Hi, I’m stuck between two careers that I just can’t make my mind up about. I can’t decide between a Registered nurse or a Surgeon. I know a registered nurse is less schooling and some may say it has a way more flexible schedule but I don’t no if I could work in a hospital environment and just settle on the job of a nurse when there is higher jobs such as a surgeon. Although I’m a little nervous to go for something so big and not like it at all. What should I do?
You could become a Registered Nurse and then become a Nurse Practitioner(NP). Becoming a NP is only 2 more years of school(in addition to your 4 years for RN). NP make about $90,000 a year and is generally less stressful than being a surgeon. You should look up some info about being a NP. Becoming a surgeon is at least 8+ years of school, but is still a great career.
I personally think becoming a NP would be a better choice, mainly because that’s my career plan 
Before you ask this question, becoming a surgeon is no easy feat. That requires at least 10 years of your life after college. Also, not many kids are smart enough to get into Med School and become a surgeon to begin with (not saying that you aren’t its just a fact).
It seems like you are either still maybe a senior in HS or a sophomore or so in college in which case I’d advise you to do some shadowing in each profession. Ask your professors their thoughts on the topics, reach out to people that you might know.
@LL2222000 You seem to be a high school student so here…
- Get good grades in high school and get into a pre-med major(not very hard).
- Get a high MCAT, GPA, EC’s in college and get accepted into Medical School.
- After medical school, you have to do additional years of residency to become a surgeon.
Only become a surgeon if you are willing to put in a lot of work. If you are still debating between two options, I don’t think the surgeon profession is for you. If being a NP is your career plan, go for it mate.
Just to note, there is no such thing as a “pre-med major”. Being pre-med just means taking a handful of specific courses (chemistry, biology, physics, English and some math), but you can major in history, music, business, philosophy, etc., or of course a science. Then you take the MCAT also, again regardless of major,
My other comment is that the percentage of people that want to go to med school when they start out in college versus the number that actually make it is small. It is a tough road for most. The number that then become surgeons even if they make it to med school is smaller still, and I don’t mean just because they chose another area of practice. While I am sure becoming an NP is plenty challenging, I would wager it is not as much so as the med school/surgeon grind. Put another way, becoming a surgeon might not be entirely within your control.
Your question seems a bit naive. I don’t mean that in a demeaning way, but in the literal use of the term that you just don’t know enough about that world to even know generally what goes into making such a decision. I suspect after a couple of years of undergrad you will be far more informed and able to consider the issue knowledgably.
As a nurse with a doctor in the family I think you have had some good responses here. Work hard in school for either career. I like the advice to volunteer or work in a hospital. Our local hospitals have some shadowing a doctor programs for high school students. See what your life would be like in either career. You would make a lot more money as a doctor, especially a surgeon, but you will incur a lot of debt unless your wealthy family can sponsor your education. The advice to do the pre-med curriculum is good too. If you excel, and remain interested as you go through school, you can choose to apply to nursing or medical school if you start to have a feel for what you really want. I would add too, that nurse practicioners, who I respect very much, make good money, but not more than I make as a floor nurse in a hospital with a lot of experience. But NPs have much better schedules and I think, generally, less stress. Not always. I knew someone once who became a certified nursing assistant to help her make this choice. Nursing school is a lot more rigorous than outsiders realize and nurses have a lot more demands and responsibility than outsiders realize. Almost all nurses have heard the words “you are so smart you could have been a doctor”… its an ignorant and demeaning statement, generally. Nursing is a career that is more accessible to people who are less privileged in our society. It’s also pretty hard to separate nursing as a profession from the status of women in our society and the rapid changes in what is accessible to us career wise. Nursing is a wonderful career where you know you matter and you are making a tangible difference in others lives every day. Prestigous? Not really, at least there will lots of times people clearly think what you do is similar to what they see on TV. Doctors may have more prestige, and they work very hard to get to where they are, but they are also seeing their autonomy and prestige eaten away every day. So there are lots of trade offs to either choice. Both professions are similar in that a lot of people start the path and don’t finish when they realize what is actually required, as well.
It is great that you are thinking about healthcare. If you do something you enjoy and are fairly compensated for it, prestige won’t matter. Plus, healthcare isn’t really prestigious. It is about taking care of people. Spend one weekend shadowing in a busy ER and you won’t think working with the sick public is prestigious. You might change the question from nurse or surgeon to nurse or doctor. If you make it to medical school, you will rotate in many of the specialties and you might surprised what interests you. However, both professions are important, rewarding, and require hard work.
Do scrub techs and other operating room non MD staff have different programs they have to attend than nurses? If you like surgery but don’t want to be a surgeon those ancillary operating room jobs might be appealing to you.
I think they are 2 different careers entirely. One is not higher than the other.
If you want to work with patients and be impactful, be a nurse. If you want to open people up to solve problems, be a surgeon. Surgeons get limited patient care time.
A surgeon can be on call 24/7. Nurses are often able to group their work week into 4 12 hour days.