nursing for financial independence

Nurses General Nursing

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hi guys, i was looking for some guidance from those of you in the profession. THis is my situation. I graduated from college this june in ethnic studies. I was a premed student and hated it, i actually never tired. I didn't want to be a doctor so i just switched to ethnic studies because i found it interesting. Here i am, with a degree that won't get me anywhere. THis is what's going on right now with me, i'm the kind of person that has toooo many interests to narrow down what i like to go persue it fully. I've been waiting around for years for me to "figure it out" but it's not happening. I've taken the career tests, read all the books and the one thing i've discovered is that i love teaching and learning new things. I Love to read up on things and inform people/educate them on what i know. That's all i know. SO, time is going and here i am just trying to make a perfect discission. I honestly don't know what career to get into to. I honestly thought about it alot and got to the conclusion that what is important to me right now in this moment is to be financially independent and make a decent living and NOT go crazy looking for a job for years. Basically i want to be in a career where the chances of me getting a job is higher than lets say social work or teaching. Nursing comes up a lot and i just want to know what you guys think. i read through some of the threads and i see that nursing is a career that is demanding and can at times drive u nuts. Plus the schooling is hard (not so hot in science/math, but willing to go nuts to finish it). SO my question is, AM i crazy for going into this because i want financial independence? especially if i don't have ANY OTHER OPTION, like i have too many. IT's between social work (i can handle the schooling, but no interest) or nursing (financial independence/career option, but schooling hard) i don't know what i'm talking about anymore, sorry for just talking too much.I just haven't been sleeping, i'm so stressed out. Please, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you guys think, ANYTHING. thanks so much

If you like teaching, you're going to love nursing. You have clearly-defined goals for teaching. You get to teach one-on-one. And you'll run into the most interesting teaching problems ever that require constant reassessment and thinking on your feet. Plus you can shoot for a job like diabetic or expectant mother teaching.

Nurses don't make all that much, but then, financial independence is more a matter of managing your money properly than anything else. With a wise hand at the helm, even a modest income can produce financial independence.

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I don't know any rich nurses dollar-wise. It may be 80k at the top but that takes years. It will pay the rent if you do not live in Manhattan or Frisco. Teaching does not pay that much. Legal nursing is an up-and-coming group where the fees may be impressive. There again, it takes time and experience too.

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Please, do not go into Nursing if you are choosing it for financial or career options due to job options. Being a Nurse is not a job, a career choise. It is a calling, a need so deep down in the depths of your being that you can't resist. This need is what will carry you thru the bad days and be emboldened by the good days. I have worked with many nurses who chose Nursing for the reasons you stated, none were happy with thier jobs. Unfortunately it shows to other Nurses, CNA's and patients & thier families. At a time in thier lives when patients need the most caring & compassionate people around them, to be stuck with someone who's just in it for the pay is a real shame. I have also worked with many Nurses who felt the calling and continue to feel it. They are the ones who help more than just the physical body heal, they also raise the spirits, support the emotions, give hope when all seems lost. I continue to strive to be the Nurse my patient's need, not the one I think they do.

Good Luck in finding your path.

NURSING IS NOT A CALLING FOR MOST PEOPLE/ For most ppeole it is a job and that is how it should be. Nurse to live, don't live to nurse.

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Wow, i am so grateful for everybody responding to my question. I read through all the advice and i'm thankful for the wisdom. It's nice to hear from those that are in the field. So, i got a couple of comments saying that i shouldn't get into it for the money and others saying because i love the idea of teaching that nursing offers that aspect, teaching. you see with me, i'm very emotionally driven. i honestly know i want to be in a place that lets me help people and teach them. I'll be honest, i've been researching nursing career among others to see if it would be a fit. THe one thing when i think about nursing that truly scares me or holds me back is the schooling and how much i fear the science and if i'm capable. And also once you finish, the work of nurses (not the caring and emotional support, but the science part of it, i don't know) like i fear i wouldn't know what i'm doing because i had a bad experience in college in my pre med years with science. I had no study habit (like study before the test the day before for bio, chem, calculus, etc...) so i never tried. SO basically, if i knew i would be ok in the schooling department, i would go for it for YEs, the financial aspect but for also nursing being a career that comes close to what i like (teaching and helping people emotionally). Because i cannot keep working at target for 8.00 forever till i "Figure out" what the perfect career is for me. Eventually, i would think in life, you would have to make a move that will help you get to where u want to get NOW. you see i'm having a problem trying to pick something that would make me happy till the end, but i happen to be one of those people that doesn't KNOW what i want for sure, but nursing isn't a far stretch like i'll be miserable because it includes aspects that i like. If i picked to become a lawer or an engineer, THAT would be stretch because there aren't aspects of that career that i can relate to. HOnestly, it's all about the schooling that's troubling me

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Specializes in HOSPICE, GERIACTRICS AND CICU.

Please don't go into nursing for money and job security. The job is sooo much more than that. It tugs at your heart strings daily, its stressful, high paced on your feet for 12 hours a day work. Sometimes, you dont even get to pee for 12 hours! Its tough but it is rewarding. Nurses get paid well, but IMO if you dont love the job it wont financially be worth the stress, responsibility and emotions. Also, as for job security I have met many nursing students with bachelors and associate degrees who cannot find a job. With budget cuts going on at hospitals right now they cut all the new grad programs which took in brand new nurses and gave them some extra orientation to the hospital and the job before they started. Also, the hospitals and nursing homes are only hiring nurses with experience. If you just graduated and no one will hire you how are you going to get experience? I worked with a woman who worked for a LTC facility for 5 years as a CNA, she was a great employee and an excellent CNA. SHe graduated from nursing school last year and they wouldnt hire here because she didnt have experience as a nurse! Its tough out there right now, even for nurses.

Good luck to you.

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Specializes in ICU hopeful!.

To those who state the OP should go into nursing only if it is her passion, calling, or deepest desire - let me ask you this?

If you were not paid a single cent, would you be a nurse?

My passions are history, turn of the century architecture, and horseback riding. Just how am I supposed to make a career out of those things? Historians might make money, if they get lucky, but I'd rather learn than teach or research. I like old buildings in NYC and Seattle, but I don't want to build them and I sure as hell don't want to sell them (already tried a stint in real estate and hated it). I love to ride horses, but I don't have the money, talent, or desire to make a career out of it. I also love fitness/wellness/exercise - when I'm doing it myself. I love reading research studies about how different foods and workout plans can impact results, but I chose not to go into that field because I didn't what what I loved to be interlaced with the stresses and drama and headache that come along with working.

People say that others should go into nursing only if it is their passion and truest, deepest calling. I disagree.

I'm a pre-nursing student. I've worked the last two years making right around 50k, NO COLLEGE DEGREE AT ALL, in sales. I hated it. Now, the prospect of nursing and nursing school excites me, makes me happy, and makes me feel like I've finally found what I want to do with my life, because it gives me so many options other than bedside nursing. I can go into management, forensic nursing, teaching positions, bedside nursing, LTC, NP, CRNA, working in L&D, etc. Nursing is not my passion - I've chosen not to mix work and personal passions/likes/whatever you want to call it. I don't think I'm wrong for pursuing nursing. I like the science probably more than I like the people aspect of it, but does that mean that I'm cold hearted and uncivil? No. I can sympathize, and I am compassionate. At times, when I hear people on these boards talking about how nursing beats them up emotionally, I wonder if I might be better off because I can know that "yes, this is terrible that somehting has happened, but I can still go on living my life." After all, I feel that there is no reason to brood over things that are out of our control.

To the OP: GO GET YOUR NURSING DEGREE. Do not listen to naysayers, etc, because like some have said, there are many things you can do in nursing other than just bedside nursing in a hospital. You can be a school nurse, you can go to grad school and get a dual masters degree in Nursing and Education, and then teach. Tons of opportunities, tons of people who have followed this path, and tons of people who will always talk down to you if you weren't born to live and breath nursing.

As for the financial aspect - everyone has to make a living. It's ridiculous to think that people should throw caution out the window when comparing cost of college versus earning potential. I bet doctors wouldn't go to med school if they only made $25k a year. And I bet that people in finance wouldn't get their MBAs for only $8/hr. Money should not be the only thing people think of, because if you sincerely HATE your job, you will not be happy (hence why I quit my sales job), but it is something that should absolutely be considered.

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Specializes in PeriOperative.
I bet doctors wouldn't go to med school if they only made $25k a year.

Actually, that's right around what Harvard was paying fellows last I checked (it's been a few years, but not that many).

If there was a screening process to get into nursing school where you has to demonstrate your undying dedication to the nursing profession, there really would be a nursing shortage.

OP, nursing is a very diverse field, with a niche for everyone. You may find yourself drawn toward management or critical care or even chart auditing. No one can promise you financial independence, but you'll probably find a way to use your skills and talents in ways you never imagined.

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Specializes in ER/Geriatrics.

I don't care what career people pick but it should be something you are passionate about

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I am kind of in the same situation as you are. I am currently in school and im a little confused as to what I want to do. My 2 choices are Nursing and Ultrasound Tech, I am nervous about doing either of them because of the Math and I guess just the classes in general. The salary isn't really a concern from me because I believe that either one of those fields you can make decent money. I just want a career that I can be happy in and honestly whichever one is more flexible. So im stuck, I am at the point where I need to choose so I know what classes I need to take RIGHT NOW. I dont know what or I should say HOW to decide which path to take. I wish you the best of luck in your decision making.

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From what it sounds like, your main reasons for going in to nursing is the pay and the job availability. I understand, because to be really honest, those were probably my biggest two reasons. But I have since learned, nursing is not for those easily stressed(such as myself). I envy the nurses who are truly cut out for the work. In my own personal experience, it probably was not the best choice for me. I really care about people and want to help, but Im also very stressed and obsessed with making sure that everyone gets absolutely everything they need....and in nursing thats close to impossible most days.

The depression and anxiety I face due to nursing in the hospitals is not at all worth the money and job availability. However, once you get your experience clinically, there are plenty of other options outside of the hospital....but you will most likely need at least a bachelors.

Only you can decide if it is for you and I hope that you find what you are looking for. Best of luck to you :)

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Specializes in WOC, Hospice, Home Health.

My advice to the OP-

Find a nursing home that offers paid training for CNA and work for at least a year as an aide. I guarantee you, you will know after that year whether you want to be a nurse or not. Plus you can pick the brains of people already in the field.

On a side note to all of the "passion/calling vs money" argument. I went into nursing because it was a relatively easy degree to get that offered decent pay, flexible scheduling, and diversity- at the time I was a single parent working in fast food. I did not go into nursing because I have a "calling" or some deep rooted passion. However, if I may say so, I'm a pretty decent nurse, for being a couple years in. On some days, I'd say that I'm a damn good nurse. I like people. I like working with people. I like helping people get better. I enjoy working with the elderly and I'm very good with confused and demented patients. I don't consider that a "calling". I consider it to be me being lucky enough to have a job that pays the bills that I don't hate.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to support yourself and your family. And if someone wants to be a nurse because nursing allows them to do that (note that I did not say "get rich, easy money"), well--I don't see a problem with that.

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To the OP, you sound really young, or reading your typing, it sounds like you are young.

First, you don't have to figure it all out by the time you're 20. You just don't.

If you are younger, I would go and take a CNA class, that takes a semester of school, and allows you to go to the retirement homes/hospitals in your area for clinicals (where you try out the new skills you learned) and see if it's right for you. My CNA class had some of the science, some of the math, some of a little of everything that nursing involves. There were many people who ended up switching to accounting because they didn't like doing the CNA "thing".

And...that's okay. Not everyone wants to become a nurse.

If you're into teaching that much, why don't you become a teacher? An assistant daycare director makes MORE than nurses with a 2 year degree (the minimum degree in nursing) and those jobs are more plentiful than nursing jobs right now.

Just take a breath. There is something for you out there but you need to calm down. Don't waste your time or money following a degree that you're just not sure about. Go talk to some career advisors (your local community college is full of them) and weigh out your options.

Good luck and relax.

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