Feeling at a crossroads for Medical/Nursing paths
Hello everyone :)
So I'm 36, worked as an EMT, 911 dispatcher, pharmacy tech, and have now been an ER RN for a few years now. I'm a certified Trauma Nurse, and have my TCCC-CMC certification. I'm currently in Ukraine volunteering as a Combat Medic and Tactical Medicine instructor.
When I get back home I'm not sure what I want to do with my life. I enjoy teaching and I really have a knack for it, but the pay is terrible in most places. I thought about being an RN Program Professor, but that's about 2 semesters of classes that I would need to take first. (Not terrible by any means, just not certain I want to go down that path and invest the time and money)
CRNA requiring a doctorate now killed the option for me.
I want to do more volunteer work again in the future, but I need to choose a path that brings in money and that I will not either die of boredom or run out of things to learn. As soon as I feel like I have learned everything I can at a job I lose a lot of motivation and start looking for certs, classes, other jobs, anything to learn more. One of my biggest fears is having a patient die or be disabled from something I didn't know how to treat. That if I only had more knowledge, they may have had a better outcome.
I like the idea of rescue and medical stabilization jobs, but I'm feeling a little lost on where to look.
Thanks to anyone who has some thoughts or insights:)
Posted Aug 12, 2026, 11:06 AM UTC