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.
It used to bother me, because I sort of thought of nursing as a "higher call". While I still feel called to be a nurse and am very happy being one, I worked very, very, very hard for my degree and license, and work twice as hard as a nurse. Nurses deserve to be well compensated and have job stability. Those things contribute to being able to provide quality care.
Those that are doing it JUST for the check are unlikely to stay, because despite decent pay, it's a fairly thankless job.
I've read thru many but not all of the posts on this thread. FWIW, here's my take. If I sound a bit cranky, chalk it up to me being a gettin'-old lady with a sore back and swollen ankles. 36 years at the bedside will do that to a grrl.
I got into nursing because I found myself at the age of 20 with an AD in sociology that prepared me to maybe go on to a baccalaureate in sociology which might prepare me for going on for a master's which in turn might get me a teaching job in the community college from which I had just graduated. Meanwhile, for the next 6-8 years I was qualified for minimum wage only. FEH!!! I was working as a nurses' aide at the time (no certification in 1970) and knew I could do the physical work ... so I went to the 2-year nursing school so I could at least pay my rent. Somewhere along the line, I realized I was good at it ... and that has been my emotional/psychological/spiritual payoff to go along with my salary.
I'm a professional and I do a professional job, not because I "feel like it" but because it's the job I agreed to do. And I don't just mean the tasks, either. I act in the best interests of my patient even when that patient is a blot on the face of the universe ... makes no difference whether I "care" about him/her or not.
Lest we get too romantic about the good ol' days when nursing was a calling ... I should remind all here that, for a couple of hundred years nursing, teaching and secretarial work were the only avenues available for working class women to gain some measure of economic autonomy. I submit that a large proportion of nurses have been in it for the paycheck all along.
Another reality check. Before Nightengale the non-religious hospital nurses were mainly street women ... alcoholics and over the hill prostitutes. Much of the moral/social control exerted over nurses since Nightengale's time has to do with her need to overcome this low-class stereotype. Setting her nursing schools and departments up like convents was the only way she could attract a "better" class of woman into the field and gain acceptance of the profession by Victorian society.
I am happy for those who feel a calling ... but I don't think that gives you a moral high ground that lets you dismiss those of us with different motivation. Meanwhile, demanding that all nurses love all patients and be motivated by a burning passion to help those in need is both unhealthy and out of line. You don't get to tell me what to feel.
As for us horrible money-grubbers taking all the nursing school spots away from the deserving ones-who-are-called, I have to point out that those spots are earned. The money-grubber who got in earned it ... and if you did not, whose fault is that? Same thing with the license. The money-grubber passed the same board exam as the saintly one ... how dare you tell him/her she isn't entitled to use that license just because she/he isn't Mother Theresa! If you think that nursing school spots are awarded for something other than the individual's qualifications, then you need to take that up with the school or file a discrimination lawsuit.
I can see it now ... "I should have gotten in before her because I wanted it more!"
:oornt:
....I :redbeathe you.
Seriously, though, that was perfectly put. I really wish everyone who stubbornly clings to the idea of nursing as a calling, way up their on their "moral high ground", would read your post and really consider what you are saying, because you have made a wonderful and convincing point. I only wish I could give you more than one "thanks"....
Employment difficulties suck. As a former teacher I was laid off twice and had the last place I worked go belly-up...along with everyone's set-aside summer pay. They took it out of our paychecks and never gave it back to us. Ten grand each. After finding out all about this, we all worked for no pay for a month to finish out the school year so the students wouldn't get screwed over. Let me tell you how excited I am to be going into nursing just to be able to help kids again, great pay or not so great. Thanks, everyone, for giving me interesting things to read in-between studying. :deadhorse
[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.
More of surprised than condemning,for your sake I will pray for you that you will grow to like it,at least.
You can take that statement 1 of 2 ways. Option 1: I've always knew Id be a nurse, b/c this is my calling. Or Option 2:I do not see anything else in these college catalogs that I see myself doing,
(chem:physics:engineering:cpu science too much math), (biology;majors do not get respect or good job until you've reached graduate level), (music: there's no guarantee, I'll make it big time, etc), (Social worker: do not get paid enough money)
Oh look, Nursings left. They make descent money, get a little respect, good job opportunities, I don't mind dealing with blood & other bodily fluids, it's better than being stuck in a lab all day or wondering if I will have a job..
Patient's pain level is 10/10.
Hi my name is Gcupid I will be your nurse today. I stumbled upon nursing using the process of elimination, Would it bother you if I took care of you?
Patient yelling, "Just give me something for the Pain, Lord have mercy!"
Employment difficulties suck. As a former teacher I was laid off twice and had the last place I worked go belly-up...along with everyone's set-aside summer pay. They took it out of our paychecks and never gave it back to us. Ten grand each. After finding out all about this, we all worked for no pay for a month to finish out the school year so the students wouldn't get screwed over. Let me tell you how excited I am to be going into nursing just to be able to help kids again, great pay or not so great. Thanks, everyone, for giving me interesting things to read in-between studying. :deadhorse
You are truly an angel of Mercy. And the kids were blessed to have you all as teachers b/c if I was a teacher, I would have bounced to the next district.
They did that because they knew you all cared about those kids...
I'm in it for the money. All true professionals are.
That says NOTHING about my ability to care, or not to care. As should be. That isn't a consideration at the bargaining table - at least not one that would ever work to your advantage.
So long as you give yourself reasons not to consider the bottom line, you give your employers reasons not to maximize that bottom line.
I'm in it for the money.
I'm not an angel and refuse to pretend to be one.
Besides, I'm worth every penny. I'm in it for the money, and I want and deserve more.
We had a guy a few years ago. Administration thought he was WONDERFUL!! Always were singing his praises to the rest of us because he would come in whenever they called, night or day, and go to any unit they asked him to without complaint and take the sickest patients. I finally got a chance to work with this paragon of nursing virtue. Once I followed him and he left a big mess. I couldn't understand it and thought he just had an off day. The second time he was under me as I was charge. He disappeared without a word to me, for 45 minutes each time. Once he was in the cafeteria, it turns out, and the second time for a prolonged smoking break. When I complained about him I was met with a deaf ear. A few weeks later I picked up the paper and saw he was busted for buying meth. The point is, he is someone who obviously had no compassion and I will never know if he had skills or not. Yet he faked his way very successfully to those in charge and would never have quit. He just opted out of the work. So I don't think not having caring and compassion would necessarily make someone quit nursing.
Huh? Grow to like what? I was just saying that you misinterpreted what someone wrote, and I was simply phrasing her statement in different way.
Could you please clarify that? I doesn't even make sense.
All I'm saying is that I'm really surprised that someone would choose their job based solely on the income itself,lord have mercy what a boring life that would be.
All I'm saying is that I'm really surprised that someone would choose their job based solely on the income itself,lord have mercy what a boring life that would be.
Well, that the way the world works sometimes, people gotta pay the bills...
Anyway, thanks for clarifying, I thought you meant you would pray for me, that I would eventually like what I do.
I really wish everyone who stubbornly clings to the idea of nursing as a calling, way up their on their "moral high ground", would read your post and really consider what you are saying, because you have made a wonderful and convincing point. I only wish I could give you more than one "thanks"....
SunnyAndrsn
561 Posts
It used to bother me, because I sort of thought of nursing as a "higher call". While I still feel called to be a nurse and am very happy being one, I worked very, very, very hard for my degree and license, and work twice as hard as a nurse. Nurses deserve to be well compensated and have job stability. Those things contribute to being able to provide quality care.
Those that are doing it JUST for the check are unlikely to stay, because despite decent pay, it's a fairly thankless job.