Only if you are not in it for the money

Nurses Career Support

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CE,

Your post was truly heartfelt. How unselfish you must be...Tell me though, you say that when you went into nursing school it was not for the monetary benefits, is it still that way now? Or do you work for free?

Yes, I am being sarcastic but I do not intend to attack you personally. Rather, I wish to point out that in todays society one gets what one pays for and therefore if nurses are paid very little, then patients get very little...

Career- A chosen pursuit; a profession or occupation.

Volunteer- To do charitable or helpful work without pay

NURSEDUDE:

For your information at the present time I am unable to work due to a disability I suffered by working. However I do volunteer for various locations, visit nursing homes, offer advice, give support, help with students in nursing programs and offer my help with the elderly in my Apartment Complex. This is done without monetary compensation. It is done because I love my profession and even though I am unable to work at the present time, I believe in helping people anyway I can. I would jump in a heartbeat to the need for my knowledge and training without concern for money. This is my life, my profession and most of all MY PRIDE OF BEING A NURSE!!!!! You seem to have a "grudge" against something within your profession and that is ok, but please stop giving the Nurse's that love the profession for it's many rewards, not monetary gain a hard time.

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C.E.Worden,LPN

NURSEDUDE:

In response to your remake about one gets what one pays for:

IF YOU BELIEVE THAT THEN YOU ARE NOT PRACTICING THE TRUE PROFESSION OF NURSING!!! IT IS NOT THE PATIENTS FAULT, SO WHY CAUSE THEM HARM BY JUST GIVING THEM WHAT YOU ARE PAID INSTEAD OF WHAT YOU KNOW. I DO BELIEVE THAT PART OF THE NURSING CODE IS TO DO NO HARM TO YOUR PATIENT!!!!!!

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C.E.Worden,LPN

Originally posted by ceworden:

I am an LPN with 6+ years of expierance. I knew at the age of 12 that this is what I wanted to do. Unfortunately it took me awhile to get there. I "strayed" from one type of career to another and was never happy. However, I thank my parents for giving me the opportunity to get educated for what I wanted to do all along. When I started nursing school it was not about monetary benefits. IT WAS ABOUT CARING FOR OTHERS IN TIME OF NEED!!! The greatest compliment a nurse can recieve is the look in the eyes of the patient/family member because you take time to care and explain what is going on. We must treat the "whole Patient", not just the diease. So, if you are considering Nursing for the monetary benefits, look into something else. If you want to help ease others in a time of great need, be a Nurse.

Originally posted by ceworden:

I am an LPN with 6+ years of expierance. I knew at the age of 12 that this is what I wanted to do. Unfortunately it took me awhile to get there. I "strayed" from one type of career to another and was never happy. However, I thank my parents for giving me the opportunity to get educated for what I wanted to do all along. When I started nursing school it was not about monetary benefits. IT WAS ABOUT CARING FOR OTHERS IN TIME OF NEED!!! The greatest compliment a nurse can recieve is the look in the eyes of the patient/family member because you take time to care and explain what is going on. We must treat the "whole Patient", not just the diease. So, if you are considering Nursing for the monetary benefits, look into something else. If you want to help ease others in a time of great need, be a Nurse.

I'm totally with you. I worked for the International Red Cross for 5 years on a volunteer basis only when I got fed up with hearing people gripe about scheduling, overtime, unions, i don't get paid enough.....etc.

It was the best experience of my life. I saw people who had NOTHING.......and to hear people gripe about not getting enough for what they do, or throwing a fit when their cable tv goes out, I think back to those few years that Iworked for them, and am grateful that I have a job, and lucky that I can help change the outcome of an illness.

Don't change the way that you think or feel about your profession for the benefit of another.

To Kaseigh:

THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!!!!! IT WAS NICE TO HEAR A POSITIVE REACTION TO THIS VERSES THE NEGATIVE REACTION. FOR NURSING IS ABOUT CARING AND HELPING THOSE IN NEED, NOT ABOUT THE MONEY.

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C.E.Worden,LPN

To the original poster-

Your loyalty toward this profession is admirable, indeed. I would feel very sorry for anyone who went into nursing SOLELY for money. They would be in for a very rude awakening and probably wouldn't last long.

I do have a couple of questions for you though. First, do you think nurses are paid what they're worth? Second, would you have gone through nursing school if you were to make the same as a taco bell employee? And on that note, if it were not about money at all, why not be an aide? They probably have more opportunity to give TLC than busy nurses that are buried in paperwork.

I enjoy being a nurse. I also enjoy making my mortgage and car payments while working a 3 day work week. I doubt I stand alone.

Originally posted by ceworden:

I am an LPN with 6+ years of expierance. I knew at the age of 12 that this is what I wanted to do. Unfortunately it took me awhile to get there. I "strayed" from one type of career to another and was never happy. However, I thank my parents for giving me the opportunity to get educated for what I wanted to do all along. When I started nursing school it was not about monetary benefits. IT WAS ABOUT CARING FOR OTHERS IN TIME OF NEED!!! The greatest compliment a nurse can recieve is the look in the eyes of the patient/family member because you take time to care and explain what is going on. We must treat the "whole Patient", not just the diease. So, if you are considering Nursing for the monetary benefits, look into something else. If you want to help ease others in a time of great need, be a Nurse.

Just remember there is a big difference between taking care of others and offering your self up as somesort of human sacrifice on the alter of capitalism.

Ceworden,

Your feelings regarding nursing and that you want to give your patients the best possible care you can, and that they deserve, is not being attacked. We all want that or else we wouldn't be up in arms about the conditions we work under or the direction health care has taken. But caring for and about your patients and giving them the best care does not mean that we should not be paid what we are worth. Demanding adequate pay and respect has nothing to do with giving our patients good care. As history has shown, even without the pay and respect nurses deserve, we have always giving our patients the best we can. Wanting to be treated as professionals, respected for what we do and know, wanting to be monetarily compensated for what we do and know is not a bad thing. It's not selfish and it doesn't mean we're in it just for the money. It means that we have respect for ourselves as people and as professionals that practice nursing. Why shouldn't we be paid what we deserve and why shouldn't we be respected as a profession?

This thread sounds familiar to another one that received much attention, "Nursing is Pathetic". Read the postings in there and maybe you can see what I mean. (Hey nursedude, have we been through this before??). But please understand that wanting to be adequately compensated and respected and fighting for that doesn't mean we don't care about our patients and that until we achieve this we're going to give substandard care. It just means that we also care about ourselves and our lives outside of nursing. And there is nothing selfish or wrong about sticking up for yourself.

Just a little tidbit. Shelf stockers for a local grocery chain are paying 11-7 workers $17.00/hr. That is more than some RN's start at!! Now, if you were a person lying in a hospital bed and knew that the stock person at your local grocery store was making more than the nurse taking care of you, what would you think of the nurse? And I don't mean that he/she wasn't nice and didn't get you your ice water,fluff your pillow or fix your sheets etc., but nurses in general as a profession. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, the average non-medical person would figure that was what a nurse was worth if that was all anyone was willing to pay. Even if it's not true that's how it is seen.

NurseDude,

Have you always felt this way about nursing or is this just recently? Do you like anything about what you do? You appear to be very resentful about having chosen this career. Why don't you just do something else? Lord knows I sure wouldn't want you consoling me when I am on my death bed. And if you do plan to stay in nursing and continue to be this bitter, please put your angry energy toward legislation changes. I'm serious - you make some very valid points and don't seem to give up arguing them. I hope you are not this negative at work, it can really bring down the morale of the team. In a recent posting of yours, I read your quote: "the most important job I have is that of patient advocate. . ." I am curious to know how one utilizes the 'you get what you pay for' philosophy and combines it with patient advocacy.

Mona

I certainly am not in nursing to get rich.

I really want to use my knowledge, skills, and compassion to help people. But I also have a family to take care of, mortgage to pay, car payment, utilities, cable bill, phone bill, cost for computer, etc. Not to mention my daughter will be starting college in 3 yrs!!! How can I pay for all this if I don't receive adequate compensation for my job? Why do football, basketball and baseball players make millions when the job I do is so important and I make a meager salary?

I am an LPN with 6+ years of expierance. I knew at the age of 12 that this is what I wanted to do. Unfortunately it took me awhile to get there. I "strayed" from one type of career to another and was never happy. However, I thank my parents for giving me the opportunity to get educated for what I wanted to do all along. When I started nursing school it was not about monetary benefits. IT WAS ABOUT CARING FOR OTHERS IN TIME OF NEED!!! The greatest compliment a nurse can recieve is the look in the eyes of the patient/family member because you take time to care and explain what is going on. We must treat the "whole Patient", not just the diease. So, if you are considering Nursing for the monetary benefits, look into something else. If you want to help ease others in a time of great need, be a Nurse.

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C.E.Worden,LPN

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