[Mijourney]

Hi all. Thanks for your frank responses. It's been over a year since my last post. Despite the increasing intensity of the nursing shortage and all of the changes that are taking place in health and medical care and with the economy in general and despite my complaining, I'm not ashamed to be a nurse. I don't feel sorry for myself or badly about my career choice.

I'm not happy about alot of the things that go on in nursing. Many of you have included these issues in your posts. There are many internal and external problems that have undermined the forward growth of our profession.

However, it's good to know that even though many of us feel that things could be and should be a heck of alot better in nursing and nursing practice, our individual self-esteems are not totally tied in our profession's problems. That's a good sign. Hopefully, that means that those of us who are not ashamed to be a nurse will begin to take more personal interest in our jobs and careers, if we haven't already, and in the profession as a whole.

[shootemrn]

Of course I am proud of being a Nurse! If someone is ashamed of being a nurse they need to get out of the profession.
I am a male nurse. So I face even further scrutiny from other female nurses and from the public. (my name is not Gaylord Focker ). But whenever anyone asks me what I do I tell them "I am a RN". To have the oppurtunity to care for people when they are ill or injured is the greatest responsibility and one I do with pride.

[Terrie]

I happen to think male nurses are great. Most of them know there stuff well and do a good job. If most nurses give them a chance they would find the same thing.

[Paprikat]

Hmmmm, am I ashamed of being a nurse?
Well, half and half.
Sometimes I feel ashamed of being an LPN, especially when I go to the LPN corner and read as some RN's totally trash my profession, calling us "trained" and not "educated"
I am proud to be a NURSE, working with RN's, LPN's and care aides for one common goal - excellent patient care. I am proud to be respected for who I am and what I bring to the nursing profession. I feel that 98% of the people here make me proud to be a nurse, it's that 2% that makes me feel ashamed of who I am and what I fought for to become an LPN.

[Teshiee]

I am not ashamed in fact many people who ask me what I do are very positive saying, what a nobel profession you are a caring person and so forth. I know right now we are in a crucial shortage, nurses aren't getting what they deserve nevertheless I love what I do. I don't tolerate abuse from anyone. Nursing offers so many avenues to take you don't even have to be on the floor if you choose not to.

I think people start bad mouthing nursing in general and some may not feel comfortable about it I am and I am quick to defend it is hard work it is what you make it. People are only limited to what their minds allow them. Be leary of bitter nurses bad mouthing like I tell nurses in different facilities don't hate the agency nurses you, too have the same opportunity to do what ever you desire. Iz love nursin!

[Mary Dover]

Quite proud to be a nurse. Right now I am the only nurse in the mental health clinic where I work. You know - the longer I am a nurse, the more I start to realize just how much weight the word of a nurse can carry. Especially when the majority of coworkers are non-medical personnel. It feels really good to have such respect from them as well as the patients we work with. Even the psychiatrists I work with - one of whom refers to me as "my nurse" when telling patients to call me for whatever problem. Yes, I could get an attitude about that - like, "who does he think he is? I do not work for him." But the bottom line is that I am quite honored to have his respect and confidence. I think nursing is a more honorable profession than it has ever been. And when I was talking to my husband last night about going back to school to become an NP, he asked why don't I just go to medical school. I just responded, "now why in the world would I want to do that?" Being a nurse has helped me to grow as a human being, not just as a professional. I LOVE MY JOB. (well maybe not always the job - but always the profession)

[bobbiesal]

I LOVE being a nurse! When people ask what I do, I say proudly, "I'm a nurse." When they ask where I work, I tell them I'm a nurse practitioner in a neurology clinic. The next question is always..."Oh, so you're going to be a doctor soon, then, right?" Then I have to explain why I never want to be a doctor... I love nursing for all the opportunities it has given me. I started as an ADN grad and worked NICU for 4 years, then PICU for 8, while earning my BSN & MSN. I'm a PNP now, but very disappointed as an NP, and will probably end up back at the bedside where I belong <G> I've been a supervisor, a SANE nurse, worked in a family planning clinic, the ER, burn, trauma, started my own clinic in a residential care center for adolescents, and am now taking a position as the supervisor of clinical research for the organization I work for. (and I'm only 40!) What other profession offers all these choices?! You're only limited by your own inability to change in nursing. I'm very happy to say that one of my own sons is heading toward a career in nursing as well. He has a gift!

[carehope]

I AM PROUD TO BE A NURSE! I just don't know if i could recomend it to any one?It is getting harder every day.

[debbyed]

Excuse Me?????? Of course I'm proud to be a nurse and personally I feel that any nurse that isn't needs to find a new job!

[mother/babyRN]

I, like most of you, am also proud to be a nurse. I am not proud of the way many nurses treat others, or the way newer nurses are taught to treat other nurses, such as LPNs or diploma nurses, as different, or some how less than them. I am not proud of how managers are being taught to distance from their nurses. I am not proud that we are encouraged to treat patients as clients or hospitals and medicine as businesses, however close to reality that might be. I AM proud to have made significant differences in countless people's lives and life experiences. I AM proud that my family comes to me when they need advice or counsul. I AM proud that I have the skills, compassion, empathy and guts to do a job that most people could not do, and probably have no desire to do...However, these same people always look for their nurse when they are ill, or when the doctor is home....For whatever reason I became a nurse, I could NEVER be ashamed for being so special and so necessary.......