Does this bother anyone else?

[stdntnurse]

I was just reading a post in another thread and came across the following statement that alarmed me: "i wish that i had chosen nursing in the first place because i need a recession Proof career".

I understand that the economy is facing, and will continue to face, hard times. I also realize that as a result of this people are now more then ever looking into job security when choosing a career. It scares me however, that people are now choosing nursing as a profession based on the thought that it is said to be 'recession proof' and not because they truly have a passion for it.

All I know is that if and when I am a patient in the health care system, I want a nurse looking after me who actually wants to be there and is dedicated to looking after her patients, not one who chose her profession based on job security and is more concerned about cash flow. Am I living in a dream world?

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

I have no calling to nursing. In "another life" I might have made an excellent librarian or microbiologist. We have many doors in life and I believe multiple paths coinciding with happenstance. I'm just a thirty-something insurance agent who got burned out selling insurance (fried crispy, dead, caput). The older I got, the less able I was to shovel at clients the crap the insurance companies shoveled at me. I wanted to use my mind, use my interest in science, and do something that helps people - not pressure and sell them on an insurance policy. Being an insurance agent was in direct opposition to my top quality and priority in life, kindness.

I'm just a few months away from graduating from nursing school, and I have zero regrets. I know in a few years I may post on the board that I'm fried out crispy from hospital work. However, one benefit from years of reading allnurses is that I'm not going into this with rose-colored glasses. I know nurses are weighed down with impossible patient loads and paperwork that can obstruct the care we want to provide. But still, at its core, - it's about caring for people. I know how toxic floor nursing can be, from reading this board, and I'll plan my career accordingly.

One thing about nursing - there are so many choices if one is willing to continue education and be mobile, geographically. It's rather amazing.

[AZ_LPN_8_26_13]

".... I wanted to use my mind, use my interest in science, and do something that helps people - not pressure and sell them on an insurance policy. Being an insurance agent was in direct opposition to my top quality and priority in life, kindness.

I'm just a few months away from graduating from nursing school, and I have zero regrets. I know in a few years I may post on the board that I'm fried out crispy from hospital work. However, one benefit from years of reading allnurses is that I'm not going into this with rose-colored glasses. I know nurses are weighed down with impossible patient loads and paperwork that can obstruct the care we want to provide. But still, at its core, - it's about caring for people. I know how toxic floor nursing can be, from reading this board, and I'll plan my career accordingly.

One thing about nursing - there are so many choices if one is willing to continue education and be mobile, geographically. It's rather amazing."

Well put.... Actually I've always had an interest in science myself, and I've always enjoyed doing things that actually help people. It's a side of me that until now has not really had a means of expression or actualization. Someone other than myself had to give me a bit of a nudge to consider doing this though - I probably wouldn't have considered it on my own .....

Do I actually have a "passion" for it? Like I mentioned before, no - what I mean is that I have a lot of other things going on, and many other interests besides nursing - it doesn't take up all of my thoughts every waking moment, and I probably won't forsake a lot of the other things in my life that I like doing and am interested in.

You're right about the opportunities in nursing - sometimes I think that it takes people who are coming from outside of it, and have worked in fields where it's severely limited (I have) to really see and appreciate this. One person told me to learn all you can, get certs in just about everything you can, and keep your options open, and that's what I plan to do....

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

Please let me clarify that to be a nurse, one simply cannot to it for the paycheck alone.

Let me clarify-you're wrong.

Not only can a nurse be in nursing for the paycheck alone, but they can also be damn good at it too.

[Wishinonastar, BSN]

I've seen those nurses who are only in it for the paycheck. Yes, they can have great skills, yes they can last. Money is the ultimate motivator for all of us. I would have quit working a million times if I could, if I did not need the paycheck. Being a mother was a bigger motivator to me and how I wanted to stay home and do that! But if I have to work, and I do, I want to be a nurse. I believe it is my calling. Still, I know, other nurses know, and the patients know who really cares and who doesn't. You should hear the comments I have heard form patients when I admit them to home health from the hospital. Oh, they know who cares and who doesn't. They feel it in your words and they appreciate those who really care, who are really dedicated to nursing. The rest of you are just nameless faces in an endless world of pain and suffering that they have experienced. Just as most of the patients are to you.

[SoundofMusic]

You know, you can always go into nursing for the money, but then become darn good at it and develop "the Passion" as you go. That is sort of what is happening to me. I don't believe any of us, as humans, have this supernnatural passion thing going on anyway. A job is a job - and sadly, I also cannot make enough money doing what I'd REALLY like to do all day long (tend to the garden and raise chickens out in the country), so I have to be a nurse.

I also, however, also became very burnt out working in a cubicle, staring at a computer all day, sitting on my duff. Nursing keeps me engaged, active, physical, and around people. It's a super career change type move -- and I have always, always been interested in anatomy and how the body works. Was always the kid who joined the science club, loved to be around people, was fascinated with shots, needles, medical equipment, etc. Does that make me Florence? No -- just someone who might be interested in nursing and do well at it.

Bedside nursing nowadays demands much more than passion -- it demands multiple multi tasking skills, the ability to "get 'er done." You COULD be passionate, but lacking the follow through skills and management ability, good communication skills, etc. necessary to be successful nowadays as a hospital RN.

[kcochrane]

A job is a job - and sadly, I also cannot make enough money doing what I'd REALLY like to do all day long (tend to the garden and raise chickens out in the country), so I have to be a nurse.

That's where I'm lucky. I really like to be a nurse and I get paid to do it. Although I could be happy tending to a garden and raising chickens too.

It does bring up a point though. I have told my kids that first of all, you have to work to live - that's a given. But at least find something you somewhat enjoy doing for those 40 hours. Hopefully they got it.

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

I think nurses can function with some autotelic motives and aspects, which is quite healthy, without having a "calling."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotelic

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

an autotelic person needs few material possessions and little entertainment, comfort, power, or fame because so much of what he or she does is already rewarding. because such persons experience flow in work, in family life, when interacting with people, when eating, even when alone with nothing to do, they are less dependent on the external rewards that keep others motivated to go on with a life composed of dull and meaningless routines. they are more autonomous and independent because they cannot be as easily manipulated with threats or rewards from the outside.

thanks for the link multi! this really sums me up...

[heron, ASN, RN]

Please let me clarify that to be a nurse, one simply cannot to it for the paycheck alone.

Yes, one can. Job satisfaction is the key. Some derive their job satisfaction from doing it well. Some derive it from feeling that they are doing good in the world. Some derive it from being able to feed, clothe and shelter themselves and their families.

And some derive it from the sense of moral superiority they get for doing it for the "right" reasons.

Sorry, gang ... I'm having a curmudgeon moment ... I'm really fried with people trying to control my feelings and passing moral judgements on my motivation. Feh!

The real issue is, what kind of shape are my patients in when you take report from me?

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

The real issue is, what kind of shape are my patients in when you take report from me?

Exactly!

[showbizrn]

you'd be surprised of how many make it through nursing school and not having an ounce compassion.

some people can survive nursing school with just the thought of the being a " recession proof" career.

how sad.

though many try to dismiss

compassion...

it makes the difference

between the nurse who

functions safely and prudently

and the nurse who is

all that and

goes that extra mile for the patient.

while i most certainly

want a safe and prudent nurse

at my or my loved one's bedside,

there is a blessing inherit

for patients who have that

nurse that goes that extra

compassionate mile.

i guess that can be said

for any profession.

[heron, ASN, RN]

how sad.

though many try to dismiss

compassion...

it makes the difference

between the nurse who

functions safely and prudently

and the nurse who is

all that and

goes that extra mile for the patient.

while i most certainly

want a safe and prudent nurse

at my or my loved one's bedside,

there is a blessing inherit

for patients who have that

nurse that goes that extra

compassionate mile.

i guess that can be said

for any profession.

you have a point ... but it's possible to go the extra mile simply because it's the right thing to do for the patient. the same act could just as easily be a result of an excellent work ethic ... nothing to do with compasssion.

google a book, ordered to care. i am on my way out the door, so don't have the time to get the full citation, but will be happy to do so if you wish. in it, the author theorizes that, possibly because it's been a female-dominated profession for so long, nursing is possibly the only profession that requires (according to some) a particular emotional stance as part of the job requirement. given that i do not believe we can, or should, control our emotional responses, it makes for some interesting reading.