Should I become a nurse or a teacher?

DeeSki · Sep 21, 2005

There is a reason we have a nursing shortage, and obviously nursing is notthe most glamaorous job in the world, otherwise people would be knocking down the doors trying to be one...:rotfl:
Not to belittle your point but...where I live, people ARE knocking down the doors trying to get into a nursing school program. We wouldn't have such a shortage if we had more nursing schools. All you hear at my school is folks whining and worrying about getting into the program. You NEVER hear the education students worrying about that. hmmmm

fab4fan · Sep 21, 2005

Why would you go back and be a teacher?

I really loved my English and Spanish classes (I became pretty fluent in Spanish just from what I learned in high school). I loved writing and studying literature, so I had a lot of encouragement from both my English and Spanish teachers to go the teaching route. My high school Spanish teacher actually let me teach a couple of the freshman classes, just to get a feel for it, and my English teacher used to let me help her with grading papers, lesson planning, etc.

I enjoy working with kids, particularly teens, and watching what happens when they're learning. I guess I just have that teaching desire in me; I've done a lot of staff education, precepting in my job as a nurse, and that has helped a little.

I guess after 20y of nursing, I'm just tired of it all. Nursing is not kind to the body, and when you get to be my age, it's downright unforgiving at times. I've just gotten to a point that, looking back, I think I would have been better suited to teaching (secondary ed.).

And before anyone accuses me of having an idealized vision of teaching, rest assured, I don't. I know how much time good teachers put in after-hours, and the problems students and parents can cause. None of the teachers who encouraged me to go that route whitewashed the profession. As fas as having summers off, most of the teachers I knew had jobs over the summer.

Finally, it was because of my one English teacher that I stopped being a slacker; she believed I was capable of more and got through my thick skull somehow. Had it not been for her, who knows what I would have ended up doing.

Thanks, "Mrs. M."

ajgier · Sep 21, 2005

I am currently a sophmore in college and I either want to apply for nursing or teacher in the upcoming fall. I am confused as to what I should do. The thing i like about teaching is that I will someday have a family and have holidays, weekends, summers off, etc. I thought I wanted to do nursing until I discovered that many nurses hate their jobs. I was also led to believe that nurses made more than teachers but some information says that teachers make more and they only work 10 months out of the year. Is this true? I am just really confused and need some advice.

I have been a teacher since 1997. I have taught every grade from 4th through high school math and GED prep to inmates in county jails. Let me tell you that it sucks! I left teaching last week and hope I don't have to return. My sister-in-law quit teaching last year. Many, many teachers are leaving the profession and veteran teachers often talk about how it has gotten so bad. Kids have so many rights and teachers have very little. I had one student who wouldn't stop talking during a lesson and would get up and walk around disrupting the class. I told the kid to leave the classroom. The principal came to me and told me I couldn't do that because the student was a minority and the principal was afraid of being called a racist. So because of that the rest of the class had to deal with constant disruptions of this brat.

I know of one teacher who got a chair thrown at her by an 11th grader who was much bigger than she is and the student didn't get into trouble because he is special ed and is "protected." Also, the medical benefits for teachers are getting worse and worse.

Trust me, you don't want to go into teaching.

Email me if you have any more questions about teaching.

fab4fan · Sep 21, 2005

And I can counter every one of those stories with stories about nurses being assualted by patients, doctors, etc. Patients these days have a serious problem with "entitlement," and admin. just goes along with it and coddles them. It's more important for admin. to have a "happy" customer, even if it is at the expense of the nursing staff.

Admin. tries all sorts of new and inventive ways to chip away at benefits for staff. Just worked an 8h shift and the next shift is short? Look out, you may be mandated!

Neither profession is perfect. Job shadowing would be a very good idea.

fab4fan · Sep 21, 2005

There is a reason we have a nursing shortage, and obviously nursing is notthe most glamaorous job in the world, otherwise people would be knocking down the doors trying to be one...:rotfl:
Not to belittle your point but...where I live, people ARE knocking down the doors trying to get into a nursing school program. We wouldn't have such a shortage if we had more nursing schools. All you hear at my school is folks whining and worrying about getting into the program. You NEVER hear the education students worrying about that. hmmmm
We have a "shortage" because:
1. Nurses are leaving d/t deteriorating working condtions.
2. There are not enough nursing educators; nursing educators are paid poorly. Build all the schools you want, but if there aren't any teachers...
3. Many hospitals "claim" to have openings, but routinely turn away qualified applicants. It makes the hospital appear to be trying to get staff, without ever really having to follow through.
4. Research has shown that many nurses leave due to abuse from physicians and patients.

nitengale75 · Sep 21, 2005

I feel so blessed because I have the best of both worlds. I was a hospital based nurse for 15 years and am now starting my 15th year as a school nurse. I never wanted to be anything but a nurse since first grade. It has been extremely rewarding for me. Everyone has "horror stories" about their professions. I was burned out after 15 years of hospital nursing when the door opened for me to go in to school nursing. I am certified in Illinois. I am a guest speaker for health classes, do sex ed and have taught prenatal classes. I reap the benefits of being on teacher's scale and make plenty of money so that I do not have to work a second job or jobs in the summer. School nursing is very rewarding. My passion is nursing. God blessed me with my job.

gypsyatheart · Sep 21, 2005

There is a reason we have a nursing shortage, and obviously nursing is notthe most glamaorous job in the world, otherwise people would be knocking down the doors trying to be one...:rotfl:
Not to belittle your point but...where I live, people ARE knocking down the doors trying to get into a nursing school program. We wouldn't have such a shortage if we had more nursing schools. All you hear at my school is folks whining and worrying about getting into the program. You NEVER hear the education students worrying about that. hmmmm
I'm referring to people actually graduating from nursing school and surviving the 1st year of nursing, heck make that the 1st 6mos, and actually utilize it as a career!

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Sep 22, 2005

We wouldn't have such a shortage if we had more nursing schools.

Sure we would. Nurses leaving the profession and cutting back to part-time or PRN status contribute as much or more to the shortage as the limited availability of seats in nursing schools. In fact, I think more nursing programs would hurt more than help. Nurses are a "cost" to the hospital. If lots of nurses are out there looking for jobs, there is no real reason to keep wages competitive as hospitals are no longer trying to appeal to candidates, but rather taking their pick from all that are available - leaving the nurses to take what they can get. Nursing salaries are far from lucrative, but many nurses stay in the field (and this is a quote I have read on these boards and heard from other nurses time and time again) because they would have a hard time finding another (entry-level) position that would pay as much as they are making as nurses. If employers were to get cocky, due to a nursing surplus (like they did back in the early-to-mid 90's) and not work as hard to make nursing positions appealing, we would find out what a nursing shortage REALLY looks like.

There are plenty of nurses out there who are working in other professions or only work one weekend a month (etc, you get the point). They have already been through school, they are already licensed, but they can't be counted in the pool of available nurses, because they have already gone in search of greener pastures.

If you want to help the nursing shortage, don't crank out new nurses as your ultimate and only solution - TREAT THE NURSES YOU ALREADY HAVE BETTER - that might even draw some who have jumped ship for other careers back to the bedside. But as long as nurses are treated like the garbage of the health care community (and we are...), there will never be enough nurses. As far as nursing programs are concerned, as long as nursing professors are paid less than the average staff nurse, there will never be enough seats in nursing programs, but that goes back to the same point --- TREAT THE NURSES YOU ALREADY HAVE BETTER!

Rant over. Carry on.

:)

kimtab · Sep 22, 2005

Amen. I have worked in other industries and only in healthcare have I seen this unbelievably rabid attention to recruitment, with absolutely no service paid to retention.

nptobee · Sep 22, 2005

I think nursing offers more options, but teaching may allow you to be happier, and have less stress. Not that teaching isn't stressfull, but nursing can really be hard. I worked as a substitute teacher for a couple of years, and worked in the same classroom for half of one year. I loved it, I was actually about to start a program to get certified when I got accepted into nursing school. I have been a nurse since Feb, and I'm not sure I made the right decision. I don't really like nursing. I'm thinking of going back to school to be a teacher, but work as a nurse one weekend a month and during the summer. I don't know. I like some parts of nursing, but docs, families, and other nurses attitudes are taking a toll on me.

girlfromtx · Sep 22, 2005

I also had a hard time deciding between nursing and teaching. I went for nursing for the wrong reasons! I heard that they made soooo much money, and had 4 days a week off. Well now that I am about to graduate from nursing school, I have found that I was very mislead about nurses salary ( at least in my area). If I wanted to make what I was told before going into nursing, I will have to work every weekend, every weekend night, and lots of overtime. Oh well, I have since learned to love a couple of specialties, but every once in a while I still get a pang for teaching, especially when I got a rude awakening of what nursing school was really like :chuckle .

gypsyatheart · Sep 22, 2005

If you want to help the nursing shortage, don't crank out new nurses as your ultimate and only solution - TREAT THE NURSES YOU ALREADY HAVE BETTER - that might even draw some who have jumped ship for other careers back to the bedside. But as long as nurses are treated like the garbage of the health care community (and we are...), there will never be enough nurses. As far as nursing programs are concerned, as long as nursing professors are paid less than the average staff nurse, there will never be enough seats in nursing programs, but that goes back to the same point --- TREAT THE NURSES YOU ALREADY HAVE BETTER!
Rant over. Carry on.
:)

AMEN, Sister! :nurse: You hit the nail on the head....