You should consider making the teacher to nurse career change because education skills translate well to nursing. You’ll also still be able to help kids while potentially earning a higher income with career advancement opportunities. You can get started sooner with an accelerated nursing program.
Teachers often choose their profession because they enjoy working with kids and value education. As rewarding as the teaching profession can be, it comes with challenges that could lead some teachers to consider a career change. If you’re thinking about transitioning from education, consider making a teacher to nurse career change by earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree.
The pathway from teacher to nurse can happen in as few as 16 months upon successful completion of prerequisites, thanks to the Concordia University, St. Paul’s Accelerated BSN (ABSN) program. With three start dates a year, we have the capacity to enroll more students, so you can start working toward your career transition even sooner.
If you’re still wondering, “Should I be a nurse or a teacher?” You might consider factors like skills transfer, job duties and work environments.
What is the accelerated nursing program like? Learn what to expect at Concordia University, St. Paul.
Should I Be a Nurse or a Teacher?
As a teacher, you understand the value of planning and carefully considering your choices. Before deciding whether being a teacher or nurse suits you best, you’ll want to compare these career path options.
Teacher vs. Nurse: Comparing Your Choices
Your happiness at work is influenced in part by the people with whom you interact daily. One factor to consider when making your choice is the people around you. As a teacher, you may primarily interact with children, teenagers or adults depending on your role. You also interact with fellow teachers, guidance counselors, administrators, other staff members and parents.
Many nurses interact with a diverse range of populations daily, as well as their loved ones. Some nurses, however, focus their practice on a specific patient population, such as adult-gerontology or neonatal nursing. In addition, nurses regularly interact with other nurses, physicians, medical technicians and administrators.
As you consider the merits of teaching vs. nursing, compare these additional points:
| Teachers | Nurses | |
|---|---|---|
| Job Duties | Plan and deliver lessons, create and grade assignments and tests, decorate classrooms, attend faculty meetings and meet with parents | Assess patients, develop and contribute to care plans, administer medications and other treatments, operate medical equipment, record vital signs and provide patient education |
| Schedule | Typically work 8-9 hours/day, often working paid or unpaid hours beyond the school day to grade assignments, plan lessons and attend meetings or professional development training | May work a traditional 8-hour/5-day per week schedule or may work 10- or 12-hour shifts with fewer days per work week |
| Work Environment | Public or private preschools or K-12 schools | Highly diverse, with options including hospitals, doctor’s offices, clinics, rehabilitation centers, insurance companies, schools, emergency medical evacuation flights, urgent care centers, dialysis centers, oncology treatment programs, public health agencies, nursing education programs and others |
1. You Can Transition to Nursing Quickly
With accelerated nursing programs, it isn’t necessary to go back to school for another four years to enter a new career path in nursing. The ABSN program at Concordia University, St. Paul helps eligible students earn their degree in as few as 16 months.
Should you consider relocating for nursing school? Learn about moving to Minnesota for the ABSN program.
Our ABSN program consists of four semesters, delivering a curriculum consisting of:
- Online accelerated nursing coursework with greater flexibility and instructor support
- On-campus nursing skills labs developing nursing techniques and clinical judgment
- In-hospital clinical learning experiences with the opportunity to deliver care to patients
This hybrid approach thoroughly prepares students to sit for the NCLEX-RN licensure examination. If you have a prior non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 54 non-nursing college credits, you may be eligible for the ABSN program. Because you already have a teaching degree, you’ll likely have already met this requirement, so it’ll just be a matter of taking any remaining prerequisite courses before you start nursing school.
2. You Already Have Useful Nursing Skills
Now that you have a general idea of the differences between teaching vs. nursing, what are the reasons to consider making a teacher to nurse career change? One compelling reason to make the switch is the crossover in career skills.
Going into nursing school, teachers already have many of the soft skills nurses use every day, including the following:
Resourcefulness and Problem Solving
Teachers have to find new and engaging ways to talk to a room full of different students and bring them all into a lesson. As such, teachers come to nursing with the resourcefulness to find unique solutions to a variety of complex problems. Human beings are complex, physically, mentally and spiritually, and their illnesses may require a care plan that takes each aspect of identity into account.
Stress Management
Sometimes, teachers must also handle defiant students who test the bounds of classroom management skills. Over time, teachers tend to develop strong skills in stress management, both for themselves and for their students.
This teaching skill becomes useful when working in high-stress nursing situations. Between helping patients in pain and soothing their worried family members, your ability to understand and redirect emotional energy helps your team treat patients more effectively.
Mentoring & Teaching
Nursing is a career focused on lifelong learning, and your talent for teaching can help you guide peers while in the nursing program. In your nursing career, you’ll be able to incorporate teaching skills into conversations with patients and other members of the care team.
If, after working as a nurse for a while, you decide you’d like to combine your love of teaching and nursing, you could pursue a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree. This may allow you to become a nurse educator.
Communication
Teachers and nurses both must be strong communicators. Establishing rapport and trust can help you in your work, especially with pediatric patients.
Good communication is also important within the healthcare team. As a nurse, you’ll collaborate with other healthcare professionals daily.
3. You Can Still Help Kids
If you’re a teacher, you may have a passion for working with children. Influencing the younger generation in a positive way is something you can also do as a nurse. Pediatric nurses, for example, build strong bonds with their patients and with the child’s families.
Nurses also may act as advocates for children by ensuring they have healthy home lives. Nurses protect kids and keep them safe while also giving them the support they need to bounce back from challenging health situations.
4. You’ll Earn a Comfortable Income
Another reason to change from teacher to nurse is that nurses benefit from having competitive compensation rates, with a median annual salary of $86,070 per year as of May 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This is well above the median annual salary of $63,670 for kindergarten and elementary school teachers.
5. You’ll Have Excellent Growth Potential
Teachers often find it challenging to grow and advance in their careers over time. Nursing, however, offers many opportunities for growth.
If you enjoy clinical nursing, you can specialize and earn certifications in your nursing specialty. If you desire even more responsibility, you can earn a graduate degree and pursue working as a nurse educator or an advanced practice nursing role, such as a nurse scientist, nurse practitioner, nurse midwife or nurse anesthetist. These roles come with a significant pay boost, with a median annual salary of $129,480 as of May 2023, according to the BLS. Other career advancement possibilities include moving into roles away from clinical care, such as nurse manager, healthcare administrator or nurse educator.
Want to become a nurse practitioner? Explore the career pathway.
6. You Can Still Make a Difference
When you make the career change to nursing, you’ll be able to make a tangible difference in patients’ lives every day. In teaching, you often don’t get to see an immediate impact, but with nursing, you’ll get to watch as your patients recover and rebuild strength.
Make the Change From Teacher to Nurse Today
At Concordia University, St. Paul, you’ll benefit from dedicated nursing instructors who are eager to support your progress, as well as a comprehensive curriculum with interactive coursework and experiential learning opportunities. Our curriculum is designed to teach future nurses how to serve the needs of a culturally diverse population while keeping Christian values in mind.
Contact our admissions advisors today to get started. Your advisor will walk you through the application process step by step.