Career as a pediatrician or registered nurse?
Ive always has problems with making a decision on what career path I want to take. Mainly because I am lazy and and I cant be still when it comes to studying. So what can I do to help me study because I get bored to the point where my mind drifts off and I cant focus. I honesly dont do it on purpose..
And my main question is, what career path should I take? I looove working with kids and the mon-fri/9-5 life would be sooo convenient when my daughter starts school. That way I would be home with my family over the weekend... But then again, I hear RN's make more money and their schedules are more flexible, and there are tons of nursing homes and hospitals around.
If I could do both, I would.. Help me choose one
Comments
If you have trouble with studying dont waste your time on nursing school. I can't describe how much you have to read and study. Even moreso for doctors. Maybe try medical assisting. It is more hands on type of learning and you get to work in MD offices with kids. Even if you are a RN chances are you will just work with old sick people and there aren't many jobs working with kids. And RNs have to work mostly shift work - it sucks when you have small kids. Medical assistant is much more family friendly.
Furthermore, I would like to add that being a pediatrician, or a registered nurse (working with children,) does not mean that you will get to play with them. Some of these patients are quite ill, and some are dying. It is not your job function (as a nurse, to babysit them.)
But I think the most important thing is that you have admitted that you are lazy and you have a hard time focusing on your study – that will be a problem even for nursing school.
I realized this is not quite what you wanted to hear, but you need to really be realistic, like another answer has stated, that it will not be Monday to Friday 9 to 5 job either.
You really misunderstood when you stated that registered nurses make more money than a pediatrician. It is the other way around.
Maybe you should be evaluated for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
If you want to be either one - an RN or a Pediatrician - you need to be able to study. You cannot be lazy, or always procrastinate. You have to be able to sit down and read many chapters of hard, dense material and be able to understand the concepts. You need to write many papers. You need to spend time in clinical sites prior to your clinical days so you can research your patient's chart, then go home and write up notes on their illnesses, medications, treatments, tests, etc.
Also, if you think as a RN or as a doctor you will have a strictly 9-5 M-F job, you completely have an unrealistic expectation of what either of these professions require. RNs do have flexible schedules once you have many years of experience and can get some nice cushy job in a clinic, but most RNs work in facilities that are open 24/7, and everyone does their turn working weekends and holidays, and most new grads and those with little experience end up having to start off on the night shift.
Doctors might have some nice clinic hours, but they also cover hospital call, which means you are on-call for a 24 hr period (sometimes longer), so you could get called to the hospital at any time, you can get calls from nurses all night long for updates on your patients, etc.
Obviously many of us with families find that despite some of the perceived negatives, we love our jobs and find a way that makes it work for us. You just need to have realistic expectations, so do a little more research and soul searching and definitely figure out if you can handle between 3-4 years of school minimum for a RN, or 8+ years for medical school to become a doctor. You have to get your academic priorities straight first, and if you physically and mentally are unable to study, you need to be evaluated for ADD and other conditions which could affect your ability to learn.
You will not be in touch with the kids that much. You will instead be in touch with their parents in these careers. So the solution to getting "kid-time" is to have your own if that's what you want. Same is true for a nursery or L & D position.
either path is a good one but they all take a lot of studying