Does it bother you when someone wants to be a nurse just for the money?

Nurses General Nursing

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I have an acquaintance that wants to be a CRNA. No mention of being an RN first or how long it would take her to do it, just wants to be a CRNA. She's mentioned not wanting to work as an RN in the middle to avoid bedside nursing and "butt wiping" and just wants to go and get her Master's. She thinks being a CRNA is easy.

As a nursing student in an ADN program, I value bedside nursing and no matter what my wage may be in the future, I would like to stay at bedside. I don't think this person really knows what nursing is and I think she just wants to be a CRNA because of the money. She never seemed like a caring person, is quick to throw tantrums and has no patience at home. I do wish her the best with whatever career she likes, but it feels like she is turning up her nose at the line of work that I want to do. Does it bother you when you meet people like this?

Specializes in LTC.
I wouldn't worry about her...she will soon see that even the schooling for CRNAs are NO FREAKIN JOKE!!!! As for your comment " I'll work no matter the wages " LOL...I hope you stay true to it!!! Cause it will change when you have those once in a blue nasty NMs and those patients that drive you to drink and report you for everything! Then it's NO MORE "NICE NURSE"

I don't think patients drive nurses to drink, nurses drive nurses to drink. I used to get the same comments when I was a student. I still stay true to my true passion of nursing rather than a paycheck.

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No.It shouldn't bother you either.

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This topic comes up about every two months, and irks me every time. I see nothing wrong with wanting a good paying job. To be a CNRA she is going to have to get good grades and be a knowledgeable nurse. When I am in the hospital I want her as my nurse as opposed to the one who “ had the calling” had to retake a couple of classes, just made it through nursing school, and had to take the NCLEX three times to pass.

Not wanting to wipe buts and not caring about the patients are two different things. I am currently a CNA. Do I like my job? NO!. do I care about my residents and see that they are well taken care of? yes. My last shift I had a resident who is dying. There is nothing that can be done about it, it is his time . (the facility ask the family for hospice to come in but they will have nothing to do with it, but that is another story). He is my lightest resident, yet I still asked the other CNA to help me turn him so as to make it as quick and pain less as possible. So please don’t take wanting a good paying job, as not being able to be a good nurse, as one in the same.

To the OP by your philosophy why don’t you want to be a CNA? You will have more direct patient interaction for basic nursing care than you will as a RN, and you will be paid very poorly for it. Then in ten years from now you can drive your fifteen year old rust bucket to work (crossing your fingers it will make it) and park next to your friend’s new little beamer convertible. I wonder if you will still feel the same way? Oh wait you won’t be parking next to her, her position comes with a pass to the indoor parking garage attach to the hospital.

Sorry to be so sarcastic, and I admit I am being a little gruff, but everyone has their own reasons for wanting to be a nurse. Just because they are not yours doesn’t make them wrong. Fortunately health care is one of the fields where you can find well paying jobs that also helps people at the same time.

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Specializes in NICU/Subacute/MDS.

I think it is great that your friend has goals and aspirations set for herself! You should be encouraging her to do her best no matter what her goal is.

As you already pointed out, by the time she gets there her goals may change anyway. There are many nurses who are 'oh so' caring and enter bedside nursing only to discover that they hate, hate, hate it. Then there are those that want only L&D and end up taking a med/surg job and find that they love it. You are right, she will not know until she gets there. But, does that mean that she shouldn't set strong goals for herself now?

You can use money as a deciding factor for many things and still be a compassionate person. Money was a deciding factor for me when I chose nursing school over graduate school. I do not think it makes me any less caring or kind to my patients or their families.

IMHO, graduates who are there solely to 'help' people are shocked by real world nursing and burn out rather quickly! Yes, you will help people as a nurse, but not as often as you like. You don't have the time to do all those fuzzy things you would like too. And, truth be told, you can't help someone who does not want to help themselves. I mean it. You can't help someone who does not want to help themselves. I spend little time now trying to 'help' my patients in the conventional way. I am there to support them, educate them, treat medical conditions, and encourage them to take control of their well-being.

Your friend may turn out to be one of the best nurses on the floor! She might be the nurse who tells people 'no', you need to do that for yourself. She might be the nurse who gets the surgical pt off of the bed the soonest and well the fastest!

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The scary thing is this person will probably finish her R.N. do her 2 years ICU and graduate from a CRNA program. I wonder though in her application mission statement or interview will she tell them what she told you? God help us all........

What's there to help?She wants to a do a job and get paid for doing it.Why fault her?

CRNA is a tough program, kudos to her.:up:

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Specializes in NICU/Subacute/MDS.
I don't think patients drive nurses to drink, nurses drive nurses to drink. I used to get the same comments when I was a student. I still stay true to my true passion of nursing rather than a paycheck.

I think your comment is wonderful. You should go with your passion. But, IMO a paycheck is still a valid reason to consider when searching out a career. Few people know exactly what career path they want after graduating. And, I truly believe you can develop a passion no matter what path you choose.

Isn't it really NOT about how you started your career in nursing, but about what you do when you get there?

BTW, I think it's just a colorful saying about how nurses are driven to drink. Much like people will say their kids drive them to drink. (I hope it isn't literal, lol)

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Specializes in pediatrics, public health.

When I was in my 20s, I thought I didn't care about how much money I would make in my career, only how "fulfilling" it would be. I still care about how "fulfilling" my job is, but I am now in my 50s with little or no retirement savings, have a massive amount of student loan debt, an 8 year old son with no college fund, and.....well, I could go on, but you get the picture.

Working for "whatever" is a luxury that I can no longer afford. I would not have gone into nursing if it didn't pay well, and I have no problem with others choosing the field for that reason. Frankly, I think that more people in their 20s should think about the financial impact of their career decisions -- which doesn't mean that I think everyone should choose high paying jobs, just recognize that you will be living with the consequences of this decision.

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma.

no, everyone has to make a living. i love nursing, but i wouldn't be working towards my RN regardless of what the wages are. how would i support myself and my family?

however, i do understand how it can be bothersome to someone who has worked very hard to get where they are (you, me, everyone becoming a nurse or who is a nurse) to see people shrug it off as simple and easy when they haven't even started the process. it feels like they are undermining the struggle that you've been through to be where you are now. you just have to let it go- you have enough to stress out about as a student to concern yourself with someone else's plans. a friend of mine decided she wanted to be a pathologist after her family friend died of cancer. she didn't even realized that it meant she had to go to med school, etc, and when she realized the work to get there, she dropped the idea. it irked me to no end, so i get where you're coming from.

if she doesn't have the passion to be a nurse, she's probably not going to make it through nursing school, ICU, and then a CRNA program (which i hear are amazingly hard to get into). if she does have the passion, then good for her. focus on yourself and being the best nurse you can be, and your goals. don't let yourself carry her weight.

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Specializes in long term care Alzheimers Patients.
I think there are many people in nursing school who start out thinking they want to be a CRNA. I'm currently in a bridge program and the first day of one of my classes, our teacher asked us to introduce ourselves and state what type of nursing we wanted to do. There are 12 of us in class--8 want to be a CRNA, 3 want to go to the NICU, and me who is going to stay in hospice. One of the guys asked me why. He says that's so sad, they are dying, don't you want to save lives? The difference is that I've been a hospice nurse >10 years and I know what I want to do. I enjoy my job. Many of them will probably change their minds many times as we go through the different clinical rotations. When I began LPN school, I thought I wanted to work with peds, but with each rotation I "fell in love" with the current rotation. When we got to the LTC, I KNEW that working with the elderly was for me. When I was working in LTC, I took a PRN hospice position and jumped at the first full-time position that opened up. I'm home and I love it!

HospiceLPN

I think it is great what you are doing. I would love to do hospice,but they don't hire a lot of LPNS.

I now work with the elderly on an Alzheimer's unit. Which I love. Someday hopefully I can get into hospice

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Specializes in ICU, MICU, SICU.

I got into nursing for job security, 12 hr shifts, and the money. Notice I didn't mention "loving" nursing. It isn't that I dislike it..I actually really enjoy it sometimes. I love my family, friends, and free time. Work is work. Doesn't mean I am not a good nurse.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

here we go again. someone is worried about someone else's reasons for wanting to go to nursing school, and they're convinced that their own motives are so much more holy. or correct. or moral. or something.

no, it doesn't bother me when someone wants to be an rn just for the money. what does bother me is the sheer volume of new grads we have coming through our icu with no objective other than to get into anesthesia school and away from the bedside as soon as possible while doing a minimum of work in the meantime. i'm not saying that the icu should be your ultimate goal or that you should love bedside nursing forever, but please -- after we spend six months orienting you and training you to be a nurse, couldn't you stay at least the full two years before you move on to greener pastures?

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
I have an acquaintance that wants to be a CRNA. No mention of being an RN first or how long it would take her to do it, just wants to be a CRNA. She's mentioned not wanting to work as an RN in the middle to avoid bedside nursing and "butt wiping" and just wants to go and get her Master's. She thinks being a CRNA is easy.

As a nursing student in an ADN program, I value bedside nursing and no matter what my wage may be in the future, I would like to stay at bedside. I don't think this person really knows what nursing is and I think she just wants to be a CRNA because of the money. She never seemed like a caring person, is quick to throw tantrums and has no patience at home. I do wish her the best with whatever career she likes, but it feels like she is turning up her nose at the line of work that I want to do. Does it bother you when you meet people like this?

*** Other people's motivations never bother me. However if a person is becomeing a nurse just for the money it's hard not to consider them a fool. The money isn't good enough for that. As for your wanna-be-CRNA friend, do not worry, it will soon be clear to her just how much hard work she has in front of her to be a CRNA. If I where you I would just mention, preferably in an email so you have proof later, how hard it actually is. Then when she comes to that realization herself you can say "I told you so".

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