I have been a nurse for 30 years and been teaching it for almost 10 years. Physical assaults do happen but not enough to turn me away from working in healthcare (and yes, I have been hit, kicked, scratched, and spit on). The risk of injury varies based on specialty and patient population you deal with most.
Grey’s Anatomy is nothing like actually working in healthcare. The Pitt does an excellent job of showing what its like in a busy ER/Trauma Center but people need to realize that even at those top level 1 academic medical centers that 80% of the nurses working hours are spent with non emergent “not exciting” cases (and I worked at a level 1 trauma center as a staff nurse over 20 years).
If she isn’t sure about nursing, do not do a direct admit nursing program. If she thinks she might want nursing though, do not go to a college that has direct admit nursing with the plan that you will be able to transfer in later. In my almost 10 years I think we have had maybe 2 or 3 students be able to transfer into our highly ranked direct admit nursing program.
If she does do a more general healthcare or science degree and then decides later she wants to go into nursing, there are accelerated BSN or ABSN and even direct admin MSN-RN programs (they do NOT become an NP in those programs but do get grad school loan options).
Other healthcare careers (that can be earned or started on a traditional 4 year campus): there are a few 4 year sonagraphy degrees now. Radiation therapist/Nuclear med tech. Optometrist. PA. Dietician. Pathologist Assistant. Medical dosimetrist. Anesthesia Assistant (limited states). Perfusionist. Audiologist. Speech therapist.
Many of my students want to be NP or CRNA. NP schools are very easy to get into. Basically you can find any online NP school that will accept you as long as you are willing to pay (and yes I hate that there are degree mills out there and hate this about the nursing profession). In my almost 10 years I have had so many students say they want to do CRNA and I think I’ve had maybe 2 students succeed at getting into a school and completing it. Some schools are expanding their CRNA programs but they are competitive, costly, and students typically need to be willing to move.
Social media can glamorize nursing a bit. It is a job, not a personality. I wish I got paid more but overall I love my career choice and have no regrets.