Should I become a nurse for the money??

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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i am 16, and i am going to be a junior soon, and i have to start getting ready for sat's, and act's. you know the whole high school/college process, but anyway's everyone keeps telling me to become a nurse.

i love to help people, but at the same time i like to be alone, or with a few people. when i see pictures of people suffering i want to help them. especially in underdeveloped countries. i've gone back and forth between choosing to become a nurse, but a part of me keep's saying no it's not for me. i feel like, if i don't become a nurse, and save lives then i am worthless. plus i am horrible at science. i am taking chemistry right now, and i have a 69%/d+ in the class, and i am not passionate about science.

i thought about becoming a pediatric travel nurse. i don't like hospitals all that much. the blood doesn't bother me much, but it's the diseases, and other stuff such as ring worms, sores, and etc that makes my body queasy, and hard to concentrate. i literally can not look at them. i do feel like nursing is the only way that i can help people.

i thought about becoming a special education teacher to younger kids, and teaching abroad also, but everyone say's not to become a teacher, and i'm not passionate about teaching.

i am passionate about mentoring younger kids/teens, and helping them better themselves, and teaching them self respect. i want to help people in underdeveloped countries, and in bad circumstances, and teach people about std's, but many people keep telling me to become a nurse, and the pay is good, but i'm not passionate about it. honestly i do not know what i want to do, but i want to have an ok paying job $35,000-$40,000 for a single person. what should i do. i am going to be in the 11th grade in 5 months, and it goes by fast and then bam senior year is here. what on earth am i going to do!!!! should i just settle and become a nurse? people keep telling me that i only live once, and that i should follow my dream. i love to help people, but at the same time i like to be alone. i am horrible at science, and bad at math. i am more of a doer. i like to do stuff.

sorry for the long message

Volunteer in a nursing home.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Everyone make nursing sounds so horrible. It's not really encouraging for those interested in it. I am currently a CNA and I have a great time working in the nursing home. I am doing my prerequisites for my BSN and I am extremely excited about it. You just have to know what you are getting into before you make that decision. Don't' speak so negatively about the profession in order to steer someone away!

*** I encourage anyone who is really interested in nursing. However the very idea that anyone would enter a field that pays what nurses get paid for the money is silly. Where I live new grad RNs are started at less than $20 and hour. Who would invest the work, time and expence of nursing school to make that kind of money? It's just abserd.

If one is going to spend their life doing a job they are not really excited about for the money it should be something that really pays good money.

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Thankyou all for your responses, and for becoming nurses And taking care of us people : ) . What other advice would you give to those that want to become nurses.

Work hard in math and science. It trips up many people who really want to be nurses but need a great deal of remedial work in those areas.

Again, volunteer. Learn what nurses actually do. Actually help people in distress by doing things that do not require a nurse.

Challenge those who are telling you about a nursing shortage with facts. There is no shortage. There is uneven distribution. Get that through everyone, including yourself.

Learn about money. Is a nurse salary really big bucks? Actually, no. Write a potential budget as part of your learning. Find out how much it costs to become a nurse. Tuition, books, uniforms, tools, gas, food on the run, etc. Compare that to other education. Are there other jobs you find that trip your trigger? Don't limit your search.

As you read about the graduates who have difficulty finding jobs put yourself in their positions. How to support yourself while trying to get a job? What jobs would be no starters for you, regardless of how badly you needed a job.

Yes many of the comments have been less than enthusiastic about going into the field of nursing. It is not that we don't love nursing. It is that there are barriers to success that make the job less enjoyable than we thought.

If, in spite of all the negatives you find, you still want to be a nurse and have the grades to get into a program, my best wishes. I say this honestly and sincerely. it is a very hard program and you will work hard in any program.

All that and I still think you might end up being a great nurse. Onward and upward.

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Become a nurse because you enjoy that type of work.

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I'm going to volunteer at Jackson memorial hospital in Miami(where i live) this summer. I'm looking into occupational therapy, and becoming a travel OT. It's the science that scares me to death. I'm trying to avoid anything that involves science , especially chemistry, which is the worst of them all lol. OT interests me , but I'm afraid that the science will be too hard and that I'll give up. science and math are my biggest fears. How do I overcome this, because I have to take trig and IB biology in my 11th grade year. I keep thinking "what if I fail?" I like what OT's do because I'm providing someone with a future, but I keep wondering, and thinking that I'll probably fail, because I'm horrible at science.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
my family wants me to become a nurse. they say that it's the only way that i can make money and have a stable life, and help people and that nursing school and the job is not that hard and there is a nursing shortage .

i find it difficult to believe that if your family really are nurses that they can say that the job isn't that hard as nothing is further than the truth....now i wonder if this post is sincere after all.

https://allnurses.com/nursing-activism-healthcare/what-keeping-new-663383.html

the market is very tight. there is no nursing shortage. the jobs maybe posted but there are hiring freezes due to the economy. nurses have returned to the workforce because their s.o. is unemployed and nurses who planned to retire cannot because we lost our butts in 401k when everything crashed. there are nursing schools churning out grads at an alarming rate to take advantage of the economy and the flocking of society to the "recession proof" healthcare field...with no positions to fulfill. there are hospitals that offer "internships" or "residencies" that you pay them to train you available but they are few and far between and don't guarantee employment. right now it just stinks out there :sniff: hospitals are "short staffed" but they want it that way......due to budget cuts and hospitals are still laying off.

https://allnurses.com/nursing-news/jo...ds-662139.html

https://allnurses.com/nursing-first-j...ew-636865.html

nurses are talking about: jobs for new grads

the big lie?

without a doubt, the main source of frustration experienced by recently graduated and licensed but still unemployed nurses is what could be called "the big lie."in other words, the television commercials that encourage young people to become nurses -- and then abandon them for months (or years) without employment; and the educators who tell them that the associate's degree is perfectly adequate to guarantee employment, that they will have their pick of jobs when they graduate, and that there is plenty of time to get a bsn later on. who knows whether it is greed, ignorance, or wishful thinking that underlies the fairy tales told to nursing students about their future job prospects? whatever the motivation, the disillusionment of our new grads is palpable. the jobs they expected after all of their hard work just haven't materialized, and some grads are getting pretty desperate.

the big lie?

losing our skills

the holy grail

take a job, any job

get out of the hospital

back to school?

does uncle sam want you?

feel like a little golf?

give us a chance

medscape: medscape access requires registration but it is free i suggest you and your family reads this.....

overhauling nursing education: does nursing education prepare nurses for the real world?

medscape: medscape access

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Most medical degrees will involve math and the sciences.....study hard. Anything really worth having is worth working for.

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Specializes in none.

To the OP, you don't become a nurse because you think it would be fun to help people, or for money. You become a nurse because you have to. You see human suffering and you have to help. You have to help even at the risk of your own safety, as in Psych Nursing. At the risk of your life as some of my friends did in 9/11. There is something inside of you that says you must help. No matter if you are a CNA or PHD you have to help..anyone. There is something wrong with us. In stead of the give me way this world is going. we are the ones that help. We are the few, the Proud, the Insane.

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My first degree is in occupational therapy and I would tell you to see if you can volunteer in the rehabilitation department at a hospital to shadow an OT/COTA and see what their day is like. As for math and science, just take it one day at a time. Nobody here will tell you the math/science in any health career is easy, but there are ways to make it easier. Maybe you could find a tutor to help, make note cards so you can quiz yourself, set time aside every day to study so there is no "cramming." You need to find what way of studying works for you. I would also maybe suggest taking your entry-level classes at a CC where the classes are smaller and the teachers do get a chance to know you and will help you. I know my Bio teacher last year sought out the students who were not doing so well and worked with them until their grades were up. My CC offers extra bio/science study groups twice a week and also free tutors if you have a C or below in the class. Just keep a positive attitude and an open mind and I am sure you will find where you would like to be!

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How do I overcome this, because I have to take trig and IB biology in my 11th grade year. I keep thinking "what if I fail?" I like what OT's do because I'm providing someone with a future, but I keep wondering, and thinking that I'll probably fail, because I'm horrible at science.

I graduated high school last May, and I hated science almost all the way through. I went to a college prep school with people who were able to get an A in multi-variable calculus and linear algebra...in the 10th grade.

Needless to say, I never tried in my science classes because I convinced myself that I would never be good as good at it as my classmates and that I hated it. I had C's in every science class I ever took up until junior year, and was scared to death because I was being pressured to go to medical school.

Then I promised myself I wouldn't goof off anymore and took molecular biology in my junior year. I got an A in that, and an A in anatomy later on when I took it my senior year. Now I'm a sophomore in college and got an A+.... in general chem! All it took was a change in attitude and more effective study habits. It was so worth it.

Don't doubt yourself. You never know how you'll do in a subject until you give it everything you've got.

PS-- I'm glad you will be volunteering. I did it when I was your age and it was awesome. I got to shadow nurses, physical therapy, OT, radiology-- you name it! That volunteer work helped me land an internship with a midwife and an obgyn. Then and there, I decided the nursing path was more for me. :D

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I am definitely going into nursing because of the money. That doesn't mean though I don't care for people or look in the mirror every morning and say how much I hate my job. Should I go into a job I have passion for and get paid $12/hr? No I won't.

I want to make a good living and know how much I will get paid 10 years after doing a job well done. Besides, nursing actually provide care for others, it feels much more satisfying knowing you help someone rather than try them to sell them an iphone or get them to invest money in some mutual fund.

By the way, if all the nurses in Ontario thinks the money aren't all that great, ($60k - $85k) is really more greedy than the bankers I worked for. If the nurses here actually try to see who is hiring and for how much, they definitely be satisfied with their pay. I know that I don't have to spend 10 years climbing some corporate ladder for that type of pay with no certainty.

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If you want something "just for the money" try something in business. My sister in law is an accountant and makes 6 digits a year. I would not suggest nursing for money.

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