What career is best for me?

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Nov 23, 2014

Well, if you are considering medical school, residency/fellowship, and THEN getting started on your own, you will be older when having kids, and you won't be taking a couple of years off to stay at home (not, anyway, if you want to stay competitive in medicine as a new MD).

That said, I wonder if you've considered the APRN track? An Advanced Practice nurse (ie: Nurse Practitioner) is one who has greater autonomy than an RN, greater scope of practice, can even set up his/her own practice (depending on the region of the country, State Boards of Nursing do vary requirements and standards for scope).

As an NP, you would still have hands-on care, and be in a position to diagnose and treat, be a "full service" healthcare provider....but not an MD. You would be able to collaborate with those who hold higher degrees and have greater education to draw on for those times when it is needed (or desired).

When people think of "medicine", they usually think of the healthcare provider that will diagnose, prescribe medications, be "the doctor". And they usually don't think of the NP who does all of those things.....and sometimes IS "the doctor" when the NP has continued his/her education to the point of a DNP (doctorate in nursing practice).

I think given what you've described, that this is something you should consider strongly: you could much more easily balance family/home life with a career, IMHO.....and if you take a look around AllNurses, you'll find entire message boards devoted to this path.

Let us know what you think about all that :)

windsurfer8, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2014

Sounds like you have a lot of reasons not to do anything. Do I know nurses with children? Yes. Do I know Doctors with kids? Yep. Maybe start viewing reasons why you are going to do something. You are young enough to really think about it. I would not worry about being in school and kids etc. Just do it and then handle what comes up when it comes up.

RunBabyRN · Nov 23, 2014

It might be good to look at the medical approach to healthcare versus the nursing approach, as they are very different. I agree with RNsRWe, there is more than one kind of provider. You don't have to be a physician. There are PAs and NPs, and you can specialize if there's an area that interests you. One thing that's nice about going the NP route is that you get into clinical practice as a nurse and you can try different areas, then go back to specialize in whatever's interested you if you want to do that (or stay more generalized if you choose). No need to pigeon-hole yourself. Also, nurses can go on mission trips as well. You'll need some experience under your belt (this will become the bane of your existence as a new grad, BTW, as EVERYTHING seems to require experience!), but it can be done, and may be challenging with kids, honestly.

One thing about having kids, there is NO SUCH THING as the "perfect time" to have kids. It just doesn't happen. You'll be in school, then you'll finish (however long that takes), and you'll be looking for your first job. You'll want to establish yourself in the field, and you will likely be working nights or something other than your "ideal," so you'll wait to have kids until things slow down, but they won't. If you graduate then take a few years off to make babies, you'll be an old new grad, and no one will touch you with a 10-foot pole. There will always be a reason not to have kids. I know about this- this is why our first is 6, and we haven't had our second (and may not at this point). We were the only people I've ever known who DID have a perfect time when we conceived, then it was ripped away when the economy tanked and my husband lost his job, when I was 4 months pregnant. Life happens. It has a way of throwing curve balls your way, and you have to learn to roll with the punches and adjust as necessary.

Deer2013 · Nov 23, 2014

Thank you for your responses. I have considered becoming a NP. I would actually be quite happy with becoming one, but I have heard that the education is just more nursing theory which isn't something I would think could help me. But this could be biased considering I heard that from PAs/MDs. I've always had good experiences with Nurse Practitioners so I probably just have a silly fear that if I become a NP I won't feel competent enough to treat and diagnose patients. But again, this is an irrational fear. Only I can choose to limit how much I learn whether I am a Doctor, Physician's Assistant, or Nurse Practitioner.

I know there is never a perfect time to have children and I don't plan on having any soon, but when it happens I want to have a career that will allow me to focus on my family. Thanks for everyone's responses so far! I will continue learning about different career options. I'm currently leaning towards NP instead of PA due to the cost of school, but we'll see what happens. Thanks again!

anh06005, MSN, APRN, NP · Nov 23, 2014

NP school does have a few semesters of stuff that didn't interest me. Research, policy and procedure, healthcare issues, and, yes, nursing theory. I would have loved more science based courses (maybe more A&P and such) but that isn't the case. Even though I didn't enjoy them and don't remember much overall I have enjoyed my NP school (once I got those classes out of the way).

I am petrified of working on my own soon but I also felt this way as an RN and so much confidence comes from experience. I won't be perfect but neither would any MD or PA fresh out of school.

The biggest perk to going NP over PA and MD I think is the flexibility. You can go full time or part time. I was able to work full time almost all the way through until I started clinicals. I was able to get extra practice with what I learn in school on the job (like identifying murmurs).

And the NPs I've dealt with are all great and there are some I refer people to when they start looking for a new HCP.

While I do wish other things for my schooling overall I don't regret a thing.

Good luck!

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Nov 23, 2014

If you are leaning towards medicine rather than nursing, go get a science degree (biology, chemistry, pre-med) and then get your PA masters degree. It seems like you have other priorities that med school, residency, fellowship would get in the way of your goals.

Deer2013 · Nov 25, 2014

Thanks for the responses, guys. I’m thinking the M.D. route isn’t for me. I would like it but I wouldn’t want to neglect patients for my family obligations or neglect family for patient obligations. I’ll probably go the NP or PA route, the learning won’t be as in-depth as medical school but I don’t mind. I would be fine working under a physician’s supervision and learning from him/her.