college student in need of advice

[kaseyprice]

Hello everyone, I am in desperate need of advice about what field to go into after I finish this year of college. I am currently enrolled at a community college and just started my second year there. I can not decide if I want to go into radiology or nursing and I need help. I am interested in becoming an ER nurse or flight nurse but am also interested in doing something in radiology as well, such as a sonographer. Could someone please give me some pros and cons of radiology and nursing? Or if you are a nurse what it's like at your job? I have to decide what field I am going to go into because I will be transferring after this school year. Any information or personal experience you have will be very appreciated if shared! Thank you!

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

Hi

Unfortunately, I cannot give you any advice on the career paths you're looking at, but have you ever considered looking around for a shadowing assignment at a local hospital? This might help push you in the right direction. Shadowing opportunities are, at times, difficult to find, but just do a general search at the hospital's website and see if something pops up. Of course, you can also call each hospital/clinic and see if they can offer you a shadowing day or a few hours.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I would imagine most of us here have not worked in radiology (unless there are a few nurses around who work in IR procedure suites or radiology recover for, say, children who need sedation for scans).

That said, in my opinion, nursing is much more diverse. Other than the hospital job I held, nowhere else I've worked employed radiology techs in any way. They are limited to radiology departments within hospitals or maybe a stand alone imaging center, if one exists in your area, or MD's office that has XR or US capabilities. In nursing I have done acute care, home care, school, infusion liaison and community based case management for a very specialized population. I also think the pay for radiology techs is probably lower than for nurses. However, if radiology is what you want to do, go for it.