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.
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.
No, that she doesn't, yet, know what she has in common with them. That's different.
Instead, I am working with people who are smart enough to do the job, but not smart enough to be interesting conversationalists. And they can't relate to me at all, because I don't act silly like they do, or talk about boring topics.
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!
Wow - you are way high on a pedestal, I would refuse you as a nurse and fire you as a lawyer, ridiculous.
I had nothing to say to most of my classmates. Some were smoking weed before Micro lectures, one was hysterical about the "pranking" she was doing, others were mocking me whenever I answered a question.
Unlike the OP, I am quite a bit older, and didn't even care enough to feel excluded or mind that they bored me witless. I did my work, collapsed at night, and did it again the next day.
Over the course of months my classmates began to get my sense of humor, I found some with whom I had things in common, and things found thier own groove.
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.
Well, I didn't hear her imply that they were dumber, just less interesting to her. And in my facility, my friends tend to be management, not the maintenance guys. I like and respect them, but we're not gonna hang after a day of deer hunting together.
The OP dared to talk about a class conflict he or she is feeling. That doesn't make him/her a terrible person. It makes this a thread about social class and adjustment.
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.
Not everyone, thank you very much. I'll speak for myself.
I'm not offended...I'm more amused than anything that she thought nursing was white-collar. Even watching an episode of ER could have shown a person that nursing is a career where your hands are going to get dirty.
And yes, I've worked both collars though I'm born of the blue. I can't say I have a preference...each has its advantages and disadvantages.
Not everyone, thank you very much. I'll speak for myself.
I'm more amused than anything that she thought nursing was white-collar. Even watching an episode ER could have shown a person that nursing is a career where your hands are going to get dirty.
Fine. Ignore the bigger picture of what I was trying to convery and nitpick. That's constructive.
Fine. Ignore the bigger picture of what I was trying to convery and nitpick. That's constructive.
Actually, I was constructive: I gave my opinion as to how she's presenting herself to others, and my advice on what to do to help fix it. So are other people. What we are posting may not necessarily be what you want to hear, but that's how we feel based on what we are reading.
Whether she wishes to consider this feedback or ignore it and keep looking for another answer, that's up to her. I won't speak for anyone else, but I don't keep trying to rescue someone who prefers to drown.
SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN
10,263 Posts
No, that she doesn't, yet, know what she has in common with them. That's different.