Survey: Would you encourage your child to become a nurse?

I've been an Lpn for 18 years. I have two daughters that are Lpns, and one in Lpn school now. I have worked at a small hospital for 17 years.(138beds)I have worked all over the place,except OR.
In our hospital,Lpns do almost everything.There are a few forms that Rns are required to sign,after we fill them out.
I have encouraged my daughters to go to school for nursing.So far they haven't voiced regrets.
With all the stress,agravation,heartache I've been through over the years, I still love what I do!!

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I did vote no.... why am I embarrassed... because I love the profession and couldn't imagine doing anything different.

Do I want my daughters doing this? MMM... My eldest daughter is completing grade 13 and for the past 3 years has expressed her intention to go into medicine to become - eventually an E.R. physician..... Privately, I'm not convinced she'll continue... at one point, recently she expressed a desire to switch to nursing instead. Disappointed - absolutely! There is so much to know and medicine is changing so rapidly... nurses are still more limited in their capabilities than doctors... we're getting there but have a long way to go. Guess I want her to have more options.

honestly...i can't answer that...it depends on my child probably...

As a mother of 5, I would encourage any of my brood to go into nsg. So far no one is a taker!!! (we do have a budding vet and physical therapist)I know after 26yrs all the pitfalls, the poor wages, lousey hrs. etc. However, I feel that I have had the best career possible. Most of my years have been spent in a PICU. I know only to well the long, long days and nights with no breaks. The kids and husband have seen me dead tired both emotionally and physically. I have missed more than one ball game. But they also shared in my success stories. When we moved from the West Coast to the South I took off about 3 months. First time in my whole adult life that I was not working full time. I was a wreck.(Cooking every night was to hard!!!!)
We need to encourage new blood in our field. They will make the big differecne in our profession. Twenty-six years ago as a new grad in Oregon, I made $6.25/hr. It took a few years but that changed. Now we are ready for a major change again. It will happen but we need some youth to supply some new energy.

Right now almost 50% of the people taking the survey say they would not encourage their children to become nurses. I find that to be ineffitably sad. Have we really come to this? I cannot imagine my life without my nursing career. And if my daughter wanted to be a nurse, I would do everything I could to help her. What we do is important, and we make a difference, and in the end that's what matters to me.

My daughter has wanted to be a nurse from the age of 3. now at the age of 23 she is still completelyl sold out to the idea. with excellent grades and 4 years out of school, she has done interior design, beauty work and is still waiting to get into nursing college. unfortunately with affirmative action in our country, she has little chance. the next course starts in 8 weeks time and she has still not been notified as to whether she is in or not. very sad!! we are supporting her. Does anyone know how one can study nursing in North Carolina? she would like to go there as we have family that have just moved there - but they have too much on their plate to find out about nursing schools and all the ins and outs of an international student situation. can anyone help? thanks

like so many others i would neither encourage or discourage someone from nursing my children both chose other things. they see how hard i work and how much time i am away fromthem a 12 hour shift is never really over in 12 and i never am home on time. while they respect the work i do they decided early on it wan not for them.

Hey. I am a nursing student. I am currently in my third semester of clinicals (Med/Surg). I have been reading responses to the survey and I just wanted to share my thoughts about it...Before I start, I want to state that I am not trying to offend anyone and I hope that I don't.

It really disappoints me to read and hear the nurses complain about being a nurse and the workplace....Being a nurse is not about making the BIG dollars and being highly recognized for what WE do...A nurse has many responsibilities...WE are teachers, friends, listeners, counselors,...the list goes on and on. A nurse is understanding and not judgemental of the patients' lifestyle or illness. When I decided to pursue my dream to become a nurse, I knew about the long shifts at work, missing holidays with families, missing time with my hubby to be, and not being awarded "RN of the Year" for the work i had put forth. THe point is I am pursueing my dream because I care about people. I wanna be a support to someone in need and to lend a caring hand to someone that has forgotten what it feels like to be cared for. It takes someone with a big heart and soft hands to be a nurse. It appears to me that a lot of you have forgotten that. If there are such hard feelings about your work situations, make a career change. Try agency nursing. Its nurses like you that is ruining the NURSE name. Being a NURSE is very rewarding...Yeah, I am a student nurse, but I have experienced it....I have had patients thank me for helping ease their pain and comforting them...

When I first started this third semester, clinicals were making me nervous...I was just scared to death that I was going to have to insert a NGT into some patient someday. Needless to say, that day came. My patient was suffering from Pancreatitis. He was a long time alcoholic and had been told many times by his MD to stop drinking because it was progressing his disease. He was in so much pain. I tried everything to try to help ease that pain. I rubbed his back, gave pain medicinces, assessed every few hours because I really wanted him comforted. The MD ordered a NGT to be inserted and placed on continuous suction. I was like "Oh my goodness this patient is really going to hate me because I have to put this tube down his nose...." I was freaking out because I had never inserted NGT down a real live human being. I had only done it on a stupid plastic dummy...I calmed myself down and gathered my materials to do the procedure. When I informed the patient about the NGT, he got really upset about it. I sat down and listened to him express his concerns. I explained it to him and told him it was going help relieve that abdominal pain. As I inserted the tube, I talked to him. After the insertion was complete and placement was confirmed, I had to give him an enema. I was feeling pretty lousy about having to put him through it all. When I was done, I helped him position in bed and get comfortable. I made sure everything was ok. As I was walking out of the room, the patient called to me. He thanked me for the effort I was putting forth for him and being so caring...

That my friends is why I am getting my RN degree. Its all about helping and listening to your patient.
I would encourage anyone that had a desire and a heart to become a nurse....If they felt the calling!

sbrn-- hope your career will be all that you want but when you get into the real world of nursing and see that you don't have time to re-assess every few hours, or talk to your pt., much less give a back rub, etc... maybe you will realize why alot of nurses complain. we like to be able to take good care of our pts. but are not able to because of the demands put on us by administration. more work, less help, not enough pay.

What is considered "not enough pay?" In the state of SC, most nurses get paid $18.00/hour. Agency RN nurses get paid $30.00 to $35.00 an hour.

I am working on a Med/Surgical unit in a hospital as a nursing assistant now. I have been on that floor for over a year. We have a very big patient turnover. I get paid 6.00 an hour to take care of 12 patients for 12 hours shift. I take care of the bed baths, changing patients, changing bed sheets, turning patients, taking VS, checking I & O's, doing FSBS on patients, charting VS and I & O's. I inform nurses about their patients about stuff that I know is not good. I help the nurses everyway that I can.

I know nurses have a big responsibility. I know that it's stressful. I have seen it first hand. I have worked on several units: SICU, MICU, ER, Orthopedics, Peds. The only area that I have not worked is the OR, which i have no desire for that dept.

I am sorry if I offended anyone. The point is,,,I have experienced the real world....