Getting out of nursing altogether

I would hate to be a teacher and deal with bratty kids, irresponsible parents, overbearing government regulations, school politics, lack of discipline tools, indulgent parents, druggie parents, everyone blaming the teacher for everything, violent kids, and so forth.

Well, the job you're thinking about is hard to get. People don't quit.

Why not get a teaching spot in a reputable school? Mine had instructors who didn't have bachelor's, out of pure deperation, and it was pary of state uni.

My sister taught 2nd grade for 30 years in a public school system. She enjoyed it. While she made as much cash as I did as a nurse (both of us with Master's Degrees in our field for most of our careers) .... she always had much better benefits than I did ... bettern health insurance, more tuition reimbursement for further education, etc.

In particular, as a government employee in a public school, she had a great retirement plan. She semi-retired at age 52 with a state-guaranteed pension that pays her 60% of her final salary, adjusted annually for inflation. She will also qualify for Social Security when she turns 62 -- which will bring her total retirement income to virutally full pay for the rest of her life. In the meantime, while waiting for the Social Security to kick in, she substitue teaches ocassionally to supplement the 60% pension.

Me? I've had to pay for all of my graduate education myself and will get no pension. I will have to rely on Social Security plus whatever money I have been able to save for myself over the years. I plan on working until I am in my mid-60's -- though I hope to be able to scale back to part time during the last 5 years or so of my career.

After her 30 years as a 2nd grade teacher ... my sister was getting pretty burned out and was really happy to get out of teaching full time. But she was no more burned out than every nurse I know -- but she is a lot better off financially -- and she always enjoyed having her summer's off to play golf 3 or 4 days per week, travel, etc.

That's not everyone's experience with teaching. My sister was lucky to be working in a nice public school district with a collective bargaining agreement. Like any other profession, you will hear both positive and negative stories about people who choose that profession. There are good places and bad places to work. I would suggest thoroughly investigating the job market in your area before making any decisions/investment -- so that you will know what to expect in terms of the local teaching jobs. How do the local teachers feel about their jobs and employers? How likely would you be to get a good job with a good employer?

Before you do this, check into the job market for teachers. I had an elementary education degree before I went back to school and became a nurse. I gave up on teaching when there were 495 applicants for 9 jobs in one school corporation. I don't know if things have improved but for years after that, at least where I live, there just weren't many jobs for teachers.

New York, a rural community college, and yes, it is legal. It's one of the best public university systems in the nation.

If you're open to older kids (for a few years at least until you get a teaching certification), try for a health occupations teacher position. You'd be teaching high school juniors and seniors about health careers, and in the second level course, usually teaching them for their CNA 1 certification. Since it's a good class, they have to have a recommendation to enter and are usually some of the "good" kids. At least here in NC you do not need a teaching degree to do that (but think you do earn more). I'd then use that as a stepping stool to get the certification you need to teach the younger kids.
Good luck with your decision.