I am a licenced massage therapist, have been for about 6 yrs, and the economic crash was devistating. So much so that I decided to go back to school to become a nurse with massage focus. I specialize in rehabilitation already so I thought it would be a good blend of skills with better long term stability. I have been concerned with finding work that emphysizes the massage therapy aspect. In my 6 yrs, massage never really paid the bills but it is a passion so I stuck with it. I could have probably done better financially if I worked in the spas but my focus is medical massage and if insurance companies won't pay for it often patients won't either. If you are already a nurse transfering to massage the pay cut would be devistating. However I have been "assured" by many nursing school recruiters that the demand for a combination of alternative modalities with nursing is increasing. If this is what you are considering then I would recommend a school with limited modalities, no more than 6, so you get a sound foundation in massage. Many schools offer too many modalities in their basic program so you get a lot of surface learning but no deep foundation in the basic modalities.
Apr 8, '12 by trinitypixieI am a licenced massage therapist, have been for about 6 yrs, and the economic crash was devistating. So much so that I decided to go back to school to become a nurse with massage focus. I specialize in rehabilitation already so I thought it would be a good blend of skills with better long term stability. I have been concerned with finding work that emphysizes the massage therapy aspect. In my 6 yrs, massage never really paid the bills but it is a passion so I stuck with it. I could have probably done better financially if I worked in the spas but my focus is medical massage and if insurance companies won't pay for it often patients won't either. If you are already a nurse transfering to massage the pay cut would be devistating. However I have been "assured" by many nursing school recruiters that the demand for a combination of alternative modalities with nursing is increasing. If this is what you are considering then I would recommend a school with limited modalities, no more than 6, so you get a sound foundation in massage. Many schools offer too many modalities in their basic program so you get a lot of surface learning but no deep foundation in the basic modalities.