I will be finishing my junior year of high school in a few months and I’m so stressed out! I understand you don’t need to know your major, but in my case, I kind of do. See, I am torn between being an education major (elementary) or a nursing major (BSN). Where I live, you don’t need to go away to a $30,000 a year school to get your BSN, but with education you kind of do because of the competition. So I sort of need to know, and my problem is that I absolutely cannot decide. My parents want me to be a nurse and I sort of do too but the thing that gets to me is the wacky schedule and the lack of respect. I love the job description, the pay, and the fulfillment you’d get from the job because I have a passion for helping others, but working nights, holidays, and weekends? I know you get used to it but I want a family one day and I feel like that’s just tough. Part of me also wants to be a teacher because I love kids and the whole aspect of education is awesome to me. Also, the schedule (Mon-Fri 7-3 but there is also the taking your work home aspect) The problem with teaching is the pay and lack of jobs. I know the pay isn’t terrible or anything, especially because you get summers off and lots of other days off too. Pay isn’t that big of a deal though, I’ve just heard horror stories of many ending up without jobs. These are two jobs that I have wanted to be since I was a little girl and it never occurred to me how hard this choice would end up being!! 
SO, my question is, what are the pros and cons of both? Could I go wrong with either? Would it be better to start out as a nursing major first or a education major and then maybe switch? Thank you for your help 
I’m afraid both programs are fairly sequenced, and you need to know, almost from the get-go, that you want one or the other. Our state school that specializes in preparing teachers tells students walking in that it’ll take 4.5 years (or 4 years and some summers). The state school that offers nursing? Unless you are one of the lucky few to snag a direct entry spot, it’s also 4.5 years. And there’s almost NO overlap between the two (maybe gen psych and a writing class).
I think, rather than focusing so much on the money and the job prospects, you need to focus more on what you want to do. My mom was a teacher. I am a teacher. It is a truly awesome job, and there have been times when teachers have been in short supply, although right now is not one of them. My daughter finishes her BSN next month. She has a job lined up, but she’s only one of 2 people in her cohort who do, and there were rejections as well as a “you’re hired!” The nursing shortage has been played up in the media, but getting a job as a new grad is tough. You don’t get to pick your specialty right out of the gate, and yes there are nights, weekends, 12 hr shifts that often run longer than 12 hours, patients and their families who are far less than grateful or even appreciative of your efforts. We’ve been shoe shopping and had to be very careful about “mesh” athletic shoes because my D finds herself trodding though bodily function messes more than she’d like. (That can happen with little kids, too, but the puddles are smaller.) The point I’m trying to make is that you have NO WAY of knowing what the job market will look like in 5 years, so please don’t pick a profession based on a perception of how easy it will be to get a job. If you want to be a nurse, be a nurse even if it’s tough for new grads to get a job. If you want to be a teacher, be a teacher. Bet you can find a job if you’re willing to go where the schools are hiring.
So, what do you WANT to study? If the training my daughter and I have received is any indication, the way we have been trained to think is very, very different. Do you love science? Because nursing is a science major. You’ll take anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, microbiology, chemistry, etc. Or do you love the psycho-social side of development? Although nurses are going to take some psychology, education is a lot more like the behavioral sciences. You’ll take courses in human development, learning theory, classroom management, disabilities, etc.
RN/MSN/ FNP here with over 20 years of experience in cardiac care, intensive care, ER and now 5 years as a family nurse practitioner. One of THE main reasons I have continued to work in healthcare is the complete flexibility of the job in regards to my family life. As the needs of my family have changed over the years, I have sought out various opportunities to flex my working world around my the needs of my family and I feel I have done a pretty good job. Working 12 hour shifts actually works pretty well when the kids are younger IF you have a good partner to do the parent thing while you are working. I have lots of colleagues who work just 2-3 shifts a week (or weekends only when the kids are really young) and then stay home with the little ones the rest of the week.
I won’t bore you with a step by step career outline but as my daughter has grown up I have changed positions to allow the maximum time at home and after school. Even as a nurse practitioner I have managed to find part-time roles where I can flex most of my time to allow for maximum time at home.
Nursing can be a wonderfully flexible career as long as you keep your options open, dive into nurse externships after graduation and get some aggressive intensive experience right off the bat. Once you have some good critical care experience your options are endless…you can work only as needed (much higher hourly rates); you can go into management or you can pursue a graduate degree. The science and critical thinking needed for nursing can be intense, so as the above poster mentioned it is a good idea to make sure you are wired that way and feel comfortable with making quick, high stakes decisions.