Cant decide

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · Sep 30, 2018

First, I am so, so sorry for the loss of your daughter. In the NICU I've seen my share of perinatal losses, and I can't fathom the grief you've experienced as a parent or the strength you've demonstrated while finding a way to move forward.

Although I think that your heart is in the right place, I would like to gently suggest that nursing may not give you what you're looking for. You state that you "couldn't save her, so you want to save someone else's child." Unfortunately, in nursing, and especially in peds, we are witness to a lot of sad things. Kids find themselves in the hospital because they're sick, not because they're well. We care for kids who are hospitalized as a result of abuse, kids slowly dying of terminal illnesses, and kids who were perfectly healthy one minute and then dying the next due to injuries we can't make sense of. We have many joyful moments, but we have our share of heartbreaking ones, too. Of course, different Nursing Jobs will have different levels of acuity and different patient populations. A nurse working in a PICU or peds oncology unit may find the work for emotionally draining than a nurse working with a healthier patient population in a primary care peds office or as a school nurse.

I don't know a lot about teaching, but it seems that you could have an impact in a more predictably positive setting. You'd also have the benefit of working the same schedule as your kids, assuming they're still in school.

One final point to consider is that you may not be able to get a peds nursing job right away. Peds is a notoriously difficult specialty to break into, so you'd have to be ok with starting on an adult unit until a peds position becomes available.

Welcome to AN, and let us know if you have any other questions. We may be able to give you more specific insights if you tell us what your pros and cons about nursing vs. teaching are. If you have specific questions about peds, you'll probably have the best results by posting in the peds forum:

https://allnurses.com/picu-nursing-pediatric/

The nurses in the school nurses form may also be a great group to address your questions, since they are nurses but work alongside teachers. The school nurse posters are also an incredibly thoughtful, supportive group, as far as AN posters go:

https://allnurses.com/school-nurses/

llg, PhD, RN · Oct 5, 2018

I agree with the previous poster, but want to add a few thoughts. Have you ever spent any time working or volunteering in a hospital? I think it would be a good idea to get some experience as a volunteer before making such a big investment in your education. Make sure you like working in a health care environment first.

Also, assuming you don't get a job in a NICU (or even peds) right after graduation, would you still want the nursing career? How will you feel about taking care of older patients?

Good luck to you, whatever you decide.

Nature_walker, ASN, BSN, RN · Oct 7, 2018

First, I am so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine your pain but your strength to go forward is amazing.

I came from the world of education. I mainly taught elementary school, but did teach older children and adults as well. I loved my younger kids and had a great time teaching. I walked away for several reasons, and went to nursing school. I have found I love nursing more than I did teaching.

That being said, I could never work with sick kids. I admire anyone who can do it. I couldn't help all my students the ways I wanted to and I knew that I would not be able to work with kiddos who were sick. I have found that I love working with adults and that my former teaching career comes in handy for patient education.

Both career choices have a lot of value. Both require continuing education and only you know what would work best for you. I can not advise you on what you should do, I just hope you find happiness in whatever you choose.