I Cant Decide Between A Nurse Or A Dental Hygienist ?help?need Opinions?

This Question From Louisiana Nursing Schools | 3 Answers

QUESTION:

well i need someone to talk to give me advice i ask ppl but no one seems to care but anyways i want to be a nurse (associate degree) or a dental Hygienist ? i live in louisiana. nursing does make alot and money but dental Hygienist makes more? i think rite?
–i mean if i become a nurse i know i can still keep studying and i can go into any medical field and the nursing will help
–if i become a dental Hygienist , then after if i want to keep studying it would have to be something abouth teeth and im not really much into that….
humm idk what do you think??? im about to finish high school and i seriously need to start thinking what want to do…hummm

3 Comments so far

sunflowe on December 1, 2009 11:08 am
Both of these are great careers that pay well and will always be hiring.
If you only want to do a 2 year associate’s, you may want to do dental hygiene. Many places are telling their nurses on staff that they have 3 years to get their bachelor’s if they don’t already have it. If you don’t mind the extra years of schooling, you may want to go ahead and get your BSN now, rather than doing 2 years now for your associate’s and then having to go back for 2-3 additional years again in the near future.
A few differences…
Nursing is more of a high stress job, but some people thrive in these kind of environments. Nurses deal with a lot of paperwork on a daily basis, so you have to be prepared for that. Hygienists tend to have more flexible schedules, working only a few days out of the week (still considered full-time), and usually no weekends. Nurses have a wide range of knowledge about the entire body, hygienists are focused in one area. Hygiensis have to put up with bad breath and just bad oral hygiene overall. (No offense to Hannah T), nurses deal with a lot of unsightly stuff too, like urine, feces, vomit, etc.
If you think you may want to go back to school someday and get a different degree in the medical field, you’re right, nursing would be more beneficial then.
**You should really job shadow both careers for a day to get an idea of what their days are really like since you are still really unsure. Then figure out which you could see yourself doing and enjoying every single day. **
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An excellent advice giver on December 1, 2009 12:02 pm
Both fields are not really hiring right now. Also it is hard to get a job as a new graduate in both fields.
I suggest you become a surgical tech (1 year program) first working in the OR helping out surgeons. If you like that then continue on to become a nurse. With the surgical tech experience it will help you land a nursing job later, most likely.
Dont pursue hygiene because there are no jobs.
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*LoUd&Pr on December 1, 2009 12:32 pm
Nurse definantly!!!!! nurses get to be with people and truthfuly, teeth gross me out and plus it seems to me that you would rather do nursing to
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I Cant Decide Between A Nurse Or A Dental Hygienist ?help?need Opinions?

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