Parents will kick me out if I don't drop my nursing dreams...

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Feb 16, 2018

Let me play devil's advocate here for a minute. Are your parents planning on paying for your medical school education? If that's the case then why not do it? If you're considering being an NP or CRNA down the road then why not be an MD? After all, the jobs aren't all that different. You could essentially get a free ride through medical school and end up with a well-paying respected profession, with no debt. Or you could do it your way, possibly be homeless or at the very least insecure and struggling, invest your own money and go into debt to come out the other side earning less. That doesn't make financial sense. You could go through medical school and still work in healthcare. Many NPs and CRNAs will tell you they wished they'd just gone to medical school. I mean, is it worth destroying your family relationship just because you want to be a nurse? I'm not saying you can't be a nurse, but it seems the price to be one is too high when you could maintain your relationship and end up with a better job at the end of it. I sure wish I had been offered medical school when I was young. I went as far as going to get the prospectus but I couldn't afford it as I was on my own and had no money or family support. All these years later I'm still in an NP program about to graduate. I would rather have been a physician.

djmatte, ADN, MSN, RN, NP · Feb 16, 2018

Let me play devil's advocate here for a minute. Are your parents planning on paying for your medical school education? If that's the case then why not do it? If you're considering being an NP or CRNA down the road then why not be an MD? After all, the jobs aren't all that different. You could essentially get a free ride through medical school and end up with a well-paying respected profession, with no debt. Or you could do it your way, possibly be homeless or at the very least insecure and struggling, invest your own money and go into debt to come out the other side earning less. That doesn't make financial sense. You could go through medical school and still work in healthcare. Many NPs and CRNAs will tell you they wished they'd just gone to medical school. I mean, is it worth destroying your family relationship just because you want to be a nurse? I'm not saying you can't be a nurse, but it seems the price to be one is too high when you could maintain your relationship and end up with a better job at the end of it. I sure wish I had been offered medical school when I was young. I went as far as going to get the prospectus but I couldn't afford it as I was on my own and had no money or family support. All these years later I'm still in an NP program about to graduate. I would rather have been a physician.

I tend to agree. And anyone who wants to be a nurse THAT bad would probably make a phenomenal doctor presuming they have the aptitude for it.

smalli · Feb 16, 2018

You could major in Nursing and do a pre-med track. A lot of pre-med courses are also required for nursing (bio, chem, orgo chem at some schools, stats etc) so you'd be killing two birds with one stone. You don't have to be a bio or chem major to do pre-med track. And by the time you graduate from undergrad, you could still decide to pursue a nursing job (and would probably easily get a job with all the science background) and wouldn't necessarily need a place to stay once you're graduated.

Teeks2020 · Feb 18, 2018

Thank you everyone! I'm learning and benefiting from these great advise too.

To the OP - I share similar background with you, and about to graduate from my BSN program. You could give what I've done a try - shadowing a local healthcare professional for two weeks? Whether it'd be MD, Physician Assistant, NP, RN, etc. is up to you. Look online/Yellow Page for someone locally, and keep calling one after another, until you can get something set up. I got quick results, as most were more than willing to do it, and those that weren't able to was due to their scheduling. Dress professional (aka no torn jeans =) ) and have a list of questions to ask them. Good luck OP!!

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2018

I am about to graduate high school and not happy about it at all. My parents want me to pursue a career in medicine while I want to go into nursing. They've threatened to kick me out or not let me go to college if I don't do what they say. The fact that I want to do my nursing prerequisites at a community college makes them even more angry. I have tried to do what they want always by not getting a job when they didn't want me to, but at this rate im scared I wont be able to go to college. I've done so much research into my career path and I don't want to compromise it. Does anyone have any advice?

Are you 18 yet? If not, I believe it would be considered neglect for your parents to kick you out of the home. Do you have a guidance counselor or anyone at school you can talk to?

In my opinion, you should not let your parents decide your future for you. It's your life and you'll have to live it long after they're gone or you cut ties with them.

I'd probably tell them I'm majoring in pre-med, switch to nursing and then by the time they've figured it out, you'll have graduated and can get a job to support yourself. At that point they'll either get over it or you can re-evaluate if you want to continue to have a relationship with them as an adult. I am not of the mindset that parents are above the standard I set for anyone in my life simply because they each contributed 1/2 of my DNA. I last saw my father 11 years ago at my brother's high school graduation and stopped talking to him long before that. He is not the kind of person I want in my life and him giving me 23 chromosomes doesn't change that.

MsQueensRN, LPN, LVN · Feb 20, 2018

I went through a similar situation when I chose to change my career path and go back to nursing school. The fact that I would be leaving a profession that I had already entered and heading for community college to pursue nursing did not sit well with my parents. Once they saw that I was serious, though we went through a period of not really speaking with each other over time they had no choice but to accept it because they saw how serious i was about it. It's funny that now that I have been a practicing nurse for many years, I am the first person they call if something isn't feeling right, or they have any kind of medical question. Parents can be selfish, parents can be scared, parents can be wrong. Stay true to yourself.

Kohai · Feb 21, 2018

I'm so sorry to hear that. How about you reason with them?

I'm a pre-med/pre-nursing student myself so I can attest to this. Medical schools want you to have patient care experience. The best way to get patient care experience is to work in healthcare, right? Nursing is a great way to GAIN that experience and since you're an undergrad, and there is no specific major that you have to take in order to get into medical school, you can do nursing while in undergrad or community college (however you wanna do it) while earning your prerequisite courses for med school and taking the MCAT. It'll basically be a win-win. If you don't wanna go to medical school then you can just stop after getting your nursing degree. They can't do anything about it after that. :^)

Regardless, you shouldn't have to choose whether to follow your own dreams or someone else's. It's your life and sometimes you gotta take that leap of faith and do what you wanna do. Good luck!

If you have any more questions about pre-med, I know a lot about it!

QuietIsntAWord · Feb 21, 2018

I didn't read all the comments so I'm sorry If I repeat anyone. I just read one comment that stuck out to me about getting your ADN first and how you want to do pre-reqs at community college. I absolutely recommend this!! It is much cheaper to get your ADN through a community college and then go for your BSN and/or MSN through an university. From the programs available in my area, it's much faster as well.

There are many options for scholarships and grant money as well. I did something called work study, where I tutored A&P, Chemistry, Math and psychology for the school and they paid me with grant money. I also kept my grades up and did a lot of community service so when applying for scholarships I had a pretty great resume. If you are invited to join any type of fraternity or sorority, do your research because there are scholarships that only those offer. I was able to get my ADN without paying a dime out of pocket.

Once you start working as a nurse, there are a lot of employers who will help pay for you to continue your education. Just be careful and read the fine print!

I wish you all the luck in the world. Follow your heart! You don't want to end up wasting all that time and money doing something you absolutely hate and unfortunately your parents won't be around forever. Maybe it's time to fly little bird :)

Accolay · Feb 21, 2018

Encouraging the OP to just go her own way is highly irresponsible and even dangerous. Her best bet is to go to college. After graduating from college, if she still wants to be a nurse, she can get a good job for two years to become financially independent. Then she can apply for a direct-entry master's in nursing program and qualify for financial aid.

I think saying that we are giving highly irresponsible and even dangerous advice is a little much. Yikes.

#First World Problems.

Oldmahubbard · Mar 4, 2018

Only the OP knows how serious her parents are about not wanting her to go into nursing.

If they are serious about totally cutting her off, it will be a rough road.

However, others have done it.

I am just curious what the parents would say if she did go through pre-med and got a B in one class, effectively terminating any chance of getting into an American medical school.

It is sad that anyone in today's world would think that nursing is "low-level" work.

Even at the ADN level, it isn't.