From Social Worker To Nurse

RNPATL, DNP, RN · Jul 30, 2004

I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Janine I am a social worker (BSW) who would like to become a nurse. I just registered for my prerequisites this week and I'm feeling a little nervous about my decision to enter the nursing profession. I have received mixed reviews about my decision to enter the nursing profession, some people are very supportive while others are not. I have work as a social worker for an outpatient psychiatric clinic for about four years now and I would like to better serve patient who suffer from severe mental illness by becoming a psychiatric nurse. Any advice and/or support would be greatly appreciate.
Sincerely:
Janine

Janine - let me be one of the first to welcome you to allnurses.com. We are glad you are here. Also, congratulations on making the decision to become a nurse. Many people may question your choice, but in the end, it is a decision, first, that only you can make for yourself and second, will provide your career with a larger level of diversity and ability to grow.

I have been a nurse for a little over 20 years. I have never regretted becoming a nurse. Yes, I have been frustrated with nursing sometimes and the lack of respect that we get from other members of the health care profession. But, all in all, nursing has been a great choice for me and I am glad that I am an RN.

Good luck with your schooling and I hope we encounter each other on the board again.

Trauma Columnist · Jul 30, 2004

Want to add my welcome. Good luck...several people on the board have gone the Social Worker to RN route. Hopefully some of them will be along soon.

studentdeb · Jul 30, 2004

I wish you had been around a few weeks ago. I have been trying to decide between social work and nursing and just gave up my seat in nursing. Do you enjoy social work? Are you pursing nursing to get more hands on?

Debi

I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Janine I am a social worker (BSW) who would like to become a nurse. I just registered for my prerequisites this week and I'm feeling a little nervous about my decision to enter the nursing profession. I have received mixed reviews about my decision to enter the nursing profession, some people are very supportive while others are not. I have work as a social worker for an outpatient psychiatric clinic for about four years now and I would like to better serve patient who suffer from severe mental illness by becoming a psychiatric nurse. Any advice and/or support would be greatly appreciate.
Sincerely:
Janine

leatrez · Jul 30, 2004

I wish you had been around a few weeks ago. I have been trying to decide between social work and nursing and just gave up my seat in nursing. Do you enjoy social work? Are you pursing nursing to get more hands on?
Debi

I do enjoy the social work profession. A lot of my patients have medicial problems and I would like to better assist them by becoming a nurse to get more experience with serving individual with pyschiatric illness who have medical problems. I think nursing will be more fulfilling to me than social work. Social work is a great profession, however the pay is not so good. If your feel passionate about becoming a social worker I think you should stick with it. Good Luck Debi on your social work career.

Lacaza3 · Jul 31, 2004

I do enjoy the social work profession. A lot of my patients have medicial problems and I would like to better assist them by becoming a nurse to get more experience with serving individual with pyschiatric illness who have medical problems. I think nursing will be more fulfilling to me than social work. Social work is a great profession, however the pay is not so good. If your feel passionate about becoming a social worker I think you should stick with it. Good Luck Debi on your social work career.

It was freaky to me when I came upon this message because I have struggled with the same question social work or nursing I acutally started social work intro class and felt it was 2nd nature but when I found out what they made I knew as a single mom I couldnt support us. Now this was about 10 years ago ..I'm no longer a single mom but leaning towards social work. I thought I always wanted to be a nurse but after working as a sitter I see that I like taking care of the whole person. What I mean is not just physical but the emotional side and a ongoing realtionship Does this make sense? I still love nursing and things that have to do with the human body. maybe I could e-mail you and get some good advice from your perspective.

I know you will make an awesome nurse with the experince you have

Good luck and God Bless:balloons:

studentdeb · Jul 31, 2004

It was freaky to me when I came upon this message because I have struggled with the same question social work or nursing I acutally started social work intro class and felt it was 2nd nature but when I found out what they made I knew as a single mom I couldnt support us. Now this was about 10 years ago ..I'm no longer a single mom but leaning towards social work. I thought I always wanted to be a nurse but after working as a sitter I see that I like taking care of the whole person. What I mean is not just physical but the emotional side and a ongoing realtionship Does this make sense? I still love nursing and things that have to do with the human body. maybe I could e-mail you and get some good advice from your perspective.
I know you will make an awesome nurse with the experince you have
Good luck and God Bless:balloons:

Lacaza3-maybe you and I should talk since we both are going through the same decision making process. I like to get your feelings on both.

Debi

Lacaza3 · Aug 2, 2004

Lacaza3-maybe you and I should talk since we both are going through the same decision making process. I like to get your feelings on both.
Debi

Student deb

Sounds good to me would love to talk. How so we to that? Is there a place on our prolie that gives e-mail address to talk back and forth. I feel stupid asking these questions I just havent had much expericence in this message boards stuff.

:coollook:

Donna

studentdeb · Aug 2, 2004

Student deb
Sounds good to me would love to talk. How so we to that? Is there a place on our prolie that gives e-mail address to talk back and forth. I feel stupid asking these questions I just havent had much expericence in this message boards stuff.

Donna

Donna,

We could talk via the private message system on this site or we could exchange emails via the private message system. I'll send you a pm.

Debi

Ross1 · Aug 3, 2004

Janine (and others): Thank you so much for introducing yourself and this topic. I'd like to share some insights with you. First off, social work is a very rewarding career, however, it has some significant limitations. It is great that you have your B.S.W. and I assure you that if you do pursue nursing, your BSW training and skills will make you an even better nurse. I have my M.S.W. and worked as a social worker in health care for 12 years. Social work training, especially our emphasis on the person-in-situation relationship (or psycho-social status) is so beneficial in helping patients. While nurses too have a holistic philosophy, their training in this area is not as extensive as ours.

I have had some pretty interesting jobs in health care from nursing home social worker, hospital social worker-case manager, home health care, hospice, and even health insurance company case manager. And now after 12 years, I am pursuing a nursing degree. People often ask why and the simple answer is that there just aren't enough social work jobs. In order to make a decent living in social work, the MSW degree is a minimum. In fact, it is the minimum degree allowed for professional social work licensure. That said, even with an M.S.W. and license, you may still likely find yourself in a job earning non-professional wages (far lower then an Associate Degree RN). Example: my first job out of social work school, my M.S.W. salary was identical to that of an L.P.N.

When I earned my M.S.W. in 1992, the "higher paying" jobs were in health care but now.....so many of the jobs have been eliminated and/or taken over by RNs with the title "case manager". The reality is that if you want a career in health care, an RN license gives you much more job options and earning potential then the M.S.W. degree.

I do think that a potential RN, BSW combination (for you) or RN, MSW combination (for me) is a very marketable combo. What do others think?

Now.....I don't want to fully discourage you from social work. I just don't think that the field of "Medical Social Work" has the growth options it once did. You expressed a desire to work in the psych area. Well, as you may know, social work represents the largest professional group in the USA of mental health providers. Job in clinical social work (sometimes still referred to as psychiatric social work) are available and at times salaries can be fairly high, especially in a hospital based outpatient mental health clinic. Also, some clinical social workers set up their own private practices. If you are interested in becoming a psychotherapist, whether a nurse or a social worker, you must have your Master's degree.

Good luck.

Ross1 · Aug 3, 2004

By the way, I don't want it to seem as if I am solely pursuing nursing because of lack of social work job opportunities. I realize that my above posting may give that impression. Actually, when I was an undergraduate student in the late 1980s, I was debating between nursing and social work. I ended up pursuing social work due to my fear of science classes and my fear of "blood." I felt I was better suited for social sciences and talk therapy rather then hard sciences and hands on care. When I made the decision to pursue social work, I had no idea that I would eventually find myself employed in health care. My years of working in health care settings helped to alleviate some of my fears and prove them unfounded. While I have never been able to provide hands on care as a social worker, I've made joint home visits with nurses, have been in the hospital room with RNs and have witnessed just about everything...wound care, "code browns", etc. I think I'll be able to handle it...and nursing school will certainly be the test. I also took a few science classes as a non-matriculated student last year just to test my ability and was proud to get an A in each one. So, nursing school here I come!

Lacaza3 · Aug 3, 2004

Janine (and others): Thank you so much for introducing yourself and this topic. I'd like to share some insights with you. First off, social work is a very rewarding career, however, it has some significant limitations. It is great that you have your B.S.W. and I assure you that if you do pursue nursing, your BSW training and skills will make you an even better nurse. I have my M.S.W. and worked as a social worker in health care for 12 years. Social work training, especially our emphasis on the person-in-situation relationship (or psycho-social status) is so beneficial in helping patients. While nurses too have a holistic philosophy, their training in this area is not as extensive as ours.
I have had some pretty interesting jobs in health care from nursing home social worker, hospital social worker-case manager, home health care, hospice, and even health insurance company case manager. And now after 12 years, I am pursuing a nursing degree. People often ask why and the simple answer is that there just aren't enough social work jobs. In order to make a decent living in social work, the MSW degree is a minimum. In fact, it is the minimum degree allowed for professional social work licensure. That said, even with an M.S.W. and license, you may still likely find yourself in a job earning non-professional wages (far lower then an Associate Degree RN). Example: my first job out of social work school, my M.S.W. salary was identical to that of an L.P.N.
When I earned my M.S.W. in 1992, the "higher paying" jobs were in health care but now.....so many of the jobs have been eliminated and/or taken over by RNs with the title "case manager". The reality is that if you want a career in health care, an RN license gives you much more job options and earning potential then the M.S.W. degree.
I do think that a potential RN, BSW combination (for you) or RN, MSW combination (for me) is a very marketable combo. What do others think?
Now.....I don't want to fully discourage you from social work. I just don't think that the field of "Medical Social Work" has the growth options it once did. You expressed a desire to work in the psych area. Well, as you may know, social work represents the largest professional group in the USA of mental health providers. Job in clinical social work (sometimes still referred to as psychiatric social work) are available and at times salaries can be fairly high, especially in a hospital based outpatient mental health clinic. Also, some clinical social workers set up their own private practices. If you are interested in becoming a psychotherapist, whether a nurse or a social worker, you must have your Master's degree.
Good luck.

I would love to talk to your more about your social work experences since I have be debating back and forth on this nursing or social work. Maybe we could talk Are you familiur with the pm on the site?

Donna