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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 think it's a measure of how society is changing that some of the posters have become so upset about their points of view. Nurses used to be well respected, angels of mercy, called, sometimes even by God, to the profession and asked to give their all to the patients. Now the emphasis is on customer service, public relations, and making intelligent, logical decisions. We don't know who we are. Can you imagine physicians having disagreements like this? I think physicians as a whole are caring and want to do right by their patients, but they know that much good can be done without complete inner dedication, and they have no problem asking for the money they know they are worth.
Being in it just for the paycheck ? ? There's no room in nursing for an attitude such as that...no compassion...
I agree, if your description of compassion is like mine.
For me, compassion does not end at being warm and kind. Handling family members with kid gloves, making time to create a theraputic relation with your pt. and tucking the bed corners in perfectly yes are a part of nursing. Without it, we are just a warehouse and our patients are boxes being loaded and unloaded.
Compassion does not end there though. As other nurses have mentioned, for some people, what is mentioned above is where the care begins and ends. There is no awareness of the care plan's direction, what orders need to be completed that day. Some nurses who have every pt. tucked in dont even get their medications delivered. That, I dont agree with either.
I believe being a well rounded nurse is a part of compassion. No good having all the family members like you if the pt. ends up being in the hospital an extra two days because of missed orders. That is not compassion to me.
This is interesting. Working in Saudi Arabia as a DON, I am managing, for the most part, nurses that entered nursing because that's what was available to them and yes, for basic survival. Many of these nurses are actually assistant nurses or less having done some form of technical nursing studies as high-school. It is a huge and often an exhausting challenge to try to develop people who do not have the requisite background in nursing. It is a bigger challenge to try to instill the spirit of nursing in them, particularly since we are in addiction and mental health, both difficult practice environments.
So, we are all different. I believe a person whose heart is in his/her work will be recognized in the behavior and attitude they display. Someone may not be at the top of his field intellectually but may be wonderful in his work and service in other ways secondary to his/her character.
Concentrate on becoming the best you can. This alone may influence others to do their best as well. It's like planting a seed that eventually grows into something much greater.
We aren't paid enough for what we do. Exposure to body fluids, lifting, assaults by patients, whiny co-workers and disconnected management to mention just a few items make it not worth it. Nope. So anyone who goes into it "just for the money" will be disheartened and dissatisfied in very short order.
I work with a new nurse who lets us all know she hates us, hates the patients and hates her job. She went into it just for the money. I'd pay her to just leave.
We aren't paid enough for what we do. Exposure to body fluids, lifting, assaults by patients, whiny co-workers and disconnected management to mention just a few items make it not worth it. Nope. So anyone who goes into it "just for the money" will be disheartened and dissatisfied in very short order.I work with a new nurse who lets us all know she hates us, hates the patients and hates her job. She went into it just for the money. I'd pay her to just leave.
Good point..show where are the great money in nursing,I will be more than thrilled to follow...It is a middle class pay profession and that is all no better than teaching,criminal justice,post office?!
It doesn't bother me if someone wants to do nursing for the money, but IMHO they are gonna be sorely disappointed with their first paycheck!!:chuckle That being said, I think that it's a bad call in general to do anything just for the money, no matter what that might be..unless you're one of those people who find happiness in having lots of money and things. Otherwise you could be proficient at what you are doing, but could potentially end up hating your job. That's why millionaire wall street traders occasionally chuck it all and go open up a coffee shop..anyway, as long as someone is doing their job well, I don't really care about their motivation. I've never asked. Just my ..
All the touchy feely compassion in the world is trully a good thing, but it wont pay the bills, it wont bring food on the table, it wont mean savings for retirement. So if a person decides to go into nursing for this money, I have something to say.
1. Rn s do get paid decently, but it is not the end all be all of making money
2.Some people dont have to love their job in order to do a good job.
3.A job is a means to an end.. that is living.
4. It is always nice if a person can love the job they do.
5. It is important to enjoy nice things in life, like going to the Catalina Wine Mixer for example
Whispera, MSN, RN
3,458 Posts
does anyone else want to say to some here...."play nice or I'll have to separate you!" ??