Ethics: Does it bother you when people are in nursing to make money?

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2007

Here's why I'm going back to school (and taking on more debt) to go in to nursing: I will make a comfortable salary. I will be doing a job that has practical applications and visible results. I will be able to work anywhere I choose to live. I will have a variety of career tracks and advancement options available.

And YES, I will be caring for patients, treating my patients with respect and compassion, doing a good thing for whatever community I end up in. BUT if that was all I was interested in, there would be ways to do that without the additional investment of my time and money, ways to do that at a lower salary, with less flexibility, etc.

If I didn't think nursing would be financially beneficial, I wouldn't be jumping back in to school while I have a lot of student loan debt left over from my first degree. If I was ONLY looking to make money, I'd go in to real estate or something.

***EDIT*** I just read through the whole thread and I think the people who bring up gender issues and a martyr mentality are Right. On.

anonymurse · Dec 4, 2007

The instructors have always thrown the money issue in the face of the male students.

Yes, and the sad thing is they EXPECT the women to follow the Flo tradition. But our women are NOT rich girls with a martyr complex. More and more, they're single moms who have an incredibly tough time arranging child care, getting their kids off to school, doing ALL the household chores, and here it's ASSUMED because they're white females, they're mini-Flos. And they have to play it out like that to fit in. More and more they're in the majority, yet the self-perpetuating Flo culture screws them over worse every year. I'll be the first to admit that I've got it made in the shade. When we started out, I told my wife if she wanted a career, I'd support her 100%, or if she wanted to be a mom, the same, however I really wanted our kids to have the advantage of a full-time mom. She decided to be a mom and agreed to do it full time. So as a result, I'm free to crash when I get home exhausted. She does my uniforms. I can work extra days and fill in whenever someone calls from work in a panic because someone didn't show. She lets me be the best nurse I can be. It flat amazes me that the great women nurses of my unit can also wrestle with being single moms, and practically speaking, if they're married to military, truckers, cops or whatever, that's what they are, frequently if not all the time. Floville is a rotten place for them, far worse than it is for me. If there's anyone who needs for that culture to end, to demand pay commensurate with their contributions, it's the women, and yet they're the ones perpetuating the system. All I have to put up with is some hazing or mobbing or horizontal violence or whatever it's called these days, and being of the breadwinner mentality, I know that my genetic/gendered provider drives will be going strong long after others' urge to hassle gives out, whereas mothering instincts, which are just as strong and good, have been so subjugated through the lengthy acculturation of nursing school and the workplace ethic that they aren't even capable of empowering these virtual single moms to demand what they need for their families' survival.

nurseinlimbo · Dec 4, 2007

I became a nurse because I was already a PCA, barely able to survive month by month, couldn't afford a house, and worked all the weekends and holidays, missing out on time with family.

I also craved a challenge. Now I work nights in LTC, so don't feel very challenged anymore.

I don't know very many Saints, so if you can find me somebody who will work like a dog, stay up all night, put up with management BS, nasty coworkers and OT up the ying/yang, and do it all for free, please introduce me. I'm sure they are a wonderful person.

I feel I do the best I can, continuously seeking out new learning, advancing my knowledge and proficiency so as to improve my skills and my situation. I think I do a better job than alot of nurses I know who love to delegate all their responsibility while they sit and read a book, play on the computer or watch tv. I treat my coworkers fairly and kindly, don't talk down to my PCA's and try to come to work with a smile on my face.

But I definitely wouldn't sacrifice the family time I have, or the sleep I've lost if it didn't pay what it pays.

djakers · Dec 4, 2007

I like the money above patient care. Respect for a patient and respect for a nurse is a two way street. Patients no longer respect nurses, so that battle cry has been lost.
Patient care would be nice too, except its not and has not been a top priority of medical care since downsizing of the mid 70's and 80's.
Marble tile has a greater value in most institutions then patient care or nurse salvage.

the truth couldnt be spoken more better-------------good job!!!!!!!

HvnSntRN · Dec 4, 2007

Do we ever question a person's decision to become a physician "because the money is good"?? Of course not. Do we question a person's decision to become a police officer or a fire fighter "for the money"? Do we question a person's decision to become a teacher for the "summers off"? Why should we question it when someone chooses to become a nurse for the personal benefits of a nursing career?

There are still sacrifices that we make - long hours, giving up weekends and evenings with family, having to miss holidays with family - why shouldn't we be compensated for it?

If nursing is truly their calling, they will stick with nursing. I know some recent grads who went into nursing "for the money", and now that they're working, they realize that nursing is not a good fit for them and they are taking steps to go somewhere else.

We could do with less judging of people's career choices and be more welcoming of those who at least want to give nursing a try, even if they aren't sure that nursing is a good fit for them.

Amethyst Veralyn · Dec 4, 2007

If you see your patient as a piece of revenue you won't be able to

give them adequate care. You have to see them as a whole person

and sometimes you have to think of them when you're off

work. One girl stopped in to see a patient

in her off hours to make sure they had heat in the house and

they might have been dead without her.

Patient care has to be your true calling and the people

you work with should not just be money making devices.

When I was new I got sick of being told,

"we don't have time to do that," when I gave qualithy care and occasionally,

"don't give her a drink because it'll make her have to go

to the bathroom." I think people who sound like this are in it

for money. These same people are the ones who sit in the nurses

station and socialize.

I know of people who hire lawyers to protect their

assetts from the medical profession and I admire them for doing this.

However, giving good care does take up time and effort and we deserve to

get payed.

siggie13 · Dec 4, 2007

I work for many reasons and the main one is to make money. I am bothered when I see nurses or anyone only doing the bare minimum to get by and are not taking pride in their work. When I was a waitress, I was the best waitress I could possible be and I had the same philosophy as a nurse. Some people like to see nursing as a calling, as a special way to spend their time; while others see nursing as a great way to make money. Either was is find with me as long as they do a good job. If I didn't get paid for nursing, I would not nurse. It's just that simple.

Gauge · Dec 4, 2007

I'll admit one of the two main reasons that I went into the nursing profession is the money. The second is because I find the human body extraordinarily fascinating and love to see how it changes and copes to different diseases/illnesses.

I want to be able to support my family comfortably and do something where I can see substantial improvements due to the work I am in. Just because I am "in it for the money" doesn't mean that I'm not as good of a nurse as anyone else. I still give 100% every single day (even though I'm only a nursing student) and that won't change. I'm doing something that I can support my family with and do something that I love at the same time, what's better than that?

cpnegrad07 · Dec 4, 2007

My Paramedic instructor said something early on that bothered me. She said, "Some of you are here to save lives, some are here for the job security. It doesn't matter which you are."

It bothered me because i was there for the "right reasons" and didn't think anyone else could do the job. Later i realized that people with the right motivation aren't necessarily going to be good at the job. And that people in the material world can be good at their jobs.

---W

I just wondered if others as I do feel there are some in our line of work who look at money, security of earnings first rather than having a passion for their patient's welfare or wanting to work at finding ways to improve their performance as a nurse.
Any thoughts? Comments? Rants?

grace8808 · Dec 4, 2007

I'm brand new to the nursing world and am not an RN yet (I'm currently taking care of my pre-reqs), but I originally didn't know what good money nurses make when I was first considering it as a career. I plan to work either in peds or the NICU because of my love of infants and children, and so that does come before my love of the good money I'll be making. However, it certainly doesn't hurt that I (according to the nursing school I'm planning on going to for my ADN) will be making more than $72,000 a year within 6 months of graduation!

:lol2:

I think that, same as with any other job, you shouldn't be doing it simply for the money, although tons of people either have to or do it anyways for other reasons. Also, I don't think that someone would last long in the medical profession if they didn't love it and were only in it for the money. At least it seems that way to me, I'm sure there are exceptions...

lamazeteacher · Dec 5, 2007

I know a lot of teachers would have a field day with this statement. Having the summer off for teachers amounts to being unemployed for 3 months of the year.
This is one of the stupid assumptions the public makes about teaching that teachers hate.
Who in their right mind goes into a profession for the express purpose of being unemployed for 2-3 months every year?
Give those young people who become teachers credit for more intelligence and insight that this.

Parents go into a profession that provides summers off! I know many families wherein one or both parents are teachers. The opportunity to spend quality time with my children was one I treasured. Now my daughter provides childcare for the babies and toddlers of teachers, so she can be off to be with her children, when they're off. :lol2:

anonymurse · Dec 5, 2007

I think that, same as with any other job, you shouldn't be doing it simply for the money,

From the Boomer generation on, we've been told to do "whatever makes you happy." And since many of us search for a higher purpose in our formative years, but don't have families yet, we determine to save the world, a version of "whatever makes you happy" that frequently incorporates adolescent rebellion and delusions of martyrdom.

So OK, let's talk ethics, service, a higher good. The day I got laid off of a factory job, I stood there looking at my sleeping baby girl for a long time and I was feeling bad as a dad can feel. But I knew I'd do whatever it took to feed her. Anything.

That was a life-changing moment. Nice now to be involved in the healing arts, and I apologize in advance to any Flo Do-Gooders reading this, but in my little world, I CAN AND SHOULD HAVE NO HIGHER CALLING THAN PROVIDING FOR MY FAMILY.

The reason is simple and irrefutable. It's a sacred trust, and there's no one else who has my single-minded determination to do whatever it takes to feed them, no matter how wonderful and selfless and world-saving they think themselves.

That provider mentality is what makes my nursing ethical. I feel sure of myself because I know martyrdom doesn't play into my motive, nor anger. One of my strongest motives for going into nursing is to have the skills to take care of Mom when she's no longer able to do it herself.

I'm building habits for that eventuality. When I clean up an incontinent patient, I use strong light and take my time so I can see every square inch of their skin and make sure I don't leave a speck of dirt on them. I move them slowly and speak and touch reassuringly.

Working from lofty abstractions, any excuse can be made for any action. Everything's for the "greater good." But there are no excuses when building a life of ethical habit from the ground up, there's only doing right here and now. I'm not saving the human race, I'm taking care of family.