Yes, there are so many options

hencyn · Jul 23, 1999

I do agree with several points that you made, Bryan. Nursing isn't the worst choice in a career, but I would not recommend nursing to any young person searching for a life-long career. I have been a nurse for 17yrs and have seen many changes in the medical field. I feel as frustrated as many other nurses do over the lack of time and resources available to nurses to give high quality, caring and holistic care to patients and families. Yes, a certain amount of self satisfaction and pride come from making a difference in someone elses life, but to what personal costs to ourselves and to our families when we work short staffed and frequently burned out from the demand of the current ways that we are forced to practice?

Love to see what others are thinking.

Cyndi Henry, RN, BSN

pdxrn · Jul 23, 1999

Sorry, I can not in all honesty reccomend nursing to young people. There are many types of careers available in emerging technologies that will pay a perosn for what they really do. Yes, I am a caring person, but after 14 years of nursing in critical and long term care, I am now disabled and looking for a new job. I want to stay in nursing but nursing has made no effort to retain their experienced nurses with wisdom who just may not have the stamina or who have been injured and can no longer lift, bend, stoop, crawl etc. I go to interviews with excellent references but because I don't have UR, QI, QA, CCM, BSN etc, etc, etc. I am passed over. I am still trying to stay in nursing but I am more and more bitter against the nursing community day by day. I will probably stay in healthcare but the joy I once felt, is no longer their. It's a job now and I want to do my 8 hours and go home and not think about patients, other nurses, hospitals, etc.

Sorry I can't reccomend it as a wonderful career. Short term, yes. Then go find a really fulfilling career that pays good money and benefits.

DrizztRN · Jul 23, 1999

Yes , I would recommend Nursing as a career so long as the person entering the profession is committed to helping others and not just looking for a job that pays fairly well. Nursing is the most rewarding thing I have ever participated in. It can be extremely frustrating and demanding but the emotional rewards far outweigh any of the negatives the field has to offer.

Healthnut · Jul 23, 1999

I too would not recommend nursing at this time. I have been in the nursing field for 20 years. Started out with my Associates degree, struggled to get my BSN while working full time and then completed my MSN. Recently, I my position was outsourced and now I am unemployed. It is difficult to find a job, I am either over qualified or have been in my specialty too long etc. It is also not as easy as one might think to change specialites. Additionally, there are way too many agencies monitoring the healthcare field. My recommendation for anyone would be the computor industry, just look at all the opportunities out there it is mind boggling!!

MollyJ · Jul 23, 1999

Well, I have to answer this one and I could probably answer it slightly differently if you asked me every week!!!!

Pro's---flexible, flexible, flexible. A nursing credential lets you in to a lot of doors. Part time, full time, days, nights. At the entry level, there is always hospital nursing and though I am not there anymore, it is truly essential nursing. A chance to make a difference, in some units you can get "immediate gratification" as we vividly see people improve because of what you do. A chance to see human nature and study humans. A chance to be with people at critical moments in their lives; death, birth, life changing events. This is a holy privelege and I say that as someone who does not regard myself as religious.

A nurse who is willing to be flexible and open to learning has unlimited potential. I really believe this. When I went into nursing (20+ years ago) people said, "You will always have a job." Then I lived through the first hospital lay-offs in the 80's and I was terrified. But it started me on the education journey (RN diploma to BSN to MSN) of my career and I think this education (inspite of all of the slams you hear against book-learned nurses) has given me some tools that I can use to tailor myself to that shifting job market. So do be prepared to be a LIFE LONG LEARNER.

Cons: A heavily female job workplace can be treacherous with gossiping, backbiting and other general forms of "eating one's young." Men generally communicate differently and do not fixate on their hurt feelings like women do. (I am a woman for those of you wondering.) Blacklisting and dirty deeds can happen to you in the hospital/healthcare environment (but in fairness, this can happen in any large work place I think. It's just not a shining moment... It's just hard work (all of nursing) and sometimes it is not at all glamorous. Obese people (I am one), excreta, people who do not handle the illness experience with aplomb; through the roof expectations of no death, no pain, no error, no inconvenience all mean that we inevitably fail to please our clients time and time again. High expectations are essential but simply not 100% attainable.

Lots of emotion: Families are upset; patient/clients are terrified, worried, not willing to conform to treatments, rebellious, confused, etc, etc. Doctors are under pressure to "make people well on a schedule" for less money, feel responsible but not in control, have pressures to see a lot of people in a short time. Nurses are overwhelmed with technologies balanced against the needs of their patients, families, themselves (especially in the clinical areas). Nurses are caught in the crunch of being seen as an unnecessary expense and so we much work to show others that we are worth it. So I write this harsh litany to tell you to go into nursing prepared to work really, really hard.

Bottom Line: If I was 18 again and knew what I know now, it would likely be a toss between a BSN in nursing and a degree working toward public health credential(MPH), which is what I consider myself, a public health nurse.

Great thread idea since it comes up over and over on the BB's. AND I am glad to see the balance of not all hearts and flowers entries...

nhlprof · Jul 23, 1999

There was a time in my life where I would have posted, YES! YES! YES! Now I find myself advising young people to think long and hard. Nursing was not a flexible career. Yes, there were choices. I feel they come at a price. It is a wonderful career if you are married and can work part-time. I worked for 20 long, hard years as a nurse. I made a conscious choice to change careers. I got very tired of working almost every holiday, weekends and having to rotate to nights. I have my BSN and found a career change to teaching a welcome one. I now have every weekend, holiday and summers off. No more do I have to face being put on the night shift before a long awaited function. The "I'm sorries and there was no one else"are now a thing of the past. I am currently making more money than I would have ever as a nurse and have a wonderful retirement plan. I get financially rewarded for increases in education. As a high school Science teacher I am still preforming a public service, but at no cost to my personal life. This is why I would not reccommend nursing as a career to a young person. While I would not reccommend it as a career, I would not talk them out of it. What you do with your life is a personal choice and I can only share my realistic view of what the job was like for me.

bluesboyj · Jul 24, 1999

I would recommend nursing to anyone not interested in the $$ part of it. If they are looking for $$, nurses don't come close to getting paid commesurate with experience. I've been a nurse for 16 yrs with almost 15 in critical and I'm at the top of the pay scale at $21/hr. But $$ can't buy the way it feels when a family member hugs you or a patient says thanks for taking care of me. If you're interested in helping your fellow man, be a nurse.

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If Ya' Don't Love The Blues, Ya' Got A Hole In Your Soul

teamwepa · Jul 24, 1999

Absolutely Not!!!

There must be specific stipulations:

1,Minimum starting salary $45000.00 per year for graduate R.N.s and minimum increases for years of service and educational levels based upon specific objective criteria and annual job perfomance peer review. To be administered by non interested third party.

2.Minimum staffing of patients to nurses as defined by the "National Leasgue of Nursing".

3, Full medical benifits equal to individual

that are full time employees at time of retirement.

4,Monthly retirement pay based on 70% of final year of salary at 20 years of service with cost of living adjustments based upon annual cost of living for the remainder of the individual's natural life.The benifits go to the surviving spouse upon the retiree's death.

5,Tuition reinbursement of minimum of $2000.00 a year. With minimum passing score

of 70%. One year of service to the employer

for each $2000.00 paid for tuition.

6,Medical benifits to an individual

or family with maximum monthly cost of $100.00 for and individual and $150.00 for a family. This includes stepchildern,dependents

of families and domestic partners.

These minimum stipulations would go long way to attract and retain quality persons to a profession that is still very much under apprecited.

Thank you,

John Fischer,R.N.

[email protected]

suzanne_58 · Jul 25, 1999

I have always loved being a nurse. It was what I had always wanted to do with my life. But nursing isn't the same as it used to be. It now seems that the only thing that the higher ups are looking for is more money and less care. They don't want to hear about needing more staff to take care of the patients that are in the hospitals now. We are getting sicker patients and less staff. That does not make sense to me. What happened to taking care of the "whole" patient? Where I work, we have 9-10 patients working a 12 hr shift. That averages to a little over 1 hr per patient. That makes no sense to me. How can you treat a patient's mind spirit and body with that type of patient load? I would not recommend nursing to someone one that is young and wanting to make "big bucks". The only satisfaction that I get is that I love what I do and get paid for it too. But, I wish that things were different, and that we could give the quality care that the patients are deserving of and paying for. Thanks for letting me sound off here. Maybe one day someone will take notice that people that are sick need the TLC that they deserve, and not someone that is flickering in and out of their rooms.

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Suzanne

Mystic32 · Jul 26, 1999

No not today. We have a 23% unempoyment rate for nurse's in N.Y. State. Students would be better served by specailty's to start, and then going into nursing. If they still have the commitment.

Mary Ann McDevitt · Jul 26, 1999

I graduated from an AAS program in 1971, a BS program in 1976. I love my profession but would never recommend it. Yes it served me well when I was young. i worked in ICU, before I was married, private duty with flex. hours while raising children and eventually DON of a home care company. My salary was not as good as teachers with less hours and vacation. But that is not the problem I see. The older you get the less work is available to you. We still do not get the respect from the medical profession and I wonder if that is because nursing does not know where it is going. Jobs are not available, yet there is a shortage, hospitals because they do not get paid by managed care, do not hire full time employees, no benifits. I am currently getting my masters in counseling which will allow me to be licensed, have my own practice and get paid $80/hr. This is my old age insurance. Sad but true, with all that flexability, I have no pension.