nursing or speech pathology

[hmzabka]

Hey all!

I have always wanted to be a nurse for all my life, but now that I have been getting into my second year of prereqs and working as a CNA, i really looked into what a nurse entails and the long crazy hours, the high stress, and much more seem really hard to manage and I don't know if that is something I would want to do. However being nurse has always been something i've wanted to do and it sounds so interesting. I just think I may get burned out.

I recently have been looking into speech pathology. The cons of that is that you NEED a masters but the job schedules are much less stressful and demanding and you still can help people. I want to work with children in whatever career I decide, so that may be Neonatal, L & D, midwifery, pediatrics for nursing. Or I could work as a speech pathologist with children as well and have much much less stress and a normal job schedule.

I don't want to regret what I decide doing and I don't want to be spending my time hating my job.

So any thoughts? I know ultimately this is my choice but I just want to hear everyone's perspective on the matter.

thanks!

[NewlyANurse]

Like you said, this comes down to your own decision on the matter. If after a lot of consideration you don't think that nursing is what you want to do, then I would say follow your heart and go with speech pathology. My thought, though, would be that since you've already invested time in nursing school, it might make sense to see it through. Are you working toward a Bachelor's now? You said that speech pathology requires a Master's degree. You could always be working as a nurse as you go back to school for your second degree, if you find that you don't love nursing as much as you'd hoped. I don't know much about speech pathology, but it might even benefit you to have that background in nursing if you were to look for jobs in that area down the road.

Just my two cents! I was stuck in a similar position when I started nursing school; I was considering becoming a Child Life specialist which also usually requires a Master's. It's never too late to go back for more school... Right? :)