Nursing or Speech Pathology

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  1. Stick with nursing or switch to speech pathology?

    • 0
      Nursing
    • 3
      Speech Pathology

3 members have participated

Hello everyone!

I am a freshman in college majoring in nursing but i have second thoughts about being a nurse. In high school i took CNA and i loved it! But after researching more about Nursing and the amount of labor they do.. Made me feel like I'm not going to enjoy it and the amount of pay they get. But then for speech I've seen that they get paid very well and work in schools with children and they work with the elderly which i also love. So now I'm just confused on what i want to do. So please let me know your thoughts about my issues.

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Nurses also work in schools and with the elderly. I don't know much about speech other than what I see in the hospital. What else draws you to speech path?

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I would say speech but i also feel you have a lot more opportunities for growth in nursing and many different areas to work in

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We can't tell you what to choose.

I'd suggest shadowing a speech therapist around. I worked with one when I was a school nurse and she was great. It is very busy though and you work with kids from pre-K to 12th grade.

The funny thing is she started out with nursing and then had some medical issues that forced to her quit school for awhile. Then she went back and decided to do speech path. Now she wishes she had stayed with nursing.

You have to figure out what works best FOR YOU.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

They're both good fields. But I agree that the decision should be your own. I agree that there are more opportunities in nursing than SLP but the opportunities for both professions tend to be harder to find when you're fresh out of school. The reality in nursing is that unless you are in an area that still has many job opportunities, you would have to take what you can get. I'm sure it will be the same way with SLP. It will take you longer to practice as an SLP than as an RN since the SLP requires an MA degree. The pay for both professions is relative -- I work in San Francisco where RN's pay scales are started higher than SLP's.

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