Anyone an ELEMENTARY TEACHER turned NURSE?

Jenni811, RN · Jul 11, 2011

no, never switched from teaching to nursing. i went right into nursing after high school. But wanted to wish you luck :) it is a great career, as is teaching too.

Just an FYI: as nurses we ALWAYS have to be "on" as well.

KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN · Jul 11, 2011

The former dean of our nursing program started out in teaching, then switched to nursing. Now she works simultaneously in k-12 education, and also nursing education. I say go for it! Good luck :)

love-d-OR · Jul 11, 2011

My BFF was a school teacher, he loves being a nurse in ICU but hated med-surg. I'll try to remember to get more info. Nursing is great profession! Good luck

Whispera, MSN, RN · Jul 11, 2011

I was an elementary school teacher before becoming a nurse. Now I teach nursing, but I was a staff nurse for quite a few years.

In elementary education, more time is spent at home doing things for work than you'll do as a nurse. I'd spend most of the weekend preparing for the next week. Weeknights were used up grading papers and working toward the next day.

Discipline in elementary education can be intensely draining. I needed awhile at home to just sit and stare into space, at the end of the work day. In staff nursing I needed the time to soak my feet.

In nursing you deal with life and death. In teaching little ones you deal with potential future quality of life. In both you'll see things you wish you didn't see, and you'll have to figure out ways to help yourself cope with it.

In elementary teaching you work your hours on-site and then can go home. You work days, not holidays, nights, or weekends, as you might in nursing. You don't have to work doubles or cover for someone who unexpectedly doesn't show up or gets sick in teaching.

Feel free to send me a message if you want. I know what you're going through--at least I know what I went through when I quit teaching the little guys.

decembergrad2011, BSN, RN · Jul 11, 2011

I mean this in no derogatory way in the least toward educational careers, but be prepared for your classes in school to be more rigorous for nursing. You'll be expected to complete more advanced scientific courses, use medical terminology, and perform skills and procedures. I'm sure you know this, but your description of what you could see yourself doing didn't include it. Public health nursing seems to be something you would be interested in, which would include lots of health promotion, partnerships with communities, and screenings and events. But to get there, you'll still have to graduate nursing school and learn your skills in hospital settings.

You have paperwork as a nurse, and it is rare to be able to complete all of it and leave on time until you've gained more experience. While you may have had papers to grade at the end of the day, keep in mind that some nurses stay 1-1.5 hours past their shift to get caught up on paperwork or finish interventions. Your facility's staffing standards will greatly affect this, and you would have more downtime and use less skills (but not necessarily less paperwork) in a clinic.

If you're good with kids, and you're looking to go into pediatrics, you may find that children are normally at their worst in the hospital and you have to deal with families and parents just as often as the children. I'm a peds person but it's because I enjoy working with the family and am ok with the kids being a little hard to handle. There is some tough love that goes into these situations, especially when it comes to education about medication adherence. Education, while important, is still one of the things that you will struggle to find time for in the hospital while you're balancing multiple acute patients. If you're in ER it's not a priority, and if you're in ICU, they may not be able to participate in the conversation.

Just my overview of nursing. School nursing would probably be an easy transition for you, but it seems that you dislike the system of school more than the actual teaching. The nursing world has its own system and disappointments.

nursedolphin · Jul 11, 2011

I was an elementary school counselor and made the jump to nursing. Unlike a teacher, I would of been a counselor until I retired with 3 options: elementary, junior or high school vs a teacher can switched grades, subjects, etc. Nursing has opened so many more doors for me. I am still employed by the school district for a .2 position and work my 3 days in the hospital. It is the best of both worlds but can become a little busy.

With nursing I do not take any of the problems home. I swipe in, swipe out and leave my thoughts with work. As a counselor, I ALWAYS brought problems home and worried about the kids-if Jane Doe was going to be fed/hurt/etc. I have been summons to court for so many cases that I have dealt with. Some of the parents have been the most difficult people I ever had to work with...I give you kuddos, I could never have been a teacher. The teaching material, SOL's and increasing pressure on the teachers is awful to obtain the perfect scores.

I am luckily not in a stressful unit, I love my job. I probably do more teaching then I did as a counselor in the school system, lol. There are so many possibilities in nursing and so many doors can be opened.

The hardest switch for me was as a counselor I knew the schedule the school year before (ex: M-F 9-4, breaks, workdays, etc). As a nurse I have to adjust to knowing my scheduling only 6 weeks in advance and working various shifts. My planner is glued to my pocket!

I do miss having the summer and holidays off.

Are you planning on going back to nursing school full or part time? Are you going to work as a sub? I went for my BSN because I did not want to take a step backwards and have to go back for my BSN later. Otherwise, my hospital has a Child Life Specialist position working with sick children. You could find a similar position and the hospital could pay for some of your nursing classes :)

Good luck!

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Jul 11, 2011

Let's see....you still get to be mean, stern and discipline people....gotta set the limits even with adults, who are worse than kids sometimes. You still have to be on and put on a show everyday for your patients, you may only have time to chat for a few minutes with co-workers thru out the day...gotta get that patient ready for this, etc.

Teaching and nursing are very similar. You have to be customer friendly, be able to smile and just walk away from some situations, be the meanie sometimes, be the nice one sometimes. There is stress because you are running around and you may really want to sit and talk to the patient for a length of time, but your other patients need you too, so you are teaching on the fly. With peds, you are like being a teacher, but you have parents there 24hrs a day, questioning you, watching every move you make, unlike at school when you have those kids without parents. Kids tend to be at their worst in the hospital and really cut up, esp if their parents are there. Adults...I haven't done adults in a long time, but they have their issues too and their families to deal with. It isn't just one on one teaching, you got a whole tribe there sometimes.

The other hard part is scheduling....weekends, holidays, summers. Depending on where you go, you may not get vacation in the summer if the upper senior people want it, you may work a lot of holidays and if on an A-B schedule you may be working every other holiday. You might not have a stable shift, you may be rotated 50% of your time. You may not get a days shift position right off either and be on an off shift. Many places are hiring only 64 hours, 4-8hr shifts a week, which is one less than what you work now. Some places are 3-12hr shifts a week.

But, if you feel this is something you want to do, go for it! I would suggest a bridge to RN for someone who already has a Bachelors in another area. Many of the bigger hospitals are looking for BSN only now.

philanurse74 · Jul 11, 2011

Loved the switch. Best decision I ever made. Having said that, nursing is difficult in its own way, and the schooling was harder, I think. I do not have 30 people to deal with all day, but my 5 or 6 sick people keep me on my toes. You do have to be "on" in nursing as well, and that is sometimes difficult to do at 3 am, but you deal with it. I love the difference in pay as well! Oh, even though I work 12 hour shifts, I work less days nursing than teaching. And my continuing education is all paid for. I do miss the kids, but one day hope to wind up in peds, or, if not, I was totally surprised to find out how much I like old people, and would be fine with making a career out of adults. Go for it, you won't be disappointed! Good luck!

JAChicago, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2011

Not sure if you are still reading this post, but I am in the same boat as you. I just began my fifth year of teaching (1st grade) and I decided last year I would be switching to nursing. I returned this year because I still need to finish a couple prereqs, but it is seriously KILLING me! I don't think people outside teaching understand when you decide to leave teaching you can't just put in two weeks notice and take off (well you could, but even I couldn't just abandon my students THAT way). You need to finish the year (or in my case the following year as well). I can't tell anyone I work with because I don't want to jeopardize my employment, but mostly I don't want to have to put up with 9 months worth of "Why are you leaving??? Why don't you want to be a teacher anymore???" and then everyone gossiping they think you have sub-par job performance because you're leaving and no longer putting in 12 hours days (but only paid for 6). I actually entered college pre-med, but then let my foolish, 18 year old self talk myself out of something "too hard." Biggest. Mistake. Teaching is stressful and can be emotionally/physically demanding, but I feel it is no where near academically stimulating enough for me anymore. I have first grade conversations all day, and my biggest academic challenge is deciding if I should put my math lesson before or after lunch. I need to use my critical thinking skills, I need to spend time with adults, I need a job where I am there for the job at hand (not inservice meetings debating homework we may or may not give, but nothing really gets decided) I need to not look at our middle schoolers in the hallway and wish I was them so I could have my career choice to "do over" again. I love medicine and find it fascinating. I love helping people. I would rather crank out a 12 hour day 3 days a week then wake up with the dread I have 5 days a week. I'm trying my best to power through this school year. I've already been accepted to an ABSN program for fall 2012, and I'm just finishing my prereqs now. Just wondering if anyone else is in my "struggling thru prereqs and a job I KNOW I'm leaving which makes everyday a struggle" boat. Would love to hear from any of you and your experiences. Thanks :)

rebeccab1989 · Aug 8, 2013

I want out of teaching. I coasted through the teaching program without doing much in terms of studying. Same with my master's degree. I like working with kids, just not teaching. I suck at writing engaging lesson plans and I am not creative at all. I think this makes me a bad candidate for teaching.

Now I am super worried about the study load of nursing. I am freaking out over the stress of the change. I should have just listened to my mom and done nursing from the start.

Could anyone tell me about the transition from elementary teacher to prerequisites to nursing school?

mlopez19 · Dec 18, 2013

JAChicago

Just wondering how you are doing in the AbSN program? Do you miss teaching? I'm also teaching first grade and I could totally relate to you. I'm starting my prerequisites spring 14. I will be leaving my position at the end of the academic year. I'm hoping to get accepted to a accelerated nursing program.