Hygiene vs. Nursing

Has anyone went to nursing school and Hygiene school? I was wondering which was more challenging?

dental hyg.is harder .....
Have a friend that did dental first and then went for rn and said rn easier ..plus nurses make more !

Wow! That is interesting. Where I live EVERYONE is going into nursing and it is a very respectful job. Hygiene on the other hand is not well respected. It seems that nurses think that nursing school is hard and nothing can compare to it so I was just wondering how big a difference there was in RN school and programs such as hygiene. Thanks for the response.

those who don't get into hygiene school become nurses

just as those who don't get into med school become pharmacists

sal in Arvada, Colorado said: those who don't get into hygiene school become nurses

just as those who don't get into med school become pharmacists

What? Where are you getting that. That's funny - is it true in Colorado?

I am a nurse and I worked 8 hours a day 5 days a week to get my degree. This left little time for work or family. The pre requisites are the exact same for my dental hygiene program I am going entering and I don't think that the clinical experiences can even be compared. They are two very different jobs. I am sure no one was coded or died during the dental hygiene clinicals. I am pretty sure you don't worry about which one of your patients could code or die at any point in your day when you are cleaning their teeth. I am almost sure that when you care plan your plan could not potentially miss something that will endanger a patient and ultimately end you up in court. I am sure that hygiene school is demanding but honestly can you truly compare it to nursing. They are two very different job types. I am for one glad to be getting out of nursing.

This is a very interesting discussion. Nursing is hard, but what is hard about it is the way nurses treat eachother. If you haven't heard this phrase yet, here it is: "nurses eat their young" . Funny thing, any species that eats their young becomes, well extinct. Look at the newspaper. there aren't enough nurses. Gee. Wonder why. Isn't it interesting while people lay dying or gravely ill, people can sit around & write nit picky things about others, report someone for the most inane thing or smear someone's name completely out of the profession. Yippee. Where do you sign up for that? It only costs $50,000 to get ready? ?

sal in Arvada, Colorado said: those who don't get into hygiene school become nurses

just as those who don't get into med school become pharmacists

Yeah....where are you getting that from???

I know some Hygiene student and I know some Nursing student. Both school are challenging in their own ways, but I don't really think one is harder than the other....

I have a friend that is a dental hyg. and right now she is having a hard time finding a job. She went through school a few years back and was working 2 part time jobs...just two different offices but then one fell through. I wonder if she has thought about or will start thinking about going to nursing school if she can't find another hygiene job? She loves what she does so I don't really know how she feels. I know she loves her patients too. Interesting...next time I see her I will ask her how the hygiene job hunt is going and if she has considered nursing school.

reba in Erlanger, Kentucky said: I am a nurse and I worked 8 hours a day 5 days a week to get my degree. This left little time for work or family. The pre requisites are the exact same for my dental hygiene program I am going entering and I don't think that the clinical experiences can even be compared. They are two very different jobs. I am sure no one was coded or died during the dental hygiene clinicals. I am pretty sure you don't worry about which one of your patients could code or die at any point in your day when you are cleaning their teeth. I am almost sure that when you care plan your plan could not potentially miss something that will endanger a patient and ultimately end you up in court. I am sure that hygiene school is demanding but honestly can you truly compare it to nursing. They are two very different job types. I am for one glad to be getting out of nursing.

That is sooo true! I thought the same thing - that what are the chances of someone dying in the chair? Anxiety- yes. Anyway. I am currently enrolled in an RN program but my heart is in DH. (I really like teeth.) I worked really hard to get into the DH program; however, 3 weeks before to the end of the 2nd semester I failed the proficiency. (I feel it was a combo of both me and the instructors.) Anyway, I was soooo depressed, but I now feel I should have just jumped right back in there and applied at another school. I was afraid to and had lost much of my self esteem and confidence. Anyway, now I'm enrolled in an RN program. It hasn't even been a week yet, but I feel I am just there to check it out. I like the idea of specializing. Can an RN specialize? Can you give me any insights to my delimma? Please let me hear them.

Friends, at the time of my DH demise, said, "oh, it's the way it's suppose to be." But, what about the phrase, "If at first you don't succeed, try and try again?"

Well lets take a look at both jobs. I was told by someone in my prerequisite classes( that is going into RN) that I have a nurses brain and that if I went into Hyg. I would be making less money and get carpal tunnel.
I am afraid of working with sick and elderly patients. Maybe babies or mental patients, but teeth and periodontal disease just are not scary to me. I want to get the world to floss.

Of course a nurse can specialize, and many do. As a nurse, the world is your oyster. I would like to know which other profession allows you to start out in oncology, switch to trauma or research and finish up teaching? Nursing is versatile and very flexible for families. However, it isn't dental hygiene. Anyone who said that those who cannot get into hygiene end up in Nursing did not go to the University of Michigan. That was an incredibly ignorant thing to say.

So DH is harder than RN?..... I wouldn't think so