engineering vs nursing

[Anonymous]

I have two kids-one would make a great nurse but has another interest. The other wants to be an engineer and, while I think nurses are great and it’s a great field, that kid is very ill suited to be a nurse. Is that so hard to understand?

If you have a prospective nurse do you recognize it would be a bit of a heavy lift to make them be an engineer? It works both ways!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is going to a direct admit nursing school next Fall. She does understand the hard work required and low pay. I worry that she doesnt really understand, but it is a calling and she will be great.

Nursing schools are very very competitive these days, especially direct admit and esp and the schools this forum discusses. I do not agree that only B students go into nursing.

She likely will become a NP. What is the going rate if someone is in a private practice? I go to One Medical and only see NPs.

Also, what do nurses who work for various specialized Dr. offices make? I get that hospital work is among the lowest paying.

She also drawn to the fact that there is some flexibility down the road. Pharma sales, medical equipment sales, hospital admin, even the consulting firms hire nurses because of their lucrative medical consulting practices.

Anyone think this is wrong?

Nurses that work for doctor's offices (speciality or not) make less than hospital nurses. Doctor's office work is low paying because it's low skill level and has good hours so they can get away with paying nurses less.

NPs make a median of $120k in the US and in DC.

Was coming to post the same. Office nurses actually have the lowest pay out of anyone I know. Hospital nurses tend to be on the higher end of the nursing pay scale.

Even nurses who work for surgerical practices, say ortho or plastic surgery?

Yes. They probably make $30/hour. There is no secret high paying nursing job thats has great (9-5) hours. If there was, all nurses would want those jobs.
The better the hours, the worse the pay. Hospital nurses make more per hours because the work is exhausting and the shifts are long.

Holy cow. Why don't more nurses pivot to medical sales jobs (assuming they have the personality for it?)

Because:

1)They're not young and super attractive. It's not a stereotype: medical sales people are hot and young and very few are actually nurses or other healthcare professionals. They're attractive people who know just enough about a drug or a device to sell it.

2)They don't want a career in sales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WOAH.
You can't compare the 2 at all.

1) Nursing salaries are much higher in CA than anyplace else in the US because nurses are unionized there. An RN can easily make $200K doing hospital nursing. In DC it's more like $90K, in middle American it can be $60K. There are a LOT of nurses in California and the salaries are so inflated that they increase the average throughout the US. That's why the university with the highest post-grad salary in the US is a Cal-State one.

2)The average nursing salaries also include advanced practice nurses like NPs, midwives, and nurse anesthetists. These jobs all require master's or generally doctoral level degrees which cost an additional $150-250K in 2025. It used to be much cheaper to get a graduate degree in nursing (to become an NP, etc) but now the schools have increased their tuition to almost the level of medical schools.

Plus the skill set, personality, aptitude of nurses vs engineers is entirely different. I'm an RN, NP married to an engineer.

My daughter just started in Chicago. Makes 38/hr plus 4 at night (plus 2 on weekends). She'd aiming to make 100k this year with some overtime. Not bad for a 22 yr old with no advanced degree and not in CA.

But yes, but unless she retrains as an NP (and pays $150-250K in tuition) her salary will not increase much with time. It's not like she's going to be making $150K/year in a decade. There is no value to the hospital to do that and they won't. Hospitals don't give a sh$%T if you have 2 years of experience or 20 years. They pretty much pay the same because they can always find a nurse RN who will work for the lower wages.

You have to change job titles and unless you retrain as an NP or slowly make the creep up the management path (like $100K as an an assistant manager and then all the way up to director of nursing--being the top nurse at a hospital out of thousands for $400K) there is very little way to make more. And as soon as you move away from the bedside (to outpatient work, case management, public health, insurance company work, etc etc) your salary goes down and people want to pay you $80K because there are many nurses who will work for less because they want to get out of the hospital setting.

Those of us who are nurses bring up these issues all the time on these threads and DCUM posters who aren't nurses continue to insist that it's some hidden, fabulous pathway to high salaries. But it's not. It's a calling, it's an interesting career but it's not a very lucrative one.

Did these same jobs pay this same salary 10 years ago? No. The market is tight and wages increase.

Huh? Yes they did.

no, they didn't.
they are not starting nurses at the same salary as they were years ago.

[Anonymous]

I’ve seen insanely smart kids- SAT 1500+ and 12+ APs with all scored 5- choose direct admit nursing. Their sole purpose for getting a BSN is to eventually go to CRNA school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the appeal of engineering. Or most engineering. I see the issues with nursing - I'd be terrible. But I'm the child of an engineer and ho hum. I'd rather be an accountant.

I've worked around engineers. Unlike nursing they don't have much opportunity for advancement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve seen insanely smart kids- SAT 1500+ and 12+ APs with all scored 5- choose direct admit nursing. Their sole purpose for getting a BSN is to eventually go to CRNA school.

that is a valid path. for CRNA you have to workin high acuity for a few years then go to CRNA school which, i think, is 3 years.