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Higher education

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Original poster

Nursing or teaching degree?

64 replies

Mrsknackered · 08/05/2017 12:10

I am really stuck deciding between the two.
I've always wanted to do something medical - for a while believed it was midwifery - but I'm leaning more towards nursing now with the possibility of specialising in neonatal in the future.
I think I'd be a 'good' teacher and obviously the hours are desirable but not sure if that's enough.
Any experiences of these degrees? Do you/did you enjoy? Did you go onto this profession after graduating?

DS1 will be in Reception when I'd start and DS2 will be 10 months.

OP posts:
PossumInAPearTree · 08/05/2017 12:14

Nursing is the most family unfriendly career ever unless you get a job away from the wards. All the teachers i know are stressed out their heads.

BackforGood · 08/05/2017 12:15

I think I'd be a 'good' teacher and obviously the hours are desirable

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha

MaryThorne · 08/05/2017 12:17

obviously the hours are desirable

Most teachers I know work upwards of 50 hours per week and for a significant proportion of the school holidays.

Pretendbookworm · 08/05/2017 12:17

I left my nursing degree halfway though but still working in healthcare. Honestly the lecturers used to joke about how the only reason you had exams was to make sure it qualified as a degree course. Most of your learning is practical based. If you picked mainly intellectual subjects at school which aren't related to science then teaching may be a better fit.

No nurse I work with ever leaves work on time and you certainly won't get paid for that time back.

You will have to work on the ward during your training unpaid. And yes, it is work. Student nurses spend a lot of time doing menial tasks as well as learning.

You will regularly work 12 hour shifts without a break.

Hours are usually 7am - 7pm or finishing as late as 10pm. Not very sociable which will make childcare hard.

I had the same choice and I left nursing and am now partway through my English degree to do teaching instead. At least I can sit down while I work.

Nursing is hard, physical manual work. Lots of nurses have back problems.

MissPricklePants · 08/05/2017 12:17

The hours teachers work aren't desirable at all!

StripeyZazie · 08/05/2017 12:20

You'd be nuts to do either. People are leaving both the NHS and teaching in droves.

What about something like physiotherapy? You'd have to train within NHS but at least you'd be able to work in other settings eventually.

EffieWilson · 08/05/2017 12:21

I'm not either but having had friends do both here's my two-penneth worth:

Teacher training is more family friendly than nursing training (shift work, often with limited/ no choice)

Nursing as a job is more family friendly than teaching as a job- teachers hours are fixed and dictated. Nurses have more options (although obviously some roles will have nightmare shifts)

Nurses seem happier with their work overall- I think this may to do with more options. So wards vs. community, opportunities to go for jobs with shift patterns that fit more in with your life etc..

I'm amazed that people still go in to teaching because it 'fits around the family'. It really doesn't. A decent allied health professional job (radiography, physio) done part time is WAY more family friendly.

Original poster
Mrsknackered · 08/05/2017 12:22

Sorry, poorly worded.
I meant more that teaching is more manageable childcare wise. In no way was I undermining the work that teachers do!

OP posts:
BreezyThursday · 08/05/2017 12:25

Regarding hours: as a teacher you will have lots of work to do at home and don't assume that you leave when school ends! Not by a long shot. Getting time off if you or kids sick is a lot more awkward than some other jobs. You will get holidays off (assuming you are working somewhere with same dates) but will still have work to do and be knackered anyway.

Original poster
Mrsknackered · 08/05/2017 12:28

Radiography isn't a bad idea at all. I think I have just enough points to study it.
I have little to no interest in physio.
In an ideal world I'd have a career sorted before children and would be a consultant by now. A girl can dream.

OP posts:
Pretendbookworm · 08/05/2017 12:28

I'm still working in the NHS and it is very very flexible. You can work for an agency easily where you pick your own hours and wards are so short staffed they almost always bend over backwards to please you with your shifts (not always, but they have to be flexible if you have children).

I work part time and my shifts are over in 2 days. But would I ever train as a nurse again? Hahahaa...

leccybill · 08/05/2017 12:29

You're looking at at least 2 hours work every evening with teaching. That's every single evening. After 'performing' all day at the front of the class. It's knackering.

Sidge · 08/05/2017 12:43

Only do your nursing training if you have rock solid childcare and an awful lot of family support.

The course is intense, punishing and the hours are shit. You will do time at uni, as well as time on placements and will need to work the same hours (largely) as your mentor which could be long shifts (8-8), nights, weekends, bank holidays etc. As well as studying, essays, assignments, presentations etc. You won't have the long uni holidays as you'll be on placement, some of which can be in the next county (depending where you are) so you'll struggle without your own car.

It's a very rewarding and worthwhile career with lots of exciting possibilities after qualifying but don't go into it lightly.

solittle · 08/05/2017 12:45

Speech and language therapy? (Not biased at all Wink )

CountryCaterpillar · 08/05/2017 12:48

Occupational therapy?

HarryBlackberry · 08/05/2017 12:49

I wouldn't really recommend teaching if you've got young children. I feel sad looking back that I missed out on almost every weekend with my daughter because I had to work both Saturdays and Sundays. Think carefully .

muckypup73 · 08/05/2017 12:50

I once worked with a teacher who sat there crying, because she had been reg working till 3 in the morning, she couldnt spend much time with her children either, she was absolutely exhausted, teachers dont just work 9-3, they work long hard hours. and they dont get to spend all the holidays relaxing, they spend it catching up on tonnes of jobs they have missed.

Skedaddled · 08/05/2017 12:51

Occupational therapy might be an idea, can be a mix between health and social care, and often involves teaching new skills.

Allhallowseve · 08/05/2017 13:17

Nurse training is intense however once qualified you have a choice of many different paths and hours to suit you.

bojorojo · 08/05/2017 13:17

I would also suggest speech therapy or occupational therapy as being more family friendly than nursing on a ward.

However, I am a governor of a primary school. Every teacher has children apart from our NQT. If you can manage the degree and the year as an NQT, there are job share opportunities. We have job share Deputy Heads and both the senior teachers are job shares. I know they all work hard, but there are flexible opportunities. They also love their jobs! Do not get put off by everyone on this thread being miserable and having tales of doom. I do not see that in our school and, with a largely feminine workforce, we aim to have family friendly policies as far as we can. Of course there is after class contact work: meetings, parents to see, lessons to plan, (and lots more) but not a single member of our staff has left to drop out of teaching. If you can join a well run school where you skills are valued, you can make teaching work with a family.

You could also look at early years or nursery nurse qualifications.

CountryCaterpillar · 08/05/2017 13:31

Wow bojo! Your school sounds very unusual. I'm a teacher and that's not the case around here. My children's schools have teachers regualrly leave for "work/life balance" that have small children. Mist teacher friends with small children are looking to leave across a variety of schools.

elisa2502 · 08/05/2017 13:35

I think I'd be a 'good' teacher and obviously the hours are desirable!!!!
*
*
Pahahahaha really???? Don't do it. It will take over your life and sap every little bit of confidence you ever had!

MollyHuaCha · 08/05/2017 14:01

When I returned to teaching after maternity leave, this was my routine:

Monday - Friday
06.15 Get up, breakfast, get baby ready
07.15 Leave house
07.30 Drop baby at nursery
07.50 Arrive at school, queue for photocopier
08.00 Meeting (4 days a week there were 08.00 meetings)
08.40 Prep classroom.
08.45 - 12.00 Teach (often no possibility for even a toilet break)
12.00 See individual students who needed extra help or 'a quiet word'
12.20 Lunch at desk whilst preparing for afternoon lessons
12.30 Run lunchtime club twice a week
13.00 - 15.30 Teach lessons
15.30 - 15.40 Gate duty (to ensure children left school premises safely)
15.40 Deal with queue of parents waiting at my classroom door
16.00 Marking, assessment, record keeping, preparation, putting up displays, ordering resources plus twice a week there were staff meetings from 16.00 - 17.00
17.40 Leave school (I was always one of the first)
18.00 Collect baby from nursery
18.15 Arrive home. Play with baby.
18.45 Baby's bath, story and bedtime routine
19.30 Prepare evening meal
20.00 Dinner and clear up
20.30 Prepare lesson plans for following day. Complete record keeping not managed in school day
21.30 Bath and bed

Saturdays: grocery shopping, laundry, housework.

Sundays: relax in morning, school paperwork in afternoon and evening.

muckypup73 · 08/05/2017 14:18

bojorojo,you are not a teacher!!!

BlueChairs · 08/05/2017 15:21

My friend does a nursing degree - she gets basically no money but does all the grunt work . Neither is an easy child friendly option

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