Choosing a college major,between Teaching and Nursing?
May.04, 2010 in
College Selection
I’m just getting ready to start my 1st semester at a university. I’ve been wavering over either becoming an RN or becoming a Public School Teacher. I recently graduated from an vocational type of school to be a MA(Medical Assistant). I just want to continue to further my education. I really like the medical field but I also have 2 younger children and a husband, that I want to be with and have a somewhat flexible schedule.I also really like the teaching area and working with kids. I don’t know of any careers that may involve both or witch one to choose, I really want to decide my major soon. Oh my strengths are science and math courses. Thanks for any help.
May 4th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
Nursing will pay better in the long run. There are lots of nursing jobs in the want ads. Especially if you specialize. Public school teaching can be a thankless job. That mostly depends on where you end up teaching and if the kids want to learn and the parents are involved.
I know a few nurses who teach nursing after they put in their time. Best of both worlds?
Good luck.
May 4th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Nurses have extremely flexible schedules while also feeling very rewarded with their careers. Since you already have some medical background, I would recommend the nursing track for you. You could go into pediatric nursing or work in the NICU if you like to work with children, too! You’ll be especially successful if your strengths in math and science.
May 4th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
I would say to go nursing. The pay is better, it’s recession-proof, and you would have more flexibility (such as working nights) to better accommodate your family’s needs. Also, if you like teaching you can work in community health setting and work as an educator, especially if you decide to pursue a BSN or MSN.
The one advantage becoming a teacher may have is having summers off and being able to devote that time to your family.
You can apply your strengths and interests in either field. Each job is difficult and rewarding.The factors that will come into play are going to be very individual (such as how much money you need to make to support your family, how much time you are willing to spend in school, etc).
May 5th, 2010 at 12:32 am
If all things are equal, nursing (RN not LPN) pays a lot better than teaching. However, if you are really passionate about kids and education then teaching might be more rewarding for you (especially if you could teach at your children’s school). Careers that combine both are pediatric nurses, school nurses, or nurses who also work with public education (like representing and educating about some health campaign at schools). Both careers have a fairly high instance of burning out, and both are in high demand so there’s fairly decent job stability.
School-wise, you can complete an RN certification in 2 years and it will require a lot of science (biology, anatomy, physiology) and practical courses. A teaching degree usually takes 4 years, though sometimes you can do a 1 year certification program if you already have a bachelor’s degree, and it requires a lot of psychology and education courses.
Nurses can have pretty flexible schedules, depending on the hospital. It seems like usually you can pick between doing five 8 hour shifts per week or three 12 hours shifts plus an extra shift every three weeks. I knew a nurse who worked part-time and only did three- four 12 hour shifts every 2 weeks and still had enough money to buy a house and go on vacations. Of course, teachers work school hours plus an hour before and after school, and get summers off. But you also have to keep in mind that there might be extra hours put in for lesson plans and correcting which eat into your evenings.
Maybe you should see if you could shadow a teacher or nurse for a day to see which would be a good fit? Or talk to people you know who work in those professions. Good luck.