Am I too shallow to be a nurse?

KateRN1 · Jun 7, 2009

Excellent work schedule

If you like working nights, weekends, holidays, your birthday, your SO's birthday, then yes, excellent work schedule. Almost no one starts out on day shift at the hospitals.

good money

That depends on your geographical area, but anyone who goes into nursing for the money is an idiot. $50K in student loans and I make $25 an hour with ten years of experience.

great opportunities for advancement

I suppose that depends on how you define advancement. If your ultimate goal is middle-management, then yes, so long as you're willing to get the advanced education, at least a BSN and more commonly MSN or PhD/DNSc these days.

relatively short training

At least 3 years for an ASN. You can do an LPN program in a year, but forget about the previously discussed money and opportunities.

beautiful female nurses

Average age of the American nurse is 45. Not that 45 can't be beautiful, but if you're looking for the young hotties, you're not likely to find many of them. Years of eating out of vending machines, when you get a chance to eat, really takes a toll on the figure.

travel opportunities,

With a couple of years of experience, you can sign on to be a travel nurse in such exotic locations as Alton, IL. Or you may be lucky enough to go to sunny CA and be treated like a scab (possibly because you are) and assigned to do all the scut work, far too tired to actually see anything of the city you're in and unable to afford the area attractions anyway.

and ofcourse helping people.

First sensible thing in the post.

I'm already a germophobe

Ummmm . . . . the vast majority of nurses are colonized with an interesting concoction of germs, such as MRSA, VRE, and other juicy bugs.

I'm really not a big fan of bodily fluids,

I'm not sure why not, they're part of your daily living as nurse. You get caughed on, puked on, peed on, pooped, bled on, and more!

and most of all I have a hard time dealing with vommit and excrement of my own family, let alone perfect strangers. I don't even like changing diapers.

Diapers are easy.

With my personality, I also unfortunately will likely retaliate to all those old school nurses who like to "eat their young" and will probably cause drama by standing up for myself.

Standing up for yourself is one thing. Being an @$$ is another.

And finally adding to that my ego and insecurity is not looking forward to the "male nurse" title. Ya ya I know, how dare me and I'm a total jerk...but its true.

If you have issues with your sexuality and being referred to as a "male nurse," I'd recommend therapy.

Was anyone like me before they went into nursing? Did nursing make you a better person or did you already have the personality and compassion of a nurse before you went into it?

Yes and yes. I was young, self-centered, and completely unaware of how my actions affected others. Nursing school helped, but growing and gaining maturity helped much more. Maybe you could use a bit of both as well.

jollydogg_RN, ADN, BSN · Jun 7, 2009

I think that you are approaching the choice of nursing from the view of a man. Cut and dry, straight to the point.

Whats that supposed to mean?

And this is probably a troll post. But if not, its funny, lol. Either way, its funny.

oramar · Jun 7, 2009

Whats that supposed to mean?
And this is probably a troll post. But if not, its funny, lol. Either way, its funny.

This reminds me of those occasional post we get where someone claims, "the other nurses hate me because I am so beautiful". I don't know if the person is serious or if it is a troll but either way it gives me a chance to chuckle. PS Here is some advice from a 60 plus year old grandmother, "the sooner you take yourself out of the center of the universe the greater your chances of having a happy life".

jazz_is_my_game · Jun 7, 2009

Whats that supposed to mean?
And this is probably a troll post. But if not, its funny, lol. Either way, its funny.

:up:

But if not...he brought up points of why many of my classmates are in the field.

jollydogg_RN, ADN, BSN · Jun 7, 2009

well my "whats that supposed to mean" was to the poster who wrote something about looking at nursing from the point of view of a man.

thats why i said whats that supposed to mean, cause i KNOW im a man and i certainly never looked at nursing for those reasons. so...... just wondering where the basis for that is. funny how a troll post brings out sexism, lol.

probably was his intention

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Jun 7, 2009

That said, you won't be alone in going into nursing for those reasons. If you do, I would suggest the ED, telemetry or cardiac cath.

Excuse me???

At any rate, I'd suggest getting your feet wet in healthcare by taking a CNA class and working as a CNA, as someone else suggested. Because really, it's the working with the people part of the equation that you'll either be able to handle or not. It's one thing to change an elderly person's brief, but it's a whole other thing to do it while protecting that person's dignity.

AmaurosisFugax · Jun 7, 2009

KateRN1's response was one of the best I've seen.

As a former patient who is looking into going to nursing school, I would definitely NOT want a person who abhors every aspect of people care, has an archaic sexist ego that would likely cause problems, in short, a person who really seems to hate being a nurse but wants to go into it solely for money (OK, I don't have a problem with that) & hanging out with hot female nurses:uhoh3: - to be my caregiver. Or to be a nurse anywhere!!

nickola · Jun 7, 2009

hmmmmm..........you sound like management/administrative material to me :lol2:

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Jun 7, 2009

I think maybe some are getting a little too hung up on the female nurses comment. Human beings are sexual, and it's perfectly normal to notice attractive people in our environment. The key is being able to appropriately channel those sexual feelings and to maintain a professional demeanor.

As for being a germophobe, a little germophobia is a good thing. It's what makes us wash our hands after going to the bathroom.

Di Deanna · Jun 7, 2009

Haha. Well yes, your reasons are somewhat shallow & the fact that you pretty much don't like anything that has to do with Nursing in general tells ya right there that you shouldn't subject yourself to it.

But there is one awesome thing about you....your honesty!

damrcngrl95 · Jun 7, 2009

Have you thought about being a radiology tech? I think you could achieve most of your goals with that career. I think the schooling is about 18 months. So it is a short school. You can go into different types of x-ray (MRI, CT, Ultrasound, or nuclear med) by getting extra training after you have finished school. I have a friend that says that it is over all low stress and from what I have heard, low on the body fluids. You still have choices in schedules and different areas that you could work in. When you described your personality, this career is what I thought of. Good luck and I hope you find what you are looking for.

deAnna

matt59 · Jun 7, 2009

Was anyone like me before they went into nursing? Did nursing make you a better person or did you already have the personality and compassion of a nurse before you went into it?
Thank You

Jonesy, I'm a tad shallow myself. I'm so hung up on my own problems at the moment I'm going to reply to you before reading everyone elses comments. (Which I will do, because basicaslly I'm just hanging out & moping inside today).

1) Personally, I think your insight shows that you may not be as shallow as you think you are. You've already said that helping people is part of your motivation.

2) What are you giving up to become a nurse? I had a pretty soft gig as an airline mechanic, & I had 18 years w/ the same airline; I don't tend to get buyers remorse often, but I've had cause to look back on this mid-life crisis career decision a few times.

3) I got into it for a lot of the reasons you did, I felt being around females in a climate controlled environment would be a refreshing change to working in cold hangars w/ greasy male counterparts. I've always been an empathetic person, but it was in nsg school I discovered that I was a compassionate (albeit lazy) person.

4) I discovered that I had to work way harder than I ever had in my life for way less money than I expected to. As far as the relatively short training, I don't call it Hell-School for nothing. I also discovered that I had quite a few hangups, including a social anxiety mood disorder. (I will say I got over that not long after thrusting myself into the real world of nsg.)

5) This next is not a crack at females in any way, as many have offered me support, as recently as today, on this board, & at both of the nsg jobs I have had so far in my infantile career. I will say that I now think it was eaier (for me) to work w/ males, because male aggression is usually up front (curse at each other & step outside) vs female aggression, which often is a knife in an unsuspecting back.

6) Being a germaphobe is a good thing.

7) Bodily fluids & feces (in particular feces)? I found that when it was a job I had to do, that was all it was. Anymore (& I'm an ex-mechanic), I'd rather clean up someone's excrement than go out in my garage & jack my car up & change my oil. (Hence I'm about a-thousand-five or so overdue on my work car.)

8) Ego? I've earned more respect from being a male nurse than anything else I've done in my life. It has been my experience that cops like nurses. When pulled over while weraing scrubs late at night, I usually only get warnings. At sobriety stops, they don't look twice. If I was still a big partier, I'd probably now wear scrubs to & from.

9) Nursing hasn't treated me particularly well so far; however, with that typed, I've gone home at night feeling more satisfaction more times than on any other job I ever had. (I've also spent more nights laying in bed wondering "did I do this? Should I have done that?") I often feel that whether anyone else cares or not, I was able to make some one or ones (as in plural) life a little more tolerable for a little while. (With that typed, I'm presently out a job & way too deep in dept. Hell-School was not free.)

Hey, like a lot of other nurses have very recently typed to me, good luck with whatever you do/Matt