Scared to admit I am a RN who cares

Nurses General Nursing

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Years ago when I first became a nurse I was so proud to be called a 'nurse' I would have shouted it across the roof tops. The reason I came into nursing is very old fashioned and you are now criticized for wanting to help people and care.

Today if you admit you are a RN who came into nursing because you care about people and want to help them it is almost like you are blaspheming.

I read that only nurses who came into the profession for financial and career reasons, or because they lost their first job and have decided nurses is the career for them are the ones who succeed in the profession.

I don't believe it is true I think there is a place for both kinds of nurses, I also don't believe the ones who don't care are the most successful.

In my company you wouldn't get far up the ladder if you said you were in nursing because you are a career RN and that you don't really care about the patient. You have to really want to be a nurse to succeed and it becomes very obvious when you don't care about the patient or want to do the right thing

It is old fashioned to say why I came into nursing 24 years ago, although I didn't come into the profession initially as a career, I have had one heck of a career and have managed to climb the ladder to a dizzy height!

So for all those RN's out there who are frightened to say they came into nursing for reasons of caring or helping people-stand tall and be counted!

It's great to be caring, but one must also be realistic about the fact that healthcare is a business. The caring nurses who have difficulty are the ones who believe that money falls from the sky.

The One True Scotsman just won't die, will it?

Look, if you went into nursing based on the angel of mercy belief, awesome, rock on. That does NOT mean you are a better nurse than the nurse who doesn't genuflect and the Altar of Flo. I've seen firsthand second-career nurses whom I genuinely admire and learned so much from, and the angel of mercy types I wouldn't trust my pet rock with because they believe their passion is what makes a great nurse and forgo non-passion things like refining skills and further education.

This, much like the ADN vs BSN debate, is pointless. People are different, motivations are different, approaches are different. Respect the differences, as it prevents the field of nursing from becoming stagnant.

Karou

700 Posts

Specializes in Med-Surg.

I don't think any less of a nurse who went into nursing for practical reasons (money, job security, ect...), but...

I choose nursing because of the genuine joy it gives me to care for others. It's awfully cheesy.

I have always taken care of people, especially my family. Every type of pet you can imagine too. My mother has always said I have a "servants heart" and am a nurturer. I have wanted to be a nurse for as long as I can remember to care for people.

It just makes me happy to know I have cared for another person and possibly made a difference in their life or day. I feel fulfilled and it gives me purpose. Truly, nursing gives me purpose, and I don't know what I would be without that to drive me.

Farawyn

12,646 Posts

I didn't get that madwife was saying she was a better nurse.

I went into nursing because I like people, I like disgusting stuff, and I like job stability.

My mom is a retired nurse, and she had a cap, and a cape. She was badass. I'm sure that has something to do with it as well, a little romanticizing.

I don't believe it is true I think there is a place for both kinds of nurses, I also don't believe the ones who don't care are the most successful.

In my company you wouldn't get far up the ladder if you said you were in nursing because you are a career RN and that you don't really care about the patient. You have to really want to be a nurse to succeed and it becomes very obvious when you don't care about the patient or want to do the right thing!

Well apparently if you come into nursing for the wrong reasons, you won't be successful. I think that's a backhanded way of saying "you're not as good."

It is also not very nice (nor accurate) to say nurses who are not in it for the same reason as one's own reason are nurses who don't care about the patient. (That's right up there in the quote. )

I'm a hybrid. I love the challenge of untangling comorbid conditions, of overcoming acute decompensation, of watching a medically unstable patient come through with our help. I'm very science focused. But, as I said before, I'm a hybrid who also loves those moments of bonding, when trust is established and the patient is comfortable being vulnerable with you. To me, achieving hemostasis is as rewarding as making a pt smile, a fresh new bed, a clean smooth dressing, watching them walk out healed.

I'm tired of people who think they're better than others because of some minor difference. Viva la difference!

Farawyn

12,646 Posts

Well apparently if you come into nursing for the wrong reasons, you won't be successful. I think that's a backhanded way of saying "you're not as good."

It is also not very nice (nor accurate) to say nurses who are not in it for the same reason as one's own reason are nurses who don't care about the patient. (That's right up there in the quote. )

I'm a hybrid. I love the challenge of untangling comorbid conditions, of overcoming acute decompensation, of watching a medically unstable patient come through with our help. I'm very science focused. But, as I said before, I'm a hybrid who also loves those moments of bonding, when trust is established and the patient is comfortable being vulnerable with you. To me, achieving hemostasis is as rewarding as making a pt smile, a fresh new bed, a clean smooth dressing, watching them walk out healed.

I'm tired of people who think they're better than others because of some minor difference. Viva la difference!

Yea, I guess I'm a hybrid, too. I see your point.

fakebee

120 Posts

Most employers aren't interested in your motivation for working, just that you do a good job and meet their job standards. Nursing should be no different. The problem in nursing is the Martyr Mary types who want you to believe as they do that caring for the sick is a privilege and can only be done well by those that have the caring calling and that we should overlook safe working conditions, adequate compensation, and respect from patients and management for this privilege, something intelligent adults do not accept as logical. I believe that every person with a healthy mental attitude derives satisfaction from helping other people regardless of profession. Nursing is not special in that regard. Again, the source of irritation is not that you became a nurse because you care, it's the inevitable backlash when others tell thousands of competent professionals they're not as good as those who have a calling for something. We would all like to be the total package of caring, compassion, and competence but genetics rules... You are who you are and you adapt to be successful.

NanaPoo

762 Posts

Specializes in School Nursing, Hospice,Med-Surg.

I came into nursing for the comfortable costumes.

Farawyn

12,646 Posts

I came into nursing for the comfortable costumes.

hahahhahahahahahaha!

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.
I came into nursing for the comfortable costumes.

Yeah - those "cute scrubs" that are highlighted as a recruitment factor in recruitment commercials by one of the largest investor-owned MA programs.... That says it all, right?

VANurse2010

1,526 Posts

Truthfully, I usually trust the practical types over the angels of mercy, but your mileage may vary.

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