Anyone okay with just being a nurse?

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Specializes in None.

I'm probably the only one, but I dont think I'm interested in looking into any advance practice or management roles once I obtain my RN. I have a Masters in Education and have worked in the business world for the last 6 years. Once going ino the nursing world I'll already be making more than $10/hr than the business positions I have held. I just dont think I want the responsibility and the headaches that come with upper management, especially in a small town. This being my 3rd degree, I deffinately dont want to do anymore schooling. I think that eventually I'll probably go into nursing education so that I can apply my Masters. I'm totally okay with being just a really good nurse.

What kind of nursing I want to do, I have no idea!

ADDED:

By "just a nurse", I mean, RN without all the fancy letters afterwards. JANE DOE, RN instead of JANE DOE, RN, CRNA, MSN, YADDA YADDA YADDA

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

I wouldn't use the wording "just a nurse" it seems to downplay the role of a nurse. But I don't really have any desire to get on the management side of it. I might eventually want to get into being a nursing instructor. But I don't want to be on the management side in the hospital and stuff. I will get my BSN and probably masters if I decide to go into teaching.

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Well, I've read many times that the majority of US RNs are ADN-prepared and never do any additional formal education beyond that so, obviously, you're definitely not "the only one." :)

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I'm in an ADN program, I don't even think I want to get my BSN. Maybe, we'll see...

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Specializes in Operating Room.

You know what, there's nothing wrong with having just an RN. You can have a wonderful, rewarding career with it. In my class, everyone speaks of advancing their education -- but I read an article somewhere that said only a low number (something like 10%) of all RN's actually obtain a higher degree. A gal, who failed behavioral nursing and somehow the prof passed her, wants to be a CRNA. People say whatever they want to feed their ego's. It is a competitive world.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

By "just a nurse", I mean, RN without all the fancy letters afterwards. JANE DOE, RN instead of JANE DOE, RN, CRNA, MSN, YADDA YADDA YADDA

I'm glad you clarified! Your thread title intigued me. I thought you were going to say "just a nurse, not a doctor". :)

I can see your point, especially since this is not your first career, and you already have 'been there and done that' with other careers and degrees. I think it is a very healthy approach to take, especially since you admitted that you have no idea what type of nursing you want to pursue. I know lots of people want to right into an NP program right after they pass NCLEX. My thought is, until you are practicing as a nurse (not as a student) how do you really know what you want to do? Even if you've worked in the hospital in another capacity, I feel you need to be a nurse before you can decide where you want your career to go.

You may change your mind, you know. And you may not need additional schooling to accomplish this.

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I hear you completely. I have an BA from 2000 and then started working on my MA in HRM before I changed my mind. Being in a program that highly encouraged us to go on towards a DNP, I heard "just a nurse" a ton and I'm perfectly okay with it. Eventually I might want to do the Educator role but that's way down the road.

So yeah, you're not the only one and be proud of it. :)

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I'm in nursing 3 right now and when I graduate next May, I'll have busted my ass for a total of well over 3 years! So I'll NEVER say I'm "just" a nurse! I feel the same way you do....don't care one bit to go further, I'll be content with my RN status. I don't want to take anymore time away from my kids. I do however plan on becoming an LC eventually.

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I'm in a BN program, but i'd rather be a nurse than a manager with a nursing degree. Most people get into nursing to work with people... As a manager, I guess you do oversee their care by making sure everyone is doing their job, but you're not going to be doing the direct care which to me is important. Being charge is a little bit different, but when you're cooped up in a office all day... that's not why I got into nursing.

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I to have a degree, but am going into nursing as a career change. I will start with LPN, then go into RN right after. I will rest a bit & work with RN before decided whether or not to go further. I had also thought about going into the teaching aspect of nursing. I am glad to be learning a new field, but school can be draining, lol.

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I dont have any desire to enter any management or business type positions. All clinical please! I would absolutely despise sitting behind a desk, at a computer allll day long. Not satisfying. But I do want to further my education after ADN of course.. Get my BSN and then MSN. My son will be 7 by the time I'm out of school.. and he's only a year and a half! Ahhh!

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I don't understand it. People in my program are already making plans for their NP's and stuff and we haven't even started yet! And everyone's always saying, look at master's. I feel like the only one whose not lol. Nursing is not like some of the other programs where a master's is just a little bit of a difference, there's a whole different scope of practice that comes along with certain Master degrees. I don't have any desire to go into management or administration or being a nurse practitioner, specialist. The reason I like nursing is because it's hands-on with people and not a lot of sitting behind a desk doing work (except charting and home-health). If I wanted to do management, I wouldn't have gone through nursing to do it. The Clinical Nurse Specialist and NP are great but they just don't suit me and I prefer the bedside nursing aspect right now. I might at some point move into an outpatient specialty setting however.

There are a lot of other things you can do while being an RN and different roles you can take. To advance myself I'd like to get certified in whatever area I'm working in. I also think Nurse Educator is pretty cool, just not for me. I don't have any plans to get anykind of master's degree (I'm straight out of high school so this is my 15th straight year in school and I have 2 left! 0_0). I also want to teach childbirth classes and maybe other things but nothing in the advanced nursing field.

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