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Anonymous

Should I go into nursing just for the money/to please my parents?

Right now, I'm a high school senior and am under enormous pressure about college. (Quite honestly, I just want to get a full-time job at Walmart after high school. I'm okay living with a roommate or two until I become better established. I feel the vast majority of women get degrees then become stay at home parents later on in life anyways.)

My dad is really stressing me out about going into nursing. He and my mom keep saying "Go check out what community colleges offer. A 2 year degree in nursing could get you a job paying $50k/year!!!" I've spoken to some nurses and most of them tell me the job is highly stressful and isn't as easy as what people think.

Also, please don't tell me to go be a medical assistant. I've seen postings on Indeed for jobs even with an associate's degree that only pay $12/hour. ...Idk. Should I just go into nursing to please my parents/have something to fall back on even if I don't use my degree? 

9 Answers

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  • ?
    Lv 6
    2 weeks ago
    Favourite answer

    I would offer that its almost never a good idea to enter any career simply because others are pressuring you to do so.  That would be especially true for positions such as nursing, in which an unmotivated or disinterested person could cause true harm.  If someone doesn't want to be a nurse, they should not be a nurse.  That being said, you should plan on some kind of career.  

    Ronald Reagan regularly used to comment upon how families need 2 wages earners to get by, and that was back in the 1980s. Decades of creeping inflation and low wage growth have made that even more true today.  If Walmart interests you, for example, you might want to look into a career in retail management.  

  • Anonymous
    1 week ago

    Doctors can always dig ditches, but ditchdiggers can not become doctors.

    Same deal for Walmart. An RN can always work there, but none of them there can be Nurses.

    Right now your mind is in the "schooling zone"  You still can LEARN.  The older you get the harder it gets because you have forgotten the early years of Biology and Chemistry and mathematics(I don't know the requirements to be a nurse but it is something like that)  So you take the training while your mind still has that knowledge FRESH(near the hair of the scalp)not near the hair of the butt.(=the deep recesses of the mind)

    Wally is hiring them as fast as it fires them. You will barely survive.

  • fcas80
    Lv 7
    1 week ago

    You should not choose a career based on pleasing your parents.

    If you are not ready to go to college, then yes get a job at Walmart while you decide what you want to do.

    And by the way, a 2 year community college associate degree is not going to qualify you as a nurse.

  • 1 week ago

    No.  Don't go into nursing if that isn't what you're passionate about, but I do suggest you aim higher than working full-time at Wal-mart.  Think of your life 5, 10, 20 years down the road.  Do you think that is where you want to be?  If you do strive to be a stay at home parent, by all means, do it.  I did it, but not until I was 32.  Before then, I got my degree, worked at a well-paying job, got married, had kids and then became a widow at age 40.  Guess what I needed?  A job that would support me and my kids.  If I didn't have a degree, I wouldn't have been able to do that.  Find something that interests you and get a degree...2 year, 4 year, masters....whatever you want, but have something to fall back on.

  • MS
    Lv 7
    2 weeks ago

    Do what you want to do, but research shows that the "vast majority" of women actually go back to work after having their children, so your logic is a bit flawed. 

    Nursing is a stressful job.  You should go into nursing if you have an interest in it, are a people person, can handle the stress and pace, etc.  You should not go into nursing just because it sounds like it makes some good money.  You should not go into any job just "for the money" or to appease your parents.

    There are other jobs in the medical field - many community colleges offer 2-year degrees in areas such as sonography and radiography, which would allow you to work doing ultrasounds, x-rays, etc.  Those are pretty well-paying jobs with room for advancement.

  • drip
    Lv 7
    2 weeks ago

    Yes nursing is very hard job. And the program isn’t easy.  You really got to want to do it.

    See what your community college offers. There are many two year career programs. Something may spark your interest.

    It would be better to get a job at a factory. Pay is better and benefits can be very decent. Many hire through a temp agency. 

    You may want to take one class a semester. English, speech, a math class at your CC. Something to still keep up the academics. 

  • 2 weeks ago

    I think you're living in a dream world. Very few women are stay-at-home moms these days. Unless you marry a very wealthy man (and how are you going to meet him at Walmart?) you'll need to work to support the family. You MIGHT be able to take a few years off when you have a baby. LPNs, by the way, don't make $50K. RNs do well, but it has to be what you want to do. You have to want to work with people, even people who are sick and difficult, you have to be patient, and you have to be smart and figure out what's going on with patients. There's a nurse in my family- she loves what she does, and she's very good at it. But she went into it because she wanted to. She also has a degree in math and could have done many other things, most of which would have paid more. Think about what you like doing and what kind of life you want to have. Standing at a cash register at Walmart is going to get old after a while- and it's likely that automation is going to phase out most of those jobs. Try to think of something that can't be done by a computer.

  • 2 weeks ago

    i think you should do what you want to do

  • 2 weeks ago

    nursing is a good career, pharmacist is a better career anything that you get certified in ...in the health field is a good career. Getting a full time job is nice, but when you do decide to marry and your hubby dies or cheats and you divorce, having something to fall back on is wonderful. Not saying it will happen, but its better to get your certificate now instead of later. I am talking from experience.

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