Taking a pay cut to enter into Nursing

GHGoonette, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2011

I've always taken the view that happiness is more important than money, so I've stuck with my colleagues, with whom I have worked for 21 years, rather than go for a bigger salary elsewhere. However, never forget that the grass is always greener around the septic tank.

What if you do enter nursing, only to find that you hate it even more? If you haven't already done so, why don't you do some volunteer nursing work to see where, or if, you fit in?

Whatever you decide to do, please make sure you have a definite job lined up before you quit your current place of employment-you don't want to find yourself up the creek without a paddle....

dragn2623 · Feb 21, 2011

The grass is always greener on the side, however, how will I know until I get there. I am looking into volunteering as well. So I have that ongoing in parallel to looking for a nursing position. It just happened by chance that I landed an interview and now I'm torturing myself with all the "what ifs"....

IF I find that I hate nursing, I could always go back to my current career in the pharma industry or a similiar career in the pharma industry. I just want to be happy and right now I know I am not happy and that I need a change.

I guess, I'm at the point in life that I realize I'm only going to walk this path once and I don't want to look back and say shoulda, coulda, but didn't.

I'm hoping this interview will give me some insight too....

Thanks so much for your response!

Zookeeper3 · Feb 21, 2011

I am going to be blunt and many newbies still in love with the idea of "making a difference to humanity" will disagree, and I mean NO disrespect to them, they are our future and I love them.

I am not disgruntled but will be honest and point blank here. After 15 years, with all the shift differentials working nights I make $35/hr. Sounds incredible doesn't it!

-I'm exposed without warning to TB, HIV and Hepatitis as well as MRSA and bring that home to my family

-I"m an ICU nurse, so I'm responsible for wiping the behind every 30 minutes of a GI bleed, the noncompliant renal failure getting kayexallate, the liver failure getting lactulose, the patient that refuses to use the call bell and just poops in the bed, the sedated patient on tube feeds that can't help it.

-The confused patient that is spitting and bites and kicks and hurts me, and no they are all not confused.

-The 86 year old patient end stage cancer DNR, that the family demands we code, against patient wishes.. again and again and again with no hope of a peaceful death.

-The drug seeker that manipulates, yells, demeans me with demands and calls management on me whom reply with "make them happy so our satisfaction scores are high no matter what"

-the 20yr. old that is in every, YES every week with DKA (they don't take their insulin and their body eats itself for food)... demanding high dose pain meds, a meal and the TV clicker and the VCR.

-The very routine 300lb-600 lb patients that have broken my back and my knees that refuse to lift a drink cup to their mouth and demand me to cater to them... but obviously could feed themselves.

-The shooting victims whom are "pillars of our society" that have every local "homey" on the street coming in all acting up carrying on deterring from really sick patients.

- The patients whom are kept alive on live support, suffering with no quality of life for TWO more weeks until the family gets that next social security check... and the first and 15th of the month is very common to withdraw life support after noon when the checks have cleared.

-Overdoses that result in multisystem body failures when they were simply a cry for help, many resulting in brain injuries which cause a vegatative status, while some wake up and scream that they failed

-Family drama, dysfunctional families in their worst stressful moments that bring all that crap into where I work and they make their issues more important than my patients.

-Management, all through a shift of this that rides my chaffed behind wanted 20 pages of charting filled out to get medical reimbursement while my patient is crashing, and my other one is one of the above.

Finally... the documenting... I have to cover my behind while writing a phone book because eveyone wants a quick buck and they'll sue me...and they do because there is always fault to find because we're simply human, trying our best in these and many more circumstances.

If you think this is worth $35/hr... knock your silly behind out. I have yet to teach you about press gainey and patient satisfaction scores... all while we have 24 hr. open visitation... have at it.

I need combat pay. :devil: That is the REAL world of being a nurse, what you do in between that makes a difference... barely keeps you whole.

MomRN0913 · Feb 21, 2011

I am going to be blunt and many newbies still in love with the idea of "making a difference to humanity" will disagree, and I mean NO disrespect to them, they are our future and I love them.
I am not disgruntled but will be honest and point blank here. After 15 years, with all the shift differentials working nights I make $35/hr. Sounds incredible doesn't it!
-I'm exposed without warning to TB, HIV and Hepatitis as well as MRSA and bring that home to my family
-I"m an ICU nurse, so I'm responsible for wiping the behind every 30 minutes of a GI bleed, the noncompliant renal failure getting kayexallate, the liver failure getting lactulose, the patient that refuses to use the call bell and just poops in the bed, the sedated patient on tube feeds that can't help it.
-The confused patient that is spitting and bites and kicks and hurts me, and no they are all not confused.
-The 86 year old patient end stage cancer DNR, that the family demands we code, against patient wishes.. again and again and again with no hope of a peaceful death.
-The drug seeker that manipulates, yells, demeans me with demands and calls management on me whom reply with "make them happy so our satisfaction scores are high no matter what"
-the 20yr. old that is in every, YES every week with DKA (they don't take their insulin and their body eats itself for food)... demanding high dose pain meds, a meal and the TV clicker and the VCR.
-The very routine 300lb-600 lb patients that have broken my back and my knees that refuse to lift a drink cup to their mouth and demand me to cater to them... but obviously could feed themselves.
-The shooting victims whom are "pillars of our society" that have every local "homey" on the street coming in all acting up carrying on deterring from really sick patients.
- The patients whom are kept alive on live support, suffering with no quality of life for TWO more weeks until the family gets that next social security check... and the first and 15th of the month is very common to withdraw life support after noon when the checks have cleared.
-Overdoses that result in multisystem body failures when they were simply a cry for help, many resulting in brain injuries which cause a vegatative status, while some wake up and scream that they failed
-Family drama, dysfunctional families in their worst stressful moments that bring all that crap into where I work and they make their issues more important than my patients.
-Management, all through a shift of this that rides my chaffed behind wanted 20 pages of charting filled out to get medical reimbursement while my patient is crashing, and my other one is one of the above.
Finally... the documenting... I have to cover my behind while writing a phone book because eveyone wants a quick buck and they'll sue me...and they do because there is always fault to find because we're simply human, trying our best in these and many more circumstances.
If you think this is worth $35/hr... knock your silly behind out. I have yet to teach you about press gainey and patient satisfaction scores... all while we have 24 hr. open visitation... have at it.
I need combat pay. That is the REAL world of being a nurse, what you do in between that makes a difference... barely keeps you whole.

ANd that's what burnt me out of ICU after 4 and a half years. Taking a break.....in management...Oh boy.

dragn2623 · Feb 21, 2011

I appreciate your honesty/bluntness and by no means am I insulted by it. However, after all that you have listed, why do you stay? What makes you stay where you are at doing what you do, when you could find a with your knowledge or experience something different?

DeLana_RN, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2011

The grass is always greener on the side, however, how will I know until I get there. I am looking into volunteering as well. So I have that ongoing in parallel to looking for a nursing position. It just happened by chance that I landed an interview and now I'm torturing myself with all the "what ifs"....
IF I find that I hate nursing, I could always go back to my current career in the pharma industry or a similiar career in the pharma industry. I just want to be happy and right now I know I am not happy and that I need a change.
I guess, I'm at the point in life that I realize I'm only going to walk this path once and I don't want to look back and say shoulda, coulda, but didn't.
I'm hoping this interview will give me some insight too....
Thanks so much for your response!

I fully agree with your reasoning. After putting this much effort (and money) into your education, you owe it to yourself to give nursing a chance. After all, you do have an out if you find it is not for you. Also, if bedside nursing isn't your bag (and you won't know until you try it), you can probably find a much better paying position combining your pharma background with nursing.

You have nothing to lose, go for it!

DeLana

dragn2623 · Feb 21, 2011

I fully agree with your reasoning. After putting this much effort (and money) into your education, you owe it to yourself to give nursing a chance. After all, you do have an out if you find it is not for you. Also, if bedside nursing isn't your bag (and you won't know until you try it), you can probably find a much better paying position combining your pharma background with nursing.
You have nothing to lose, go for it!
DeLana

I'm hoping the interview will give me some insight. If the interview doesn't, perhaps volunteering will. The posts here are very helpful too. I can take some time out of the pharma industry and if I find nursing is not for me, then the clinical experience will be invaluable to my career if I decide to re-enter into pharma. I'm young enough to take a chance (33 y/o) and old enough to know that nursing is not a cake job and there are many down-sides/risks/ emotionally draining aspects to it as well. There are positives and negatives in every pasture that we decide to venture in....

mtsteelhorse · Feb 21, 2011

Why not consider PA school? I would look at options other than nursing that provide you with the sense of fulfillment you're looking for. If nursing is truly your calling then by all means go for it. I think the whole picture of nursing has changed dramatically. You couldn't pay me enough to go back to bedside nursing. The stress was horrific. Good luck in your decision process. Take a look at the big picture of opportunities.

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Feb 21, 2011

I'm interested to hear the responses.

I'm in much the same position as you dragn2623, except that I cannot afford the pay cut just yet. My original plan was to become an RN, work part-time in nursing for a year or 2, then return to school for my MSN to become a CNP. At that point, I'd be in position to take early retirement from my present job and could withstand the pay cut to enter nursing full-time.

It seemed like a reasonable plan when I began it and I finished the first step with no problems. Step 2 has me stymied though and I'm probably going to go directly to Step 3 instead.

RoyalPrince · Feb 21, 2011

Wow Zookeeper3.. you have covered every bit of it! Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is what I could never, ever elaborate except to say "ehh dont do it"

dragn2623 · Feb 21, 2011

Why not consider PA school? I would look at options other than nursing that provide you with the sense of fulfillment you're looking for. If nursing is truly your calling then by all means go for it. I think the whole picture of nursing has changed dramatically. You couldn't pay me enough to go back to bedside nursing. The stress was horrific. Good luck in your decision process. Take a look at the big picture of opportunities.

I actually applied for NP program here in NJ. I rather not do a PA.... I worked FT while doing my ABSN in the evenings. I literally drove from one end of the state to the other just to go to class and do my clinicals after work. I invested so much time/energy into obtaining my nursing degree that I not sure if I would want to go off on a completely different tangent now.

I have ~10 yrs of pharmaceutical industry experience, a degree in genetic engineering, masters in public health and now a BSN, and hopefully I can do graduate NP degree (should I get accepted). I need clinical nursing experience to even complete a NP.

As I had stated in another post, having the clinical expereince will be invaluable to me if I find out that nursing is not for me.... I can always return to what I know, or work in clinical trials, or drug safety or a variety of other things..................