Some Help Please

Well, it's difficult for any of us to say what you should or should not do, but here goes...

First, finish your bachelor's degree. You're probably planning to do that anyway, so that one was easy!

Second, it sounds like you have young children at home. Anything you can do to be at home with those kids is the best thing you can do. If you absolutely must work, and you can get a job with the summers off and can afford to take that time off, then you have a couple of serious questions to ask yourself (this is my specialty...asking future nurses to ask themselves questions to see if they really want to be nurses!):

1. What is it that you think will be so much better about nursing than teaching? Nursing is a wonderful profession, yes, but you will have many challenges to the altruistic image of the "angel of mercy" just as you will find in the wonderful profession of teaching. In nursing, it'll be long hours on your feet, rotating shifts that will be exhausting, heavy patient loads, dealing with clients (patients and their families) who are "not at their best," etc. Don't get me wrong...there's a lot that's great about nursing. But you have to have a strong "why" in terms of why you really want to be a nurse if you're going to be able to figure out the "how" when the going gets tough and discouraging, and it will.

2. It sounds as though you've only worked one teaching-related job and have spoken to one friend in the public school system--is that correct?--so you may be making a "snap judgement" about your future in the profession. My friend, I do not know of any profession where you won't find things that are a disappointment, that are not "ideal," that are not filled with disillusioned people. Do a Google search on "I hate nursing," and you'll find over a million results! But try a search on "I love teaching," and you'll read fantastic things! Why not focus your career efforts on being a better teacher than the ones who are only concerned about their salaries? Be the one who makes a difference in the lives of her kids (in the classroom...and at home, too!)...read the stories and writings of those who've won the "Teacher of the Year" award, and aim high! If you went into nursing, I would tell you the same thing. The young nurse who "bails out" because work is hard, people are not nice, another nurse was mean to her...either bailed out too soon, and could have had an incredible professional life ahead of her if she'd taken that tough time and used it to make herself stronger and better and kinder to the next generation of nurses who came behind her--OR she perhaps was not ready for the realities of nursing to begin with, or wasn't compatible with the rigors of the profession. This isn't a "pass" to people in our profession who for no acceptable reason make life hard for other nurses...consider them losers with a capital "L." What it is is a call to those in the profession who care about the profession to be bold and be public about making it better from the inside, in any little or large way that they can.

3. Here's the last question, and in my personal opinion, it's probably the most important...will this be the best choice you can make for you children? When you had them, you obviously were concerned about that...and that was good! I would dwell on this question for a long time. You can go back to school later in life...but you only get one shot to raise your kids well.

I don't think this made your day any easier...but I am all about people working within a framework of reality about the good and the bad about nursing. I receive a lot of inquiries about becoming a nurse from people who are looking at it only because they know there is a demand, and the news said it was a "stable career." That's a bad reason to go into nursing, if it's the driving force! For you, you sound like someone who really wants to make a difference for others...and that's awesome! But I don't know that you'll be any less disappointed in the harsh realities about nursing than you are right now with a couple of experiences with teachers. I would probably advise you to finish your degree, and go to work for a while...give it 3 to 5 years, and do your level best to be the awesome teacher that you desire others to be. If it's not a match for you, then look into a new career if you feel you must.

I do wish you all the best, and encourage you to continue working hard to change the lives of those around you for the good!

MsLori, RN

Listen to MsLoriRN. I have both taught and nursed and she has nailed it right on the head.

MsLoriRn is right!!! Please don't rush into a hasty judgement about teaching. I love the medical field/ nursing, but you will find out that the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence. Good luck to you whatever you choose...

I have a niece who is a teacher. I have been an RN for over 30 years. We both teach in our jobs. There are politics in both. Documentation is required in every job that make the "hands on" part of it seem harder to achieve sometimes. I thought that as a nurse we had a tremendous amount of documentation we had to be attentive to until I heard my niece telling me about all the documentation she was required to turn in. So, if you are thinking that one aspect you will be getting away from is that required recording of what is going on at the job, we nurses are always having to CYA because we are paranoid about lawsuits. We must write care plans on every patient per a federal (Medicare) law; teachers must write teaching plans on every class they teach (not sure if there is a law requiring this and if it is state or federal). Whenever federal or state money is being given we must account for how it is spent and that usually breaks down into a mountain of paperwork.

teachers are more worried about their salaries than educating

I can probably find you just as many nurses that are just as worried about how much they are paid than they are about doing their job as nurses. Half the questions by people seeking information about becoming nurses is about the salary we make.

I thought it would be a good idea to choose the career with the summers off. But, it seems now that I see that this isn't all about educating young children

While you can't take summers off with a full time nursing job you can take a part time nursing job where you work only 20 or 30 hours a week. And as nurses we do engage in nursing patients. Teachers do teach. Unlike nurses, teachers take their work home with them.