Career decisions

[Nevarlander]

I’m having a lot of stuff going on in deciding whether to stick with the medical school track or instead go and be able to get a BSN and take the RN exam. My brother who’s done some research into this, but is also not always reliable, claims that you don’t get enough money for the time you put into studying nursing. So, anyone who does know… do you make a decent amount? I’m wanting to get certified to be a midwife and either assist at homebirths (there are some states in which that’s all right) or work in a birthing center, but don’t know what would be the best decision.

 

[kage_ar]

Pray about what God has planned for you - and please consider a pro-life practice in whatever field of medicine you choose.

 

[Em_in_FL]

I think it depends on the type of nursing you’ll be doing…
I know nurses tend to make more at hospitals than they do at offices (due to the more difficult hours and shifts)… but I have no experience with birthing centers and how nurses rank there.

My sister just got her RN and starts her first job out of college in 2 weeks… she’ll be working in the NICU at a local hospital…
I think (I forget… I know she mentioned it, but I have a horrible memory) she’ll be making in the range of $18-$22 per hour… which works out to the upper $30s to mid-$40’s per year… not bad for a first job!

Hope that helps!

 

[Nevarlander]

Pray about what God has planned for you - and please consider a pro-life practice in whatever field of medicine you choose.

I do think that I’m supposed to be doing obstetrics (though not sure), it’s just that I don’t know if I ought to be a doctor or an RN. I don’t know if I want to go to school for seven more years or only two (though I’m already going to take a fifth part-time year of college); if I want all the responsibility that doctors have or if I want the more hands-on experience being a nurse (I’m going to go be an EMT during that fifth year, so that should help). And I keep panicking because I know that somebody needs to baptize dying children even if their parents don’t want that for them… yeah, I’m the stress queen about this right now. I’m looking for a pro-life practice and since I live around Naples, am hoping that Ave Maria Town ends up having a birthing center at their hospital (I’m ambivalent about the Ave Maria project, but hey, I’ll get money and fewer ethical dilemmas).
And I talk too much.

 

[1ke]

Do whatever it is you love doing.

Don’t make your career decision on dollars and cents.

You will have to wake up every day and go to work, and if you don’t love it you will be miserable. If you do love it, how much you make is not as important.

 

[ltbpoe43]

Agreed - make sure it’s what drives you. Which would you rather do if you were not getting paid at all? If you can answer that one - do it because it should make you the happiest and both are well paid.

Us baby boomers are getting older and you will never be out of work. My wife is a nurse and makes 60+ in an administrative setting - imagine if she was back on the floor.

Good luck and pray on it. God Bless you.

 

[THutch04]

I know someone who is a nurse and STARTED making 42,000 a year and is now driving around in a Mercedes living on his own. So he’s making a pretty decent living.

I’ve heard that nurses in hospitals tend to make more, but I’m not sure how it works in birthing centers.

 

[DiannaK]

Well … I can speak from the nursing camp… I did not choose nursing strictly for the money, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.
I graduated from nursing school in 1993 with an ADN (associate degree), took my RN boards that summer as well. When I started out, I made 13.65/hr.

I’ve been a nurse now for 14 years … just got a raise up to $29/hr … with shift diff, it’s over $33/hr. Salary wise … that’s what --$69,500?(based on full time, 40/hr work week) I’m only working part time, about 20hrs a week.

Nursing has been a very lucrative career for me, as well as very flexible. You can work as much as, or as little as you want. For me, the choice not to go to medical school was personal preference. I wanted my own life … med school would have been lightyears longer. I didn’t want to be pulled away from my family by having to take call. (you DO have call in some nursing jobs) I wanted to care for patients on a personal level.

In KY, we don’t have birthing centers, and I only know of one nurse midwife in my area (works with an OB/GYN), so I can’t speak to the schooling vs money issue. You may want to check out allnurses.com, to see if you can chat with some nurse midwives.

I love being a nurse, and wouldn’t have done anything else. In 14 years, I’ve had so much variety … transitional care, ICU, CCU, Open Heart Recovery, rounds for a hospitalist group, gastroenterology office nursing, rounds for a cardiology practice, and now emergency room. Nursing has many avenues to offer, and many opportunities for advancement. Caring for sick people is rewarding in a way that is difficult to verbalize.

Best of luck!!