Not all nurses wear scrubs

[rosen60]

I decided to attend nursing school at the ripe age of 52 and made it; I passed the PN NCLEX on the first attempt. My background is in health insurance and while I knew from the beginning I would be going back and hopefully as a nurse reviewer I didn't share that with everyone I know. I was offered a position that will allow me to do what I know plus utilize my license as I pursue my RN.

While celebrating my achievements I have encountered a few comments that I would like to share:

1. "Oh so you aren't really going to be a nurse?"
   
2. "Why would you go to school for nursing to not use it?"
   
3. "Aren't you going backward?"
   

We are taught from the beginning of school that nursing is no longer a singular occupation and there are so many options to explore. So for anyone else who has made the decision to make the jump to be a non-clinical nurse I ask if you too have encountered this type of negativity and how you responded to it?

[CABG patch kid, BSN, RN]

I just got a position in case management and will start in three weeks. As I happily tell my coworkers, most are supportive but I'm hearing some mixed reviews. So far I've heard that "You are leaving the nursing profession" "You're so young to go into CM" and "You're going to be a pencil pusher." To which I've replied, "No, I'm not" "Huh?" and "Well I suppose I won't be wiping butts anymore." I have no reason to hide my career change and since I'm staying in my current hospital most likely I'll still be working with these people on a regular basis so they should get used to the idea now! It is what it is. People have a narrow idea of what nursing entails.

[rosen60]

Thanks for the feedback, I do appreciate everyone taking time to post a response. I wish everyone finds happiness in what they choose to do.

[miranda819, BSN]

Hi! I too have felt the sting of 'your are not really a nurse', but I think it was more self inflicted than anything else. A few weeks ago I left a very busy Mother-Baby unit to go into a non-profit center doing case management/home visits. I love what I do and love the fact that I work M-F, 8-5, but the day I packed all my scrubs up was a sad day. I felt like I was leaving nursing and I didn't seem like a real nurse anymore. But now, a few weeks into the new position, I use my nursing skills and knowledge all the time. My scrubs don't define my profession anymore. I am just as much a nurse in my business casuals as I was in my navy blue scrubs!

[DosmoRN]

I wouldn't take offense at these questions, if I were you. I wouldn't consider them "negativity" so much as simple ignorance. Many people still picture nuses as young women in white, tending to some ill peson in bed. Many don't realize that nurses may do different kinds of nursing, as well as some jobs that are not even typical roles for a nurse, like legal nurses for example. I think your plan makes a lot of sense.

Could you just explain simply, almost as you did in your post. Maybe say something like, "most of my experience has been in insurance", (experience that could be considerable at your age) "but I was attracted to this job because I can utilize skills I already have, at the same time I study for my R.N."? If it was I, I might even add "so many nurses wish they had a better of understanding where insurance is concerned...it just seemeed like a good fit" As for your future, you can always say you are not sure yet or tell them, quite honestly that you'd like to explore being a nurse reviewer. You will have to answer them in a way that seems appropriate to you. But please don't be intimidated by their questions. You are a mature adult, able to plan logically, not a young wide-eyed nursing student.

They should respect that.

Actually, I did go through something similar, once. I've always enjoyed pharmacology. And if I hadn't been a child of the late fifties, with it's sterotyped female roles, I might have considered it as a profession. After I had been an RN for several years, and was somewhat burned out, I discovered one could train to be a pharmacy tech in a matter of months. I took the course, passed the qualifying exam, and looked for a job. Some pharmacists seemed interested, but though I tried, I couldn't convince any of them them that I wouldn't mind the decrease in pay. However, I ALSO couldn't convince myself that I was ready for the extra years of college I'd need to work in pharmacy.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I haven't been a staff nurse, wearing scrubs and providing direct patient care every day in 35 years. But I have remained "a nurse" for that whole time. My answer to those comments is usually something like, "I am a nurse, I just don't do the same job as you."

I wrote a paper on the phenomenon in my PhD program -- titled it "Real Nurses" and theoretically/philosophically justified my claim that we are all real nurses in spite of the fact that we fufill different roles within the health care system.