So I’ve completed about 2 years of college doing pre reqs for nursing and I knew almost immediately that nursing is just not for me. I opened up to my mom after my first year and told her that I think I want to look at different careers in healthcare like dental hygiene which is still my top choice. She was so mad and basically said that if I switch my major then I’m completely on my own and when I tried to explain how unhappy I was with that major I just got guilt tripped and felt forced into staying with nursing. I’m now working at a hospital as a CNA and I hate it I’m so unhappy and I know for a fact I don’t want to be a nurse and that I want to pursue dental hygiene but I know that my mom will be really mad. It’s also looking like it will be at least 6 years to obtain my BSN instead of 2 years to get my bachelor’s in dental hygiene. I just don’t know what to do and need some advice lol
Why specifically does your mom want you to work in nursing? Job security? Pay?
Can you show her those are also available in dental hygiene. My friend has been a hygienist for 30 years. She just completed her Bachelor”s in dental hygiene at 50+. You don’t necessarily need a bachelors degree.
I will say, In our area, with all her years of experience and now her degree, she earns nearly the same as a recent grad. So there is not a lot of growth in long-term earning potential based on her experience.
Is your mom paying for college? Is she willing to pay for 4 more years? Are you graduating with debt?
It might be helpful to investigate career options for those with each degree.
What got you into nursing in the first place? What don’t you like about it now? What do you think you want to do instead?
I am sorry you are in this position, but it seems you can’t afford to pay for college on your own, you might be past the point where changing majors might mean not graduating in four years, and it is likely you will be better off in the long run with a college degree. Not all nurses work in hospitals (if that is specifically the part you don’t like). You could work in a doctor’s office, a pediatric office, in a school, a nursing home, or even teach, and I am probably not covering the half of it.
I’m not sure getting a degree in Dental Hygiene is worth the investment, except for general culture and learning for leqrning’s sake. There aren’t many stable, well paid positions in that field, and as mentioned above, not much of an opportunity to get promoted or earn more.
Would you be interested in more specialized branches of nursing?
Or in other fields (education? Dentist?..)
What’s your current GPA?
If you google dental hygienist salary, the salary looks pretty good and job openings are expected to grow faster than average in the future. I suggest to OP that he or she show her mother data on salary and puts together a chart showing the number of courses left for either degree. And consider doing some observations or working part time in a dental office.
OP, one place to show your mom is the Occupational Outlook Handbook, which is maintained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They collect all kinds of data on different careers and present them in detailed career outlook snapshots. You can see the one for dental hygienists here (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dental-hygienists.htm) and the one for registered nurses here (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm).
If your mother is worried about salary and job outlook, the data for both is pretty close. Employment for registered nurses is projected to grow about 7% over the next ten years or so; for dental hygienists, that growth is expected to be about 6%. Dental hygienists average about $76K a year, while nurses average around $73K.
I will add a few additional things though:
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Being a CNA is very different from being a nurse. While it can give you some exposure and some idea of what working in a clinical setting is like, the scope of practice is really different.
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The scope of practice of a dental hygienist is pretty constrained. The vast majority of dental hygienists work in the offices of private dentists, and as someone else stated, there’s not necessarily a growth path (where you can hold successively more responsible positions, like management or leadership). You’ll likely always be employed by a dentist, unless our model of dental care shifts significantly in the next 20-30 years (possible but unlikely). Because of that you’ll probably work regular 9-5 hours, which may be a positive or negative depending on your views.
Conversely, while nurses primarily work in hospitals (60%), there are lots of other settings: clinics, private practices, residential care facilities, schools, government agencies, etc. Within all of those settings there are many different specialties, and nurses can and do change specialties over the course of a career (my cousin went from the ER to the ICU to labor & delivery, and my mother went from labor & delivery to the NICU to school nursing). There’s also a different scope of practice and the opportunity to move into management and leadership (especially if you were interested in an MSN later on) and even college teaching (there’s a national shortage of nursing professors, so you can teach nursing at the college level with an MSN. You could also be a preceptor for nursing students’ clinicals). Nursing has flexible hours and different structures of work.
That said, none of that matters if you absolutely hate it! You just have to talk to your mom like an adult and try to understand what the root of her objection is. Is she worried you won’t find a career, is she worried about pay?
I have a big secret to let you in on. Your mother is not in charge of your life - YOU are. Very often, when people simply go ahead and do what they want to do, their parents give in and go along with it. You’re not planning on dropping out and sitting at home not working and doing drugs - you’re just making a totally understandable and justifiable lateral career move! Find out the quickest, cheapest way to get qualified as a dental hygienist (it used to be a two year degree, may still be in some places, often is offered by community colleges, very inexpensively). Hopefully they will accept a lot of the prereqs that you’ve done. Look into the quickest, cheapest way to do it, apply for student loans, and do it!
I mean, yes, theoretically, OP and any other adult college student is in charge of their own lives. In practical terms, though, many parents are still providing copious financial support to their adult children as they complete college. Some pay most or all of tuition and fees, and many provide living expenses support as well. So switching majors when one has an unsupportive parent really isn’t as simple as ‘screw you mom, I’m in charge of my life!’
It’s also not necessarily wise to go into a lot of student loan debt if one can avoid it. Students can also only borrow a certain amount of money on their own ($5,500 your first year $6,500 your second year, and $7,500 for subsequent years of undergrad). These numbers are still woefully low and haven’t been raised much since I entered college 16 years ago - but to borrow more than that, you would need a co-signer. That may be enough to cover tuition at a community college for a dental hygiene certificate, but certainly won’t be enough to cover living expenses.
So I still say at least try talking to your mom first, because striking out ‘on your own’ for college isn’t that easy or simple, and this is coming from someone who did actually do that. It is waaaay easier with family support.