What to Advise my daughter Nurse or not to Nurse

[surgicalcap]

My daughter is a bright young girl that is a junior in highschool. She is looking at careers and what she wants to do in her future. I am trying to give her advice but not to let my thoughts cloud her judgement.

The school counselors keep telling her that she scores high in healthcare field. I am sure she does, I am a nurse and my friends are nurses, we sit around and talk all the time, she has probably picked up a few things from us. Just like anyone else would learn from their parents. They keep telling her how all the jobs are out there, how she can go anywhere and get a job and that there are several career oppertunities in nursing.

All of these things may or may not be true, but my concerns are that the govement is getting more into health care, we all see how well the govement deals with things(post office, medicare, medicaid, welfare etc.....). I am worried that if she goes into nursing or healthcare in general she will be locked into a future that may not have the future she thinks it will have. I do not want to sound like a bitter, burned out old nurse, I want to be a good mom and give her real advice that will help her in the long term. My daughter's future means a lot to me.

[westieluv]

If she really has a heart and an aptitude for nursing, then why not? Look at it this way: maybe things aren't quite as rosy in nursing as young people are promised, but with the way the economy and job market are, and with everyone talking about a double dip recession in the future, nursing is still a lot more promising and secure than a lot of other professions. At least there are some jobs out there for nurses, which isn't the case with a lot of other professions right now. My son is majoring in public relations and his girlfriend is majoring in nursing. I can't help but think that she is going to have a much easier time finding a decent job after graduation than he will. He has a 3.8 gpa but things are just so tough out there right now. I know a lot of fresh out of college kids who can't find work in their fields, and I also work with a lot of new grad nurses, as in...they're working, so I still have to think that nursing is a better field to go into, if you have the desire and the heart and stomach for it, than a lot of others.

[surgicalcap]

I agree and see a lot of unemployed graduates in other fields. I am just trying to get an idea as to how to direct her. I want to help her, not just encourage her to follow in her mommies foot steps. but I am beginning to think she might be better off. Thanks for the opinion

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

My advice to any kid entering college is the same. Take your basic ed courses, get a part time job in an area that you think interests you (example: CNA or tech for nursing), and delay declaring a major until you absolutely have to, lol. I think I posted this same sentence on this board last week: whoever decided to let 18 year olds decide what they want to do with the rest of their life was crazy!