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 started as an LPN in a rural area at less than I made as a secretary in a big city.
I now have a desk job in nursing (same rural area, same facility) at more than RN's with years of experience make.
Location, location, location.
I second that and add.
Negotiation , negotiation, negotiation.
Not to beat a dead horse but like I said before, nurses need to start looking at nursing more like a marketable set of skills that deserve compensation from an employer. I know that some people may disagree but in almost every job that I've had I negotiated for higher pay or more benefits when I was extended a job offer, sometimes its only a small difference in pay but the the image that it sends is that while your happy for the job offer you are still away of your own worth. Thats just my opinion.
I understand what you mean CJ but most of the hospitals have ladder system that pays based on experience. When I started my ICU job last year in January, I started off at 25.50, which was 1.60 less than what I made at my previous job. I ended up taking the job anyways despite me telling the recruiter I would be taking a pay cut. I wanted to get out of the job I was in before. I ended up getting a raise about 3 months later so it worked out. But most places won't negotiate.
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?
very well said!
i'm a 40 year old man who never even considered becoming a nurse prior to actually doing it. my wife is a nurse, and when i was looking to change professions, she suggested nursing. why? because it's stable, fairly secure, and pays well. she's been a nurse nearly 25 years, and not because she wanted to be flo nightingale. she's a very good nurse, according to her evaluations over the years, and all of that without feeling the "calling".
also, those people who don't feel a "calling" to be a nurse work just as hard as you, op, to become one. we don't go to a different, easier nursing school.
if you want to see compassion, work on death row for 15 years, like i did before going into nursing.
I believe that going into nursing shouldn't be just for the paycheck. I see quite a few nurses sitting behind the desk and just going to work to get paid. That's not right. As said in the other comments a nurse should be a caring, compassionate, knowledgable person.
:)
Why do you assume that those who are drawn to the money automatically lack compassion, caring and knowledge?
Well, please don't hate me folks. I pretty much entered nursing school as an "Ok, I'll try that" deal. Coming out of high school I had no idea what I wanted to do. Being a nurse never even crossed my mind for a second. I did watch all of those "Life in the ER" shows (which I totally miss, anyone k now what happened to them?) and at the very least, I wanted to be a physician. But with the amount of schooling involved, the motivational level needed, the financial resources that were required, that dream was quickly squashed. I did know, however, that I wanted a job that would be stable and provide me with pretty good income. I was in school and taking some science courses (primarily because science interests me and because I was fulfilling some GE requirements). I made a few friends in that class and a lot of them said they were taking the science classes as a requirement for nursing school. I did not salary research and discovered the nursing shortage and the pretty decent pay rates, including sign-on bonuses. So I thought to myself, what the hell. I applied, got in, finished, and now I'm working as a nurse. Nursing is not "my calling" at all. Most days I dread going in. I am SO happy when I get to leave. BUT, it does provide me with enough money to live in a nice house, drive a nice car, live debt free, and take vacations. I'm not exactly proud to be a nurse, and I keep it to myself at all costs. Ultimately, I would like to go into some other career field, granted I can make the same amount of money or more. Nursing is not my calling at all. With all of that said, I really do my best to take care of my patients. I sure do. I keep them pain free, I answer their questions, I ease their anxiety (usually with medicine, lol). I take a few minutes out to listen to them. I in no way come in grumpy and put on a grumpy face. Is this faking it? I don't know. To me, it's geting the job done. I get compliments from patients for my "caring and attentive" style, but I really don't feel like I am doing that.
I really try my hardest not to get burned out. I take my time, do the things I'm supposed to do, but at a normal pace. I'm only one person. If management doesn't agree with this, well then too bad. They can find someone else to hire to help ease the load, or fire me and find a replacement person willing to break his or her back. I'll just go down the street and find another job. To me, breaking my back or being completely stressed out ALL of the time is unacceptable.
So with all of this said, I don't think it's anyone's business to question another nurse as to why he or she is in nursing. People are people and they need money to survive. Just the other day I was sitting with a male RN in his 40s and I asked him why he is a nurse. He responded with: "because I have a mortgage on a 4,500 sq.ft. house that I need to pay." :)
Some of the worst students in my NS had the "calling" according to them, yet they couldn't grasp even the most basic of fundamentals of nursing. You can be "called" to nursing all you want, but if you don't have the intelligence to learn and apply the material then you won't be a good nurse no matter how compassionate and caring you are.
I'm simply amazed at how some think they have the right to judge who "should" be in nursing school, who "will" make a good nurse and "why" others went/are going into nursing. Nobody I know of has that right...no one. Yet you'll see if time and time again on this site
Some of the worst students in my NS had the "calling" according to them, yet they couldn't grasp even the most basic of fundamentals of nursing. You can be "called" to nursing all you want, but if you don't have the intelligence to learn and apply the material then you won't be a good nurse no matter how compassionate and caring you are.
I'm simply amazed at how some think they have the right to judge who "should" be in nursing school, who "will" make a good nurse and "why" others went/are going into nursing. Nobody I know of has that right...no one. Yet you'll see if time and time again on this site
I wish it were possible to give you more than one 'thanks'.
I became a CNA SOLELY because I didn't know what else to do.
I came right out of the military and the idea of a desk job as a linguist vexed me. No way was I teaching, sitting in an office, going over seas OR working for Uncle Sam again.
I had a neighborhood friend (went to different schools and he went to Job Corps) that got recruited to be a CNA in Indiana (we were in Texas at the time).
I did NO research. Nothing. I filled out the application. Didn't even talk to the recruiter. In the span of 3 days I was across the country in CNA classes.
So, do you need to be 'called' to be a CNA/Nurse? Heck no.
I first started nursing school because I was sick of killing myself for 10$ an hour. Sure, there are career tracks in nursing that interest me highly but I didn't know that at the beginning.
At the beginning it was all about money and/or erasing my boredom.
The fact that I came to love it after the fact is entirely irrelevant.
It takes so much more than just "compassion" and feeling a "calling" to be a good nurse. It also takes brains, above average organizational skills, and the hide of a rhinoceros. It takes the patience of a saint to deal with some of the patients, families, supervisors, and coworkers without going absolutely bonkers.
Making it through nursing school and passing the NCLEX might make you a nurse, but it won't make you an outstanding nurse.
Some of the worst nurses to follow on my unit practically poop compassion, and I'm sure would tell you that nursing was a calling for them. But every single time, they throw me a big stinking pile of poo to clean up (figuratively speaking). Sure, the patients love them because they are so "nice", but what the patient doesn't know is that that stat lab draw didn't get ordered correctly and the "nice" nurse didn't follow up, or that the patient didn't get their warfarin that day because the "nice" nurse didn't bother to read the progress notes and notice that warfarin had been ordered daily but somehow it was missing from the MAR, or that the reason respiratory has not been in to give them a treatment is because the "nice" nurse didn't make sure a respiratory order was put in. None of this has a thing to do with compassion or being called to nursing, but rather, with attention to detail and a drive to do a good job.
So no, it doesn't bother me if someone chooses nursing for the job security and decent wage, so long as they do a good job.
Some of the worst students in my NS had the "calling" according to them, yet they couldn't grasp even the most basic of fundamentals of nursing. You can be "called" to nursing all you want, but if you don't have the intelligence to learn and apply the material then you won't be a good nurse no matter how compassionate and caring you are.
I'm simply amazed at how some think they have the right to judge who "should" be in nursing school, who "will" make a good nurse and "why" others went/are going into nursing. Nobody I know of has that right...no one. Yet you'll see if time and time again on this site
And I have seen straight A student in my class who totally stinked at clinicals and I wouldnt let them come near me.Actually according to my experience the really smart ones are the worse one in the clinical and I seen many threads on this board that correlate to what I'm saying.
It takes so much more than just "compassion" and feeling a "calling" to be a good nurse. It also takes brains, above average organizational skills, and the hide of a rhinoceros. It takes the patience of a saint to deal with some of the patients, families, supervisors, and coworkers without going absolutely bonkers.
Making it through nursing school and passing the NCLEX might make you a nurse, but it won't make you an outstanding nurse.
Some of the worst nurses to follow on my unit practically poop compassion, and I'm sure would tell you that nursing was a calling for them. But every single time, they throw me a big stinking pile of poo to clean up (figuratively speaking). Sure, the patients love them because they are so "nice", but what the patient doesn't know is that that stat lab draw didn't get ordered correctly and the "nice" nurse didn't follow up, or that the patient didn't get their warfarin that day because the "nice" nurse didn't bother to read the progress notes and notice that warfarin had been ordered daily but somehow it was missing from the MAR, or that the reason respiratory has not been in to give them a treatment is because the "nice" nurse didn't make sure a respiratory order was put in. None of this has a thing to do with compassion or being called to nursing, but rather, with attention to detail and a drive to do a good job.
So no, it doesn't bother me if someone chooses nursing for the job security and decent wage, so long as they do a good job.
And lets not go into exaggeration that nursing school is so hard....no organic chem,no advanced physics,no calculus,no advanced biology,you want to talk hard than how about medical school...
cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP
7 Articles; 1,156 Posts
I second that and add.
Negotiation , negotiation, negotiation.
Not to beat a dead horse but like I said before, nurses need to start looking at nursing more like a marketable set of skills that deserve compensation from an employer. I know that some people may disagree but in almost every job that I've had I negotiated for higher pay or more benefits when I was extended a job offer, sometimes its only a small difference in pay but the the image that it sends is that while your happy for the job offer you are still away of your own worth. Thats just my opinion.
!Chris