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.
Not killing your patient is not the only reason for a nurse to be a good nurse.
Could you elaborate on this further? I think we all define what being a "good" nurse is differently. To me above all else, a nurse who provides safe and competent care is a good nurse. To me, what you are saying is that safety is not really that important.
Hmm and why not? What double standards,just because we enjoy or will enjoy what will do doesnt necessary exclude us from enjoying the not so great money.
YOUR double standards! Do you vacillate on everything you profess to believe? In this thread alone you've changed your stance several times.
I would like to add this comment -please excuse if someone else already said this.
I live/work in Detroit.You all know that we are in a terrible employment situation, esp. with the Big # auto companies. Recently after a big lay-off at one of them, the govenor gave a ton of money to re-educate some of the line workers. Good idea. However, "nursing" was one of the careers they offered.So, we are turning away qualified students who are on waiting lists for 5 years, but now a 2 year program will be offered to displaced auto workers and they can get in (free) and get their nursing degree.
Yes, I agree with the original writer-it DOES tic me off! While I no longer hold that nursing is a "calling" and we are angels of mercy, I do think it is more than a job that anyone can do!I advocate for better pay, too-of course that is important , and our society equates money with respect. Why can't we be well paid, smart AND dedicated?
I would like to add this comment -please excuse if someone else already said this.
I live/work in Detroit.You all know that we are in a terrible employment situation, esp. with the Big # auto companies. Recently after a big lay-off at one of them, the govenor gave a ton of money to re-educate some of the line workers. Good idea. However, "nursing" was one of the careers they offered.So, we are turning away qualified students who are on waiting lists for 5 years, but now a 2 year program will be offered to displaced auto workers and they can get in (free) and get their nursing degree.
Yes, I agree with the original writer-it DOES tic me off! While I no longer hold that nursing is a "calling" and we are angels of mercy, I do think it is more than a job that anyone can do!I advocate for better pay, too-of course that is important , and our society equates money with respect. Why can't we be well paid, smart AND dedicated?
Oh, I agree!! It's not a job that just anyone can do! I'd like to think I'm being paid for being smart, dedicated AND caring. With none of those exclusive of the other!
I have a question. How come people are so up in arms about people becoming a nurse for a paycheck and yet say nothing to the new grads who ask "How much do nurses start out at hospital such and such?". Bit of a double standard if you ask me.
Hmm and why not? What double standards,just because we enjoy or will enjoy what will do doesnt necessary exclude us from enjoying the not so great money.
**fwheeeew**
[Thats the sound of her point going right over your head.]
All she was saying is that many people on this site condemn nurses who enter the field for the money, but then 5 minutes later will happily answer students/ new graduates questions about potential salary. The very fact that they are asking questions like "How much will I make?" indicates that money is significant concern for them.
I am convinced that nursing requires a certain personality. I also believe that people who begin nursing school, who lack that personality, are more likely to drop out when they see the reality of the career. However, I DID enter nursing school for the money. I was a surg tech and needed a higher income after my divorce. As for the altruistic part - I would attempt to be helpful and kind to people if I were selling shoes at Sears.
I would like to add this comment -please excuse if someone else already said this.
I live/work in Detroit.You all know that we are in a terrible employment situation, esp. with the Big # auto companies. Recently after a big lay-off at one of them, the govenor gave a ton of money to re-educate some of the line workers. Good idea. However, "nursing" was one of the careers they offered.So, we are turning away qualified students who are on waiting lists for 5 years, but now a 2 year program will be offered to displaced auto workers and they can get in (free) and get their nursing degree.
Yes, I agree with the original writer-it DOES tic me off! While I no longer hold that nursing is a "calling" and we are angels of mercy, I do think it is more than a job that anyone can do!I advocate for better pay, too-of course that is important , and our society equates money with respect. Why can't we be well paid, smart AND dedicated?
I guess those workers have to work. I dont have an issue with that, but I do have an issue with the government giving those workers a free handout only because their industry failed, because they could not compete with other car companies. Maybe a free handout is a bad choice of words, sorry No mean to offend. I just hope they keep the same standards in nursing school for these former autoworkers that they do for others.
The program is called No Worker Left Behind. They give money to people who have lost their job to pay for school. It will pay for nursing school but its just enough to pay for nursing classes and books. I don't think it gives the students an advantage to get in before other students. They have to go through the same admissions process I believe.
Again I ask: why does it matter? If they get their degree, pass NCLEX, work "temporarily"...that's up to them. Why should WE have the right to judge??
I agree- with the nursing shortage, I do not understand why there is this debate anyway. Would you rather have more foreign-trained nurses on staff? How compassionate/altruistic/competent are nurses imported from foreign schools? Yes, in the best of all possible worlds, it would be best to have smart, dedicated, Mother Teresa/Father Flannigan types going into nursing. But society needs people with nursing skills. Again, if someone goes into the profession for the wrong reasons, it will catch up with them- usually does eventually.
Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.
The program is called No Worker Left Behind. They give money to people who have lost their job to pay for school. It will pay for nursing school but its just enough to pay for nursing classes and books. I don't think it gives the students an advantage to get in before other students. They have to go through the same admissions process I believe.
How nice of the government...I'm back in school now, working full time, raising my family, and will be paying back student loans for YEARS. So now not only do I have to pay my way through school, but through my tax dollars, pay the way of auto workers that have lost their jobs. I know I don't sound too charitable, but that just stinks.
It's not exclusively for the auto workers. Your tax dollars goes toward other useless government programs. Oh yeah, let's not forget the banks who got a bailout with no questions asked. We can either let people go to school with the aide of the government OR we can let them all suck up unemployment. Which one do you prefer?
RN1982
3,362 Posts
Could you elaborate on this further? I think we all define what being a "good" nurse is differently. To me above all else, a nurse who provides safe and competent care is a good nurse. To me, what you are saying is that safety is not really that important.