Any ex-teachers?

plt2009 · Feb 1, 2009

hi, i am a past teacher, approximately 7 years ago. i stopped teaching because i moved to another state and did not get certified there. i am now a nursing student and have lots of questions as to what i want to do in the nursing field. i do know that i want to work with children in a long care setting. i am not too keen on the in and out of the hospital scene.

i loved teaching and had a great passion for it; i taught secondary level. i loved to see the kids grow intellectually, as well as within themselves. i worked with alternative school children. i am really hoping to find the same passion in this career of nursing, and so far i have not. i have about a little over a year left of school and then i move on to the field. as of now, my options are schools, pediatric rehab, children with chronic illnesses or even back to teaching something like health, science or even in our high schools geared for medical career teens.

i hope this helps

otiscokat · Feb 1, 2009

My second job as a nurse was at The Home of the Innocents in Louisville,Ky.. We had childern from birth to 21 years old. It Is a LTC, and at that time(15 yrs. ago) there were about 30 of this type of care centers in the U.S.. A lot of our childern went to public schools, but the most medically fragile went to in house school. So there are jobs for teachers that are nurses. It was one of the best learning expirences of my life. Good luck in what ever direction your career takes you.

firefox828 · Feb 1, 2009

... was an elem. teacher for 15 yrs, never regret switching career... =)

differences... NO lesson plans, testpapers, grading sheets, visual aids, observations... when i'm home, i don't think about these... i may have difficult pts, but in a few days they're discharged; a teacher deals with difficult students for the entire school year... 2 mos vacation for a teacher; 4-5 weeks for a nurse, but working 3x a week, 12-hr shift, is heaven to me.

we have our own reasons... but, whatever you decide, best of luck! =)

HappyDay, RN · Feb 1, 2009

I was a teacher for 5 years before going back to school. I have not had any regrets. You will find that a great deal of nursing is educating pts. They will have new diagnosis, new meds, new treatments etc and they all need education. Further, with each patient, you will go through the nursing process: Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation. That is the same as the teaching process. You assess students (either pre-test, or just questioning where they are at), then you figgure out what the needs are. You plan a lesson, Implement the lesson, and then you evaluate their preformance. You will feel right at home.

You will find there is a ton of documentation and paperwork that needs to be done. Same as with teaching!

Challenges - lives are in your hands. You are responcible for much more than educating and being a role model. You are accountable for all your actions, same as in teaching, however the level of responcibility is greatly increased.

As one person said to me, "Out of the frying pan, Into the fire". (But, you get paid for all the hours you actually work!) Follow your dreams. :caduceus:

tencat · Feb 1, 2009

I was a secondary teacher for 12 years. I got out of it because I was tired of being responsible for things I had no control over in the classroom ie: kids not doing their homework or classwork then their parents expecting that I would allow them to pass a class, mandated to raise test scores with no accountability for the students or parents, kids' attendance issues....

I got into nursing because I was drawn to the medical field. If I had figured that out sooner, I might have gone to medical school instead, but I'm at a point in my life where my family is my priority, and nursing fit in better with that. The educating of patients and the paperwork all remind me of education, but I never minded those duties then and don't mind them now. I did find I couldn't work with kids in the medical field because it caused me a lot of angst to do procedures on little ones to the point where I was very distraught.

I hear that many nurses feel that they are held responsible for things they have no control over, but I haven't experienced that. If the 400lb diabetic continues to eat 12 snickers bars a day in spite of education, and his/her legs rot off....it's not my responsibility/fault. I've educated, and that's all I can do. The field of education has totally lost all reason in that respect.

I wouldn't go back to teaching. I have a lot more freedom and autonomy as a nurse. I miss the vacations a lot, though. 2 weeks a year just doesn't cut it. I do take unpaid days off during the year just to survive emotionally (I work hospice). Nursing is not perfect, but it fits me better. I make a lot more money than I did as a teacher, and that's been nice.

RochesterRN-BSN, BSN, RN · Feb 1, 2009

I went to school to be a health teacher and after getting certified I did substitute teaching....long term subbing--for a maternity leave.......and a session of summer school.......but never got a FT teaching job in 5 years so I decided to go back for nursing......partly because I couldnt find a job but also........the long term sub position I did was the longest 12 weeks ever! I realized I hated it! I have no regrets.....During that 5 years I also worked at a school as a paraeducator--1 on 1 with a kid with multiple behavioral problems, PDD, autism, ADHD..to name a few......and now I work in psych and I find it quite helpful as we see a lot of these kids with behavioral problems and I feel like it gives me a different perspective having that experience-- and I have extra knowledge under my belt and feel more competant when the school tells me --"yeah he has an IEP and is in a 6:1:1 " and this lingo is normal for me....and I have to tell the doc what that means..... dealing with an autistic individual has its own unique set of techniques.....so knowing how to deal with them is worth its weight in gold. .....lastly nurses do a lot of teaching so your skills will come in handy.......teaching the patient, the family, etc........and funny thing is they pair medical students and nursing students with me all the time because my boss tells me they come to him and say I was really great to work with and taught them a lot...that I was a great teacher and explained things so clearly........that is the teacher in me I guess so that is a nice compliment.

The only thing I can say I don't like is the hours......getting a nursing job M-F straight days is hard to do, and the pay is much less for these positions.

Oh and lastly, are you looking at the second degree BSN programs? You should as you can get through a lot quicker. One year if you have a bachelors (at least) other then the prereqs that take like 2 semesters if you don't have any of them. But still a lot quicker then starting over. Thats what I did.

T123G123 · Feb 1, 2009

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I am in my first year of teaching but plan to change careers in a few years and am thinking of becoming a nurse. I am most interested in working in pediatrics.

T123G123