do you think a degree/ education is ever a waste?

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If you get a degree in something and then decide to change careers and get into something else, or if you decide to do something else with your degree is it ever a waste?

Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
Then you're not using it hard enough.

I'm not getting a chance to use it at all. :(

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
Well I'm sure when you do you'll love it and won't think your degree is a waste! Lol

I sure hope I get the chance to use it.

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I was thinking the same thing. I dont think education is ever a waste but it is important to make clear, logical decisions as to planning your future. If a degree in the past you can no longer use... it isn't a waste because at one time in your life you wanted that. You can often you ANY bachelors degree towards a graduate program!

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I wouldn't say a waste, but with the current economic and job climate you have to carefully consider the cost-vs-benefit ratio of getting a 4-year(+) degree. As you can see from the posts here, there are lots of folks unable to find jobs (any job). The nursing career field is not the exception. There are lots of people with degrees, lots of student loan debt, looking for work or severely underemployed.

In terms of pay-off down the road, you will always have the knowledge and the experience you gain from your educational endeavors. So it's absolutely not a waste.

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Specializes in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgical.

There are many different kinds of education. My formal education has served me well in better communication, research and critical thinking skills. It's allowed me to absorb information for more interesting pursuits at a faster rate than otherwise, because I know how to learn.

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.
If you get a degree in something and then decide to change careers and get into something else, or if you decide to do something else with your degree is it ever a waste?

Education is never a waste. Having said that, I have a B.S. degree, that I earned at 21 yoa, in a broad area as well as 2/3 of a business (BBA) degree. There are few things that I directly remember from any of my business courses besides my business law course. That was something I reflect on a lot. The one memorable thing for me is "product placement," lol. I'd noticed it all my life, but my principles of marketing class gave me a name for it. And that's about it.... Oh, and the accounting equation is assets - liabilities = owner's equity. I can't tell you the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet. I cannot rehash any equations from corporate finance, and I can't give you any leadership theories from organizational management. I can't even tell you what I took away from two economics classes other than my professor loved line graphs. (My limited econ education has come from my being an autodidact.) Adam Smith, however, is an author on my Kindle list. He's about nine books down the line presently.

With regard to my first degree, I wish I had taken some other courses. I wish there were courses I hadn't taken. I took a computer programming class that I detested and walked away with NOTHING from it, yet I made an A in it. I feel I could've have devoted that time and expense to something, anything else. Somehow, through a mechanism I never understood, I ended up in an introductory social work class. Never did I declare a related major, and it didn't serve as general ed. I took it, also with an A, and it was largely similar to my intro to sociology course that I peculiarly made a B in. I respect and admire social workers, but I see the class as a blight on my transcript. WHY was I in that class?!

Much of my nursing education (a later degree) has been useless, I think. What I know about wounds is this; if it's wet - dry it, if it's dry - wet it. I know people can be fed through a tube, but I don't know anything about tube feeding medium. No clue what to slather on a geriatric diaper rash. Can't tell you the teaching points on pelvic inflammatory disease (not even sure what it is). There's a total fund of general nursing knowledge that I'm deficient on because A) I never cared to learn it to begin with and B) I've never used any of it. Speaking of fund, I have no idea what a fundus is, but pregnant women have it! I literally passed a two year BSN program by writing good papers and listening in class, and I paid the money and accepted induction into Sigma Theta Tau. What I know about primary care (diagnosing and treating URIs, OM, back pain, HA, the squirts, etc. I got from my core NP classes), and I what I know about emergency care I learned in paramedic school. Yes, I went to that as well and passed the National Registry exam. I attribute much of that as somewhat useful. I could, for example, run with scissors, fall, and impale myself in the chest or be hiking and see a fellow hiker fall over a cliff and incur, among other things, a compound femur fracture. Nursing school didn't even touch those subjects.

Do all of these things mean that I am lesser of a person because of my educational experiences. No, they made me what I am, and I think I'm fairly well educated for my means and investments. That's not to sound arrogant, but I feel like my time in higher education has served me quite well in life. I'd be quite the contender on Pawnography! I don't necessarily do well with Jeopardy because I have a very limited knowledge of the fine arts.

On the other hand, I've learned to make fairly sound decisions as an adult. I've become a voracious reader. I love learning new things (more than doing anything hands on, lol). I have a very good ability to judge a situation, ask questions, and be able to anticipate the answer. Despite my banter on AN, I write VERY GOOD research papers and letters to editors, and I was even made capable of snagging a cute girl, with witty charm, in the early days of Facebook. She would later become my wife and is today.

Stepping forward into the master's degree program that I'll complete this May, I submit that nursing theory and advanced community health were absolute, total wastes of time, reading, and money. Nothing positive was gained from those courses, and I can't even tell you what advanced community health addressed. I wish I could've taken a course in something like neuroscience or a similarly specialized course.

Early in my college years, I wanted to go to law school (and still do), but I never could see myself litigating. I later was in a position to provide numerous testimonies and make even more observations of court proceedings. It's really interesting. I also knew I didn't want to be a corporate crony, go into private practice, draw up wills, or advocate for the disadvantaged. Basically, I wanted the education.

I've also envisioned myself pursuing doctoral study in psychology (nonclinical). I love social psychology, personality, learning and cognition, neurobiology, etc. I used to daydream about being a history major (my first declared major) and following that BA on with a MA in the same. I never did either of those, but I often wish I had. I regret not having studied that more in college (had 5 history courses) although I read a lot so I've made up for it to a degree. I think I'd like to write for a magazine or newspaper column.

As it is, I have in excess of 220 semester hours of higher education. I dub a few of the nursing classes to have been total foolishness, and I think the business degree adventure was anything but. I came about that as having taken several business electives with my first degree. I later enrolled again, while working full-time, to earn the prereqs for a MBA. I made a detour in one day making the ridiculously impulsive decision to pick up an accounting degree along the way, and I never completed that or the MBA. I'm glad I didn't.

I'd like to have taken more biology and geology courses. I took eight and two respectively, and they were perhaps the most fun of all. In case you're wondering how I came to take such a diverse spread of courses I "un-declared" my major and was the first ever at my university to receive a degree in general studies. The state dept. of higher ed. had only weeks before approved it. Essentially, as long as certain percentages of my non-core courses were at the junior or senior level with certain foci fulfilled I could (and did) take whatever I wanted.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

Depends on what you paid for it. If getting a degree in a field that does not lead to gainful employment costs you years and years of $600/month student loan payments then yes I would say you wasted your time and money. Especially if this crushing debt prevents you from furthering your education. After all the general education portion of bachelors degrees is largely the same. One would pretty much receive the same general education in a variety of degree. Might as well choose a degree that is likely to lead to gainful employment. Unless you are a heiress.

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Specializes in Acute Care, CM, School Nursing.

Unfortunately, I think sometimes it can be a "waste".

My sister is in her 50's, and recently completed a bachelor's degree at a popular online "for profit" school. She was talked into continuing on to her bachelor's after finishing her associate's there. Her advisor actually suggested that she continue on to her bachelor's, to avoid having to start paying off her student loans! So, she did it. *sigh* She is roughly $50,000 in debt (last I heard), and has a degree that will allow her to earn, maybe, $12-14 per hour (if she can even find a job). She has always struggled financially, and I have no idea how she intends to pay that debt off. I actually think it concerns me more than it does her...

Prior to signing up with that school, she never mentioned it to me. Had I known, I would have warned her ahead of time. My next fear is that they will talk her into continuing on to her master's, "to avoid having to start repaying her loans". Then she will owe even more! I know she's proud of herself for getting a degree, and I don't want to be a downer. I have tried to gently discuss it with her.

We shall see what happens...

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

At the age of 37 my wife went back to school. She attended the local two year campus of the state university system and earned her bachelors degree through an extension program from a 4 year state university that allowed her to take all her classes at the local two year college. She racked up $30K in student debt but I wasn't worried. I looked into the field she was going into and saw there jobs were plentiful and start at about $40K/year. I was very supportive. I took over more than my fair share of the house work, worked two jobs, and took over some of the responsibilities with the kids that were previously hers.

That is exactly what happened. She had a job within 2 weeks of graduating, even before receiving her state license. If she had wanted to, lets say, get a degree in phycology or something else unlikely to lead to gainful employment I would NOT have been supportive.

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hell no, a 4-year liberal arts degree is not a waste. i make more money per hour with my liberal arts degree than nursing.

That's great and it's because other fields aren't as arrogant as nursing has become with their BSN attitude. Nursing continues to destroy itself.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

The big problem is that college is incredibly expensive, employers don't want to train employees, and no one can predict the future. "Doing your research" can be very tricky when data lags what's actually going on in the field by 5 years or more.

I'm one of the many people who started nursing school during a shortage, and finished during a glut. The plentiful, well-paying jobs that existed when I started nursing school were gone by the time I finished. And I'm not the only one.

I don't know if I would call my AS in nursing a waste, since it eventually led to a job that paid more than my English BA. I'm not convinced that at BSN will open any doors, or that I won't be stuck in the same place in 10 years. Hospitals in my area only seem to want travellers or nurses with 3-5 years of experience in the unit they're applying for. Non-bedside positions want acute care experience. Moving would require leaving my husband. I don't know if I'm willing to invent in another pretty piece of paper. I don't want to set foot in another nursing home, but I also don't want to be fooled again.

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If you get a degree in something and then decide to change careers and get into something else, or if you decide to do something else with your degree is it ever a waste?

It may feel that way, if the job market in that degree is really bad. I guess you can turn that interest into a great hobby.

I feel this happens lots with arts degrees.

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