Take a look at what people say about nursing. There were few jobs, as far as I know which allowed people to continue being jointly registered. Every nurse, healthcare assistant, junior doctor, occupational therapist and social worker I have spoken to says the exact same thing. I see it at my job every day. Many want to run. The first step is overcoming the fear of making the career switch. The key to higher pay in Social Work is for us degreed Social Workers (BSW or MSW), to stop accepting the low pay. It's why people are jumping job to job and everyone wants to switch careers. Not every nurse makes great money. You wouldn't have to redo all your nursing prereqs in that case, and with a MN you would have an advantage getting work in that field. Nurses in hospitals tend to work three 12-hour shifts a week while nurses in clinics and other non-hospital settings work five 8-hour shifts a week. State what you need and if the business can't match or at least get in the ballpark, don't accept it. Allysa Ozzello: More Opportunity. It's not just social work, even though social work is definitely in the lead. Some literally make 20-25 an hour. At Teesside we had a joint Mental Health Social Work and Nursing degree. And now after 12 years, I am pursuing a nursing degree. People often ask why and the simple answer is that there just aren't enough social work jobs. Sure, some nurses will need to work overtime, but this is usually by choice. Nurses get a lot of grief. Im a BSW, no license, Im working in a nursing home. To provide you with the courage to do so, we asked the three students above to share their different paths to nursing school and what made changing careers to nursing worth it for them. they work while doctors sit behind computers. I dunno about getting work in social work without a master's in social work, but if you want to be a nurse, be a nurse. I have had some pretty interesting jobs in health care from nursing home social worker, hospital social worker-case manager, home health care, hospice, and even health insurance company case manager. As a nurse, you will likely work very different hours. All of the graduates ended up working as either social workers or nurses with most going in to social work because it offered better pay and conditions.