To think studying something you enjoy is not 'wasting your brains'

[Clothrabbit]

A colleague has a daughter who will be leaving school next Summer. She is extremely bright and is expected to do very well in her A Levels.

She really wants to be a nurse and go on to train as a midwife. Her mother and some colleagues who were chatting about it this morning are tutting about the fact that she would have no problem getting into a good University to study Medicine or Pharmacy or Radiotherapy or Physiotherapy and it's a shame she's 'wasting her brains' doing nursing.

AIBU to think (apart from the fact that nursing is an important job that requires lots of intelligence) that doing something you enjoy and really want to do is not 'wasting your brains'.

Of course she isn't wasting her brain, I would think she hasn't thought long term about her career.

Does she want to have DC? What type of lifestyle does she want during her working life?

Nursing is a good degree to have and she can always go back and train to be a doctor, physio, do research, become a midwife etc etc. I would have thought midwifery is the most awful choice of career for someone who wants DC in the future. During those early years it's very very difficult to manage a career like that without lots of family support close by. The early years extends 10 years IME. My obn who delivered my babies struggled a lot raising her 2DC as she was always working around the clock. She started at 7am and often worked to midnight during the week. Really hard to keep that up when you have 2 kids under 2!

Personally out of all the options you listed I would be seriously considering pharmacy. Very good opportunities to set your own schedule, be an employer or an employee, work for the NHS or a private company like Boots.

I think it's a shame that a young woman who has the capacity to be a doctor want's to be a nurse. How many young men in the same position would make that choice?

That doesn't mean I don't value nurses.

I wish someone had told me I was wasting my brains, I've been in nursing since 1986.

Craft

Being a nurse and being a doctor are two totally different things.

What a snobbish attitude. What's wrong with being a nurse? (I'm not btw)

"I think it's a shame that a young woman who has the capacity to be a doctor want's to be a nurse. How many young men in the same position would make that choice?

That doesn't mean I don't value nurses."

It does mean you don't value nurses, actually. And it certainly means you don't understand nursing so shouldn't really comment! Medicine is not an advanced version of nursing for cleverer people, it is a completely different profession. And your gender comment is totally sexist. I know many highly intelligent male nurses.

OP, YANBU. Nurses with strong academic intelligence can take that wherever they want to. It's exciting! She might want to go into nursing leadership or research or specialist nursing or advanced clinical practice or education. The profession needs highly intelligent critical thinkers who can improve nursing care and who are proactive and passionate about developing themselves. How demeaning and depressing to read that so many people see nursing as medicine for thickies

*Craft

Being a nurse and being a doctor are two totally different things.*

Well there are more nurses than doctors, which tells me that it's an easier option. Not worse, but easier. Most doctors could become a nurse, but few nurses could become a doctor.

And I'll ask again, how many young men, with the grades to get to med school to become a doctor, decide to become nurses? That'll be next to none.

Why is that?

She really wants to be a nurse and go on to train as a midwife

Does she know that you don't have to be a nurse first and that you can do direct-entry midwifery training?

Anyway, whilst I agree that nursing can be intellectually rewarding, in general it is probably less so than medicine (I'd put physiotherapy, radiotherapy and probably pharmacy in the same bracket as nursing). You don't need lots of intelligence to be a nurse - lots are highly intelligent, but it's not a prerequisite. I'd worry that a very bright young woman would be quickly bored by nursing.

Your career options and earning potential are also likely to be significantly reduced compared with medicine, not to mention that both attract the same university tuition fees per year.

I wouldn't say nursing is a waste of brains exactly, but it's not meeting your academic potential really. As someone else said, I've never heard of a boy choosing nursing over medicine.

What a snobbish attitude. What's wrong with being a nurse?

Nothing. There's also nothing wrong with digging holes in the road for the gas board. But if my child had the capacity to be an in house lawyer for the gas board, or an accountant for the gas board, I'd be disappointed if they chose the hole digging option.

"Well there are more nurses than doctors, which tells me that it's an easier option. Not worse, but easier. Most doctors could become a nurse, but few nurses could become a doctor."

They are two totally different types of vocations. A lot of doctors would make terrible nurses because they would not have the right personality and innate ability for the job. Being a doctor is an 'easier' option for someone who really wants to be a doctor, than nursing would be.

AIBU to think (apart from the fact that nursing is an important job that requires lots of intelligence) that doing something you enjoy and really want to do is not 'wasting your brains'.

Whilst I agree, there has been a lot of devaluing of degrees, even the often famed RG degree is not a guarantee of a job.

The landscape is vastly different now than what it was even 10 years ago, and now with going to Uni seen as a must they have to have an eye on the future.

'Not meeting academic potential'?

I'm doing a masters and plan to go on to do a PHd eventually. I've deliberately chosen nursing jobs that require a high level of critical thinking and complex decision making and there are plenty of those about.

There are more nurses than doctors around because you need more nurses than doctors.

I can't believe how insulting some of these comments are! People clearly have a very skewed view of what nursing is

They are definitely unreasonable but also stupid that they think radiographers or physiotherapists are somehow better off than nurses. It's the same pay scales with way less opportunities.

Anyway, whilst I agree that nursing can be intellectually rewarding, in general it is probably less so than medicine (I'd put physiotherapy, radiotherapy and probably pharmacy in the same bracket as nursing).

Pharmacy is more intellectually challenging than nursing.

I'd worry that a very bright young woman would be quickly bored by nursing.

My bright sister is a nurse. She has worked with Medicin Sans Frontiers, has specialised in clinical research, and now works as a nursing lecturer.

There are plenty of challenging options for 'bright young women' within the field of nursing.

I agree that it isn't a waste if she enjoys it but it seems that many nurses really do not. You could say the same about doctors but at least they are paid relatively well.

nurses can't be replaced by ArtificiaI Intelligence, doctors can and even in these relatively early stages of development, technology is doing a better job!

You don't need lots of intelligence to be a nurse - lots are highly intelligent, but it's not a prerequisite. I'd worry that a very bright young woman would be quickly bored by nursing.

How incredibly ignorant. Also incorrect.

As a HCP and a nurse by background I am at the idea that nursing is wasting your brains.

On a different note, I would strongly advise her to get some advice on the best way to get into midwifery. Competition can be fierce and as a PP has said it is direct entry now. Not to say she shouldn’t be a nurse first at all but she needs to research how easy it is to do midwifery once she has done nursing. She may be better going straight for midwifery and I would strongly advise her to check that (if you are in a position to do so).

There are more nurses than doctors around because you need more nurses than doctors.

So many people who could be doctors opt for nursing because there are more job opportunities?? Errr...yeah...right.

I know 2 nurses who have retained and become doctors. I know no doctors who retrained to become nurses. If the 2 jobs are on a par, why would that be?

I'd be proud if any of my kids had become nurses. Unless they could have become doctors, then I'd be supportive, but disappointed in their choice..

nurses can't be replaced by ArtificiaI Intelligence, doctors can and even in these relatively early stages of development, technology is doing a better job!

Interesting idea. I think that they are a long way from being replaced though and when they are we could probably all be, including nurses.

I'm on the last hurdle of a nursing degree, and it is no walk in the park believe me!
Most the doctors I've met wouldn't manage nursing, they have poor interpersonal skills, many lack empathy and my last placement I had to show a junior doctor how to carry out an ECG! You do all realise that wards are run by nurses almost entirely? As are clinics, community care etc?

As a midwife I'd be hugely offended if someone told me I was wasting my brains, despite getting all As and A*s at GCSE and A-level. The amount of knowledge and skill needed is huge, and my training reflects that. We are autonomous practitioners.

I too would recommend looking into direct entry midwifery if that's what she wants to end up doing. Very very few universities are offering the short course nowadays so she may do her nursing degree then end up struggling to find a conversion course, meaning a further 3 years in uni if she chose to pursue it still.

*I think it's a shame that a young woman who has the capacity to be a doctor want's to be a nurse. How many young men in the same position would make that choice?

That doesn't mean I don't value nurses.*

Id beg to differ if you’re suggesting that the only reason anyone becomes a nurse is because they couldn’t become a doctor.

As someone else said, I've never heard of a boy choosing nursing over medicine.

But is this girl choosing nursing over medicine - or just choosing nursing, full stop? Did I choose marketing over account management, or just choose the kind of job I wanted?

I had the grades, the ability and the (very real) option to do medicine. I chose nursing. However, if I had my time again I wouldn’t chose either!