A Mother Seeking Healthcare Career Advice for High School Junior

[Psata]

My Daughter who is a Junior in High School is not sure what she wants to do, except that it should be in the Healthcare field. Initially she wanted to be a Nurse, but lately seems to be wavering a bit.

She is currently enrolled in a Dual Enrollment (DE) Program at her High School and so far is doing 3 courses (9 credits) at a Local Community college. For the Winter Term she will be doing 11 credits and for her senior year, she plans to spend the entire year taking classes at the Community College full time (They call it Early Admission). If all goes well, she will probably have close to 60 credits and receive her Associate Degree through the DE. Her current Educational Plan is setup to complete all her prerequisites for a BSN program, which will have her enter directly into a BSN program at one of the State University and complete her BSN in two years. There is still time to change this to a more generic program that would be applicable to other fields. I'm just trying to avoid her going to College and doing a degree that is not marketable and have her spending more funds to finally get a career that is meaningful/rewarding.

My question is: What other career options are available in the Healthcare field for her apart from Nursing, coming out of high school? What are some of the hidden gems that a lot of students are not aware of (Healthcare wise)? If you could do it over, would you pursue nursing as a career or something else within the health sector and what would that be? Thanks in advance for your thoughts/suggestion.

[loriangel14, RN]

The operative question is, "who's paying for it?"

So if she is paying for it she gets to choose her career for her? I would never do that.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I want to thank all of you for the feedback and learn about a number of areas of healthcare I was unaware of. I'm in no way dictating to my daughter what field she should pursue or steer her in any specific area. The ultimate career decision will be hers and I want to be in a position to offer her alternatives, more along the lines have you thought about X or Y or Z? I will not be doing the research for her on any of the areas she might be interesting in, nor impose by views beyond look at other options as you make your final decision. I'm not a "pushy" mom by any stretch of the imagination. My daughter was the one that wanted to pursue Dual Enrollment and Early Admissions and I supported her decision. A lot of the Juniors/Seniors at her high school participate in this program.

BTW, I chose this forum because I wanted real world feedback from professionals who have first hand knowledge as oppose to reading some generic writeup on various fields. I will "suggest" to her to shadow some Healthcare professionals at one of the local hospitals and possibly volunteer at one of them. Again, I truly appreciate ALL comments, suggestions and will pass on the information to her.

Psata...You keep right on advocating for your child. I am in this process right now with both of my children. I have a senior and a junior in high school. I feel your pain.

Children today are faced with a competitive market. Nursing in particular has become a very competitive market. We need to guide our children's choices so that they may have the best advantage in what ever career choice they make.

I don't see your question as controlling or being pushy. These kids carry such class loads with AP this honors that...colleges look for leadership, volunteering, jobs, clubs, class offices and straingt A's...personally I think that its too much for ones so young.

You bet your bottom dollar I do research for my children and forward the information to them as well as help guide them in sifting through want they want and what is applicable.

Right now....there is a surplus in the nursing market. Jobs are scarce...a BSN is pretty much required right now for many hospitals are hiring only BSN grads...of course that varies location to location. what are her interests? what does she want to be?

[SoniaReb]

One of the thing I have observed in the past 4-5 years, is how competitive it is for High School students in my state to get into college.

With elite schools accepting record low percentages of applicants for the coming school year and so-called “safety schools” no longer the safe bets they used to be, getting into the “right” college has never been more competitive — a challenge not just for students, but for a certain type of overinvested parent.

Very few students are going to out of State Universities these days and most of the State Universities have become so competitive. This in my estimation, have forced more parents to get involved in the career choice issue. There is also the cost of College Education today, compare to 10-20 years ago. College cost has outstripped inflation by a wide margin and it behooves parents to help their kids navigate the college selection process and career choices. Parents who become detached from the process might see their children left behind the pact. I read an article about a year ago about some mothers who have taken time off from work for an entire year so that they can help their high school senior get into the "right" college/university.

[nrikuo]

Hi,

All the suggestions have been great. I'll share my daughter's path. After graduating with a BA in Japanese just as the job market was tanking, she taught English overseas for several years--the only job she could get. She knew she had to go back to school, but couldn't decide between nutritional sciences (like a dietician or nutritionist) and speech pathology (speech therapist). She was initially more interested in the dietician pathway, but the dietician who works at my hospital told her she didn't think the pay was very good, considering that she had to have a master's degree, and also felt jobs were somewhat limited. My daughter chose speech pathology and just started the 2 year master's program. She really is loving it. She looked at job availability, job satisfaction, income, and future growth for each career path when making her decision. She had to do a year of post-bac work to get the prereqs needed to apply, and although the competition was fierce, she made it.

[puppyrunner]

Look into Speech Pathology or Occupational Therapist. Need at least a Master's degree, but all the OTs I know are pretty happy.

[judybsn]

There is nothing like nursing!! It is a very exciting and fulfilling job and if you get bored with one area you can retrain for another specialty. It has provided me with 30 plus years of entertainment. I'm so glad I accidentally chose nursing back in highschool.