Potential nursing students who dont want to hear the truth - Page 3

Is it important to tell them the truth? Absolutely.

Is it necessary to push your opinion into them? Absolutely not.

People will believe what they want to believe. They will not appreciate you raining on their parade. You say your piece and walkaway. If they take your advice, good. If they don't, it's their life.

People always say don't take Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts because there isn't any money on the field. And yet, year after year people continue to apply. It is important for people to follow their dreams and see where it leads them. If it goes to bust, at least they gave it a shot. That's life.

We cannot rob hopes away from people because of the reality we are facing now. The recession is not going to last forever. Old nurses will eventually retire and we'll need new blood for nursing to evolve. Let them learn from it and let them decide to move away from it.

How many people actually come out of school with their dream job in any industry? Just because a nursing student is excited and hopeful that does not make them an idiot or mean that they assume life will be perfect after graduation. Every job market is struggling...does that mean every person considering a career change or just graduating from high school should just take an entry level position at 10$ an hour and try to make that work the rest of their lives? I think higher education will always be worth it even if you don’t get a job in your field right away. There is an ebb and flow in any job market and the skills you gain from any degree, certification, etc. will be helpful at some point in your life. I do agree that having huge amounts of student loans is a bad idea, but some people are determined to go through school regardless of the cost. I totally understand giving good, caring advice to a friend but I believe a lot of the negativity about the medical/nursing field has to do with people's own insecurities about their jobs. I also believe you should say what you believe and then be done with it...there is no reason to discourage someone from learning new skills...even if YOU believe they won’t be helpful in the future. Did someone tell you not to go into nursing when you were trying to get through school? If so I am sorry, but that doesn’t mean you should continue to spread the negative misconceptions and paranoia about nursing. There is an abundance of information about nursing job shortages all over the internet and all nurses is a good example of that...the nursing students in your life don’t need any more discouragement from their "friends" and family, there is plenty already to go around!

2:39 am by esme12 2:39 am by esme12 a member since aug '05 - from 'east coast'. esme12 has '33' year(s) of nursing experience and specializes in 'critical care, ed, cath lab,ctpac,trauma'. posts: 4,043 likes: 7,267
age: 51
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quote from rnlane well, right now we really don't need nurses......it's ok to follow your dreams but that doesn't mean that there will be work and you won't be able to pick and choose your shift or speciality.


so you mean nurses are not needed now? you mean people should stop becoming nurses? until? when nurses quit their jobs for one reason or the other or move to another state , who takes the open spots? who fills in spots when older nurses retire? what about hospitals that are still accepting new grads? so from this moment henceforth, new grads included, need to find something else doing and forget what they have worked for, since you mentioned nurses are not needed. i would like to know when you have an idea when nurses will be needed or they will never be needed forever?


do you know how many nurses lose their license everyday? do you know how many new grads that get hired that are not even part of allnurses forum?

i have also read on this site where people (i won't call them nurses) quit their jobs and come here to say nursing is not good or blah,blah, blah .... the fact that it doesn't work for them doesn't mean it won't work or is not working for other people.

the fact that american soldiers are dying in middle east, hasn't stopped people from joining the military. i think as a nurse people coming into the profession should be encouraged and negativity should be out of it. how many nurses here have been told they can't make it through nursing school, how many people here have been discouraged about nursing and it has been the best thing for them or decision they have ever made.

nothing personal, i just don't believe that i will read a statement like this on this site.

Thank you.

Not really, no. What you're seeing would end up being just the same in any profession - nursing (in this regard) isn't any different. To some extent, you have to have that "dream" to motivate you to action, and yeah at some point cold, hard reality's going to set in - for me, back when I was working on my BS in CS I was stone cold convinced I was gonna set the world on fire with my programming skills. 26 years later - couldn't care less if I never saw another line of code for as long as I live. Am I sorry I did it? Nope - 'cause at least I gave it my best shot, and I had my chance at the brass ring.

About the best I can recommend (which has already been said, but bears repeating) - tell 'em to do some volunteer work or some entry-level aide type work first, and see how you feel after 6-12 months of that. Agreed that the "instant gratification" aspect tends to be annoying - but, reality'll tend to take care of that in due course.

There are just some things in life that people have to learn the hard way - keep the Betadine & Band-Aids handy for 'em, and try not to stress over it. BTDTGTTS.


------ Dave

I have this conversation all the time with my boyfriend who wants to become a nurse.. I keep telling him its not a glamorous job and its hell trying to find a job and getting thur nursing school. It just seem a life of a nurse never seems to get any better or easier. First you bust your butt in nursing school and passing the nclex.....then cant find a job and most likey end up working in an undesirable area like LTC with 40 something patients, never getting a break, running around like a mad woman. Nursing has thrown me around like a ragged doll and I dont want the same for him or anyone else I know. I wish someone had warned me it was going be like this but all I heard when I was going to school is you will have no problem finding a job and there like always be nursing jobs blah blah blah. People always tell me they want to be a nurse because they want to help people.. I always tell them there's plently of other ways to help people beside nursing that have better working conditions. but i guess people wont believe you until they experience it for themselves.

That's pretty much what I say when someone that wants to go into nursing is stupid enough to ask for MY opinion on it. I mean really, I'm in school right now to get OUT of nursing, and you think I'm going to tell you "Go for it! It's your DREAAAAMMMMM!!! You save lives! You dare enough to care enough!! And you get to wear SCRUBS!!!!" (Ok, I admit, now that I'm networking for my future career post nursing, I'm realizing that wearing pajamas and comfy shoes to work is actually kind of a perk for nursing.)

I mentor high school and pre-nursing students through a community organization. I see exactly what you describe: if you are realistic, you're squashing their dreams, but if you aren't honest it does them a tremendous disservice.

Many students I deal with are from low-income families and they see nursing as an opportunity to make a substantial income and have job security and flexibility as well. Unfortunately, these young adults were born ten years too late to enjoy the huge bonuses and perks available when there was a critical nursing shortage, but they believe the bonuses and limitless overtime still exist. They also have unrealistic expectations of the job, some of it based on watching too many TV programs about hospitals and also from hearing romanticized stories about nursing. I can't count the number of times I've heard students talk about 'holding the hand of a patient'.

I encourage these students to shadow a nurse for a few days. I also encourage them to sit in a nursing school classroom and see how rigorous it is. In the end, they have to make their own decisions. I suspect one of the reasons so many new nurses quit is because they never had a clear picture of the working conditions and the stresses.

Honesty is important, but it's also important not to go out of your way to give people unsolicited advice.

You don't like your job, quit the job or nursing profession and move on. Why stay in a profession that has made ur life miserable? Thats why people are going to school to become nurses and will take ur job, thats why people are going for direct BSN program. If something isn't working for you then you improvise. If it's not working for you doesn't mean it's not going to work for someone else. We all have different charasteristics at work and i am sure the way people talk or relate to co-workers at work is part of reason why work has been unbearable for some people. When you quit your nursing job, i would like to know what profession you getting into next and what qualifications you have for that job that you feel you should be hired.

Done.

I spent 3 months looking before getting offered a job in the specialty I was interested in, (which also happens to be a specialty that many folks here like to warn new grads away from), so some new grads do luck in to exactly what they want.

You know, I was super stressed about getting a job after graduating. I had classmates who weren't stressed, and some of them found jobs easily and others took longer, but in the end, they went through their job hunt without anxiety consuming their every waking moment. Perhaps the students you are so worried about enlightening are just trying to be zen about it, or perhaps they are just not worriers. And yeah, maybe they are out of touch completely and in a few months will be posting here about how no one told them the market sucked and isn't life unfair. Either way, it's not your responsibility to "make them see the light."

When I have students, I talk to them about the things that were helpful to me during the job hunt. I stress the importance of networking and perseverance, volunteer and per diem work during the job search to make yourself stand out, practicing interview skills, etc.