Slow clap for hitting the nail on the head. Midwestpac tends to “flex”... then gives poor advice consisting of misguided rants about RNs or NPs. You might have noticed the theme. I was left chuckling as he jumped to conclusions and ignored what you said, failed to make the connection with your screen name, then accused you of not paying attention to detail. I like to say that he lacks self awareness, which is being generous sometimes.
Dave Ramsey gives advice about medical professions that don’t reflect the reality of circumstances today, just as you highlighted. One really has to dive into the spirit of his opinions, which consist of being frugal, avoiding superfluous debt, and carrying those two traits with you well after graduation. If someone waits to have enough money to cash flow medical school, all doctors would be finishing residency at age 44 at a minimum. Ramsey bears the burden of having to preach good advice to an audience that is looking for literally any loophole to work around to maintain their bad habits. Nuance is something lost on midwestPaC, so he’s quick to argue for universal application of Ramsey’s approach. As a general rule, I wouldn’t suggest an $80,000 RN program, but the exceptions I see as worthwhile are exactly the ones you laid out. It can be well worth it if there is a plan laid out that one is determined to adhere to. Case in point, my situation:
My RN school cost <$10,000 total (work paid for it). My first year as an RN, with some overtime I made over $70,000 in a fairly low cost of living state. Obviously, that circumstance of having cheap school while I worked full time is optimal. But if I was forced to have waited two years to get into that program, it would have been better for me to have immediately gone to the local ABSN program that cost over $50,000. Two years of wages at around $70,000 and $75,000 respectively more than cover the $50,000 tuition while allowing for some decent living expenses. Unfortunately, many people have the tendency to forgo being frugal after their first payday. You see it with nurses, PAs, and physicians. But that’s their prerogative to make poor choices. Nobody has to do that, and nobody should. Same goes for when you take out student loans. But just like you have to invest money to make money, you have to look at where you want to be down the road and decide if it makes sense to spin your wheels making $30k as a medical assistant (and saving $8,000 per year), or jump into the world of making up to $100k as an RN hitting a bunch of extra shifts (while socking away $30,000 per year to pay down debt). Dave Ramsey also says that the best way to improve your lot in life is to increase your income, and I kept that in mind alongside two other principles he touts, which is stay out of debt, and live frugal at every opportunity.
