Is Nursing School Worth It? 7 Genuine Truths

If you are wondering if nursing school is worth it, this is actually a great question. Why? Because the degree you choose to pursue, and pay for, will follow you for essentially the rest of your life. Just a small hand full of decisions we make in our lives hold this much weight.

So, maybe you’re in high school doing degree research, or maybe you are a young, or older, adult looking to go back to school. Either way, the potential answers here can apply to everyone who is considering a career in nursing.

While nobody can answer this question with absolutes, here are our personal reasons why we believe here at Midlife Nursing that nursing school is absolutely worth it.

1. Nursing is recession safe!

While the term “recession-proof” is mostly frowned upon, we are comfortable with saying that nursing is recession safe. The U.S Bureau of Labor and Statistics did an in-depth assessment regarding the nursing profession in relation to recessions, and you can read their analysis here.

So this truly is in fact, a fact. In this day and age, with technological improvements and innovations, many jobs have unfortunately become obsolete.

Many companies have been able to downsize due to software programs streamlining procedures.

But nurses can never be replaced by technology.

Nursing is a skilled and hands-on trade. The rules and regulations in relation to a nurse’s scope of practice are rigid. A CNA, LVN, and MA, legally, can not cover for a nurse, or replace them. Therefore hospitals can’t even try in an effort to pay lower wages.

The main thing that separates a nurse from lower-level health care licenses is assessment.

Only a nurse is licensed to assess a patient. A CNA or an LVN can not legally assess a patient’s level of consciousness, signs, and symptoms of infection, and/or airway compromise, etc. They can report what they see to the RN, but it is ultimately the RNs legal responsibility.

This may not sound like a big deal on the surface, but once you get into the trade, you realize that 90% of your work is assessment. Looking at your patient, listening to your patient, monitoring vital signs, and making important judgments based on this information. It is what drives patient care.

And only a human can do it.

RNs can never be replaced. They are highly trained and skilled to work directly under the health care provider.

2. Apparently, nurses make more money during, and even after, pandemics.

Sadly as we saw, this was not true for many professions. Many people’s jobs were lost due to companies going virtual.

We have learned after this recent pandemic that while burnout is a very important topic of discussion, the monetary opportunities for nurses are like nothing we have ever seen.

This is a great article where a travel nurse talks about her experience during the pandemic, and I will insert the link here.

Travel nurses were making well into the six figures working through the pandemic. The pandemic is still not fully over and thus travel nurses are still making big bucks. Travel nursing will also continue to be highly lucrative due to the dire national nursing shortage.

There was a nursing shortage even before the pandemic, and it has only worsened. Many nurses who were close to retirement chose to retire early due to the global crisis. Many nurses also left the profession when the vaccine was being rolled out. You can read more about that here in this CNN article.

Here is another great article that discusses the nursing shortage and why nursing is not only a lucrative career to go into, but an important one for our collective society too.

3. There is a high return on your college investment with a nursing degree.

You did a good thing researching to find out, “is nursing school worth it?” Many people just don’t do their research when choosing their degree.

College in America costs money. A lot of money. It is just the way it is here. Therefore you should be very strategic with the degree you invest in.

A nursing degree does not have to be expensive either. If money is an issue, an aspiring nurse can take the community college route. Many states in America are now offering locals free tuition! Check out the list of states here.

Once you earn your ADN (associates in nursing), you can take the NCLEX exam and get your license to work as an RN. You don’t have to get a bachelor’s degree in nursing, it is the exact same license. New grad nurses make virtually the same regardless of degree type. However, many hospitals would like ADNs to get their bachelor’s within 5 years, but the good news is, that they help you pay for it.

A new grad RN can expect to make an average of about $60,000 dollars annually. However, each state is different. Take a look at the different average salaries by state here.

Few degrees out there have such a high yield on their college investment and let alone so fast after graduating. Due to the nursing shortage, you are essentially guaranteed to find a job very quickly after graduation, and many already have jobs lined up before even graduating, or even before taking the NCLEX examination.

4. There is so much room for growth in nursing.

Many new nurses will start at the bedside, usually on a Med-Surg or lower acuity/general care floor. Once a nurse has worked in these positions for a year or two, many more doors open up. You can pretty much go anywhere in the field.

Some cool nursing specialty examples:

Labor and Delivery
ICU
ER
PACU (post-anesthesia care unit)
Aesthetic nursing (giving botox and fillers)
Oncology (giving chemo)

Now it is important to know that you don’t always have to start in Med-Surg first either. Depending on where you are located, and the nursing shortage, you may be able to start out on a specialty unit as a new grad.

There is also plenty of room to grow in business management as a nurse. You can progress into a charge nurse position, move into supervising, managing, and then up to being a Director and beyond.

Achieving higher education also opens up more doors in nursing. If you get your BSN this is usually required to move into supervising roles. If you get your MSN you can teach, or work as a nurse practitioner. You can also go into a specialty like midwifery, nurse anesthetist, clinical education, etc.

Few careers offer as many opportunities as nursing does. I honestly can’t think of any other profession that is more diverse than this.

5. Nursing is a 3 day work week with full-time hours and benefits.

I will be honest, they are very long, hard days, but you do get used to the healthcare lifestyle fairly quickly.

On average, in most hospitals, the hours are 6:30 AM to 7:00 PM or 6:30 PM to 7:00 AM.

However, this leaves you 4 days to recover! Many organizations allow staggering schedules, where you work your three in a row, and have a long break. Some people like to work every other day so they can rest in between shifts. Everyone is different and there is a lot of flexibility with this schedule.

I am not going to try to make light of these long hours, but there are definite pros with the cons in my experience. It’s hard to imagine ever going back to a five-day work week for most nurses.

6. Nursing is a family-friendly career.

Just in case you are still asking the question, “is nursing school worth it?” This is probably what makes it the most worth it.

Thanks to the three-day work week, and the flexibility of working either day or night shift, this is a great job for people who either already have, or want to start a family.

Some women, after having a baby, will move to part-time. They can still get their benefits this way and can work weekends while their spouse is at work, or vice versa. Depending on their support system, they may even be able to still work full time.

Nursing pays extremely well, and you can accrue a ton of PTO (paid time off). As long as there aren’t major staffing issues, taking regular bouts of time off is usually accommodated. This is also a big reason why we need more nurses. This way we can all help each other maintain a good work-life balance and keep our patients safe and taken care of. It definitely takes a collective effort.

Don’t forget that working from home is also an option in nursing. Here is an article we wrote regarding work-at-home jobs for nurses.

7. Many hospitals will help you pay off your student loan debt.

This is huge.

Some of us have no choice but to take out student loans, myself included. There are even hospitals that provide student loan forgiveness. Here is a list of some hospitals here.

This is almost unheard of in most industries. Those who get Business, Chemistry, English, and Art degree’s probably don’t get this kind of opportunity very often.

Many health care companies will add a student loan payment to your checks. Usually, they just ask for you to sign a contract saying you will stay with the company for at least one to two years, otherwise, you pay them back.

While that sounds fair, it is important that you feel really good before accepting any job, especially if a contract is involved. A year or two may not sound like a lot, but it will feel like five years if you hate your job.

Is Nursing School Worth It Conclusion:

So, is nursing school worth it? Well like we mentioned in the beginning, nobody can really answer that for you. But we hope with this list of great pros regarding this profession, that you will go for it.

With the high return on your college investment, job stability, room for advancement, flexible schedules, and student loan help and forgiveness, it is hard not to see just how worth it is.

Leave us a comment if you agree, disagree, and/or anything in between.

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Jackie J.

Jackie graduated with her BSN through the Texas A&M system in May 2023. She maintained a 4.0 GPA, while working as a patient care technician, through the entire program. She has worked in healthcare for the past seven years as a hemodialysis technician, CNA and patient care technician. She is also a licensed esthetician and a loving wife and mother. Jackie has a passion for helping others get the most out of their nursing journey.