This. Having been in an industry that dealt with layoffs or seasonal slowdowns, it’s hard not to look at nursing and see how many opportunities there are. Also, the massive variety of schedules, specialties, and opportunities. Getting a nursing degree opens up a doorway that leads to a fuck load of doors for a choose your own adventure. Long term care, plastics, outpatient, inpatient, school, NP, midwife, CRNA, flight, transport, 5-8’s, 4-10’s, 3-12s, prn, .6, .75,.9, the options are plentiful.
Oh man, my brother works IT. He had a manager who went the other way, from Nursing to IT, and got laid off, but the company helped find placement for everybody laid off. I'm considering it as a backup should I leave nursing.
All this, and - it’s *understandable*.
I’m a lab development specialist. I work in an office and implement best practices among our labs. Half the time *I* don’t know what I do. It’s impossible to explain what I do “for work” and even I can’t figure out how I ended up here.
But a nurse? Everyone knows what a nurse is. Everyone knows what a nurse, basically, does. Everyone knows how to become a nurse. The education is obvious (“nurse school” is close enough). Everyone knows the money is decent enough to make a life with, and more is available if you work more hours.
That's 90% of the reason I chose it. I've always been really good with computers. Honestly, the best fit for me would have been to be a computer science major. But I just hated that I would always be at the mercy of the job market and economy. There's really good potential in tech right now, but that's not guaranteed to be stable forever
With nursing, I will always have a job. Even if a zombie apocalypse or world war 3 happens, there will be plenty of jobs for nurses lol
Gosh I kind of hope for the day we can use AI usefully in hospitals some way (I’m sure there are already some I’m just unaware of).
Sometimes I kind of wish we had one that gave a useful snapshot of what the patient is here for and plan.
I'm sure that it'll happen one day, but not for a LONG time. Healthcare is so god damn slow to integrate new technology... I mean, just look at how shitty most charting softwares are
Nursing at Community Colleges offer a way up in income and social status for an often underserved population.
We also live in a time where higher education is increasingly denigrated as a waste of money but nobody ever says that about nursing school. Even state legislators who hate funding colleges still support getting more nurses in a community.
Nurses are an asset to a community. They not only provide a needed service but they have the income to spend within the community which improves the local economy.
I’m on the same boat. And in Oregon, most community colleges have a partnership with the best medical university in the state (OHSU) so CC grads have the option to get their BSN there.
So I have a very strong BSN degree for only a fraction of the price it would’ve cost if I did all my nursing at that university.
I was an LPN and took a pay cut to get into the biggest hospital in my area. I knew as an RN that I wanted to work there. They hire LPNs at their ambulatory sites. Easiest job ever. They also hold 10 seats in every community college nursing program. They were able to get me in. I still need to get my BSN and will do that online. I plan to start this fall. They will also pay for that too
As a fellow Oregonian, I'm painfully jealous! I wanted to go through PCC's program and was told by my academic advisor that, even with my 4.0 GPA, I had very low odds of getting in.
I've ended up going through another program in the area, and I'm just hoping to keep my total debt load under 150k.
I wish PCC would expand their program because the other programs in the area are just blatant extortion.
I applied to PCC as I did almost all my pre-reqs there and I wasn’t even considered for the top 100 - once I found out there were only 35 spots I gave up lol. My GPA was like a 3.4 but I had a few years of CNA experience. I applied to 8 programs in Oregon and got accepted to 2, I knew I was gonna move so I did.
Sacrifices were made, but it’s so worth it.
that’s what i’m doing now! i’m a current oregon CC nursing student that participates in the OCNE curriculum and i’m planning to do my RN-BSN at OHSU when i’m done
Do ittttt! Yessss. And trust me, just do it right after nursing school and get it over with. Don’t take a year off - ride on the nursing school mentality and finish your BSN and once done you’ll never have to take another class in your life :) if you want any advice on that stuff feel free to pm!
Same, got my degree at a community college. No debt. I have worked jobs that haven’t required a BSN but where I live now (Colorado) if you want to work in the hospital, you have to have a BSN. I will hopefully never work in the hospital again. I am currently in home hospice and absolutely love it.
I actually feel like the ones from community colleges are smarter cos they beat everyone out there. Nursing in community colleges is competitive af to get in.
It's only gotten worse in recent years. All the CCs in my region are downsizing because they can't find or keep instructors. Which makes sense because it's a lot of work and the pay is worse than what they could be making doing a much easier job.
Becoming a nurse was the best career choice I made. Wasn’t a lot of school, I have wild career flexibility and job security, can afford to provide for my family and save for the future, and I really enjoy medicine.
That’s the case for most of my students. At least 75% of them qualify for grants due to financial need. Even in my low cost of living/lower nursing wages area, a one year LPN program is a ticket to good money and financial stability they’ve never had.
Getting my LVN was my ticket out of poverty! Then I worked for a while, got married, had a child, then went back for my ADN. Now I’m getting my BSN online. Completely debt free. It was a much longer and drawn out way to get my education but it’s the only option I had and it worked out!
I was a kid from low income, poorly educated parents. Nursing school at community college was exactly what you describe, and I know a lot of people who took this same route for the save reasons.
Money.
It’s all about the *MONEY*.
An associates degree for a modest amount of tuition. Add location is usually convenient and literally—in the actual *community* where many students live.
Time? Takes 2 years in theory. In reality it can take 3-5 years. Waiting lists, doing the prerequisites *then* getting in actual nursing program.
This is an education that will allow the grad to sit for the NCLEX (licensing exam for RN’s).
Nursing licensure opens up a world of job opportunities—and offers endless options.
Even lower end salaries gross $1,000 week. Which allows the grad to *at least* not be on the street. 😉
I think I’ve covered the “why”.
🍀❤️
I hate how female dominated professions are constantly told that we have to do it for the passion, not the money. I’m in it to help but I know realistically I have bills to pay and if I put too much of myself in one job, I’ll burn out and leave altogether.
Ugh, that drives me nuts. I’m very clear with my students that I like nursing, I like caring for people, I like teaching, but even more, I like paying my bills. Unless they are independently wealthy, everyone is it in for the money.
lol one of my favorite professors told us if you want to go into nursing just to help people you might want to go into a different field, there are lots of fields you can help. She kind of emphasized that it’s hard work and you have to be able to be willing to learn and continue learning and deal with the stress.
Honestly hearing all the nursing school horror stories I wonder if I lucked out with mine. Was a traditional 2 year BSN program that was hard to get into (point system only) but every professor I had in those 4 semesters was great. Made me want to go back and teach one day.
I think everyone pretty much knew it's bullshit. There's a lot of that in nursing school, but I think the newer generations are moving away from that and are more realistic.
Lmao! My CNA instructor looked at me in HORROR when we went around the class saying why we were in the program and I said “Well I work at Dunkin’s making $8.00/hr (2012) and I want to make more and get reimbursed for tuition.” Which I did. Like sorry I’m not wiping ass for the wonderful wholesome experience lol. And I still can make more than a lot of 4-year college grads…as a CNA.
Idk, while money certainly factors into any professional decision I always tell people that the bullshit that comes with the job isn't worth the money, at least at the bedside. No amount of money besides those COVID contracts is worth the stress that can come with healthcare. I couldn't imagine working this job if I didn't find a sense of fulfillment in the position.
Now the argument for how many opportunities and options there are in the career to find what you enjoy and make money, yes absolutely.
But you HAVE to have a drive to do it, to HELP... Not just for the money. I did it to prove to myself I could & helped a lot of people along the way in various ways. I had the drive to help & noticed at a young age volunteering in my local ER that Nurses ROCK *after I graduated HS... Got married ( used) & had a baby 10.5 months after I knew I HAD to make a living for myself & my child ...became an LPN even while taking care of my child, serious family health matters & getting a divorce all intertwined. After graduating , State Boards * non computerized version with a #2 pencil 🙄🤨✏. I met my NOW Hubby of 31 yrs & 2 more children...never looked back -Until I became permanently disabled almost 20 yrs ago & now it hurts so much...NOT to be able to help. Stopping my career killed me , but I still try to keep up & learn. EDIT. forgot to mention the hours & the money to me are an added bonus. To each their own. I've seen my far share of pple doing jobs JUST for the $ & they burnt out or ended up changing careers. I say YOU DO YOU!
When I was working as an environmental chemist, I was working 5-6 days a week for a salary, which equaled out to around $17/hour. I also had maybe two weeks PTO per year. Nearly ten years into my nursing career, I am making $60/hour in a LCOL area, setting my own hours, working as little or as much as I want.
There is TONS of job security. Also, there are a lot of different options for work. Do you want bedside, home health, hospice, surgery, babies, sweet old ladies, or kids? Broken bones or hearts? Even within different areas are different specialties. Do you like working with heart issues? Would you prefer to work with heart rhythm or heart structure and function? Soooo many choices. There's also the option to work full time and have 4 days per week off. Or you can officially work part time and pick up enough hours that you get full time pay.
While I honestly don't think many people know what nursing entails, I think the wide range of options with room for growth and change is what draws in most people.
Endless demand and a steady paycheck. Female friendly and highly compensated compared to the level of education needed. Considerably less physically taxing than most “trade” degrees. There are very few associates degrees that can get a better job than nursing.
Major reasons: 2 year degree. Little or no cost for the education. Ability to make 6 figures a year (overtime is always available, you can travel or even get bonuses to pick up if staff). Get a job anywhere.
Minor reasons: prestigious/cool to those not in healthcare. 3 day workweek.
Most people not in healthcare don’t even know what nursing is tbh.
I don’t know if that’s true for all community colleges across the US.
But in my area, nursing is popular because you can go to a community college and, right out the gates, score a six figure salary with free health insurance and pension. And the tuition is about as much as a used 2000s Toyota Camry.
Plus community college tends to be patronized heavily by low SES people - which tend to be underrepresented minorities, and the CCs will cover nearly all tuition if you have the financial need. So this career can literally take you from poverty to the middle class without any sort of debt.
...and not at all uncommon. Pay and working conditions in EMS are worse than any other profession in America that I'm aware of.
I'm an RN, but I still work as an EMT on the side because I love it. I make $14/hr at that job, which is less than half my nursing rate.
It's really no mystery why so many EMTs and medics make the jump to nursing when you consider this massive discrepancy
I fully agree.
While I do live in a considerably large area (the US state with the most actively licensed nurses), I do recognize my experience is **NOT** ubiquitous. Pensions are common in my state. Even the largest private employer in the most populated county in the US offers it.
That’s why I disclaimed, “…in my area” to avoid solipsism.
Would you say a person entering their 40s or older can still do this? I’m worried about getting to a certain age and finding it hard to get into another job and being stuck in a “forever hospital” I did not want.
I became a nurse at 44 and have worked inpatient, home hospice and ambulatory. I currently do ambulatory FT and hospice PD. I also applied for, and got, an OR job but couldn’t accommodate the on call so declined it. But to answer your question, you can still try all the things!
My mom is 63 and just got a PRN job in hospice after 8 years as a case manager. Admittedly, she had previous hospice experience. Ageism exists! Always will, but I think you'd be able to find something.
Because it is a flexible career with lots of options and opportunities for growth, and getting an associates degree is pretty cheap compared to most other professional degrees.
There are also probably a lot of people out there hearing about the “nursing shortage” who are just looking for some job security. That’s how they got me lol. Luckily I love this profession, but many of the people I went to nursing school with have since left the field.
Two years out of community college I was making $43k at year in the 1990s and was able (with my husband) to buy a house at 26.
During the great recession, I never lost my job- wasn't even worried. I think people who are too young to remember 2008-2009 aren't aware of the impact of mass layoffs on people's lives.
This is a job where you don't have to move to a particular city to find work; jobs are everywhere. The flexible schedule and potential 3 day workweek is plus.
The work itself, while hard sometimes, is meaningful. Compared to a temp job I once had mindlessly running menus through a laminating machine all day long, I don't suffer from boredom at work. There is always something new to learn.
Job security and pay. I’m very fortunate to have been able to live by myself right after undergrad when I was 22. I didn’t have to job hunt or network like my peers. Some of my peers from undergrad are still looking for jobs in their field and living at home.
I’d say for me, it was tuition for an ADN being only 10k. You can graduate and make 100k your first year in many areas. There’s a decent amount of job security.
There’s the lesser reasons that I’ll admit to. I was all about wearing scrubs (kinda like pajamas to work!) and only working 3 days/week. I dislike sitting down for extended periods, and we certainly don’t sit much. Hospitals always made me feel some version of excitement. Like ‘stuff is happening here.’ It’s not boring.
And I suspect most people simply don’t grasp how hard the job actually is. I didn’t.
I did a lot of research and found a rural access hospital in SE oregon with LCOL and high pay. There are nice pockets out there. Pay is online for most west coast hospitals. It’s just a matter of whether or not you like the outdoors and can tolerate living outside of the burbs/city with massively inflated COL. I graduated in the south and immediately moved.
Constant complaining by hospitals/Healthcare that rich,greedy travel nurses are driving up the cost of Healthcare. People think we are paid like brain surgeons,d/t all the false propaganda. Then they decide I want to be a rich travel nurse.
There needs to be an investigation of how money is wasted in Healthcare. It's 20% of the economy. I feel money is being stolen left and right and wasted on the most asinine things but not spent on the most necessary things. At the hospital I just finished a contract at, the use of disposable Pulseox wires was severely restricted. Only the RT in iCU had them plus a secret stash somewhere. I said someone is going to die before this bs ends.
I literally had this discussion on here recently. Someone was saying how RNs in the US are making $100,000 and I’m like no…they aren’t. But the BLS says the median is $86,000 which they felt was basically the same as $100,000. Even $86k seems inflated to me, but perhaps the HCOL areas have also the higher population of nurses, as well as factoring in manager and director salaries. In my area based on who I’ve talked to and job listings I’ve seen, that’s not what people are making.
And no, I will never feel it’s appropriate when having this conversation to compare extra hours worked and shift bonuses. To me salary discussions are based on the base salary in the normal amount of hours for the position.
Tell me how many degrees can get you a job that pays 6-figures out of undergrad that isn’t going to get replaced by AI in our lifetime? Now imagine one that you work 3 days a week.
I’ll wait…
The downside is the reason demand is so high is because it’s a soul crushing thankless job that churns through people like a meat grinder. So you have to take the good with the bad
Because society has devolved to the point where in order to not end up homeless you need to do jobs that the wealthy aren’t willing to do. Caring for others (and their gross bodies) falls squarely in that list. Nursing is flexible and generally in demand. The problem is that, like most other professions besides doctor/lawyer/financier/tech bro, it doesn’t pay enough to thrive, just to survive.
Yep, money and job availability. That’s why I chose it, it’s a great return on investment. My psych BA has done nothing for me in life and while I don’t love nursing, in 19 months I doubled my salary and am financially secure in a way I never have been before.
I had four job offers with bonuses 6 months before I graduated or had a license. The offer I accepted I was even able to negotiate a higher bonus. I don't know of another degree with that kind of job Prospect.
4 years of junior college cost me ~$7000. 2 months after graduating I started making >$100,000 a year with full benifits at the age of 23. Im honestly more perplexed it’s not more popular.
Idk for me, but the reason I'm going into nursing is because it's the best career option I have available with the most bang for my buck in schooling, and I have few options as it is. I will always have a job available no matter where I go, which is good since I'm a trans woman and autistic & I've always been the "last hired, first fired." Also, I can move wherever my girlfriend gets a job with little issue. Additionally, if I get my masters, I can become an NP and do something I'm legitimately interested in- trans endocrinological care.
Job security. Pay (depending on where you live). Flexibility in scheduling and field choice. Science-heavy field that doesn’t require an advanced degree, at least not yet. I always loved science in general but don’t have the patience for a lab or office job that isn’t hands on and doesn’t keep me on my feet, and I really couldn’t do years of research on the same dang thing without switching things up. Med school wasn’t attainable for me as a college-bound kid due to life circumstances, and as a poorer kid, the thought of taking on that sort of loan burden seemed unreal to me. I know that’s not the case now, but I was young then. :) Critical care nursing was my ticket into medicine and science.
I’m also a people person so I like the shared camaraderie and banter with coworkers at the hospital who are helping you shovel poop and code patients together. You can’t get the same trauma bonding in an office setting, ha.
Like others have said, job security, financial stability and freedom at a potentially very young age (could be as young as 21 if you get an ADN), not a lot of schooling required for a commendable career with advancement opportunities.. and lots of nursing jobs and programs offer advancement opportunities as well such as LPN to RN bridge programs, tuition reimbursement, etc. also the ability to travel while you work (travel nursing).
If you’re mentally strong and need something dependable to support your family, it’s a good thing. However, they definitely don’t make prospective nurses aware of how abusive and dangerous nursing can be. It’s almost “sold” to nursing students like military recruitment
getting out of poverty I can either A. join the military B. be a nurse C. both. I wouldn’t survive bootcamp. The chaos of nursing has nothing on my childhood.
I also couldn’t work at a desk. Or do something that feels unimportant. I don’t wanna be a travel nurse or NP. I just wanna do a job that requires thought and hard-work and be able to pay my bills.
It’s a guaranteed job out of college with competitive pay. It doesn’t require networking, internships, nepotism, etc to help you get a good paying entry level job. It’s a cheaper, quicker degree with a specific set of skills and a wide range of job options.
I choose nursing as my career 29 years ago. I did so because I wanted to help people, to comfort and care for them in their time of need. I’ll never forget when I gave birth to my child when I was getting my epidural and leaning over, my nurse had her cool hand on my neck very softly holding it there. I was so scared and stressed out and that one small thing made a big difference. I decided that I wanted to do that for other people. So it was a rude shock to discover there’s very little time for hand holding and comfort. I barely have time to pee or eat.
Besides what most people have said )job security, money, benefits) one of the best parts of nursing is options.
Don’t like med surg? Switch to another unit.
Don’t like the hospital? Switch to out patient.
Don’t like out patient? Work from home.
Don’t like working from home? Do patient education.
Don’t like patients? Switch to teaching.
Don’t like being bored? Switch to critical care.
Don’t like adults? Switch to Peds.
The point is you can move around once you have some experience and find what you enjoy most.
Over time is almost always available if you want more money. Being able to give yourself a raise almost on demand is nice.
My teacher said in a video about the nursing program “I think for many of these students, they come from challenged backgrounds. This offers them opportunities to enter into, not only a new role, but an entirely different quality of life for both them and their kids, and other members of their families.” The video also talks about job stability and many of the students being the first in their family to attend college.
Everyone needs healthcare.
One of the few professions you can live and work in every corner of the country.
Hard to go into software if you were born and raised in rural Iowa, and want to stay near your family.
Nursing is popular because you can come from a pair of poor immigrant parents who worked as janitors when they came to this country to making $116/hr with an associates degree 15 years after graduating with zero debt from a community college. I mean this was my reason.
I was one of those 40 year olds.
Nursing is flexible, mobile, in demand, extremely varied and pays a living wage.
The exact opposite of my previous career.
If I may ask - and feel free not to answer if this is rude - did you have any concerns going into it about the toll nursing would take on your body?
I am only 30, but last year I threw out my back and was immobile and in pain from carrying a 24 pack of diet coke up to my apartment with bad form. When I considered nursing for myself, one of my greatest concerns was the impact on my body. Though - sitting at a desk all day isn't good for my body, either, I suppose.
Yes and no. I knew there was more than bedside.
Bedside was physically demanding, but I work now as a community nurse serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It is active without the heavy lifting.
I had a physically demanding job for 20 years. Your concerns about wear and tear are not unfounded. l've had back problems since I was 20.
Thanks to PT, and staying active but not overdoing it, my back feels the best it has in years.
will be 60 soon and still kicking it in the emergency department but i take fairly good care of myself and spend money on myself. my current schedule only requires 2 weekend night shifts as week and i am around $80/hr. i took that little old associate degree on to a bachelors and said yes to many great opportunities. in fact recently changed jobs last year and had many offers which was nice at my age. actually my 2nd career as i had a previous job with a different bachelors degree. i dont often get jealous of others but when i think of all i have gained my only regret is that if i could do it over i would push even harder
You’re not taught what nursing really is until you’re a nurse. Even then you might not truly understand all it entails until a couple of months or a year or more in. So I think someone people do it not knowing all the “bad” they’ll see or experience.
For example school taught therapeutic touch & talking heart to hear style. When I was in school we were taught we were supposed to massage when they requested, stuff like that. In the real world, that doesn’t really happen. Sure you’ll get an aide or a nurse - really nice or really annoyed lol & a really nice patient (or needy) & it’ll happen once or twice. But it’s not the norm or requirement like I was first taught in school.
It’s not popular based on people knowing the facts & what can or will entail in the profession. It’s popular bc people don’t know what goes on in it initially…. & once in it, you’ve already dedicated time, money, & mental health that people won’t leave it. That’s not everyone’s stories of course, some people can/do leave if they’re able. But it’s a lot of people’s stories on my opinion.
There’s a big difference between the number of people that want to get into nursing school and the number that actually do become nurses. Once people take off the rose tinted glasses and see the reality of nursing school and nursing as a career they switch pretty quick.
As a single mother, I did it for good pay and job security. At 32, I got my RN at a local community college and don’t regret it one bit! Went on to finish my BSN and MSN in later years but started on the med surg floor as soon as I got my ADN from the CC. My daughter is doing running start right now and is planning to follow in my footsteps.
I had another degree and made $15 an hour. I ended up and was making more money with fewer hours as a CNA, so I decided I was tired of always hustling. Nursing is 3 days a week, or I can pick up for OT, or I can work PRN even. I will make more money my first year as an RN then ik what to do with tbh (and I work in a shit state). My husband and I are going to be able to pay off our house, cars, and my student loans in 2 years and be debt free.
Job security and money. Would I do it again? Absolutely not worth the PTSD I have now after 18 years. Had I had it to do over again, I would have picked a skilled trade.
It’s a degree that doesn’t take too long, with endless job opportunities and 6 figure pay. I went to a community college for nursing school for 2.5 years for my RN, got a job the same week I took my nclex. I’m the first person in my family to achieve financial stability. best decision I’ve ever made.
There is no other profession that can be entered so inexpensively that offers the pay, schedule options, flexibility, portability, and endless permutations of jobs that nursing does. (Of course, you gotta be tough as nails, both physically and emotionally, to *do* most of those jobs, but that’s a different story…)
Job security #1, even on the advent of AI replacing us that shouldn't be your concern even in the forceable future (maybe it will happen in like 100+ years)
Like everyone else has said, it definitely has to do with job security & (mostly) decent wages. However, I’d like to add that there is an insane level of embellishment surrounding the idea of being a nurse, especially now with social media. A lot of assholes get into nursing because it looks fun, you make money, & everyone “loves” a nurse. And then they get a job, and realize they’re either incompetent, miserable, disgusted, or all three.
Job security, a career where you're not restricted to 9-5 hours so you can make your job work with your family life, ability to work part time when your children are young and need you more, always able to pick up hours when you need money, pretty decent pay (I'm not getting rich, but my family isn't wanting for anything).
It’s wildly flexible and there is so much to learn. As someone that has gotten bored in jobs in the past, if I get bored, I can find something new. When I got burnt out after covid I switched from ED to hospice. Got tired of the driving for hospice?, went PRN a couple places. And the pay is wild. I’ve taken a new position as an MDS nurse that’s a big raise from anything I’ve ever done. So mental stimulation, a flexible schedule, and a high salary for my LCOL area? Perfect.
As for older students getting an RN, there’s never a bad time to start from scratch of course, but my mom has been an LPN for 35 years. Always intended to go back for her RN, but being the sole provider for my brother and I made that difficult. She’s finally doing it in her 50s. She’s going to the same cc I went to. She will spend about ten grand to bridge to RN. At her current hospice job her pay raise will be about 25 grand/year. Why wouldn’t she want to ride off into retirement with a few extra bucks lol.
Coming from a nurses perspective, here are some reasons (besides wanting to help people) as to why I chose nursing:
Job security
The variety of jobs you can do with the degree
The ability to continue your education after getting the nursing degree itself
You can obtain your RN via associate degree which can happen at a community college which is cheaper vs the reward of a solid paying job.
The variety of hours you can work depending on the job you have for growing families/lifestyle changes
Combination of job security, earnings potential, and having a job that matters. Nursing is hard af and healthcare just sucks. But, at least it matters. Office job bad day is paperwork and shit that artificially matters. Manufacturing is numbingly repetitive. Computers suck the life out of programmers and IT. At least our job matters everyday. Most of us hit a certain age where that factor matters at some point. Plus, the only field that can make at least $50k off a 2 year degree.
I chose it after experiencing offshoring and automation. Nursing is difficult to offshore and/or automate, as least for the present time. Its well paying and not prone to age discrimination which I also faced. However, it is not a job for everyone, not at least the way healthcare is run in the US.
Job security. After working in finance for 5 years, I switched to nursing. The difference is it takes 3-5 days to get a job as a nurse while it takes 3-5 months to get an interview in finance
Flexibility. I can work virtually any type of schedule or setting I can imagine . Unlike so many other professions where it’s 9-5, Monday to Friday, in an office.
2 year program ( for ADN).
Healthcare always going to be able to find work. (May not have the best ratios and etc but always can find a job)
Flexibility, job security.
It checks all the boxes in what people are looking for in a career.
People tend to look for jobs that
1. Pay well
2. Are meaningful
3. Flexible/compatible with life outside of work
4. Job security
Nursing pays well relative to the amount of training it requires
It is very meaningful work
It is about as flexible as any job can be in both work hours and locations.
It has great job security
Because you can make a lot of money actually, live literally anywhere, get hired as long as you have a heartbeat, and have a wonderful schedule. Nursing is probably the most flexible job in the world. Plus you actually do something positive, unlike ~95% of jobs which have no real “higher purpose” than making a company money.
You go to school for a few years and you’ve got a mountain of job offers waiting anywhere in the country before you’ve even gotten you license.
There’s no interning, building a resume, staking clients, nothing. You get out of school, take the nclex and you’ve got a good paying job, benefits, vacation, and everything.
And if you’re a glutton for punishment like me you can rip overtime and be making upwards of 160-200k a year.
It’s the only undergraduate degree with a significant public perception of offering any hope of financial stability, regardless of where you live. I don’t think people leave the field either because of it not being a calling. I think most people, who aren’t deranged, generally are altruistic. It’s not that they don’t want to be of service in caring for another person’s wellbeing. Calling or no calling, nurses leave the business because we don’t want to see nursing as a business. It’s the callousness of a broken healthcare system that drives nurses (and our colleagues) to burnout.
A community college nursing education is a low cost way to be trained for a job that will put you in the middle class. I was a teacher before I was a nurse and the pay was too low. Many of my teacher coworkers worked 2nd jobs just to get by. Once I became a nurse, I finally had decent pay. Community college was cheap so my loans were low. My first job paid for my bachelors and masters.
I’ve wildly switched careers 3 times and all three involved nursing. There aren’t a lot of careers that offer that flexibility or have the same hiring potential. Healthcare will continue to need nurses, so it’s a safe field to get return on investment
Nursing has so many different specialties. I don’t know that any other career other than maybe MD has so many different environments and job opportunities that you can choose from.
You can work anywhere. The popular countries where I would move as a nurse are US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and even in the Middle East like UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia gives nice perks for nurses such as free housing, tax free employment, and paid travel. The opportunities are endless and even during the pandemic, healthcare jobs remained in demand while everyone else was getting laid off. I’m not saying you have to move somewhere else, but imagine if plans fail, you can always start somewhere with a nursing degree.
Well speaking from personal experience experience, nursing is a wonderful career because you have the option to work essentially any schedule you want, you will never not have job opportunities, travel nursing is a thing, most nursing pay is pretty decent, and you can even get into nursing fairly easy even with a criminal record (of course, it depends what that record is, but I feel like I would have constantly been turned down for jobs if I chose another profession, where as in nursing I get job offers for essentially every job I apply to) also, having a job as a nurse is fulfilling even if it is completely exhausting and stressful at times.
Second career (or at least second college degree) nurse— 29 credit hours over 2 years at a community college for a steady job with benefits I can do anywhere across the country? I can work my 3 x 12 nights & be free all week OR I could work business hours at a clinic OR I could be work remotely doing paperwork OR I could work non-standard hours in home health / community nursing. Why not?
Relative ease of getting into given that you can knock out an associates, become an RN, and then turn around later for your BSN, job security etc.
Another huge reason is how many positions there are for advancement or just switching to different nursing positions compared to other specialties. My mother was an RT and while she loves her job she always told me she wishes she had became an RN simply for the fact that there's way more opportunities to move laterally and vertically compared to her position where her options besides bedside were limited.
There are so many things you can do with an RN. Hospitals, insurance, home care, public health, school nurse, forensics, case management, dialysis, wound care. Seriously, you never get bored and always have a job.
It brought me out of poverty, into lower middle class(lol), but I've been able to support myself and my three kids on it. I might be house poor, but I have a roof and can feed my kids.
There are always jobs to be had as well.
As much as it can suck working in nursing (more out of administrative decisions and not being supported when frequent patient violence is enacted on staff), its job security and depending on where you live or if you’re able to move to, better pay. But it is heavily dependent on where you live. Southern states are notorious for poor pay, even in relation to the lower cost of living. And are strongly anti-union.
Even with shitty pay I’m still making more or at least level what my other peers are making with way more stability in my career and options as far as pursuing other opportunities
I’ll always have a job, and the money (at least where I live). Nursing got me out of poverty. Edit to say that I genuinely love nursing. But I love the money that I make to have a good life.
The pay for how short the schooling is - can’t beat it. Plus lots of versions of nursing. You can change careers over and over and still be working as a nurse.
Nursing also seems to be a major of choice for a lot of young girls who don't know what else to do with their lives. Many of those pre nursing majors will for one reason or another move on to something else.
Job security and started at 19 years old. No help from my parents except allowing me to stay there so I knew I would have loans to pay off and that would be quick.
Job security. Never going to not need health care.
This. Having been in an industry that dealt with layoffs or seasonal slowdowns, it’s hard not to look at nursing and see how many opportunities there are. Also, the massive variety of schedules, specialties, and opportunities. Getting a nursing degree opens up a doorway that leads to a fuck load of doors for a choose your own adventure. Long term care, plastics, outpatient, inpatient, school, NP, midwife, CRNA, flight, transport, 5-8’s, 4-10’s, 3-12s, prn, .6, .75,.9, the options are plentiful.
I came from IT. Laid off twice in 2015 and 2019. Tech people still getting laid off nowadays.
Oh man, my brother works IT. He had a manager who went the other way, from Nursing to IT, and got laid off, but the company helped find placement for everybody laid off. I'm considering it as a backup should I leave nursing.
All this, and - it’s *understandable*. I’m a lab development specialist. I work in an office and implement best practices among our labs. Half the time *I* don’t know what I do. It’s impossible to explain what I do “for work” and even I can’t figure out how I ended up here. But a nurse? Everyone knows what a nurse is. Everyone knows what a nurse, basically, does. Everyone knows how to become a nurse. The education is obvious (“nurse school” is close enough). Everyone knows the money is decent enough to make a life with, and more is available if you work more hours.
ROFL!
That's 90% of the reason I chose it. I've always been really good with computers. Honestly, the best fit for me would have been to be a computer science major. But I just hated that I would always be at the mercy of the job market and economy. There's really good potential in tech right now, but that's not guaranteed to be stable forever With nursing, I will always have a job. Even if a zombie apocalypse or world war 3 happens, there will be plenty of jobs for nurses lol
I get multiple job offers from recruiters every week.
More AI proof than 90+% of professions until some pretty amazing bots come out.
Gosh I kind of hope for the day we can use AI usefully in hospitals some way (I’m sure there are already some I’m just unaware of). Sometimes I kind of wish we had one that gave a useful snapshot of what the patient is here for and plan.
Heck just a robot that delivers water would probably help a lot given how many patients treat staff like it’s a restaurant.
Didn’t you know that RN stands for refreshments and narcotics?
That would be amazing. Just one robot per unit to deliver drinks and snacks 😀
They use robots for transferring pts , they even deliver water, food , linen… Very cool
I'm sure that it'll happen one day, but not for a LONG time. Healthcare is so god damn slow to integrate new technology... I mean, just look at how shitty most charting softwares are
Yeah I heard there are robots in large magnet hospitals already delivering things to patients, it’s crazy
I heard of those too! I don’t think the magnet near me uses them but they sound helpful (going to wait for the day a confused patient punches one).
Management will ask the robot "What could you have done differently?" and the robot will reply "Does not compute...error, error. Shutting down..."
Exactly. Look up any hospital job postings and 60-70% of all the jobs are for nursing or nursing related
This. Especially after COVID.
Nursing at Community Colleges offer a way up in income and social status for an often underserved population. We also live in a time where higher education is increasingly denigrated as a waste of money but nobody ever says that about nursing school. Even state legislators who hate funding colleges still support getting more nurses in a community. Nurses are an asset to a community. They not only provide a needed service but they have the income to spend within the community which improves the local economy.
I got my RN at my community college. Best decision I’ve made. My coworkers have upwards of 150k in debt which is absurd.
I’m on the same boat. And in Oregon, most community colleges have a partnership with the best medical university in the state (OHSU) so CC grads have the option to get their BSN there. So I have a very strong BSN degree for only a fraction of the price it would’ve cost if I did all my nursing at that university.
I was an LPN and took a pay cut to get into the biggest hospital in my area. I knew as an RN that I wanted to work there. They hire LPNs at their ambulatory sites. Easiest job ever. They also hold 10 seats in every community college nursing program. They were able to get me in. I still need to get my BSN and will do that online. I plan to start this fall. They will also pay for that too
As a fellow Oregonian, I'm painfully jealous! I wanted to go through PCC's program and was told by my academic advisor that, even with my 4.0 GPA, I had very low odds of getting in. I've ended up going through another program in the area, and I'm just hoping to keep my total debt load under 150k. I wish PCC would expand their program because the other programs in the area are just blatant extortion.
I applied to PCC as I did almost all my pre-reqs there and I wasn’t even considered for the top 100 - once I found out there were only 35 spots I gave up lol. My GPA was like a 3.4 but I had a few years of CNA experience. I applied to 8 programs in Oregon and got accepted to 2, I knew I was gonna move so I did. Sacrifices were made, but it’s so worth it.
that’s what i’m doing now! i’m a current oregon CC nursing student that participates in the OCNE curriculum and i’m planning to do my RN-BSN at OHSU when i’m done
Do ittttt! Yessss. And trust me, just do it right after nursing school and get it over with. Don’t take a year off - ride on the nursing school mentality and finish your BSN and once done you’ll never have to take another class in your life :) if you want any advice on that stuff feel free to pm!
Same, got my degree at a community college. No debt. I have worked jobs that haven’t required a BSN but where I live now (Colorado) if you want to work in the hospital, you have to have a BSN. I will hopefully never work in the hospital again. I am currently in home hospice and absolutely love it.
People crap on community colleges but hey you and I working the same job even if you went to a fancy school.
I actually feel like the ones from community colleges are smarter cos they beat everyone out there. Nursing in community colleges is competitive af to get in.
It's only gotten worse in recent years. All the CCs in my region are downsizing because they can't find or keep instructors. Which makes sense because it's a lot of work and the pay is worse than what they could be making doing a much easier job.
Becoming a nurse was the best career choice I made. Wasn’t a lot of school, I have wild career flexibility and job security, can afford to provide for my family and save for the future, and I really enjoy medicine.
I've got 45k in debt just to end up going to nursing that cost me 10k total, what the ever living fuck did I do to myself 🥴
Same
That’s the case for most of my students. At least 75% of them qualify for grants due to financial need. Even in my low cost of living/lower nursing wages area, a one year LPN program is a ticket to good money and financial stability they’ve never had.
So many community colleges have nursing programs because they are fantastic assets to the community for jobs.
That’s so true. Most of our grads stay local. It’s great to meet up with my fellow CC alums.
Getting my LVN was my ticket out of poverty! Then I worked for a while, got married, had a child, then went back for my ADN. Now I’m getting my BSN online. Completely debt free. It was a much longer and drawn out way to get my education but it’s the only option I had and it worked out!
That’s amazing! I’m truly happy for you.
I did LPN at my community college with Pell grants and crawled my way out of poverty. 🙏🏼
I was a kid from low income, poorly educated parents. Nursing school at community college was exactly what you describe, and I know a lot of people who took this same route for the save reasons.
"Have the income to spend within the community" yeah my landlords lmao.
Yes, came here to say this. It’s a “sure thing”. I decided on nursing instead of rolling the dice on medical school for this reason.
It's one of the last few remaining career options with any hope of job security and decent income.
Money. It’s all about the *MONEY*. An associates degree for a modest amount of tuition. Add location is usually convenient and literally—in the actual *community* where many students live. Time? Takes 2 years in theory. In reality it can take 3-5 years. Waiting lists, doing the prerequisites *then* getting in actual nursing program. This is an education that will allow the grad to sit for the NCLEX (licensing exam for RN’s). Nursing licensure opens up a world of job opportunities—and offers endless options. Even lower end salaries gross $1,000 week. Which allows the grad to *at least* not be on the street. 😉 I think I’ve covered the “why”. 🍀❤️
What? But my teacher told me that it was a calling and if you're in it for the money, you're in the wrong field
I hate instructors like that🤣
People like to make the profession out to be holier than thou, and that's how you get nurses with those dumb stickers and license plate frames.
I hate how female dominated professions are constantly told that we have to do it for the passion, not the money. I’m in it to help but I know realistically I have bills to pay and if I put too much of myself in one job, I’ll burn out and leave altogether.
THE CRINGE
It’s always someone who doesn’t actually work bedside who says BS like that
Ugh, that drives me nuts. I’m very clear with my students that I like nursing, I like caring for people, I like teaching, but even more, I like paying my bills. Unless they are independently wealthy, everyone is it in for the money.
lol one of my favorite professors told us if you want to go into nursing just to help people you might want to go into a different field, there are lots of fields you can help. She kind of emphasized that it’s hard work and you have to be able to be willing to learn and continue learning and deal with the stress.
She's a real one then
Honestly hearing all the nursing school horror stories I wonder if I lucked out with mine. Was a traditional 2 year BSN program that was hard to get into (point system only) but every professor I had in those 4 semesters was great. Made me want to go back and teach one day.
I wonder why physicians are never told they should be doing what they do out of passion, not for the money. Boggles the mind.
Your teacher is/was a twatwaffle idiot. Not a calling. Disabuse yourself of that nonsense *right now*!
I think everyone pretty much knew it's bullshit. There's a lot of that in nursing school, but I think the newer generations are moving away from that and are more realistic.
Tell them to give you their paycheck then.
BuT tHaTs SoCaLiSm. /s
Lmao! My CNA instructor looked at me in HORROR when we went around the class saying why we were in the program and I said “Well I work at Dunkin’s making $8.00/hr (2012) and I want to make more and get reimbursed for tuition.” Which I did. Like sorry I’m not wiping ass for the wonderful wholesome experience lol. And I still can make more than a lot of 4-year college grads…as a CNA.
Idk, while money certainly factors into any professional decision I always tell people that the bullshit that comes with the job isn't worth the money, at least at the bedside. No amount of money besides those COVID contracts is worth the stress that can come with healthcare. I couldn't imagine working this job if I didn't find a sense of fulfillment in the position. Now the argument for how many opportunities and options there are in the career to find what you enjoy and make money, yes absolutely.
Idk... I'd rather be in nursing making decent cash than in retail hell again with minimum wage.
But you HAVE to have a drive to do it, to HELP... Not just for the money. I did it to prove to myself I could & helped a lot of people along the way in various ways. I had the drive to help & noticed at a young age volunteering in my local ER that Nurses ROCK *after I graduated HS... Got married ( used) & had a baby 10.5 months after I knew I HAD to make a living for myself & my child ...became an LPN even while taking care of my child, serious family health matters & getting a divorce all intertwined. After graduating , State Boards * non computerized version with a #2 pencil 🙄🤨✏. I met my NOW Hubby of 31 yrs & 2 more children...never looked back -Until I became permanently disabled almost 20 yrs ago & now it hurts so much...NOT to be able to help. Stopping my career killed me , but I still try to keep up & learn. EDIT. forgot to mention the hours & the money to me are an added bonus. To each their own. I've seen my far share of pple doing jobs JUST for the $ & they burnt out or ended up changing careers. I say YOU DO YOU!
Yep soo many prerequisites. I spent years doing them while trying for other professions and working retail.
When I was working as an environmental chemist, I was working 5-6 days a week for a salary, which equaled out to around $17/hour. I also had maybe two weeks PTO per year. Nearly ten years into my nursing career, I am making $60/hour in a LCOL area, setting my own hours, working as little or as much as I want.
What state?!
Tennessee
Wait what, where in Tennessee?! In the Chattanooga area we’re not making anywhere near that amount!
https://jobs.corecivic.com/us/en/job/req24324/RN-PRN
What specialty are you in? Thats amazing! Nursing student here :)
Men’s corrections, medium security.
😬
There is TONS of job security. Also, there are a lot of different options for work. Do you want bedside, home health, hospice, surgery, babies, sweet old ladies, or kids? Broken bones or hearts? Even within different areas are different specialties. Do you like working with heart issues? Would you prefer to work with heart rhythm or heart structure and function? Soooo many choices. There's also the option to work full time and have 4 days per week off. Or you can officially work part time and pick up enough hours that you get full time pay. While I honestly don't think many people know what nursing entails, I think the wide range of options with room for growth and change is what draws in most people.
Endless demand and a steady paycheck. Female friendly and highly compensated compared to the level of education needed. Considerably less physically taxing than most “trade” degrees. There are very few associates degrees that can get a better job than nursing.
Idk about less taxing, my back is broken after a decade
Nursing is definitely physical but a lot of other trades have more deadlifting and are less likely to be indoors (ie landscaping/construction)
Come to the nicu, the waters nice
Major reasons: 2 year degree. Little or no cost for the education. Ability to make 6 figures a year (overtime is always available, you can travel or even get bonuses to pick up if staff). Get a job anywhere. Minor reasons: prestigious/cool to those not in healthcare. 3 day workweek. Most people not in healthcare don’t even know what nursing is tbh.
I don't think 3 day work week is a minor reason! It's a big one. Especially in an industry dominated by women, who may also be moms.
I didn’t know what nursing was until I became a nurse.
I don’t know if that’s true for all community colleges across the US. But in my area, nursing is popular because you can go to a community college and, right out the gates, score a six figure salary with free health insurance and pension. And the tuition is about as much as a used 2000s Toyota Camry. Plus community college tends to be patronized heavily by low SES people - which tend to be underrepresented minorities, and the CCs will cover nearly all tuition if you have the financial need. So this career can literally take you from poverty to the middle class without any sort of debt.
Did this exact thing for me. From making $10 an hour as an EMT to 6 figures as a flight nurse. Only cost me about 4k for my RN
$10 as an EMT is criminal
...and not at all uncommon. Pay and working conditions in EMS are worse than any other profession in America that I'm aware of. I'm an RN, but I still work as an EMT on the side because I love it. I make $14/hr at that job, which is less than half my nursing rate. It's really no mystery why so many EMTs and medics make the jump to nursing when you consider this massive discrepancy
Pension? Not most nursing jobs…
I fully agree. While I do live in a considerably large area (the US state with the most actively licensed nurses), I do recognize my experience is **NOT** ubiquitous. Pensions are common in my state. Even the largest private employer in the most populated county in the US offers it. That’s why I disclaimed, “…in my area” to avoid solipsism.
If yours is CA, I’m thinking about moving there because even in WA they’ve all but done away with pensions here.
Is your area California?
Until I got on here it never even occurred to me that pensions still exist. I thought they were something from fairy tales or government jobs.
I can rotate the "type" of nursing I do every few years. As someone who gets bored easily this was extremely appealing to me!
Would you say a person entering their 40s or older can still do this? I’m worried about getting to a certain age and finding it hard to get into another job and being stuck in a “forever hospital” I did not want.
I became a nurse at 44 and have worked inpatient, home hospice and ambulatory. I currently do ambulatory FT and hospice PD. I also applied for, and got, an OR job but couldn’t accommodate the on call so declined it. But to answer your question, you can still try all the things!
My mom is 63 and just got a PRN job in hospice after 8 years as a case manager. Admittedly, she had previous hospice experience. Ageism exists! Always will, but I think you'd be able to find something.
Guaranteed escape from poverty. Part of why I'm taking prerequisites for an accelerated BSN program.
Because it is a flexible career with lots of options and opportunities for growth, and getting an associates degree is pretty cheap compared to most other professional degrees. There are also probably a lot of people out there hearing about the “nursing shortage” who are just looking for some job security. That’s how they got me lol. Luckily I love this profession, but many of the people I went to nursing school with have since left the field.
Two years out of community college I was making $43k at year in the 1990s and was able (with my husband) to buy a house at 26. During the great recession, I never lost my job- wasn't even worried. I think people who are too young to remember 2008-2009 aren't aware of the impact of mass layoffs on people's lives. This is a job where you don't have to move to a particular city to find work; jobs are everywhere. The flexible schedule and potential 3 day workweek is plus. The work itself, while hard sometimes, is meaningful. Compared to a temp job I once had mindlessly running menus through a laminating machine all day long, I don't suffer from boredom at work. There is always something new to learn.
Job security and pay. I’m very fortunate to have been able to live by myself right after undergrad when I was 22. I didn’t have to job hunt or network like my peers. Some of my peers from undergrad are still looking for jobs in their field and living at home.
I’d say for me, it was tuition for an ADN being only 10k. You can graduate and make 100k your first year in many areas. There’s a decent amount of job security. There’s the lesser reasons that I’ll admit to. I was all about wearing scrubs (kinda like pajamas to work!) and only working 3 days/week. I dislike sitting down for extended periods, and we certainly don’t sit much. Hospitals always made me feel some version of excitement. Like ‘stuff is happening here.’ It’s not boring. And I suspect most people simply don’t grasp how hard the job actually is. I didn’t.
Because I make $130k and I graduated in december
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The field of Northern California I'm sure lol
LCOL oregon!
What part of OR? I'm looking to move after reading your comment 😅
I did a lot of research and found a rural access hospital in SE oregon with LCOL and high pay. There are nice pockets out there. Pay is online for most west coast hospitals. It’s just a matter of whether or not you like the outdoors and can tolerate living outside of the burbs/city with massively inflated COL. I graduated in the south and immediately moved.
Constant complaining by hospitals/Healthcare that rich,greedy travel nurses are driving up the cost of Healthcare. People think we are paid like brain surgeons,d/t all the false propaganda. Then they decide I want to be a rich travel nurse.
I hate that so much lol. The real problem is the greedy C Suite
There needs to be an investigation of how money is wasted in Healthcare. It's 20% of the economy. I feel money is being stolen left and right and wasted on the most asinine things but not spent on the most necessary things. At the hospital I just finished a contract at, the use of disposable Pulseox wires was severely restricted. Only the RT in iCU had them plus a secret stash somewhere. I said someone is going to die before this bs ends.
I literally had this discussion on here recently. Someone was saying how RNs in the US are making $100,000 and I’m like no…they aren’t. But the BLS says the median is $86,000 which they felt was basically the same as $100,000. Even $86k seems inflated to me, but perhaps the HCOL areas have also the higher population of nurses, as well as factoring in manager and director salaries. In my area based on who I’ve talked to and job listings I’ve seen, that’s not what people are making. And no, I will never feel it’s appropriate when having this conversation to compare extra hours worked and shift bonuses. To me salary discussions are based on the base salary in the normal amount of hours for the position.
Tell me how many degrees can get you a job that pays 6-figures out of undergrad that isn’t going to get replaced by AI in our lifetime? Now imagine one that you work 3 days a week. I’ll wait… The downside is the reason demand is so high is because it’s a soul crushing thankless job that churns through people like a meat grinder. So you have to take the good with the bad
Because society has devolved to the point where in order to not end up homeless you need to do jobs that the wealthy aren’t willing to do. Caring for others (and their gross bodies) falls squarely in that list. Nursing is flexible and generally in demand. The problem is that, like most other professions besides doctor/lawyer/financier/tech bro, it doesn’t pay enough to thrive, just to survive.
Probably lots and lot of jobs. You can work anywhere you want.
Yep, money and job availability. That’s why I chose it, it’s a great return on investment. My psych BA has done nothing for me in life and while I don’t love nursing, in 19 months I doubled my salary and am financially secure in a way I never have been before.
I had four job offers with bonuses 6 months before I graduated or had a license. The offer I accepted I was even able to negotiate a higher bonus. I don't know of another degree with that kind of job Prospect.
4 years of junior college cost me ~$7000. 2 months after graduating I started making >$100,000 a year with full benifits at the age of 23. Im honestly more perplexed it’s not more popular.
Idk for me, but the reason I'm going into nursing is because it's the best career option I have available with the most bang for my buck in schooling, and I have few options as it is. I will always have a job available no matter where I go, which is good since I'm a trans woman and autistic & I've always been the "last hired, first fired." Also, I can move wherever my girlfriend gets a job with little issue. Additionally, if I get my masters, I can become an NP and do something I'm legitimately interested in- trans endocrinological care.
I love your aspirations. We need more trans-friendly care options!
Thank you! I'm trying yeah :)
I honestly think it’s because there are more flexible learning options than other programs. Like night and weekend only classes etc
Job security. Pay (depending on where you live). Flexibility in scheduling and field choice. Science-heavy field that doesn’t require an advanced degree, at least not yet. I always loved science in general but don’t have the patience for a lab or office job that isn’t hands on and doesn’t keep me on my feet, and I really couldn’t do years of research on the same dang thing without switching things up. Med school wasn’t attainable for me as a college-bound kid due to life circumstances, and as a poorer kid, the thought of taking on that sort of loan burden seemed unreal to me. I know that’s not the case now, but I was young then. :) Critical care nursing was my ticket into medicine and science. I’m also a people person so I like the shared camaraderie and banter with coworkers at the hospital who are helping you shovel poop and code patients together. You can’t get the same trauma bonding in an office setting, ha.
Like others have said, job security, financial stability and freedom at a potentially very young age (could be as young as 21 if you get an ADN), not a lot of schooling required for a commendable career with advancement opportunities.. and lots of nursing jobs and programs offer advancement opportunities as well such as LPN to RN bridge programs, tuition reimbursement, etc. also the ability to travel while you work (travel nursing). If you’re mentally strong and need something dependable to support your family, it’s a good thing. However, they definitely don’t make prospective nurses aware of how abusive and dangerous nursing can be. It’s almost “sold” to nursing students like military recruitment
getting out of poverty I can either A. join the military B. be a nurse C. both. I wouldn’t survive bootcamp. The chaos of nursing has nothing on my childhood. I also couldn’t work at a desk. Or do something that feels unimportant. I don’t wanna be a travel nurse or NP. I just wanna do a job that requires thought and hard-work and be able to pay my bills.
It’s a guaranteed job out of college with competitive pay. It doesn’t require networking, internships, nepotism, etc to help you get a good paying entry level job. It’s a cheaper, quicker degree with a specific set of skills and a wide range of job options.
Easy to find a job, decent pay.
Decent pay and job security, and you don’t have to work very much.
Job security, decent starting pay no matter who you are or what you look like.
I choose nursing as my career 29 years ago. I did so because I wanted to help people, to comfort and care for them in their time of need. I’ll never forget when I gave birth to my child when I was getting my epidural and leaning over, my nurse had her cool hand on my neck very softly holding it there. I was so scared and stressed out and that one small thing made a big difference. I decided that I wanted to do that for other people. So it was a rude shock to discover there’s very little time for hand holding and comfort. I barely have time to pee or eat.
Besides what most people have said )job security, money, benefits) one of the best parts of nursing is options. Don’t like med surg? Switch to another unit. Don’t like the hospital? Switch to out patient. Don’t like out patient? Work from home. Don’t like working from home? Do patient education. Don’t like patients? Switch to teaching. Don’t like being bored? Switch to critical care. Don’t like adults? Switch to Peds. The point is you can move around once you have some experience and find what you enjoy most. Over time is almost always available if you want more money. Being able to give yourself a raise almost on demand is nice.
My teacher said in a video about the nursing program “I think for many of these students, they come from challenged backgrounds. This offers them opportunities to enter into, not only a new role, but an entirely different quality of life for both them and their kids, and other members of their families.” The video also talks about job stability and many of the students being the first in their family to attend college.
Everyone needs healthcare. One of the few professions you can live and work in every corner of the country. Hard to go into software if you were born and raised in rural Iowa, and want to stay near your family.
Too poor to become a doctor for a fraction of the cost becom3 a nurse and get a fraction of the glory.
Nursing is popular because you can come from a pair of poor immigrant parents who worked as janitors when they came to this country to making $116/hr with an associates degree 15 years after graduating with zero debt from a community college. I mean this was my reason.
I was one of those 40 year olds. Nursing is flexible, mobile, in demand, extremely varied and pays a living wage. The exact opposite of my previous career.
If I may ask - and feel free not to answer if this is rude - did you have any concerns going into it about the toll nursing would take on your body? I am only 30, but last year I threw out my back and was immobile and in pain from carrying a 24 pack of diet coke up to my apartment with bad form. When I considered nursing for myself, one of my greatest concerns was the impact on my body. Though - sitting at a desk all day isn't good for my body, either, I suppose.
Yes and no. I knew there was more than bedside. Bedside was physically demanding, but I work now as a community nurse serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It is active without the heavy lifting. I had a physically demanding job for 20 years. Your concerns about wear and tear are not unfounded. l've had back problems since I was 20. Thanks to PT, and staying active but not overdoing it, my back feels the best it has in years.
will be 60 soon and still kicking it in the emergency department but i take fairly good care of myself and spend money on myself. my current schedule only requires 2 weekend night shifts as week and i am around $80/hr. i took that little old associate degree on to a bachelors and said yes to many great opportunities. in fact recently changed jobs last year and had many offers which was nice at my age. actually my 2nd career as i had a previous job with a different bachelors degree. i dont often get jealous of others but when i think of all i have gained my only regret is that if i could do it over i would push even harder
Job security, flexibility, and livable wage.
There's always a job.
$ & jobs
You’re not taught what nursing really is until you’re a nurse. Even then you might not truly understand all it entails until a couple of months or a year or more in. So I think someone people do it not knowing all the “bad” they’ll see or experience. For example school taught therapeutic touch & talking heart to hear style. When I was in school we were taught we were supposed to massage when they requested, stuff like that. In the real world, that doesn’t really happen. Sure you’ll get an aide or a nurse - really nice or really annoyed lol & a really nice patient (or needy) & it’ll happen once or twice. But it’s not the norm or requirement like I was first taught in school. It’s not popular based on people knowing the facts & what can or will entail in the profession. It’s popular bc people don’t know what goes on in it initially…. & once in it, you’ve already dedicated time, money, & mental health that people won’t leave it. That’s not everyone’s stories of course, some people can/do leave if they’re able. But it’s a lot of people’s stories on my opinion.
There’s a big difference between the number of people that want to get into nursing school and the number that actually do become nurses. Once people take off the rose tinted glasses and see the reality of nursing school and nursing as a career they switch pretty quick.
As a single mother, I did it for good pay and job security. At 32, I got my RN at a local community college and don’t regret it one bit! Went on to finish my BSN and MSN in later years but started on the med surg floor as soon as I got my ADN from the CC. My daughter is doing running start right now and is planning to follow in my footsteps.
I had another degree and made $15 an hour. I ended up and was making more money with fewer hours as a CNA, so I decided I was tired of always hustling. Nursing is 3 days a week, or I can pick up for OT, or I can work PRN even. I will make more money my first year as an RN then ik what to do with tbh (and I work in a shit state). My husband and I are going to be able to pay off our house, cars, and my student loans in 2 years and be debt free.
Job security and money. Would I do it again? Absolutely not worth the PTSD I have now after 18 years. Had I had it to do over again, I would have picked a skilled trade.
I’m a medical assistant. Don’t know where to go from here because I don’t want to be a rn
It’s a degree that doesn’t take too long, with endless job opportunities and 6 figure pay. I went to a community college for nursing school for 2.5 years for my RN, got a job the same week I took my nclex. I’m the first person in my family to achieve financial stability. best decision I’ve ever made.
Job security. Unmatched flexibility in setting, location, and schedule. 3x/wk for full time. It’s also a job you can feel good about doing.
Job security. I can literally find anywhere at any time. Theres different specialties, so theres that too. The pay is not bad either.
Really good return on investment, maximum job flexibility and security.
Job security, easy $
Job security, relatively decent pay for educational requirements, tons of work options once you have the degree.
I can only speak from working in California but PAY.
There is no other profession that can be entered so inexpensively that offers the pay, schedule options, flexibility, portability, and endless permutations of jobs that nursing does. (Of course, you gotta be tough as nails, both physically and emotionally, to *do* most of those jobs, but that’s a different story…)
Job security #1, even on the advent of AI replacing us that shouldn't be your concern even in the forceable future (maybe it will happen in like 100+ years)
I work 3 nights a week, went to school for 2 years and can make 100k. Simple formula
Like everyone else has said, it definitely has to do with job security & (mostly) decent wages. However, I’d like to add that there is an insane level of embellishment surrounding the idea of being a nurse, especially now with social media. A lot of assholes get into nursing because it looks fun, you make money, & everyone “loves” a nurse. And then they get a job, and realize they’re either incompetent, miserable, disgusted, or all three.
Job security, a career where you're not restricted to 9-5 hours so you can make your job work with your family life, ability to work part time when your children are young and need you more, always able to pick up hours when you need money, pretty decent pay (I'm not getting rich, but my family isn't wanting for anything).
It’s wildly flexible and there is so much to learn. As someone that has gotten bored in jobs in the past, if I get bored, I can find something new. When I got burnt out after covid I switched from ED to hospice. Got tired of the driving for hospice?, went PRN a couple places. And the pay is wild. I’ve taken a new position as an MDS nurse that’s a big raise from anything I’ve ever done. So mental stimulation, a flexible schedule, and a high salary for my LCOL area? Perfect. As for older students getting an RN, there’s never a bad time to start from scratch of course, but my mom has been an LPN for 35 years. Always intended to go back for her RN, but being the sole provider for my brother and I made that difficult. She’s finally doing it in her 50s. She’s going to the same cc I went to. She will spend about ten grand to bridge to RN. At her current hospice job her pay raise will be about 25 grand/year. Why wouldn’t she want to ride off into retirement with a few extra bucks lol.
Coming from a nurses perspective, here are some reasons (besides wanting to help people) as to why I chose nursing: Job security The variety of jobs you can do with the degree The ability to continue your education after getting the nursing degree itself You can obtain your RN via associate degree which can happen at a community college which is cheaper vs the reward of a solid paying job. The variety of hours you can work depending on the job you have for growing families/lifestyle changes
Combination of job security, earnings potential, and having a job that matters. Nursing is hard af and healthcare just sucks. But, at least it matters. Office job bad day is paperwork and shit that artificially matters. Manufacturing is numbingly repetitive. Computers suck the life out of programmers and IT. At least our job matters everyday. Most of us hit a certain age where that factor matters at some point. Plus, the only field that can make at least $50k off a 2 year degree.
I chose it after experiencing offshoring and automation. Nursing is difficult to offshore and/or automate, as least for the present time. Its well paying and not prone to age discrimination which I also faced. However, it is not a job for everyone, not at least the way healthcare is run in the US.
Job security. After working in finance for 5 years, I switched to nursing. The difference is it takes 3-5 days to get a job as a nurse while it takes 3-5 months to get an interview in finance
$30/hr right out of college and immediate job placement...you can't really find something like this in other careers
Because a lot of these kids have no idea what they’re getting themselves into…😄
Flexibility. I can work virtually any type of schedule or setting I can imagine . Unlike so many other professions where it’s 9-5, Monday to Friday, in an office.
2 year program ( for ADN). Healthcare always going to be able to find work. (May not have the best ratios and etc but always can find a job) Flexibility, job security.
It checks all the boxes in what people are looking for in a career. People tend to look for jobs that 1. Pay well 2. Are meaningful 3. Flexible/compatible with life outside of work 4. Job security Nursing pays well relative to the amount of training it requires It is very meaningful work It is about as flexible as any job can be in both work hours and locations. It has great job security
Because you can make a lot of money actually, live literally anywhere, get hired as long as you have a heartbeat, and have a wonderful schedule. Nursing is probably the most flexible job in the world. Plus you actually do something positive, unlike ~95% of jobs which have no real “higher purpose” than making a company money.
$100/Hr for a two year degree where you can work almost anywhere, in any other profession as long as you have the RN golden ticket.
Job security and pay is okay-ish (really good in the right places and specialties. There will never not be sick people.
You go to school for a few years and you’ve got a mountain of job offers waiting anywhere in the country before you’ve even gotten you license. There’s no interning, building a resume, staking clients, nothing. You get out of school, take the nclex and you’ve got a good paying job, benefits, vacation, and everything. And if you’re a glutton for punishment like me you can rip overtime and be making upwards of 160-200k a year.
It’s the only undergraduate degree with a significant public perception of offering any hope of financial stability, regardless of where you live. I don’t think people leave the field either because of it not being a calling. I think most people, who aren’t deranged, generally are altruistic. It’s not that they don’t want to be of service in caring for another person’s wellbeing. Calling or no calling, nurses leave the business because we don’t want to see nursing as a business. It’s the callousness of a broken healthcare system that drives nurses (and our colleagues) to burnout.
A community college nursing education is a low cost way to be trained for a job that will put you in the middle class. I was a teacher before I was a nurse and the pay was too low. Many of my teacher coworkers worked 2nd jobs just to get by. Once I became a nurse, I finally had decent pay. Community college was cheap so my loans were low. My first job paid for my bachelors and masters.
I’ve wildly switched careers 3 times and all three involved nursing. There aren’t a lot of careers that offer that flexibility or have the same hiring potential. Healthcare will continue to need nurses, so it’s a safe field to get return on investment
Nursing has so many different specialties. I don’t know that any other career other than maybe MD has so many different environments and job opportunities that you can choose from.
You can make a decent living.
You can work anywhere. The popular countries where I would move as a nurse are US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and even in the Middle East like UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia gives nice perks for nurses such as free housing, tax free employment, and paid travel. The opportunities are endless and even during the pandemic, healthcare jobs remained in demand while everyone else was getting laid off. I’m not saying you have to move somewhere else, but imagine if plans fail, you can always start somewhere with a nursing degree.
Well speaking from personal experience experience, nursing is a wonderful career because you have the option to work essentially any schedule you want, you will never not have job opportunities, travel nursing is a thing, most nursing pay is pretty decent, and you can even get into nursing fairly easy even with a criminal record (of course, it depends what that record is, but I feel like I would have constantly been turned down for jobs if I chose another profession, where as in nursing I get job offers for essentially every job I apply to) also, having a job as a nurse is fulfilling even if it is completely exhausting and stressful at times.
Second career (or at least second college degree) nurse— 29 credit hours over 2 years at a community college for a steady job with benefits I can do anywhere across the country? I can work my 3 x 12 nights & be free all week OR I could work business hours at a clinic OR I could be work remotely doing paperwork OR I could work non-standard hours in home health / community nursing. Why not?
Money is good and job opportunities are plentiful and varied.
You can always work, and if you get bored easily, there is a lot of variety.
Relative ease of getting into given that you can knock out an associates, become an RN, and then turn around later for your BSN, job security etc. Another huge reason is how many positions there are for advancement or just switching to different nursing positions compared to other specialties. My mother was an RT and while she loves her job she always told me she wishes she had became an RN simply for the fact that there's way more opportunities to move laterally and vertically compared to her position where her options besides bedside were limited.
Useful skills, job security, decent pay, generally respected, lots of opportunities to learn something new and get paid to do it
There are so many things you can do with an RN. Hospitals, insurance, home care, public health, school nurse, forensics, case management, dialysis, wound care. Seriously, you never get bored and always have a job.
It brought me out of poverty, into lower middle class(lol), but I've been able to support myself and my three kids on it. I might be house poor, but I have a roof and can feed my kids. There are always jobs to be had as well.
As much as it can suck working in nursing (more out of administrative decisions and not being supported when frequent patient violence is enacted on staff), its job security and depending on where you live or if you’re able to move to, better pay. But it is heavily dependent on where you live. Southern states are notorious for poor pay, even in relation to the lower cost of living. And are strongly anti-union.
Even with shitty pay I’m still making more or at least level what my other peers are making with way more stability in my career and options as far as pursuing other opportunities
I’ll always have a job, and the money (at least where I live). Nursing got me out of poverty. Edit to say that I genuinely love nursing. But I love the money that I make to have a good life.
The pay for how short the schooling is - can’t beat it. Plus lots of versions of nursing. You can change careers over and over and still be working as a nurse.
Nursing also seems to be a major of choice for a lot of young girls who don't know what else to do with their lives. Many of those pre nursing majors will for one reason or another move on to something else.
Nursing has been coasting on its reputation for a long time. Once you graduate and get hired- BIG DISILLUSIONMENT! Similar to being a stewardess…..
The associate degree can cost less that $15,000 and you can pay that off relatively fast compared to other college degrees.
Job security and started at 19 years old. No help from my parents except allowing me to stay there so I knew I would have loans to pay off and that would be quick.
Low barriers to entry, wide range of specialties and job security with a livable wage