Those of us in the nursing field for twenty or more years have seen many changes to our profession, not in knowledge or scope of practice per se, but in the actual process of delivering care. We have rolled with it and adapted.
Until now. Somehow, this time it is different.
There is a distant whiff of change in the air, an ominous yet unseen brewing storm on the horizon that we can smell, and we instinctually know this is not just another policy revision; not just another economic dip.
There is a growing sense that nursing is being redefined as cheap, blue-collar labor, yes-men, and trained monkeydom. Especially floor nurses on the front lines.
Even my latest issue of "The American Nurse" is greatly devoted to the future of nursing and nurses who have or are furthering their education in the (hinted- at undercurrent) context of Health Care Reform, ACO's and Bundling.
Is education advancement enough? I listened to a flustered and overwhelmed hospitalist vent to me a few days ago, that they'd taken away half of the PA's effectively doubling her workload.
I see MSN's working the floor.
I see BSN's unable to find employment as a floor RN.
I see my own department ripped to pieces and sold to the highest bidder.
So, how many of you are rethinking your career path? If I was an Appliance RN (RN married to a high-earner and only needs a little income to buy the latest Cuisinart or a gym membership) I probably wouldn't bother.
HA HA HA! Oh please. I have a graduate degree and two post graduate certificates. Do not feel sorry for me. I have two jobs- one that I love, one that I like some days but it has the benefits and full time that I need. Seventeen years sounds pretty darn good to me compared to the past 33 years that I have already worked. I am a nurse and I am not leaving. This is all that I know and I cannot afford to go back to school for something else. This is my field, I got in it by choice and once had grand dreams and lofty goals too. Don't turn the conversation into false pity for me. I have my allnurses friends to vent to and I will be just fine.
Whew! Good question. I have had my RN for just over a year now. I've changed jobs from a stand alone nursing home to a new job at a nursing home connected to a hospital (more opportunities as an internal candidate in this job market). My first goal has been met: I have been hired for one 12 hour shift per pay period in Med-Surg to expand my skills and make my hours full time. I've also been asked to be the on-call MDS nurse at the nursing home.
I want to start my BSN or MSN within the next two years, and then maybe try out a tele unit. I thought I wanted to teach eventually, but now I am leaning toward NP....but my kids need to go to college too, LOL!!!
I've done my research as a pre-nursing student and while I am aware of the pitfalls many are experiencing it will not prevent me (and others) from pursuing the many avenues that exist within the profession. The constant "woe is the profession that I abhor" rhetoric of members on Allnurses is a sample and shall be treated as such. Seldom do I hear the same complaints from advanced practitioners, nurse professors, et al, many of whom are thrilled and love waking up every day to do what they do. While I am tickled by the attempt of others to dissuade the pursuit of entering the profession, it won't stop me from going full speed with my plans, especially as a prospective nurse of color who wishes to obtain an MSN and/or Doctorate in the near future. More racial diversity are needed at these levels.
I absolutely agree with you that more racial diversity is needed at the advanced practice levels. Kudos to you and your plans. However, in my med/surg job I routinely work alongside MSN nurses who are working the floor because they need to supplement their income, they are not able to find other employment, or they need the benefits. Some of the adjunct professors in my area work the floor part time for the same reasons. At my hospital, several advance practice nursing positions were recently cut, including those in education and some of the clinical nurse specialist roles. Some of those nurses are now working the floor. Our education department has been cut to the bone. It's not the rosy picture you'd like to think it is. And the profession of nursing is suffering for it.
Nobody here has interest in where you spend your money or what you do with your life. Really, we just are not that interested. As nurses our natural response is to truth-tell. What is good is good, what is bad is bad. We don't play make-believe about nursing, but you wouldn't know this fact now would you. Now you do.
Just don't come off as silly by counter-pointing people who are nurses. Many nurses are quite advanced in nursing and many with multiple degrees, nursing being just one area of advanced study as well as many years of success in other fields. If you are accepted into a nursing program at some point in your life, you will need to remember that you are the learner, and yours is to learn from those who know. I think if you manage into a program, your eyes will be opened wide.
I, for one, am interested in the original topic of this thread. Guttercat took the time to start this thread with the intention of having a discussion regarding nurses' goals in light of changes in nursing. It seems things have been derailed here.
Those who want to discuss the lack of minorities in nursing or pre-nursing student to PHD programs please start your own threads.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
(thanks Mr. Bowie for the thread title).
Those of us in the nursing field for twenty or more years have seen many changes to our profession, not in knowledge or scope of practice per se, but in the actual process of delivering care. We have rolled with it and adapted.
Until now. Somehow, this time it is different.
There is a distant whiff of change in the air, an ominous yet unseen brewing storm on the horizon that we can smell, and we instinctually know this is not just another policy revision; not just another economic dip.
There is a growing sense that nursing is being redefined as cheap, blue-collar labor, yes-men, and trained monkeydom. Especially floor nurses on the front lines.
I feel it, too. Prior to about 2 years ago I saw turbulence, but a bedrock was never far from my reach. So from 1975 until almost the present time I took the periodic difficulties in stride. I never doubted my connection or my perception of how other people in allied occupations perceived our value even for all the talk about "when will we be seen as professionals" Strange as it may sound I feel like if anything we got more respect back then than we do now.
One thing my mind keeps going back to is what seems like a curious dual-track with the people who view nurses as trained monkeys on one side and the academic establishment with the expectation that everyone will want a career track that includes at least an MSN on the other.
They don't communicate with each other much from what I've seen. One track doesn't trust us to figure out our own words to say to our patients and the other wants floor nurses to have Master's degrees. So will the hospital morale committee hand them a script? Will nurses with advanced degrees be exempt from wearing a badge that says "ask me if I washed my hands'?
I wonder if one of the key goals spelled out in the IOM Future of Nursing Report to buttress the argument for getting these degrees "to be viewed as professionals" - will they? Will they value it enough to pay for it?
I really hope the answer to those two questions is yes. What I greatly fear is that they will continue to erode the role of nurses with specialized techs they can hire for half the price and use the RN to delegate and be a manager.
I'm still standing at a fork in the road. As I've gotten older the time it takes to change something has a premium value. I don't want to waste it.
"Trained monkeys". OOH I love the way you put that. OMG I love the whole response. That is it exactly. There seems to be no middle ground anymore. We are the trained monkeys or we are glorious academic prepared specialists entitled even to call ourselves DOCTOR (PhD or DSN or whatever degree du jour is in vogue). "Ask me if I washed my hands", oh the shame of it! You nailed it exactly.
Sorry, I could not contain my excitement over the previous post. Goals,anyone? Shutting up now.
Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
I know of no nurses personally who would not give anything to not have to stay in nursing. Sorry, but I have had lots of jobs over many years- 27 as a nurse and 5 as an aide and I have never met a nurse who was happy in what she did. I am sure they are out there. I have had jobs I liked before, it is possible, but this is one profession that wears on you.
Part timers are happier. Jobs with good hours make for happier employees so those who work steady daylight shifts are more content. Some nurses are paid well. Some have good benefits. There are good things in nursing, but it is the constant stress that wears you down and wears you out. It exists in every area of nursing that I have seen, only in different forms. Pressure, pressure, pressure. Do everything with nothing and smile while you do it. Don't make a mistake or you get fired or sued or go to jail. Change shifts, work overtime, give up your life and your family, and do it gladly. Take call and go to unsafe areas alone in the middle of the night and still come in the next day ready and alert and rarin to go. Lunch break? Don't be silly. There is no one to cover.
We put up with what no one else would. Normal people would form unions and make demands but we just take it. I am going to stop now, don't want to scare you.
You just did. I love my job and my profession. I never regret going to work. I did suffer from burn out, but I worked at a crap hospital. Three years at my 'new' facility and I could not be happier. I even like managment.
That is good to hear! Like I said, it is possible to like your job, but alas, you are another one that I don't know personally. I do know that there are some out there who are happy in nursing. And there are some jobs that have many good points. I just don't know and have never personally met a nurse who was, well happy that she went into nursing. Maybe that is the best way to put it.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
"Sorry, I could not contain my excitement over the previous post. Goals,anyone? Shutting up now.
Thanks but the credit for the trained monkey comment really goes to our esteemed OP :) I hope people understand we don't hate nursing or even tell people not to be a nurse. Just keep very aware of the landscape while you're in school. The old paradigm is gone. Now I'll shut up, too!!
I chose to change careers to nursing when I was 45 or so. While working full-time as a medical claims adjuster for a large medical insurance company I took the nursing pre-reqs. When I couldn't get into the RN program, I went ahead and completed LPN. Then the economic collapse happened and the hospitals were no longer recruiting new grad RNs. My sons both moved to Canada for jobs and I was left in Florida in the RN program.
My goal was to get a BSN so I could become an RN in Canada. During my first semester of the RN program I decided screw it. There just wasn't any point in holding onto my house that was continuing to decline in value and I didn't want to be far away from my family for 3 more years. Plus the job situation where I was living wasn't looking any brighter.
So I sold my house and returned to Canada as an LPN. I had no problem finding a job once I got my license. I'm in a union, make 25% more money than I did in FL and have great benefits.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket, always have a backup plan for everything in life.
My goal now is to work for a year to build up my income (however piddly that may be), then start on the path towards PA school. I would go the MSN route, but NP school is a joke from what I hear. It's more focused on nursing rather than on the medical focus. I get plenty of nursing focus in school right now thank you very much, and it's sort of boring. I'm happy to go into nursing at the moment, but if I have to stay in nursing for a long time, I'd probably blow my brains out.
Wishinonastar, BSN
1 Article; 1,000 Posts
HA HA HA! Oh please. I have a graduate degree and two post graduate certificates. Do not feel sorry for me. I have two jobs- one that I love, one that I like some days but it has the benefits and full time that I need. Seventeen years sounds pretty darn good to me compared to the past 33 years that I have already worked. I am a nurse and I am not leaving. This is all that I know and I cannot afford to go back to school for something else. This is my field, I got in it by choice and once had grand dreams and lofty goals too. Don't turn the conversation into false pity for me. I have my allnurses friends to vent to and I will be just fine.