Is it just my idealistic view of what a nurse should be or does this bother other nurses? I have heard several times lately and have read articles of people who are going to nursing school, not because they want to be a nurse but because they want the paycheck and a stable job. My sister in law is one of these people. She said to me, " I really don't want to be a nurse but I figure that I can work as a nurse while I go back to school." I find that mentality very frustrating. I worked very hard to become a nurse. I worked as a nursing assistant before I became a nurse so I could make sure that I knew what I was getting myself into, I shadowed nurses when I was in high school. I really feel that this is what I was put on this earth to do and to hear people talk like this who have absolutely no concept of what they are getting themselves into and who have no respect for the profession just boils my blood. I feel like these people, who have no intention of staying in nursing for an extended period of time just make it harder for the nursing student who actually wants to make a career of nursing because they take up spaces on the wait list for getting into nursing school.
Maybe some of these people will be excellent nurses and will contribute well to the profession but I personally would not want a nurse to take care of me who only got into the field because they wanted a stable paycheck.
Don't you agree that to do well in nursing you have to have some desire to be here in the first place? These are people's health and lives that we are dealing with. This field isn't just about a paycheck!!!
I know I'm probably being naieve and idealistic when I say this but I really feel that nursing is a calling, not a JOB!!! I've been doing this type of work for going on 10 years now and I have felt that way about it from day 1.
What do you think? Does it bother you that people are getting into nursing who have no desire to actually be a nurse? Just wanting to hear other people's perspectives on the issue.
Sorry i have to disagree with this article but theres the stuff were good at and the stuff we enjoy. Unfortunately the two are not always the same. If somone hates nursing but does their job well then I don't really care if they are miserable. Of course in a perfect world everyone would love what they do but guess what, it isn't a perfect world.
Find comfort in the fact that you're not in it for the money. Focus on that. The greedy ones will eventually fail and find something easier and faster. It's in their nature to do so. Whoever is doing the hiring should know how to spot a loser. Have faith in the true nurses and let nature take its course. This happens in other professions all the time.
Maybe some of these people will be excellent nurses and will contribute well to the profession but I personally would not want a nurse to take care of me who only got into the field because they wanted a stable paycheck.
Don't you agree that to do well in nursing you have to have some desire to be here in the first place? These are people's health and lives that we are dealing with. This field isn't just about a paycheck!!!
I know I'm probably being naive and idealistic when I say this but I really feel that nursing is a calling, not a JOB!!! I've been doing this type of work for going on 10 years now and I have felt that way about it from day 1.
Well, first I may be posting on the wrong forum. I am not an RN but an LPN. I admit that I did get into nursing for a job, had no idea what I was getting into during school. They paint a different picture for you. Now things are different in schools, (my daughter in law is in LPN class but plans to go on to RN) and some people also got in for a job.
I don't know at what point I realized that this was what God wanted me to do, that I truly loved nursing, that I did everything in my power to help every person I came to know and love, but it happened. I have no regrets, I still love it after 30+ years. I wouldn't change one thing about the years I worked full time, I am working part time due to health issues, read everything I can on anything related to the medical field, watch every show that comes on (Scrubs excluded, just the real or realistic shows) and talk to nurses or doctors that I worked with and any I meet along the way.
It's the people who let others know they are there for just a paycheck that irks me, and I can pick them out of a crowd! Eye contact, if a person can't make contact with you during a conversation, they aren't the one I want taking care of me. I had as many as 12 patients for total care, 12 hours a day. Not one of them ever complained because I was moving all the time. No sitting at the desk with my legs crossed, they might see me 5 minutes every hour, but alot of apologizing, never complaining, and making each one feel special was my motto.
There are good and bad people in every profession, nurses, doctors, teachers, policemen, clergy, presidents and any other professions. We just have to hope and pray that something good will come from what they do to help others.
I think its wrong to be so judgemental towards people who are in nursing just for the paycheck. Maybe they went into nursing because they wanted to be a CRNA or an NP? I think there are plenty of people who went into those areas just for the money. Who are you or I to judge what they do? Some people are making it seem that the people that go into nursing for the money lack compassion and don't provide quality care.
Ask yourself this, would you be a nurse knowing that you would make 10 bucks an hour? Would I work as a nurse for 10 bucks an hour knowing that I go into work to be potentially exposed to varous bodily fluids and have to deal with abusive patients, family members and administration? No.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I find it curious that nobody questions a person's motives when they want to become a physician, engineer, or attorney. However, nurses seem to be subjected to an unfair double standard and are expected to be selfless "angels of mercy," providing servitude without regard to the pay.
As long as a person is competent at their chosen field, I do not give a rat's crap if they entered their profession for the size of the paycheck. The same should apply for nurses.
I certainly expect payment for the services that I render, and so should you.
I find it curious that nobody questions a person's motives when they want to become a physician, engineer, or attorney. However, nurses seem to be subjected to an unfair double standard and are expected to be selfless "angels of mercy," providing servitude without regard to the pay.
As long as a person is competent at their chosen field, I do not give a rat's crap if they entered their profession for the size of the paycheck. The same should apply for nurses.
I certainly expect payment for the services that I render, and so should you.
I think there is a place in nursing for those who are committed to doing a good job, because that's just who they are, and they would try to do a good job and show respect and compassion for others no matter what their job was. Sometimes it is those with the most compassion who wind up leaving nursing because most acute care doesn't let you bond with patients very well; you are too busy prioritizing their physical needs. I don't judge what is in nurses' hearts; how can I know that? I judge whether they are up on their feet working hard, not sitting around chit-chatting, and whether they do their best to keep their patients safe and as comfortable as possible. I think this attitude of expecting selflessness from nurses has hurt our profession, and what hurts our profession hurts our patients. If we were more focused on standing together and getting the staffing, supplies, authority (including fighting nutty policies from JCAHO, etc.) that our patients need for the best care, instead of expecting each other to be martyrs that both nurses and patients would be better off. No, we can't do our best for our patients when we are so tired and hungry and overworked that we can't even think straight, and saying so doesn't mean a nurse doesn't care and doesn't belong in the profession.
Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.
It makes me very sad when I hear that someone has been in nursing for less than a year and they are already unhappy. Perhaps it is because you are working in the wrong area. I always knew that I was going to become an ER nurse but I had to do one year of med surg and 2 years ICU before I could get hired into an ED. It was so worth it to finally meet that goal.
I hope that when I get older (I am 53 now) that there will be young,energetic, smart nurses to take care of me. I hope that they will come to love the career of nursing as much as I have. I keep learning every day. I love what I do and I love the people I work with. Sometimes you have to work in a situation that you don't like in order to finally reach your goals. I did, and I met all the career goals that I made for myself. It has been a long, funny, stressful, sad, uplifting job. I would not change into another career, no matter how much they paid me.
There is an Art and a Science to the nursing profession.
All who enter nursing and successfully exit nursing school have to pass the science portion in order to obtain their license.
After many years, I've come to the conclusion that the Art portion to nursing comes into play when we have to be Actors/Actresses in front of our patients so that they have no clue as to what we are really thinking when we're having a bad day.
Specializes in pediatrics, geriatrics, med-surg, ccu,.
Wow. after reading all of the responses... all 18 pages of them, it has me questioning myself. I remember 20 years ago how I had that view that "being a nurse" meant being compassionate, loyal, giving everything I have into it" and never thinking about the pay.
Today, do I think the same way? I can tell you that I don't. Today, I still love being a nurse but the rose tinted glasses came off a long time ago. Nursing is a hard job, mentally and physically. I hate to even tell you what I started out in pay. It certainly isn't what I make now. I believe that nurses deserve respect, they deserve the pay (and even that is not what it should be), and should be proud of what they do. I have never asked any of my co-workers why they got into nursing and I am sure that there has been alot of them who didn't go into it because of the all consuming desire to be a nurse. Don't get me wrong, I do think it takes a strong desire to do all the things that nurses do and to put up with all the bull as well, but as I said, the rose colored glasses came off a long time ago. After 20 years of being a nurse and, incidently I still enjoy being a nurse and have no desire to leave it, I also believe that as a profession, it should be one that is respected, nurses should be treated as a professional in their chosen field, regardless of the reasons why a person goes into it, money or not..., and that nurses should be compensated for the job that they do. You earn it!! I put alot of work into being a darn good nurse, however, it is not as "rosy" as I thought it was going to be when I graduated.
Over the years, my view has changed. It is a job and I deserve to be paid accordingly regardless of "why" I went into it. And it is possible to be able to give compassion, joy, 110% of yourself, and all the other things of that it takes to be a good nurse and be doing it for the money.
Who cares if they came into nursing for the money as long as they provide excellent care to their patients. Live and let live.
Totally off the subject at hand.......................your signature. Here it would be support the oil industry, gas went up here in our small town $.20 a gallon, great while it lasted!
Yes but they should interview ALL the potential future nursing students for personality traits...just like they they do with a future stewardess candidates.They dont like your smile,you might not be cut of for nursing.
:redbeathe:twocents:
emtj
21 Posts
Sorry i have to disagree with this article but theres the stuff were good at and the stuff we enjoy. Unfortunately the two are not always the same. If somone hates nursing but does their job well then I don't really care if they are miserable. Of course in a perfect world everyone would love what they do but guess what,
it isn't a perfect world.