Becoming a nurse for the money...

So ... I had mixed motives. I chose nursing many years ago because it was one career (among many possibities) that involved making a positive contribution to society -- AND because of practical reasons such as career flexibility that were important to me. The money is generally OK but not great.

I agree with everything you said. I want a career where I'll be helping people, where I'll have a usable skill to make measurable and tangible improvements in people's lives. I also happen to like science a lot, and wanted to be able to work where I live, not live where I work. But of course my timing is pretty bad for that now, as I'll graduate next September if I stay with my current school choice.

To Marc86- good luck to you. I hope everything goes as smoothly for you as you expect it to. When one person can't find a job, it's likely due to their attractiveness as an employee. When a significant number of people can't find jobs, it's usually an indicator of a bad job market.

I'm not in nursing for the money. I really can't see myself doing anything besides taking care of patients. The great pay is just a bonus to me. I think people that are in it for the money are going to get a rude awakening. I'm not saying its horribly wrong to be a nurse just for the money. I don't care why my nurse is a nurse as long as she is competent and shows some level of caring.

Good luck marc86.

Oh, and the pharmaceutical companies will NEVER allow the USA to socialize medicine. They are far too rich and powerful. So that is out of the question.

Sorry, but saying that something will NEVER happens almost always leads to it someday. It may just be in the pipeline. I'm not going to lie...the money is nice. It helps when you have to pay bills. HOWEVER, there are some trying days where despite the money, it is all too tempting to walk out the door. You see patients from all walks of life, and the need to care professionally about your patients and knowing that you are not JUST there for the check helps your patients see how much you care.

There are lots of on calls happening, and sometimes depending on pt load, you may have to be called off some shifts. Really think about why else you would want to be a nurse.....especially those days where you are forearm deep in a stage 4 pressure ulcer to pack a coxxyx on someone who's family just let them lie in bed for months without care.....

Nurses make excellent money? Really?

I must be looking under the wrong rocks...

good thread, but the amount of HARD work that comes with the territory isnt worth doing it 'for the money' ..working long hours, holidays, weekends

you need to really enjoy it, or get an intangible reward out of doing it or you wont be happy, money only goes so far.

nurses dont get paid enough in my opinion

I don't know if I could do the work if I didn't get paid but the nicer salary is definitely one of the reasons I went into nursing as OPPOSED to another area of the medical field. I knew for a long time that I wanted to work in health care but I didn't quite know what I wanted to do. I jumped into nursing head-first and have been excited and happy about my choice... and the future promising income sure doesn't hurt. Would I be able to do it if I didn't have a passion for what I am going to be doing? Probably not! Would I do it if I wasn't going to be well-paid? Probably not. All I care about is that I will be doing something I want to do and getting a better income than the one I have know. Works for me!

I like nursing but I don't think that nurses are paid especially well. It is okay but nothing spectacular. You might be able to make a $100K in the Bay area but there isn't much promotion potential from that salary and the cost of living is very high. The media has been talking up this RN shortage and great pay thing for years but the real money and real shortage is in the engineering fields.

I wouldn't do nursing for the pay. No Way! I do think that pay factors into it and if nurses made less than they do, I don't think I'd be able to rationalize it as a single mom.

Now that I'm about to graduate LPN and start my RN, the realities of what nursing actually is, vs what I imagined it to be, has started to sink in. I know for some of my fellow nursing students that has caused them to seriously doubt this career path, but for others we're just going in with eyes wide open.

I think nursing reminds me a lot of waiting tables: really hard work, you're under appreciated but expected to know everything, provide everything, keep a lot of people happy, and the pay is ok. I think you have to just enjoy nursing for what it is, in order to really do it long term.

Honestly, there are just a ton of other fields where the pay much better, that are less "grunt work" than nursing, and so I think if you go into it for money you'll burn out really, really quickly.

What a disappointing post to read, honest, but disappointing. I will be starting NS in the fall and i dread having to deal with fellow students like this OP - who sounds extremely arrogant and selfish. Even more so, i feel so sorry for the patients this person may have . . whose nurse only has money on the brain. Its so unfortunate. I always knew there were people like this, but to be so open about it?! I hope NS tears them apart . .

What a disappointing post to read, honest, but disappointing. I will be starting NS in the fall and i dread having to deal with fellow students like this OP - who sounds extremely arrogant and selfish. Even more so, i feel so sorry for the patients this person may have . . whose nurse only has money on the brain. Its so unfortunate. I always knew there were people like this, but to be so open about it?! I hope NS tears them apart . .

Wow, harsh! I didn't think the OP came off as arrogant & selfish at all. Just giving an honest opinion about their motivation.

As a nurse you'll encounter a lot of patients who have opinions & values that differ vastly from your own. Do you dread to deal with them as well? Will you hope they end up "torn apart" due to their opinions or choices?

I've wanted to be a nurse for as long as I can remember, but nursing is hard work & I sure wouldn't do it if the pay wasn't so good (for my area it is, at least).

Choosing nursing for the pay doesn't necessarily mean a person will be a poor nurse.

Choosing nursing because of a calling to care for others doesn't necessarily mean a person will be a good nurse.

I don't have any issue with someone becoming a nurse for the money as long as they do a good job and care about thier patients. I myself would not do this job for the money alone - it isn't worth it. I am lucky that I love what I do and can get paid enough to pay the bills. At $18/hr after 4 years as a LPN I'm not going to get rich, but I am comfortable. When I get my RN I will make between $22-25/hr. Again - not riches, but nice. :)

To the OP, the problem is that unless the economy picks up, you may be "in the trenches" longer than you suspect. Manager/supervision is the first to get the ax. I wish you luck and hope that you find this is something you enjoy and feel you make a difference with. :)

It is strange that we don't seem to belittle doctors, lawyers, accountants, therapists, scientists, engineers, and other educated professionals for entering their respective career pathways for monetary reasons.

The bottom line is that I do not work for free!

Actually I do. You should have some sort of passion or interest in the field you are entering. It doesn't have to be a "calling", but at least the willing to do a good job and care about those you are servicing. I worked for a doctor years back that ONLY cared about the money - it was nightmare for those that worked for him and his patients. It is a given that the majority of us have to work to make it though life. Just do a good job at whatever you pick...and try to find something that you at least somewhat enjoy. :)