My degree is not worth the debt! - Page 14

Register Today!
  1. Jun 30, '11 by
    Quote from workingharder
    Nursing doesn't have the PR machine of teaching.
    This.

    I laugh when people insist the general public LOVES and respects nursing. Yet, go to any global chat where a medical issue is discussed and you will see nothing but nursing taking a blood bath in the comment section.

    Healthcare industries have spent a lot of time and money reducing public support for nurses. The general public took the bait and now administration can do things however they please..........and let the nurses take the fall for it. Ever wonder why the general public falls for it every time a nurse is thrown under the bus for something that is a system failure? Hint: It's not because they are in love with us.
    lindarn and nursemarion like this.
  2. Jun 30, '11 by
    Not that I disagree that nurses should have a loan payback offered, but teachers don't have an easy career ahead of them. The pay sucks for your first years of teaching (and it sucks your whole career when compared to what administrators are paid). That and the fact that certain subjects are near impossible to find teachers (such as science), they HAVE to give incentives to get people in. Let's be realistic though, it is only hard to fill in positions in crummy areas. If you get a teaching job in Beverly Hills then you really don't need any more incentive.

    I wish it wasn't so hard to find programs where you can work 20 hours a week for a hospital as an LVN and you get paid for 40, and you work for the hospital as an RN afterwards. At my school it's called a 20/20 program. If it wasn't so hard to get a spot I would have considered doing LVN first and trying for that program.
    lindarn and rph3664 like this.
  3. Jul 1, '11 by
    The June issue of the Atlantic had an interesting article about this. Basically, a college degree will matter as long as employers want it to matter.
    wazeout, lindarn, DSkelton711, and 1 other like this.
  4. Jul 1, '11 by
    Quote from Not_A_Hat_Person
    The June issue of the Atlantic had an interesting article about this. Basically, a college degree will matter as long as employers want it to matter.
    I've said for a long time that the health industry employers decide what the "minimum standard" is for licenses, not the BON.

    On one hand, if hospitals (and everyone else) are hiring LPNs, ADNs etc.......then the BON has some say in it by setting the differences between the licenses (LPN, ADN, BSN, MSN). Those who want whichever license have to satisfy their BON's requirements for said degree.

    On the other hand, if all of a sudden........they employers decide only one license suits their needs and only hire that license, all the others cease to matter. The BON can agree or disagree, but if everyone else with a different license can't work, said license will cease to exist.

    For instance, lets say hospitals decide LPNs do just fine for EVERY nursing role, and there is no need to pay the higher degrees. ADNs, BSNs.....everyone else is told they are overqualified and not hired. Eventually, there will be nothing but LPNs left, if the employers stick to their guns.

    Not much power in setting the "minimum requirements for entry" for a non-existent license. The BON, yes, decides what the school requirements are. The employers on the other hand decide if the license lives or dies. So who's the boss?
    lindarn, Not_A_Hat_Person, DSkelton711, and 1 other like this.
  5. Asst. Admin
    Jul 1, '11 by
    Quote from leenak
    And also yes we may have people with low end jobs and college degrees but why not? I think we should strive to have free college education for people and if someone wants it, they should get it.
    If a free college education is offered to everyone without regard to aptitude or what is eventually achieved, I feel that college degrees will lose their value until they become utterly worthless. It is all about supply and demand. If we increase the supply of college degrees in the market, the demand (and value) will decrease.
    kids, lindarn, RHC81, and 2 others like this.
  6. Jul 1, '11 by
    Agree. Every time they increase the supply of nurses it devalues us more. Same with other professions. College is a privilege, not a right. It must be earned. I think programs for loan payback in exchange for working in critical shortage areas are great, but how can anyone learn to control debt if automatic payback after 5 years is all the sacrifice anyone makes after college? No, if you want something to have value it must involve work to achieve.

    I don't mind paying my student loans. I got myself into it knowing full well what I was doing. I get sick when I think how we the taxpayers pay for the teachers to go to school. Yes, it is paid for when they go back to get a Master's or PhD, by us. When we go back to school we pay for it ourselves, even though it benefits society to have us gain more education, just as it does with teachers.
    lindarn likes this.
  7. Jul 1, '11 by
    Quote from eriksoln
    I've said for a long time that the health industry employers decide what the "minimum standard" is for licenses, not the BON.

    On one hand, if hospitals (and everyone else) are hiring LPNs, ADNs etc.......then the BON has some say in it by setting the differences between the licenses (LPN, ADN, BSN, MSN). Those who want whichever license have to satisfy their BON's requirements for said degree.

    On the other hand, if all of a sudden........they employers decide only one license suits their needs and only hire that license, all the others cease to matter. The BON can agree or disagree, but if everyone else with a different license can't work, said license will cease to exist.

    For instance, lets say hospitals decide LPNs do just fine for EVERY nursing role, and there is no need to pay the higher degrees. ADNs, BSNs.....everyone else is told they are overqualified and not hired. Eventually, there will be nothing but LPNs left, if the employers stick to their guns.

    Not much power in setting the "minimum requirements for entry" for a non-existent license. The BON, yes, decides what the school requirements are. The employers on the other hand decide if the license lives or dies. So who's the boss?
    As a pharmacist with a bachelor's degree I obtained in 1994, it's almost impossible for someone like me to get a job. Most places will only consider applicants with a Pharm.D., and in most cases a residency too. This eliminates about 99% of the potential job pool, EXCEPT for new graduates, so they can pay them less and dink them around in ways they can't with people who have more life experience. Some new graduates are doing residencies, even though they really don't want to, because it's the only way they can get a job.

    I lost my job in March 2010, and was not able to find another one until a month ago, and that came from being contacted by a temp agency - an agency that had only contacted me for one other job, at my previous employer when an overnighter was fired. Interestingly, it was not the overnighter I thought would be most likely to be fired either but that's another story.
    Last edit by rph3664 on Jul 1, '11
    wazeout and lindarn like this.
  8. Jul 1, '11 by
    Go back to school? I did not even know you could be a pharmacist without a doctorate degree. I looked into pharmacy many years ago and I thought that was just how it was. One reason I did not pursue it.
  9. Jul 1, '11 by
    Having to have such high degrees for stuff is ridiculous. Now to be a nurse practitioner, a lot of states are requiring a higher degree than a masters. It's so crazy. I'd hate to see the studen loan debt I'd have for that, on top of what I already have.
    tokidoki7 likes this.
  10. Jul 1, '11 by
    Pharmacists have a lot of responsibility. They can do a lot more than just fill prescriptions if given the chance. I think that the doctorate is justified. Physical therapists will also have to have a doctorate, but they actually prescribe a plan of care for the patient- the doctor only signs it because it is required. A NP who is prescribing medications too is in a highly responsible position. I can see requiring a doctorate for this too.

    I hear you about the tuition though. It would be nice if you could start out with a lesser degree like teachers do, and have your employer pay for your continuing education. You improve as you go, the employer benefits, you benefit, the public benefits. You could have earnings based on your education, with lesser degrees earning less as they do in teaching. In nursing we seem to all earn the same, no reward or incentive to go back for that degree.
    lindarn likes this.