Career Advice: Teaching to Nursing?

[FIallday]

Has anyone made the transition from being a teacher to a nurse or vice-versa?

About me:
30 years old
I'm just about to wrap up my 5th year teaching, (lots of studies show teachers burn out within 5 years, coincidence?)

I've always loved helping people but I feel like I'm losing my sense of purpose in teaching. Probably the #1 thing that turns me off about teaching is the disrespect from students. Getting into a verbal altercation with a rude & disruptive student in front of 30 of his/her peers gets old. It's really unfair for the students who are waiting and ready to learn. The second thing is salary and compensation. I've always been a high achiever, hard worker, put in a ton of "overtime". I talk with some of my nursing friends and they easily clear 100k. I'm currently making ~70k. Won't get into it too much but another frustrating thing about teaching are lazy teachers who do the bare minimum or less, yet they make the same or more than you depending on years of experience.

I've realized that I get this intrinsic happiness from helping people so I'm looking at working (helping) for another 20-25 years so that's my horizon in terms of working years. I've also realized that with more capital, you just have more options to choose from whether it be business, investments, etc. A question I've been pondering, is it worth it to spend another 3 years (schooling) to earn 30k+ more?

Some random things about me:
1. Highly driven/perfectionist
2. Extroverted (gain energy through people) & Positive
3. Would like to think most people enjoy working/interacting with me
4. I LOVE being active, teaching allows me to have an active working out lifestyle
5. Been working to self-teach myself how to code.
6. I'm also good with numbers, writing & communicating, so other career or side-hustles suggestions are welcome!

blood & poop was a deterrent when I was younger but I think I can get de-sensitized to that

Would love to hear honest thoughts & experiences!

[cool7hand]

If I'm understanding your primary concern to be classroom management, why not switch to another area or a different type of teaching with smaller classrooms or communities who don't tolerate such behavior? There's almost anything you can image out there now in terms of opportunities. Just one example: Many folks who are frustrated with traditional education have opted out, and small groups of such families hire a teacher for their kids.

[Morning Glory]

I'm in the middle of the opposite transition right now (going to be a nursing professor)!! I have experience in a variety of nursing roles.  I don't have time for a long post right now so I will come back later, or you can pm me.

@meadow lark is another nurse on the forum with a variety of experience

[mozar]

It's funny how I feel the opposite. If I have to deal with rude people at work, I'd rather they be children! My plan is to become a high school teacher. That said I don't plan on working for much more than 5 years.

With such a long horizon what about becoming a CEO? I can see someone like you getting a full scholarship to a prestigious mba program, starting out in management and working your way up.

[skp]

I have only been a nurse but based on your list of concerns with teaching and your personal characteristics I can give you the following advice.  Take this with a grain of salt. There are many fields of nursing  and I have only been a floor nurse/ICU nurse.
Highly driven/ perfectionistic= How perfectionistic??  The people I work with that are really perfectionistic tend to dislike their work because depending on your work load, you have to be able to prioritize and let some less important things go.
Disrespect from students.  Also present in nursing.  There is disrespect from patients and patients families.  Violent patients.  You can be spit on, sweared at, and hit. Family complaints/ Unrealistic expectations.  Hospitals are obsessed with satisfaction scores, and the customer is (almost always)  right.
Extroverted- good quality but not necessary.  I'm an introvert and still feel I do a good job.
Love being active- best part of the job.  Nursing is both mental and physical
Salary- Nursing might pay more, if your making 70,000 a year, but it depends on the area you live in. Are your friends working overtime? How much experience do they have?  In my area starting out, you would not be making $70,000 a year more like $60000.   Even if nursing job pays more, the benefits/ retirement packages aren't as good.  You work weekends and holiday and a share of night shifts.  You also don't get the summers off and have to negotiate/ share with others for vacation time.  We are allowed only one week in the summer so that everyone can get a week. But on the plus side you can work as much overtime as you want or go part time, the hours you work are flexible, and when your not working you are done.

[Murse]

I have been a nurse for over 5 years, I made around 115k this year, though it is exhausting as well. I work as a government employee, we are unionized like teachers. People with more years experience make more even though I do my job and most of theirs. I also have to deal with rude patients, doctors and managers telling me “what I have to do.” Nurses are the jack of all trades of healthcare and end up being pulled in 30 directions at the same time. Also, shift work sucks, and being told you have to stay to cover someone else’s shift sucks even worse.

Same problem, different pay scale. That’s the problem with unions. I would advise you look into other teaching jobs, maybe a different age group. If you are set on a career change to healthcare, I would suggest an accelerated NP program to avoid the problems listed above. The NP’s I work with are respected and get to take leave when they want. They get to deal with one patient and one issue at a time, then pass off the execution to the nurses.

Of course, my advice above is assuming you live in a region of the country that views NP’s as independent practitioners.

I have actually considered many times moving to school nursing even considering the pay cut, at least you get holidays/summers off and only work day shift.

[BikeFanatic]

So many opportunities for nurses to diversify.  You could dtar in the hospital I recommend cardiac or Icu, then after a few years can get a job selling medication,  helping with new technology like pacemakers or other devices, management,  teaching also with a masters or better.No summers off, but many work 3 12 hour shifts in the hospital and then 4 days off. Also usually plenty of OT available.  Good luck.

[Healthie]

Another avenue that might meet some of these needs (helping people, smaller classes) is getting into a specialized teaching program - I work in youth treatment in a health authority and there are 2-3 teachers and an aide that teach small groups (<7, self-paced learning) who work with in-patients. Also opportunities on a pediatric ward.

I work adjacent to nurses and they make 6 figures pretty consistently. Another role you might classify in with your education is a social program officer. If you have any more questions shoot me a PM.

[Morning Glory]

The thing I like most about being a nurse is that you can move around and try new things if you get burned out or bored. It is also amenable to a part time schedule and there are advanced roles you can do later.

@skp and @Murse have it right about the rude or downright abusive patients and families. Hospitals are at least taking the abuse more seriously now than they did when I first started out. You really do see people at their worst.
 I haven't noticed this as much in my outpatient nursing jobs as I did when working on the floor. A lot of it depends on how well management stands up for you. 

Pay is highly regional and correlates pretty well with COL. I would have made 100k this year if I were full time.

The perfectionists are the first ones to burn out. You have to embrace the concept of "good enough" pretty early.

There are plenty of nursing jobs that don't involve nights/weekends/holidays. I'm in a cushy outpatient procedure area doing moderate sedation right now, but the work itself is repetitive and boring so I'm happy to be leaving. I really liked outpatient dialysis because I got a lot of autonomy there, and that was day shifts only.  I tried phone triage for a bit and really hated it; I like to be active and move around too.

My recommendations:
Try a part time job in the hospital working alongside nurses before you commit to a program (CNA, phlebotomy, IV tech, etc) so you can really get a handle on what it's like to work with patients. You will do better in your clinicals too if you have some patent care experience.
As far as programs, direct-entry Master's is probably your best bet, but you might have to take some prerequisites first.
I don't recommend doing an advanced practice degree until you have a year or two of actual nursing experience (call me old-fashioned if you want).
I also recommend that you work on a floor for a year before moving to a more specialized area, just to build your knowledge base. (Again, old-fashioned).

[englishteacheralex]

I've been a teacher for 18 years. There are a lot of different avenues to teaching. I deal with very little disrespect from students because I teach at a private school with high expectations for behavior and small class sizes. The compensation is adequate (a bit low in a HCOL area but I have no complaints) and the benefits are quite good.

When I worked for the public schools I had to work harder on class management because I had far more students and made much less money and terrible benefits.

Now I mostly spend my time at work on making sure my curriculum is top notch and my feedback on student work is timely and helpful. Teaching conditions are highly location specific.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that generally it's best to avoid completely changing lanes on a career because the ROI on time, money and hassle is usually not there unless it's a real calling. I've actually contemplated switching to nursing myself, and I took a First Responder 60 hour intensive course one summer to see how I liked it--with the intention of possibly taking an EMT course via night classes during the school year while I worked my day job as a teacher (that's how I got my master's degree in education so I figured I could go ahead and do it for EMT training). The First Responder course was FASCINATING and I loved it, but I also could see that it wasn't really worth it for me to pursue nursing. It wasn't that I was incompetent at it--I thought I actually could probably do quite well. It just didn't do the same things for my personality that teaching does, and I would miss my summers and breaks.

[OmgLmg]

Former teacher here - I have no experience with nursing, but just wanted to chime in that if you're approaching burn-out with teaching the investment in a full career change can be absolutely worth it. Over the last decade, I have watched many of my teaching friends make this transition to a number of different fields and industries. I don't know anyone who regrets the move.

[FIallday]

I love, love and appreciate the feedback from everyone! It’s these insights that I enjoy from this community.

The TL;DR is that I believe I'm only 2 classes away from applying to the nursing program. Getting this confirmed on Monday. So I'm going to take those two classes this spring to give me options for the Summer/Fall. This would also give me a good gauge to see how committed I truly am. I love learning and a good challenge so I'm excited to get started!


I think one thing that personally bothers me quite a bit is that I feel like I’ve underachieved in life. I’ve thought of switching careers years ago, especially my 1st year because it was a horrible situation all around (all the worst kids were put in my class in a “trial” program the principal wanted to pilot). I wouldn’t wish this on anyone let alone, a new teacher. I still remember as a broke recent college grad, I spent my last $200 to purchase school supplies for my students... only to see them break, rip, and throw the materials across the room. To be honest, I’m still traumatized by that experience. On my worst days, I like a glorified babysitter and it literally eats away at my soul. It’s one thing to push and encourage a student to be successful and work through the frustrations when they are being disrespectful. But when it’s March and you’ve been dealing with the same issues since Day 1, same kid(s), and the student(s) still won’t do something as simple as take out their pencil and put their name on a piece of paper…again soul draining.

@skp Thank you for bringing up those great points. I think at the end of the day, everything is relative and I will only know it once I experience it. One thing that frustrates me with disrespectful/apathetic students is that it's not a one-time or even one-month thing. That I can work with and try to improve.  Most of the time, these students do it ALL YEAR LONG and it's usually just the same students and the same issues...In addition, it's seeing the great students having to put up with & pay for it is what kills me inside. That's another thing with teaching, I never feel like I'm "off the clock", every night I'll spend at minimum, 1.5 hours (sometimes up to 3-4) to make sure lessons are top-notched & ready to go.

@Morning Glory, curious if we read the same book lol but it allowed me to realize that good enough was good enough. I also started to look at ROI on time and realized there were diminishing returns no matter how much time I spent planning a lesson so that definitely has helped me. I definitely wanted to do some job shadowing but of course, we are in this pandemic so its not realistic right now.

@Sun Hat, I appreciate you sharing your mom’s experience. I enjoy doing things solo as I know that things will get done at a level that is satisfactory to me. I am also quite the team player, helping others where needed, trying to understand where others are coming from, and always try to seek solutions to problems instead of just complaining all the time. I believe if asked, most people (admin or teacher) would say they enjoy working with me.

@OmgLmg – I have a strong feeling that I wouldn’t regret the move either!

[MayDay]

My mom changed careers to nursing in her 30's. She taught adult classes (childbirth education) prior to becoming a nurse..she thought about becoming a k-12 teacher instead of nursing but she taught a session of Sunday school and decided small children are heathens lololol.

Anyway she would also encourage getting some patient care experience, like volunteering (probably can't right now) at a hospice house or something. Or I wonder if you can get a summer job as a nursing home aid. I'm not sure how long it takes to get certified as a phlebotomist but a friend who went on to med school did that for years through his premed schooling and whole applying. He had a nice leg up on that once he was in med school!

I know my mom has had a very varied career. She was able to go straight to NICU as her first job because of her experience with the hospital as the childbirth educator (very unusual- most new nurses go to med surg, and L&D and and NICU is a desirable job). ). Yes she did shift work at first, but you kind of just have to do it for a year or so.  Later she did adult ICU, and then became a hospice nurse, which was mostly weekdays and occasional on call weekends. She became the nurse manager at a nursing home for about a hot second, then the hospice nurse manager, and now is an outpatient manager in diabetes, which is strictly daytime, no emergencies or call, but still very engaging as they deal with all the complex diabetes patients and have essentially complete autonomy.

If I didn't like my job and it didn't pay well, I'd probably consider nursing. I love he flexibility of schedules and specialization, and the fact that you can easily work part time or PRN and take months off, but unlike subbing your hourly rate is still excellent (just don't get benefits).

[MilesTeg]

I'm neither a nurse nor a teacher, but have friends that are. One thing that I am sometimes jealous of and sometimes afraid if is the odd works schedules like 7 days on (with long shifts) / 7 days off and similar.

[Zamboni]

My ex-MIL had a career in nursing and ended up as a nursing manager and finally a nursing professor. Do you think that is something that would interest you? It required quite a bit of schooling, so she got a masters part time, but the nursing students were much more respectful than you are likely experiencing.

When she was managing the other nurses, she had to field some problems with disrespectful and unacceptable behavior from doctors as well as patients/families.

[mozar]

I think one thing that personally bothers me quite a bit is that I feel like I’ve underachieved in life. I’ve thought of switching careers years ago, especially my 1st year because it was a horrible situation all around (all the worst kids were put in my class in a “trial” program the principal wanted to pilot). I wouldn’t wish this on anyone let alone, a new teacher. I still remember as a broke recent college grad, I spent my last $200 to purchase school supplies for my students... only to see them break, rip, and throw the materials across the room. To be honest, I’m still traumatized by that experience. On my worst days, I like a glorified babysitter and it literally eats away at my soul. It’s one thing to push and encourage a student to be successful and work through the frustrations when they are being disrespectful. But when it’s March and you’ve been dealing with the same issues since Day 1, same kid(s), and the student(s) still won’t do something as simple as take out their pencil and put their name on a piece of paper…again soul draining.

Ugh, I hate that this is still happening. I was put in a class of all the "worst kids" as a child. It's basically in school segregation and should be illegal.

Have you heard of trauma informed schooling? The gist is that students aren't in control of their behavior, they are reacting to what's going on at home.
Movie: https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Tigers-Jim-Sporleder/dp/B01KKYE5II
Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1683732758/?coliid=I1U4T47ATXZM88&colid=5M4JIT3H3ET6&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Feeling that you have under achieved in life is a totally different issue though. Nurses are pretty low on the totem pole at hospitals unfortunately. I can't see you being happy with being treated like dirt by doctors and patients. The nurses I know do it because they love nursing and don't feel like they need to achieve anything. You are giving me vibes like doctor in rural area, engineer without borders, judge, CEO at a b-corp, politician vibes. Those are the more typical achievement oriented careers.

[Morning Glory]

I think one thing that personally bothers me quite a bit is that I feel like I’ve underachieved in life. I’ve thought of switching careers years ago, especially my 1st year because it was a horrible situation all around (all the worst kids were put in my class in a “trial” program the principal wanted to pilot). I wouldn’t wish this on anyone let alone, a new teacher. I still remember as a broke recent college grad, I spent my last $200 to purchase school supplies for my students... only to see them break, rip, and throw the materials across the room. To be honest, I’m still traumatized by that experience. On my worst days, I like a glorified babysitter and it literally eats away at my soul. It’s one thing to push and encourage a student to be successful and work through the frustrations when they are being disrespectful. But when it’s March and you’ve been dealing with the same issues since Day 1, same kid(s), and the student(s) still won’t do something as simple as take out their pencil and put their name on a piece of paper…again soul draining.

Ugh, I hate that this is still happening. I was put in a class of all the "worst kids" as a child. It's basically in school segregation and should be illegal.

Have you heard of trauma informed schooling? The gist is that students aren't in control of their behavior, they are reacting to what's going on at home.
Movie: https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Tigers-Jim-Sporleder/dp/B01KKYE5II
Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1683732758/?coliid=I1U4T47ATXZM88&colid=5M4JIT3H3ET6&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Feeling that you have under achieved in life is a totally different issue though. Nurses are pretty low on the totem pole at hospitals unfortunately. I can't see you being happy with being treated like dirt by doctors and patients. The nurses I know do it because they love nursing and don't feel like they need to achieve anything. You are giving me vibes like doctor in rural area, engineer without borders, judge, CEO at a b-corp, politician vibes. Those are the more typical achievement oriented careers.

I don't know. I don't feel like I'm treated like dirt at the hospital, and I'm not low on the totem pole either. It's more like being on a different totem pole altogether. I've certainly had to deal with assholes, but doesn't everyone? 

I have struggled with feeling like I underachieved in life, but I'm getting over it. I got into nursing because I really didn't know what I wanted to do. Did the nursing master's because the hospital would pay for it and law/medicine seemed like a bad ROI (I was in my late twenties at the time).

I went to a gifted high school and have several former classmates who are at least famous enough to have wikipedia pages. I took the slow road through college and dropped out a couple times, changed majors, changed schools, failed my first nursing program, etc. Took me nine years. I finally looked up a couple friends and found out they are regular people too, and my story was not so bad as I had built it up to be.

[mozar]

I don't know. I don't feel like I'm treated like dirt at the hospital, and I'm not low on the totem pole either. It's more like being on a different totem pole altogether. I've certainly had to deal with assholes, but doesn't everyone?

Well of course if you make sweeping generalizations (like I did) people are going to come out and say "not ALL hospitals are this way."

Also I'm not making a value statement that Senators et. all are better human beings than nurses. But based on the information the OP has provided, I don't think they'll be happy as a nurse.

I'm not an achievement oriented person myself, so I'm trying to meet the OP where they are at.

[Morning Glory]

I don't know. I don't feel like I'm treated like dirt at the hospital, and I'm not low on the totem pole either. It's more like being on a different totem pole altogether. I've certainly had to deal with assholes, but doesn't everyone?

Well of course if you make sweeping generalizations (like I did) people are going to come out and say "not ALL hospitals are this way."

Also I'm not making a value statement that Senators et. all are better human beings than nurses. But based on the information the OP has provided, I don't think they'll be happy as a nurse.

I'm not an achievement oriented person myself, so I'm trying to meet the OP where they are at.

I am at a big name place where a lot of achievement-oriented nurses go, so my experience is different than most. Treatment of nurses by physicians and other colleagues is very good here. That benefits patients more than anybody, because we are not afraid to speak up if something isn't right.  We get free conferences and tuition reimbursement, so I got my master's for free.

The big drawback is that it is harder to get promoted within the department of nursing (we are talking 100+ qualified applicants for staff education/ management positions). That's part of why I'm leaving. Another reason is that I actually like teaching (at the college level, at least), and you can't beat the schedule if you have school age kids. A third reason is that off shifts don't work for my family and the kind of 9-5 outpatient jobs I can get are not intellectually stimulating, even though they pay well.

I get free tuition through my new job and I am thinking of going back to school for my doctorate. It's not to impress anyone, or to make more money. My brain needs something to do, and I quickly get depressed if I'm bored.

[FIallday]

Sorry for the delayed response, I’ve actually been reflecting quite a bit the last few days on what you’ve all shared

@MilesTeg Lol I have the same exact thoughts. But I think everything is relative…when I twist it a bit, I’m like “WHAT!? You get a spring break every other week!?” Not complaining but the summer break can be too long, I’d rather it was stretch throughout the year. In my opinion, for poor families (pretty much my entire childhood), that’s how the achievement gap widens. I literally did nothing academically all summer long whereas my more well-off friends went to camp, etc.

@Zamboni That is something that I would consider & think about in the future. I teach a section of advance students and I love it. A big part of it is working with self-driven students and being able to push their learning beyond surface level & rote-memorization.

@mozar it’s crazy how you can pick out so much just from some of the things I wrote. When you mentioned doctors without borders, I immediately thought of how when I retire someday, I want to do things like build schools for 3rd world countries, kind of along a similar avenue.  I also looked up achievement oriented and had to laugh out loud because many of the things listed I would say were true. I really hate to say this because I feel like I’m putting a limit on myself…at this age, I really doubt seeing myself starting out as a doctor at 40+. Again, one of those things were I wish I could “turn back time”. Another thing that makes it difficult is, I really enjoy pushing my physical limits too… that takes a good chunk of time as I run, lift, and do things in general to challenge myself mentally & physically. Others have shared the idea that you can work your way to a Nurse Practitioner and I really do like that idea. It’s something that I believe over time, I can work and strive for.

@Morning Glory Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your story as I can definitely relate. I too have a similar background, being placed in gifted all throughout my early years. I think I kind of screwed myself over although not intentionally (developed a fixed mindset). When you’re young & everyone tells you you’re smart, you’re this, you’re that, I know they meant well but that’s another story in of it itself. By high school, I was pretty messed up and had a lot of personal issues. But I think without these experiences, reflection, and self-growth, I wouldn’t develop my current mindset now and so it’s difficult when you look at it through that lens.

Another response, another novel written lol. But nothing really matters until I ace these two classes!
 

[mozar]

I really hate to say this because I feel like I’m putting a limit on myself…at this age, I really doubt seeing myself starting out as a doctor at 40+. Again, one of those things were I wish I could “turn back time”.

Oh my god, you're a baby! You absolutely can become a doctor at 40.

Edit: also you're doing awesome. I was not so together at your age.

[Morning Glory]

I really hate to say this because I feel like I’m putting a limit on myself…at this age, I really doubt seeing myself starting out as a doctor at 40+. Again, one of those things were I wish I could “turn back time”.

Oh my god, you're a baby! You absolutely can become a doctor at 40.

Edit: also you're doing awesome. I was not so together at your age.

I once worked with a family medicine resident who was in his 50's. He'd actually FIRE'd from a career in finance and decided to become a doctor because it was his lifelong dream. (He was fat FIRE'd with his own private plane, but still, a mustachian in the wild!!!)