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How do I become an Advanced-Practice Nurse?

Should I become a teacher in Japan or a nurse in the States? Any ADVICE or TIPS are welcome.?

  • I've been indecisive about whether or not I want to be a nurse or teach English in Japan. For a few months now I've been on the nurse side, then I wavered to the teaching side. So my questions are: - How well will my living be if I live in Japan IF I can get a job there? - What should I major in besides English? If I still get my nursing major I can still teach but would I still get hired as easily? I will become TESOL or TOEFL certificated, or both no matter what degree I decided upon and learn Japanese nonetheless because it's a beautiful language. - I plan to not have any children, for various reasons, will my life in Japan be easier due to this? I just want a simple life and I'm not sure what I want to be a nurse, or teacher. I will only be a nurse if I'm in the states, and a teacher if I go to Japan, UNLESS due to some miracle land a job at an clinic? But I think Japan has it's own nursing rules, laws, etc. and I probably wont be certified. Anyways, answer my questions and give me any other tips, advice, and input. Also, my bigger dream is to teach in Japan but I feel like it will be easier to become a nurse and teach in the states... And the JET Program is amazing and I would totally do it but I'm engaged and my future husband doesn't want to get separated. Unless you know of a way in which I get my own housing and not a shared place and I could have my husband live with me. In case it matters, he is a computer science major. NOTE: Just in case it matters, I want to go to Japan for the main reasons of it being safe, lots of public transportation, hospitable and kind people, beautiful landscapes in the countries, and their culture is the most intriguing to me. That said, I'd love to live in a small town on the outskirts of a city. Thank you for reading. Any advice is welcome. I really need all the ideas I can get.

  • Answer:

    There are benefits to both. If you actually want to go to school specifically to be an English teacher in Japan, that will in some ways put you ahead of the crowd in Japan. Most native English speakers in Japan originally did other things besides trying to be a teacher, then just found teaching work there. Your resume would be really useful if you had all the certifications. Also, you'd pretty much be guaranteed continual employment in Japan. There are so many jobs for teaching English in Japan that some companies only have the qualification that you are a native English speaker. Some don't even require that. I've seen people from countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia teaching English in Japan. Being a nurse would have the benefit of providing you with a job in the U.S., but also leaving open the option for teaching in Japan too. Like I said, there are always English teaching jobs in Japan, especially for educated people. You don't necessarily have to have an English major, a teaching certificate, or the other certificates like TESL, TOEFL, etc. It just won't be quite as easy. One thing you could do is go to school for nursing, get a bachelor degree, then apply to the JET Programme. If you get accepted, go to Japan for a year and see how it works out for you. If you like it, you can usually renew your contract for another 2 years, 1 year at a time. If you still like it, you can look for other employment in Japan so that you can stay. If you think you'd rather return to the U.S. and be a nurse, you can do that.

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Objectively, being a nurse in America has more room for advancement, more room for more pay ( a job that is in demand, that provides good pay, job security, retirement plans and the jobs is never the same. Being a English teacher in Japan is your job is NEVER secured (companies go bankrupt, look at what happened to NOVA), the pay isn't that great (if you get paid at all look at what happened to NOVA), there is VERY little room for advancement (or pay raises), because once you leave or quit, there's 30 people willing to take your spot. The benefits are hardly anything, and the work can get repetitive depending on what you do. If you wanted to live in Japan, it is still a route you can do, given all the negatives, HOWEVER, you are right, you have to think about your future husband, that's the problem. You have to worry about him too. What are his chances for a future in Japan as well vs the United States. Odds are jobs (even in the bad economy) , chances of getting a job in what he wants to do is greater (much greater) in America then it is in Japan. If it were a single person decision it might be a little easier, but there's two of you, that you have to worry about. There are many more pluses in being a Nurse in America then being an English instructor in Japan, it's apples and oranges.

RealAnswers

An RN here can make $75,000 a year, and more. That won't happen in Japan. They mainly only accept women from the Philippines and Indonesia. And those women are over worked and underpaid. Your future husband would also make far more money here. He would be hard pressed to find work there.

Vinegar Taster

Well, you could do both if you want. Most people teach English abroad for just a year or so. So if you do that you can always go back to nursing if you want. Japan is nice. The basic qualification for teaching English in Japan is a bachelors degree in "any subject". http://www.squidoo.com/eslinsider

Ian

Nurses are highly needed in the states so youd make more money than if you were a teacher of english in Japan but teaching in Japan might be a more exciting experience.

Sonata

You're aware that jobs on programs like JET are NOT meant to be permanent, right? They're meant for 1-5 years of work, after which you are supposed to go home (some people just switch jobs but the idea is for you to leave Japan, at least for a little while). If you're looking for a stable job, something with the chance of promotions, pay raises, earning seniority, and the like, go with nursing. Teaching English in Japan is a lot of fun, it's a great experience, and if you go through something like JET you don't need any kind of TESOL degree or certificate to do it (but you DO need a minimum 4-year degree in any field). Even many of the positions you could get with a Master's in TESOL, which would allow you to teach at universities, aren't permanent. So before you even think of any of the other issues, you need to figure out if you're okay doing something that is only meant to be temporary or if you want to go right into a career. That said, if you got a job through JET they are usually willing to help make arrangements for spouses to go over too. And personally I can't think of a single life situation that isn't made easier by not having kids. It's not impossible to move to Japan with kids, and I don't know that any place would turn you down just because you had kids or accept you just because you didn't, but it does give you a lot less to think and worry about if you don't have kids tagging along after you.

Aya

You will have a career pathway and opportunity for advancement as a nurse. A TESOL usually has little room for promotion and a career unless you open your own school. You wouldn't be able to nurse in Japan. If you want to come to Japan for a couple of years for the experience and adventure that's great, but don't come to Japan with the belief you will be here permanently. Do nursing. I'm British, a nurse and live in Japan. I can't work as an RN here and I'm not planning on staying here forever. I want a life.

luddite

Japan is like difficult due to people. Nursing gets you a lot of money.

Ra

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