Ultrasound or nursing?

Nurses General Nursing

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I'm currently in ultrasound school it's a great program :) but I often have nursing in the back of my mind and I feel so guilty because I have even applied for nursing for September and I know my family won't be happy with me..

For those of you nurses and nursing students is nursing worth it?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

"Worth it" how?

What does "worth it" mean to you? And what do your family's expectations mean to you?

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Specializes in PCCN.

ultrasound. you get patient contact , and then you are done with them. walk away.

much more respected profession , and pays about the same- well echo tech does anyway.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
ultrasound. you get patient contact , and then you are done with them. walk away.

much more respected profession , and pays about the same- well echo tech does anyway.

Seriously?

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For those of you in the profession do you think I would be making a good choice?I do enjoy ultrasound I find it very interesting and pay in my area is good along with job prospects. I just often wonder if i'll be happy doing it the rest of my life. I know in nursing there are many more opportunities and many different things i'd be able to do as I advance my career. I've also always wanted to be a nurse since I was young I've done shadowing in the hospital and it seems like something that really interests me. I just don't want to give up my career in ultrasound if nursing is not the great career I imagine it to be.

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Specializes in PCCN.
Seriously?

Yes, seriously. At least at the hospital level. Our Echo techs have never had a patient yell at them, answer incessant call lights, get food and other objects thrown at them, get punched, etc.

They are not rated on whether they brought sandwiches and pop to the pt. They dont get threatened if the MD doesnt order the patient dilaudid, xanax, fill in the blank.

And for the pay we get in this area, the echo tech I spoke to told me her salary - and its very close.

I was actually going to consider going back to school for this.

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My sister works xray. We work in the same hospital. Her job is less stressful than mine with a defined work schedule, less physical wear and tear, less blame for everything that goes wrong with patients, and clearly defined responsibilities. She can say 'not my job'. She is only responsible for patients when they are getting their films done. Between patients, when things are slow, she can relax, drink coffee and call me on the phone. That just doesn't happen in nursing.

Some days the grass looks greener on the ultrasound/MRI/xray fence.

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I know nurses who also work ultrasound...

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Ultrasound has a shorter time frame to get to a paying job, doesn't it? With BSN's being required, I might think about ultrasound if I had to do it over again.

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I think you can do any job you want if you decide that it's a job, not how you define your life. Personally, I'd get bored doing US all day long, but in the other hand, if the pay was decent and the stress low, I'd do it, give an honest day's work and enjoy the rest of my life.

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Specializes in ER.
Ultrasound has a shorter time frame to get to a paying job, doesn't it? With BSN's being required, I might think about ultrasound if I had to do it over again.

BSN is not required yet. I started working in the hospital as an associate degree nurse. I think there is more advancement and opportunity as an RN. In my area, there is more radiology techs in all fields that they can afford to hire part-time only. Nursing started to have that issue but the hospitals that did that quickly reversed their opinion and hired full-time RNs to fill the gaps whereas they just laid off one full-time CT person and made two people part-time where I work.

There is also more competition. We have hundreds of RNs whereas we have less than 20 ultrasound techs in the hospital. We have probably less than a third of techs in the entire company when compared to nurses. Job prospects there will always be an RN spot open somewhere although it may not be a desirable spot. Ultrasound, well, those are less common

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Yes, seriously. At least at the hospital level. Our Echo techs have never had a patient yell at them, answer incessant call lights, get food and other objects thrown at them, get punched, etc.

They are not rated on whether they brought sandwiches and pop to the pt. They dont get threatened if the MD doesnt order the patient dilaudid, xanax, fill in the blank.

And for the pay we get in this area, the echo tech I spoke to told me her salary - and its very close.

I was actually going to consider going back to school for this.

Wow. Just wow. I chose the wrong profession.

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