i need advice

surferboy

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so, i need to choose my classes for next semester, yah? but i'm confused as to what field i wanna go into. this semester's classes were pre-reqs in both. i'm debating between teaching and respiratory therapy, with nursing as my backup. the good news is, the pay is pretty much even.

Teaching
Pros: 3 month paid vaycay; don't work weekends; work "normal" hours; can join the JET program and teach in japan for a year or two; fairly easy to get a job anywhere

cons: people say students don't respect teachers the way they deserve; charges brought up against teachers are usually automatically assumed to be true, with the school forcing said teacher into resigning; has a state licensing system


Respisitory Therapy
Pros: i can be done with school in just two years; very easy to get a job anywhere; only have to work 3 days out of the week; has a national licensing system

Cons: the program only accepts 30 new students a year (hence nursing as a backup; the pre-reqs are the same); involves a lot of sciences, such as A&P and chemistry; starting out can mean a lot of overnight shifts


Nursing
Pros: done with school in just 2 years, very easy to get a job anywhere; only have to work 3 days a week; has a national licensing system

Cons: have to clean up patient's shit (literally!); involves a lot of sciences, starting out means a lot of overnight shifts; nursing has a "gay stereotype" associated with it


and here's the salary break down:

certified RT: 1,332.84

Bi-weekly Gross Pay $ 1,935.05
Federal Withholding $ 325.19
Social Security $ 119.97
Medicare $ 28.06
Hawaii $ 128.99



registered RT: 1,558.37

Bi-weekly Gross Pay $ 2,312.50
Federal Withholding $ 419.55
Social Security $ 143.38
Medicare $ 33.53
Hawaii $ 157.67



high school teacher: 1,486.17

Bi-weekly Gross Pay $ 2,191.66
Federal Withholding $ 389.34
Social Security $ 135.88
Medicare $ 31.78
Hawaii $ 148.49



staff nurse: 1,723.73

Bi-weekly Gross Pay $ 2,589.25
Federal Withholding $ 488.74
Social Security $ 160.53
Medicare $ 37.54
Hawaii $ 178.71


so, what's your advice, peoples of lpsg?
 

Mem

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Nursing is always good work. With the population getting older it is more in need. I casually knew of a traveling female nurse that made amazing money and lived rent free in a fancy highrise in Jersey City ($3000 a month rent) . Her daughter was pursuing acting in NYC and that was a short PATH train ride away. You can go to different places and choose a contract for say 6 months. A long time ago I knew a girl who was a respiratory therapist and she made amazing money.
 

jason_els

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Nursing! You will make more money more quickly. As a registered nurse you will not be cleaning-up much shit. That's for nursing assistants and candy stripers. Real RNs are needed to doing more essential work.

I have a friend who just graduated nursing last year and already he's making nearly twice what he was offered just by working voluntary overtime. He's working in ICU but would prefer ER. Those are good areas but if you can handle being a surgical nurse, you can clear over 100k a year easily in a relatively short time.

Teaching's a noble profession but it's also one of the most political. Many teachers feel pulled by parents, school boards, the union, kids, and an overwhelming sense that what they're doing is never enough. Teaching is tough and unless you become a professor, you won't be making what you will as a nurse over the entire course of your career.
 

bstexas

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First I would think, do you even like sciences enough to make the grades? I guess you do since you may be pursuing degrees involving them. Also, have you considered the health benefits with these jobs? You might get better benefits in health care than in the public school systems, don't know.

You have me here ... why only 30 new RTs a year? You mean at a certain training facility in South Florida or where? Can't be nationwide. Right?

I live in Houston and we have the largest medical center in the world. They are in the middle of a big $1 billion capital plan building new 30-40 floor hospitals and office buildings, adding to their medical schools and universities, almost 75,000 employees (33,150 full time students and 75,000 part time students), 10,000+ &#8211; M.D.s, Ph.D.s and other doctorates, 26,000+ Registered nurses, LVN's, clinical caregivers, technicians, and medical support staff and there is STILL a shortage of medical personnel.

I'm sure being a teacher will be rewarding, but it might be even more rewarding to be in the medical field. You can work a few days a week and make a full week's pay. My sister in law works in the emergency room 5 days a week and my brother works three 12 hours days (Tue, Wed, Thur). Gotta be some good payback from it.
 
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curious n str8

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Both are noble careers. Teaching to get to influence and shape today's youth. While nursing to get to help the sick and in-turned. I guess it all depends how compassionate and giving you are. Both can be thankless jobs. If you were to teach what subject would you teach and how old of students would you like to teach? I myself am thinking of becoming a CNA or PCA. I just feel that I would be giving back more in the nursing profession. Also with nursing you can always go on to become a DR or a PA. I know up here in the big AK nurses make more. While it harder to find a teaching position. WEll good luck in what ever you choose. BTW your profile says 30% Gay lol.
 

surferboy

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You have me here ... why only 30 new RTs a year? You mean at a certain training facility in South Florida or where? Can't be nationwide. Right?
30 freshman are accepting into the program per year at my college.



If you were to teach what subject would you teach and how old of students would you like to teach?
i wanna teach american history. i'd be teaching high school. maybe even become a professor and teach american history along with hawai'ian history and culture.



BTW your profile says 30% Gay lol.
i'm fully aware brah haha. but it's hard to place a % on my attractions. to be honest, the most i've ever done with a guy was made out. once. on a dare. but i don't beleive in the 1% gay or 1% straight thing. i really should change it to like, 10%, i guess...but it's an issue with nursing because, if i wanna go lookin for a chick, yah? and i'm all "i'm a nurse" they might be all "wow, that means you're gay!"

and there's nothing wrong with gay peoples. i love my gay and lesbian friends. but if i'm out lookin for a chick, i don't wanna be labeled as gay. because, once that happens at that location, you're labeled gay for the night. however, i've been asking a lot of my female friends, and even some customers where i work, and they said they wouldn't assume i'm gay if i said i was a nurse. most of them are all "the only thing i hear is 'i have a job that gets paid!'"


Brah do what makes you happy. After all this is your life.

yah brah, problem is that any of those careers would make me happy. also, mahalo for talkin to me ni partial pidgin =)
 

OldPArtner

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I would recommend nursing or respiratory therapy because teachers are treated like pinko monsters-in-waiting.

Unless you are planning to become a professor, in which case you will need to major in the area you will be teaching in (or a related field) and then get into one of the better graduate schools and make it through that trial-by-fire.
I mean profs are also accused of being pinkos, but they're treated better and nobody fears child rapists running the unis.
 
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surferboy

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I would recommend nursing because teachers are treated like pinko monsters-in-waiting.

my step dad (who i love and respect as a biological father) says he doesn't wanna see me get diss'd like that. he also thinks they don't make enough money, which is why he'd rather see me in the medical field, yah? but as i've shown, there's not much difference in salaries, yah?
 

lucky8

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My advice, is to take some classes in each field, and which ever one interests you the most and you can really see yourself doing for awhile, dedicate yourself, and go for it. Save yourself the trouble and decide as soon as possible though or else you'll get behind and end up like me...2 semseters behind. But also keep in mind if you don't like what you choose, you can change it down the road, or go back to school after you work a fews years if you want a different major. Life isn't that short...usually
 

OldPArtner

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my step dad (who i love and respect as a biological father) says he doesn't wanna see me get diss'd like that. he also thinks they don't make enough money, which is why he'd rather see me in the medical field, yah? but as i've shown, there's not much difference in salaries, yah?
Still it's funny, nobody's afraid that nurses are going to rape their patients, even though they are in much closer contact with them...
 

surferboy

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going back to my cons on teaching...

there was this one report on how a teacher was fired for having a myspace. it was set to private. the school said he could use it to "pick up and sexually molest high school students" which is so fucked up.

and another report said that there were these two teachers that were married, yah? and they went to some kind of sex club (nothin too bad). but they were forced to resign because some parents found out through city link or one of those local kine newspapers. one of the city link photogs had taken their picture for that section where they go to clubs to show peoples how the scene is. the parents were like "they're going to tell their students about it and preach this kind of sexual deviance!"


and lucky, i don't wanna waste time. i need to like, decide now. i wanna move back to o'ahu
 

killerb

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the problem is that i like them all

in that case, get the nursing degree...with it, you can either work as a nurse or enter the business world with that background...either in the pharmaceutical industry or medical communications or something related.
 

surferboy

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in that case, get the nursing degree...with it, you can either work as a nurse or enter the business world with that background...either in the pharmaceutical industry or medical communications or something related.

i'm against the pharmaceutical industry in a way actually haha, odd for someone that wants for go into the medical field, yah? but they over charge for meds so bad it's ridiculous. i fully understand that the nerdy scientist kine guys need for get paid. but when you're charging over 1,000 for like, 5 pills, then something is wrong
 

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yes, it's a bit odd...considering you wouldn't mind working in a hospital, which also overcharges patients by ridiculous amounts...

but at least you have your convictions...I have no doubt that you'll succeed at whatever you choose.:fing02:
 

surferboy

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yes, it's a bit odd...considering you wouldn't mind working in a hospital, which also overcharges patients by ridiculous amounts...

but at least you have your convictions...I have no doubt that you'll succeed at whatever you choose.:fing02:

yah, hospitals charge ridiculous amounts. i think my strongest convictions are towards insurance companies. i fuckin love how high school drop outs think they know more about medicine than doctors.

"oh no, dr. smith, your patient doesn't need those meds!"
"yes she does, she has cancer and she needs those meds so that she can beat it!"
"no dr. smith. it's too expensive, so, therefore, those meds aren't medically necessary"

and mahalo for the vote of confidence =)