Becoming an RN just for the paycheck

Riseupandnurse · Jan 3, 2009

The truth is that sometimes you HAVE to fake caring, for some patients and family members. Sometimes you are abused and mistreated or too hungry and tired to be super-motivated, and there have even been shifts I've been sicker than most of my patients. Nursing is a commitment, not a feeling. What matters is what you give to your patients, no matter how you feel that day or how you feel about nursing that day.

caliotter3 · Jan 3, 2009

I also don't have a problem with people who go into nursing for a stable career as long as they give professional care. I think that it is kind of hard to not end up caring, even a little, for your patients, but tons of compassion are not necessary all the time. One of my friends from high school went to a prestigious university for her BSN, then became a missionary. Unless she is also using her nursing skills in her life's work, that might have been a waste. She could have gone to missionary school to begin with. But I am assuming that she is also nursing. I can't imagine someone going to an underserved area and not using their medical skills as well as their religious fervor. As far as disillusionment goes, I lost all of my unrealistic impressions very quickly when I got my first jobs in nursing. All I had to do was to observe the workers around me. But that was and is them. It is not me, and I don't let the attitudes and behavior of others affect me, other than to know how much I need to watch my back on the job.

HM2VikingRN, RN · Jan 3, 2009

I think at some level you have to have compassion and empathy for others to stay in the profession for the long haul. I am not sure that there would be a lot of satisfacion in taking the job for a check.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Jan 3, 2009

I became a nursing assistant because I like the elderly. I love my job but I plan on applying to nursing school, not because I'm dying to trade toilet duty for a crazy med pass (give me the poopy butt- I don't mind!), but because CNA wages are just not enough.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jan 3, 2009

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.

i've been a nurse for a long time, and at the risk of disillusioning you, i'll admit that i didn't get into it because i had "a calling." i got into it to have a steady job with a stable paycheck, benefits and the ability to move cross country and find another job easily. (i wanted to be a writer, but the paychecks weren't that steady. then i wanted to go to medical school, but foolishly married my first husband and then had to support him.) i had no concept of what i was getting into -- if i had, i probably would have made other plans! but no one could argue that i haven't put in my time. i've been a nurse for over 30 years, and have always gotten good evaluations. (except for that first one, but that's another story!)

everyone believes that they're a good nurse, if not an excellent one, so i won't say anything about that. but i have contributed to the profession in many ways. i've been a teacher, a preceptor, i've been involved in research, in development of policies, procedures and protocols, and have written articles for nursing journals. i've been a charge nurse, a critical care nurse, a dialysis nurse and a floor nurse.

if the nurses taking care of you are doing their jobs, you won't have a clue whether they got into the profession because they"felt a calling," just liked the pathophysiology course they took for science credits, or chose a career where a stable paycheck and health insurance were likely. nor is it any of your business. nursing is a job, not a calling. i certainly wouldn't do it for free. would you?

dream'n, BSN, RN · Jan 3, 2009

There are great nurses that feel they were called and there are great nurses that do not. Personally I don't feel that I was called to nursing and if I do say so myself, I am a very competent, professional, and empathetic nurse. I liked how nursing offered variety and I liked the idea of being able to make a difference, but I also liked the paycheck and the job security. And no, I would not be a nurse for McDonalds' wages. Nursing can be very stressful and the responsibility is enormous, so unless I was paid accordingly....I would leave and do something easier on my body and mind.

patrick1rn, MSN, RN, NP · Jan 3, 2009

Last night my patient got on my nerves, does that mean I am a bad nurse who does not provide good care for my patient. I would not work if I was not paid. I dont believe in the word compassionate. I dont feel one has to be compassionate to be a good RN. Nothing wrong if a person wants to be a nurse cause its a paycheck. Better that than being on the welfare rolls.

cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP · Jan 3, 2009

If I may... :spbox:

This is a topic that was debated in one of my nursing classes and here was my opinion on it. I don't believe someone should enter the field of nursing just for a paycheck, they should honestly and genuinely want to be a nurse. That being said I think its more important that the person who becomes a nurse (reguardless of their motivations to do so) should be the right kind of nurse, a good nurse. A statistic that my professor had mentioned is that men in nursing tend to negotiate for higher salaries more often then their female counterparts do. Of course when this was mentioned my class (composed mostly of females) was up in arms, they wondered how could this be and why would nurses allow this to happen. Although I'm sure there isn't one definite answer here is my answer, I think that a lot of people get caught up in the idea of nursing as a "calling" and as a "life mission" and there is nothing wrong with that but what's wrong with being well paid for your "calling" or "life mission"? A person interviewing for a position in a law firm/bank/business etc. is expected to be shrewed and smart enough to negotiate their salary because they expect to be well paid for their education and experience so why shouldn't nurses be doing the same? I hate to say it (because its somewhat of a generalization) but I think that men in nursing are able to look past the art of nursing (when necessary) and see that nursing is also a career that deserves competitive pay and benefits whereas some of their female counterparts have been taught or led to believe that when something is your "calling" that you should be happy just to be able to do it and not worry about what your getting paid or anything like that. So like I said, you should become a nurse because you want to be a nurse but in the end its more important what kind of nurse you become and nurses need to start being more proactive about negotiating for higher wages and better benefits like people in other careers have done for years.

!Chris :specs:

Straydandelion · Jan 3, 2009

I really don't think the justification is there in saying someone goes into nursing for a paycheck yet wouldn't be compassionate as a nurse. There are quite a few I imagine go into nursing for the paycheck at first. It appears on the surface just starting out that the pay is higher then other jobs...yet it is only down the road that those other jobs seem to outdistance nursing as far as pay. At the same time however, I haven't seen too many nurses leave the profession no matter the physically tiring work nor the paycheck.

Pepperlady · Jan 3, 2009

My motivation for entering nursing school was definitely not "a calling" or a desire to change the world or bring about world peace, it was to gain a profession, make a living and have some time to think about what I really wanted to do with life.

22 years later I am still contemplating what I really want to do with life, I have travelled the world with my nursing background, I make excellent money and in this time of economic disaster I have a job that gives me security.

I am a good nurse, I provide excellent care to patients, I mentor students and enjoy it, I support my fellow nurses when called upon ... and I surprise myself with each passing year that I am still a nurse.

I don't question why others have gone into nursing, I am sure for some it is the paycheck, for others the "gonna save the world" idea, as long as they do their job (in whatever fashion they deem reasonable for themselves) then thats all I ask.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 3, 2009

op: take a look at your own life and be realistic about the lives of others. nursing is not a profession anyone can or would do for free unless he/she had other means of surviving. besides, given this economy desperate people will try to do anything to survive.

i can understand your concern because you may be thinking that the wrong people will become nurses. however, i disagree that the wrong people are those who are financially motivated (like me). people entering the profession or who are in the profession that are unsafe are the wrong people to be nurses. i am satisfied that nursing requires interested parties to attend an accredited nursing school and survive, pass the nclex, obtain a license, and manage to be a competent safe nurse throughout his/her career in order to retire a rn. in other words, there are enough safeguards placed on the profession to weed out the wrong people.

on the other hand, if you are truly concerned join committees that enhance patient safety or work with the bon of your state when you are qualified to do so. don't waste your time being angry at those of us who are motivated by feeding our families (and/or by anything else). :twocents:

-new grad who is happy to finally be making a descent income

RN1982 · Jan 3, 2009

To each his own, in my opinion. I didn't have a "calling". I wanted to become a nurse to make a difference. I think it's wrong to judge others who have became nurses solely for the money. It's not as if the money is that great. It could be better. You all do realize that we don't get paid nearly what we are worth.