Are you in Nursing for the Caring or the Cash?? Be Honest

EarthChild1130 · Jun 22, 2004

I am in school now, and I chose nursing for several reasons...I got a degree in English the first time around, and I couldn't find a job with it if I tried! I don't regret having it, because it's cut my nursing school time in half...but maybe I should've gone to nursing school first!

Secondly, I like interacting with people...I like talking to people, watching people, and helping people...I plan on going into psych nursing when I graduate, and I've always found anything to do with psych fascinating (my minor is in psychology for my 1st degree). I feel that I can really help change the course of some of these folks' mental illnesses, and really help change the way the world views those with mental illness.

I also needed a job that can travel...my husband is active duty military, and we move every 4 years...I need a job that can go with me, so to speak...

And I don't really think the money's all that bad either! Not considering the best job I've ever had in my life was $7.00 an hour! Going to even $18 an hour is a 180 degree turn around for me!

In the end, it's something I always wanted to do, and I'm glad I'm finally doing it! :balloons:

Agnus · Jun 22, 2004

Pay out here is really good for nurses (RNs)! We start out at over $30 (a few dollars more) an hour and if we work extra shifts...we get $15 dollars an hour on top of the base pay!!

Where are you in CA. Please, I am not necessairly asking you to reveal the city, if you think that migh compromise your confidentiality on this board. Just what part of CA.

For example you can be a vague with your answer as North, south, centeral.

I will be contracting work for myself in The Sacramento area and need to know where to start in my negotiations.

I am guessing you are in southern CA as I don't think starting wages are quite that high in Sacramento region.

freelancer · Jun 22, 2004

My Answer will be very brief. "Nursing prof is having the skill to heal, and the spirit to care" If you are here just for the promising paycheck, LEAVE!!! You are just putting a smear in our field :angryfire :imbar :stone

BRAGGY · Jun 22, 2004

an interesting question you put forward, "are you in it for the cash"? in short i say certainly, if there is a buck to be made, why not? i care about people, that is why i became a nurse, but to be totally honest the most important person out of all the people i have cared for in 9 plus years of nursing is me me and me! i do not support those nurses who believe or think that because they have chosen a caring profession that they should sacrifice their personal safety and or finacial security. i don't know, any other profession that may support that particular doctrine. nursing is a very hard job, and in many cases thankless, with a high degree of occupational exposure to hazards in the workplace. thankfully there are still nurses coming into the profession, considering all! as an essential service, nurses are the lowest paid profession with one of the most important of occupational roles in society. good luck to your colleagues who would like to make a buck out of nursing.

braggy from down under:angryfire

hello i am currently in nursing school and the weirdest thing is how future nurses talk about how they are going to be getting paid!! it's as if caring is not involved in their frame of mind, this type of mentality is not going to help the nursing shortage it's only going to aide it because as we know we do not get paid for our actual services, but this younger generation feel since it is a shortage this is the field to go and make some quick money, so i'm curious and please be honest what are you in it for, caring or cash?

roxannekkb · Jun 22, 2004

My Answer will be very brief. "Nursing prof is having the skill to heal, and the spirit to care" If you are here just for the promising paycheck, LEAVE!!! You are just putting a smear in our field :angryfire :imbar :stone

So then perhaps nurses should work for free? Or just accept a pittance, and maybe some bread and water to live on? Does being a nurse mean one should not have a decent standard of living, or does being a nurse mean that you must be a self-sacrificing martyr?

I'm sorry, but attitudes like your help keep nursing in the downtrodden state that it's in. Nurses have fought long and hard to get pay raises, improved working conditions, and so on. The profession does not need martyrs who feel that one can live by caring alone. Tell that to your landlord, or the store where you buy your food.

Dixiedi · Jun 22, 2004

Where are you in CA. Please, I am not necessairly asking you to reveal the city, if you think that migh compromise your confidentiality on this board. Just what part of CA.
For example you can be a vague with your answer as North, south, centeral.
I will be contracting work for myself in The Sacramento area and need to know where to start in my negotiations.
I am guessing you are in southern CA as I don't think starting wages are quite that high in Sacramento region.

I have a friend out there who was thrilled to death to buy a 700 sq ft apt for nearly something like 100,000 and that wsa 7 or 8 years ago!

30 bucks an hour less than the 20 I get here

KacyLynnRN · Jun 22, 2004

Lisa, are you in a LPN-RN bridge program? Maybe that's why your fellow students are talking about the money. Let's face it- a $10/hr pay increase is reason enough to go from LPN to RN.
WOAH BABY!!!! $10 an hour pay increase? I am in an LPN to RN bridge right now, and I think I will be lucky, very lucky, if I make $5 more an hour when I get my RN vs. now as an LPN!!! Am I missing something??

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2004

Hi Lisa-

I'm in the middle of Nursing Schoool as well. I have to say, I did not go back for the money per se. I love Nursing and had been toying with the idea of going back to school, but what finally clinched it for me was the stability and flexibility of Nursing as a career. I have not been sorry. I love it. The pay is not bad, but if I were in it solely for the money and not to take care of people, I would be with the other 60% of my class that left before the end of the first semester. I think ten poeple walked out during the first hour of orientation when they found out that they would actually have to touch patients! Horror of horrors! One of them said, (and this is a direct quote) " . . . But that's not what nurses on Guiding Light or ER do!" Oh well, like the professors (and Stuart Smalley) said: This may not be for you and that's . . .okay!

nursemeow · Jun 22, 2004

I don't think there is any other profession that would have this discussion on these terms. It's funny. Do I feel guilty saying that money definaltey played a part on why I'm about to grad. in December from nursing school? Yes, sure I do. I think alot of nurses/students feel that need to defend themselves and feel guilt AND I SAY NO MORE!!! WE ABSOLULETY should be paid very well and be proud of our earnings!! Of course I care... infact, I think most of us care soo much that it IS the reason why we tense up at this topic. The nurse who admits she enjoys a nice paycheck is not as great as the nurse who speaks that money is not an issue and she wanted to be a nurse her whole life... BULL! Whatever our own reasons were to become a nurse are many and do not need justification or judgement. As nurses by definition you care. It is a great topic and it is the elephant in the classroom alot of the times. I just want to scream. Yes, money. CARING is a given. It just is who I am. And, it's thru school that I fell in love with cardiology..Now I'm eager to learn more...Caring just is. Oh and PS... Jersey is rediculously expensive so a career that can keep me by my family is priceless.. You all rock.

angel337, MSN, RN · Jun 22, 2004

I have worked in just about every area of nursing including ICU,CCU,SICU,ER NICU TELE, PICU, home health and finally hospice. I've done lots of agency and had experience with traveling as well. IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY!!! If nurses actually got paid for what we do and not for what we are supposed to do for the goodness of other people the healthcare industry would not be able to afford us. Think about what you do in every day at your job and compare that to a regular 8-5, M-F job. Most people in other fields do much less for the same if not much more than nurses.
Now that isn't to say that nursing isn't flexible and you can go do agency and make fast cash when you are in a bind. But, when you get a little older, those long, hard agency shifts get more difficult. So, you end up finding a place where you can be of service, be fulfilled in your career and get paid for it. I make a living but there is nothing left over and no savings to be had. As for benefits, most of the places I've worked in nursing, the healthcare field in general has sucky benefits. Oh, i've got insurance ok, but the copays are ridiculous, especially when I'm caring for people who get everything for free or that have wonderful benefits from their employer etc.
Generally, I'm happy with what I do and probably wouldn't do anything else but I do get on my soapbox about the disrespect that we are shown and the lack of adequate compensation. Do it for the love of it, not for the cash, you will burn out quickly if you do.

you make excellent points, but one thing you forgot to mention about the 8-5 jobs that make more money is ...what jobs are those? this is the reason people are going into nursing for the money and stability. those so called normal 8-5 jobs that pay better than nursing just aren't there. they are very competitive, hard to find and a college grad can go 6 months before they find work. i know, i have been there and so have tons of people i know with business, law, IT and other degrees. my salary literally tripled when i got out of nursing school from my 9-5 job that paid me crap. people are tired of pink slips and constant threat of being laid off. but i agree that you must be able to be a caring person to survive in nursing or you won't make it. as far as making a living goes, i believe people just need to live within their means. i know nurses that make over six figures a year and they are broke because they don't save and they spend irrationally. when other careers pick up, nursing will slowly be a less desirable career, but until then people will continue to pursue a career that guarantees food on the table.

hitechlvn · Jun 22, 2004

The main thing I remeber from school is that I was working as a CNA in my off school hours and we had a baby and that my wife and I would sometimes be eating hot dogs or ramen noodles or peanut butter sandwiches, borrowing money for gas for school and to pay the electric bill so I could see to study. We had no phone and the car was a total clunker. Most jobs in my area of California didn't pay very well for unskilled labor and looking forward to that paycheck kept me going THROUGH nursing school. I went into school to become a nurse, because that is what I felt I was meant to do. As we all know, the paycheck could be better (to bad i don't play pro sports) but there is nothing wrong with getting paid to go to work. Because you get a paycheck, you are able to go and comfort that dying patient or care for that person after surgery. If you had to volunteer your time to do that, would you be able to? Probably not if you were trying to feed a family and were not from an affluent family. The socio-economic factors of your classmates may keep money in the forefront of their thinking :) .

SOCALRACERX911_RN · Jun 22, 2004

I agree.
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initially, it was to increase my level of responsiblity in health care. but why lie, the money is great but belief me you will work to earn every penny. I went from $16 as a tech to $33 hr as a nurse in only 1.5 yrs as a nurse. the time and a half and double time doesnt hurt either if you want the extra shifts. dont get me wrong caring is a big part of it because if you did not you wont last to long in this business.