I am in a two year RN program at a community college. I have a law degree, and I am studying nursing so I can do HealthCare Law or Medical Malpractice. No one at my school knows that I have a law degree (except the administrator), and I don't plan to tell them, because I don't want to answer legal questions for the next two years, or draw attention to myself.
Sadly, I am disappointed with many of my classmates in nursing school. They are very boring to talk to and somewhat blue-collar-ish. I am always friendly towards them, but half of them don't return my friendly gestures because they probably don't understand my nature (I am shy and reserved, but pleasant). My classmates in law school were just so much more interesting, and friendly! I got along great with all of them. I was expecting to really like my nursing classmates too, because I thought most nurses were really nice people. But these people are just working class snobs (they don't like anyone who does not act working class like them).
I probably should have applied to a Masters level Nursing program, in order to find people like myself in nursing school.
I was just wondering if others out there are a "fish out of water" in their nursing programs.
The term "blue-collar-ish" immediately strck me as you thinking these people were beneath you and that your law school friends were better than them, I realize you probably did not mean to come across like this, but I still found it offensive I was raised in a blue collar family with a self made farmer/insurance agent/business owner grandfather that taught me more about life and it's who you are not what you are degree/money wise that makes the person. If you are inadvertently giving off this "vibe" in school than yeah would have steered clear of you myself and who knows on many levels we could have been friends but the chance was shot down, maybe let down a few walls down and you'll see there are many good people in the middle class population, which by the way will be many of your coworkers/defendants in the future, law degree not withstanding, you will find yourself surrounded by the people you seem to be put off by, just my 2 cents tho
But these people better not call me when they commit medical malpractice and need legal advice!
Then why bother? this statement alone tells me you aren't the lawyer for me if the need should ever arise, but guess what? They are your future clients, if you can't work with them now, what makes anyone think you could be fair and unbiased to them later?
At first when I read the post, I was a little angry. Feeling the same way most of you feel. This is evidenced by my initial post on page 1 or 2. It is easy to jump down the Ops throat as we have. I think everyone should take one deep breath, and cool down. The op has decided to share her frustration with NS, as many of us have done before. We should offer her words of encouragement, and support. True, maybe the op should of held back some of her feelings, or posted them on a J.D. forum. I seriously doubt the op will post again if the lynch mob is unleashed, and she is probably feeling worse.
You don't really expect that kind of acceptance from us po' old dumb blue collar nurses, do ya?
But these people better not call me when they commit medical malpractice and need legal advice
that is very immature and a horrible thing to say to anyone... i would be ashamed to even utter such words...
believe me you are plebeian ( my grandmother's favorite word)...
someday .. you could be laying in bed and sick as a dog and one of your classmates will come to you and make you feel better ... then how will you feel...
From what you said, I don't think your classmates are being short with you at all. I think that you are putting yourself in a higher position then them and it is seeping through your personality. You even said yourself that your classmates are "boring" and they are all "blue-collarish". How do you expect them to want to talk to you if you are making assumptions before you actually get the chance to know them?
I think that's it's wrong of you to even judge people like that. Everyone deserves a chance.
I also think that you are contraindicating yourself, because you said that your classmates don't want to talk to you, yet you claim to be the "shy" one. You are also judging them for who they are, and nobody wants to feel like they are being judged. So, you can either have it one way or the other. You either play nice and swim with the crowd or make a big splash and get yourself kicked out of nursing school.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Sadly, I am disappointed with many of my classmates in nursing school. They are very boring to talk to and somewhat blue-collar-ish.
Nursing is a career field that heavily attracts first-generation college students from the working classes. I'm assured that a great deal of your classmates were probably born and raised in blue-collar households, and some are probably the very first persons in their families to attend any type of college. Thus, many of your classmates will be likely to have these so-called "blue-collar" attributes. In addition, community college enrollment consists of a large number of students from working-class households.
You should also be cognizant of the fact that nursing is a blue-collar profession, whether anyone wishes to believe it or not. You will be paid an hourly wage, wearing a uniform daily, punching a time clock, and receiving a small degree of supervision and oversight from a nurse manager, supervisor, or charge nurse. If you are disappointed with your classmates, there's a tremendous chance you'll also be disappointed with your future coworkers in nursing.
Some people might become horribly offended at the very mention of social class, but it is something that permeates every aspect of our existences. I grew up in a very blue-collar household. My mother was a production worker at a solar products factory for 25 years, and my father has had a string of entry-level jobs. My mother and father have no education beyond high school. During my growing-up years my parents encouraged me to conform to the crowd and obey authority figures, and actively discouraged me from challenging statements or questioning authority. I had to learn a different way of life as a young adult in order to communicate effectively with members of the professional middle class.
From what you said, I don't think your classmates are being short with you at all. I think that you are putting yourself in a higher position then them and it is seeping through your personality. You even said yourself that your classmates are "boring" and they are all "blue-collarish". How do you expect them to want to talk to you if you are making assumptions before you actually get the chance to know them?
I think that's it's wrong of you to even judge people like that. Everyone deserves a chance.
I also think that you are contraindicating yourself, because you said that your classmates don't want to talk to you, yet you claim to be the "shy" one. You are also judging them for who they are, and nobody wants to feel like they are being judged. So, you can either have it one way or the other. You either play nice and swim with the crowd or make a big splash and get yourself kicked out of nursing school.
How can this get her kicked out of nursing school, if she is passing all of her classes? Are you implying that her classmates will frame her, or be so hostile to her that she can't perform in her clinicals?
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Am I supposed to dumb-myself-down to protect the egos of people who were not as lucky to go to law school?
As I've mentioned previously, I was raised in a blue-collar family. I was accepted to three universities during my senior year of high school, but my working-class parents refused to cosign any student loans for me to attend. My chance to attend a university at a traditional age was robbed by parents who believed that going straight to work after high school was more practical.
I personally think the people on this thread are becoming offended at the mention of differences between the social classes. Social class is a taboo subject in America, and anyone who mentions the terms "blue-collar" and "professional middle class" might open a messy can of worms. My less-privileged background and upbringing involved virtually no cultural capital, so I never learned to converse about worldly, stimulating subjects until adulthood.
How can this get her kicked out of nursing school, if she is passing all of her classes? Are you implying that her classmates will frame her, or be so hostile to her that she can't perform in her clinicals?
It can't get her kicked out of NS...but her having an attitude will hinder more than help her, especially when she realizes her classmates aren't rushing over themselves to help her while she's struggling during a busy clinical or helping her master a skills check-off, all because they think she feels she's better than them because of that attitude. Even if she's not thinking/doing that intentionally, that is the vibe that she's giving off, at least in this thread.
I think she needs to realize that how she's coming across to others may be why people aren't warming up to her in NS. But the OP is a smart one; I guess she just needs to figure this lesson out on her own.
If she thought nursing was white-collar, she's in for a rude awakening when her clinicals start...
Exactly! I really can't help my "bearing." Law school changed me, and made me smarter and calmer. Am I supposed to dumb-myself-down to protect the egos of people who were not as lucky to go to law school? Wouldn't that be a huge insult to them? I like my classmates and accept them for who they are. But unfortunately they cannot do the same with me. I guess this will be an issue for me all throughout nursing, and I will just have to get used to being a loner in nursing school. But these people better not call me when they commit medical malpractice and need legal advice!
I'm sure law school did change you. I would think it would. Nursing school will change you as well, in a different way.
I don't think anyone is saying to dumb yourself down. Rather, it would be wise to assess your new digs in nursing school and adjust your approach. You aren't in law school anymore. You are in nursing school. Each will have a different climate and focus.
You might decide it's wise to be a bit more humble since your education level is higher than your classmates. That isn't dumbing yourself down. It's a pragmatic approach that acknowledges your new academic environment with humility. Attnys tend to be high on ego. I'd squash that ego for nursing school. All nursing students are equal, regardless of social class and academic transcripts.
If you look a bit deeper at those blue-collar classmates, you may begin to see a school of hard-knocks that is mind-numbing in scope. The challenges that many community college students face due to many of their demographics can be heart-breaking. Think Maslow's. Who has time for the kind of intellectually stimulating conversations you are talking about when you've got nursing school going, a full-time job, a car that is breaking down, bill-collectors calling, no health insurance and a sick child, and a 30 page careplan due tomorrow? No, there will not be any stimulating and brilliant Socratic sessions in lecture. But there will be complexity in your studies after your first semester of basics that will keep you busy.
Again, everyone is getting offended that the OP discovered something about nursing that she didn't expect - that it is a blue collar job, regardless of how many in the ANA have decided that we are a "profession."
My paternal grandfather was a grocer who finished eigth grade, and my maternal, an electrician in Vaudeville and later a projectionist, again, with an eighth grade education.
My dad got through college with the help of scholarships and a series of menial jobs - setting pins in bowling alleys, haulting rubber on the docks - and was fortunate enough to get into OCS in the Army.
He went out to dinner with a guy from the upper classes - old, established money, prep schools, ivy league - and he said to my father, afterwards, "Bob, I will never dine with you again. you embarrassed me."
Well, he was deeply hurt, but, much as did TheCommuter, he set about learning how to move in those circles. He learned table manners, lost a lot of his thick NY accent, and became a gentleman. He got a management job and counted himself lucky to get it. And he never, ever forgot from where he came.
They wanted to ensure that we never be humiliated the way they were, so my parents raised me to be able to travel in any circle or, at lest, they tried. They also taught me humility, charity, kindness, and to never look down on or make fun of anyone.
I remember going to dinner at a girlfriend's house and they were eating chicken wings for dinner. Her mom offered me the lamb chop but I said, "Oh, no, Mrs. Torres, whatever you're having is fine." But when I went home, I said to my mother, bewildered, "Mommy, they were eating chicken wings!" Mom just said, "Yes, Susan, they're poor."
I was not allowed to consider nursing because it is, indeed, blue collar, and too close to what is "in service" - servants. And I grew up with WHEN you go to college, not if.
I love nursing. But I do sometimes have trouble with people simply because of the obvious resentment I hear in this thread. My parents' work shows, and it sometimes creates jealousy because I am perceived as a "have." The OP merely whispered, embarrassedly, "they're kind of, well, blue collar."
Help her get it, for crying out loud. She's not trying to be holier-than-thou, she's trying to figure out how to fit in in reverse from what my parents went through.
I don't know about anyone else, but what is offensive to me is the implication she/he makes that the "blue-collar" people are dumber than her, that she is superior to them. It's pure, unadulterated classism.
ZooMommyRN, ADN, RN
913 Posts
The term "blue-collar-ish" immediately strck me as you thinking these people were beneath you and that your law school friends were better than them, I realize you probably did not mean to come across like this, but I still found it offensive I was raised in a blue collar family with a self made farmer/insurance agent/business owner grandfather that taught me more about life and it's who you are not what you are degree/money wise that makes the person. If you are inadvertently giving off this "vibe" in school than yeah would have steered clear of you myself and who knows on many levels we could have been friends but the chance was shot down, maybe let down a few walls down and you'll see there are many good people in the middle class population, which by the way will be many of your coworkers/defendants in the future, law degree not withstanding, you will find yourself surrounded by the people you seem to be put off by, just my 2 cents tho