years ago, I haven't had any Christmas's with my family, 1 new year and very few special times with them. Most of my family live a long way away and so getting together is tough. I found that doing shiftwork I could never get involved in anything as life revolved around shiftwork. I had hoped that I might actulally get a life when I became a teacher, but I think I am sadly dis-illusioned....

Jen

Hey, Jen, I do think the preps get better after you've taught the class once, since you're not always inventing things--at least that's what I see. But the prep and the paper grading is an ongoing need and even experienced teachers collect new classes to teach over time.

Between this job and the hospital, I worked community health and then did case managemet. Community health really taught you that you had to be part of your community to be effective. The case management job, because I traveled through such a wide area, exposed me to alot of communities but I did not get to become a part of those communities and I barely knew the community I lived in. The school job--one aspect I do love is that you are definitely are part of your community because schools are so integral to their community. Look out for jobs that will allow you to put together teaching and nursing--like that school counselor job. 'course our counselors are so busy coordinating the endless testing of students (which, over time, interferes with their learning) that many of them complain that they have less and less time to do personal student counseling.

I don't think teachers routinely do preps til 3 am, so I do think that will get better. What are you going to be teaching?

normarae · Aug 16, 2001

I have been thinking we should write to Pres Bush and try to get him educated on the OTHER largest unappreciated profession in the USA ...nursing. Like one msg stated...we couldn't feed a large dog on our retirement income. Why is it that nurses can work in the ?profession for 25 years and because of some nincompoop insecure manager utilizes dirty pool to get rid of the nurse by making it so miserable she/he moves on to another nursing job and loses any benefits at that facility..and there is NO recourse??? There is something wrong with this picture. In Fl there is the major stations broadcasting the "shortage of nurses" while there are many nurses trying to cope with the above type managers and many nurses would rather dig ditches than return to nursing, but because of their inability to make any kind of wage in that field they take it and take it until they finally die or go back to school and get a different career. I think that the government should start looking at the lack of qualified nurses in the field is not because of the money but the way they are treated by the idiot managers these corporation bought hospitals are hiring to axe the most experienced nurses to save money and hiring the new "naive" nurses looking for a job. I have tried to contact the TV channel many times to enlighten them but they have not replied. I guess the only way to let the public know the REAL reason for a nursing shortage is to write a book. I am making notes for that purpose and any input would be appreciated. Thanks :rolleyes:

PhantomRN · Aug 16, 2001

So she will go into teaching as a novice and "make slightly more" than she does as a nurse with 4 years experience. I am curious are you just comparing base salary to base salary? Or are you factoring in how many hours you will actually work for the money?

maryb · Aug 16, 2001

My sister is a teacher in a private school, and the pay REALLY stinks. She's is a CPA who left the profession because of long hours, never seeing her kids/husband, etc. (Any of this sounding familiar?)

However, I worked with a male nurse once whose wife was a teacher. They were both "fresh" from college. We sat down and compared salaries of the two of them once for fun (he was a really nice person who didn't mind us "up in his business"). When you factored ACTUAL HOURS WORKED/yearly salary, his wife was making slightly more. Now, she taught the lower grades where there wasn't as many complex papers to grade like in middle and high school, so that may have been a factor, I'm not sure.

And like many of the previous posts have stated, she had EXCELLENT benefits that were far better than anything offered to us at the hospital.

Before I get slammed, I just want to say that is my LIMITED experience/knowledge of teacher pay/benefits issue. I think that regardless of how you break it down, someone who I am going to trust with my kids for 6-8 hours a day should be getting more, just like people (nurses) who you entrust your life to when ill should get more.

And about day care pay......

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Aug 16, 2001

Nurse S...I can only hope that you can keep that attitude after you start working. It will be very different for you...working weekend, holidays, off shifts, 16 hour days, etc. I wish you luck! After 15 years.....I want to be teacher!

nursenel · Aug 16, 2001

me again. You know teachers are a GREAT GROUP of oeople...I wouldn't want to be a teacher and most of them probably wouldn't want to be a nurse!!!!!

However, to keep conversation going.....I deal with death and life issues on a daily basis.....and being closest to the lowest paid health care workers is disheartening to say the least. Who the heck makes all the money???? Where is it going if it is not utilized for staffing to take care of the patients...the sole reason fo rthe facility to exist?????{ the patients, that is }. By the way, I was informed that the reason Florida has so many lawyers barking up our butts is because win , lose or draw a case....the facility has to foot the lawyers bill. Any one out there know if this is true????

nurse s · Aug 17, 2001

It's the teacher again...sorry, I can't help myself.

JenMarie......I have taught for a couple of years, and the school I am currently at has a wonderful principal, support system, etc especially for new teachers. But be aware, just as you had some bad experiences with management, I have had the same bad experiences. And a good support system doesn't mean happiness, I can attest to that! My first year of teaching I was told there was a mentor program....but it was a joke and I was left on my own.What a horrible year. As the environment is different from school to school, as I am sure the same rule applies from hospital to hospital! One of the things I dislike the most about teaching is the lack of spontaniety. I know what I will be doing when I get there each morning....it sucks! Also, if you think people respect teachers, think again (of course, some people give them respect). I get so much flack because people see me as a glorified babysitter, and think what I do is pud. My husband thought teaching wasn't stressful until we got married and he realized how much prep and bs is involved in it.

Whoever told somebody that teachers make 75-100k is off their rocker. The superientendent of a district makes about 115K! There is no way they would pay a teacher that. :eek:

nurse s · Aug 17, 2001

Just for you nurses out there who are wondering. I work in one of the most highly regarded school districts in the KC area, and the pay for a first year teacher is 25,800. I have heard that in texas they start around 30, and it's higher is places like california where the cost of living is higher. For me, teaching pays my bills. A lot of the teachers I know have side jobs to pay for clothes, a decent car, etc.

How does nursing compare in first year salary?

CEN35 · Aug 17, 2001

oh yeah no comment been through that one with the other half of my house...........and the answer is: "you should have been a teacher". of course nobody ever heard me say i was done with school yet, don't think i ever will be! :)

st4304 · Aug 17, 2001

Hello? Me again. I started this post because I was frustrated that my neighbor was complaining to me about returning to her job after a ten week vacation (trust me, she didn't work during her 10 week hiatus, she vacationed) and there I stood happy that school was starting so my kids finally would be back in school after spending the summer watching TV/video games because I had to work the entire summer because staffing (maternity leave, elective gallbladder surgery leave, etc) would not allow me to have more than a day or two off here or there. (We did get to go camping for four days in June, Yippee!) I really didn't want this to turn into a we vs. they post. . .BUT

In Indiana, the median elementary school teacher's salary is $41,000 (according to salary.com) for 180 working days. (Notice I didn't say 180 "8-hour" working days.) $41,000 divided by 180 equals $227.77/day. I made, including overtime, $40,000 last year. If I divide that by 180 working days, it equals $222.22/day. Not that much difference per day between myself and a teacher, except I didn't work just 180 days. I got my 3% annual cost of living raise last week (I have NEVER received a sign-on bonus, any kind of bonus for that matter, nor a merit raise in 6 years of employment as an RN) so I now make $19.25/hr which works out to $154.00/day if I work 8 hrs or $40,040/yr (no overtime included). By comparison, if teachers worked all year like the rest of us at their current average daily salary of $227.77, the average yearly salary of a teacher in the great state of Indiana would be $59,220.

My sister and my sister-in-law teach 4th grade, my mother-in-law teaches 5th grade, and my brother-in-law teaches high school science. Trust me, I know what teachers go through during the school year; it can be as stressful as nursing, just a different kind of stress. However, I have never known my sister to miss her son's game because she had papers to grade or prep to do, but I have missed several of my kids' games or programs (especially Xmas programs) because of my nursing.

No, neither of us make near enough the money we should. Yes, I have more options and job opportunities as a nurse, but not at better pay (in my area of the world, anyway.) I guess I just don't want to hear -- and I direct this to my neighbor, whom I love dearly -- complaining about ten weeks not being long enough "to recover" from the previous school year when you are standing there tanned, and your kids are tanned, and your house is clean, and I am pale from no sun exposure and the only tan my kids have is from mowing your lawn while you were gone for two weeks seeing the Grand Canyon! :rolleyes:

Hey, this has been fun and informative, and I honestly hope I have not offended anyone. Everybody have a GREAT school year!

Your pal,

Sherri

Peace!