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

Nurses General Nursing

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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?

Specializes in OR-ortho, neuro, trauma.

as a pre-nursing student (i will find out in april/may if im in for fall 08) i find it very very annoying being in classes with other students who have either already gotten in our are applying just for the money. these people are cheating the real candidates, like myself, who actually care about the patients (i'm already a cma) and want to further their education in order to provide better care, not to bring home a better pay check!! if i wanted money so bad i'd have taken steps to take over my father's corporate job! it just really gets me fired up!!!!!!! :angryfire

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Specializes in Medic, ER, Flight, ICU, Onc.

What on Earth is wrong with wanting to be paid for doing a highly technical job that requires not merely an education, but ongoing learning to maintain skills? There is nothing unethical about that. Attitudes like that are why we are still seeing articles and studies like the one stating that lower paid nurses are better nurses (because they are more altruistic). While I care about my patients, they are still my job. I do it well because I believe that I should do the best I can at anything I do. And, because I have bills to pay, I do it for many more hours a week than I would be able to volunteer. Which if nursing didn't pay enough to support my family is what I would be doing, time allowing, because making a living and taking care of my family are my responsibility and priority.

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hell no it doesnt bother me. This job is just like any other job!!!! Im not in it to be Mother Theresa. Im here to provide the best care, treatment and medical welfare for the the patients i care for in the facility that i work. If some RN's are getting more money kuddos to them they deserve it and i wish i was them Im sorry to hear about peoples trauma and how nusing saved their family financial struggles---------thats just your bad luck when times are hard, but im not going to pass up an oppertunity to discuss money in a ever decreassing population of nurses, increassing resposiblilties and increasssing workload without my consent. WHAT MONEY DOES EVERYONE keep talking about, is there is a secreat check coming from somewhere to some RNs please let me know. Nurses DONT get paid for what they do---period----and every nurse knows this to be true. So if there is an oppertunity to make more money , hell Im going to be the first in line and sign me up!!!! Its voices like mine and the nurses who believe the way i do that bring about change in saleries for nurses.

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as a pre-nursing student (i will find out in april/may if im in for fall 08) i find it very very annoying being in classes with other students who have either already gotten in our are applying just for the money. these people are cheating the real candidates, like myself, who actually care about the patients (i'm already a cma) and want to further their education in order to provide better care, not to bring home a better pay check!! if i wanted money so bad i'd have taken steps to take over my father's corporate job! it just really gets me fired up!!!!!!! :angryfire

i do care about my pts i'm a caregiver right now and i love them to pieces! caring doesn't make you a safe nurse, wanting money doesn't make you a bad one. you can care about people and make money the two are not mutually exclusive.

those students worked hard to get the grades they got so they could sit beside you. they are paying the same amount of money as you. why shouldn't they be able to go to school too? they obviously want to further their education as well.

a lot of nurses are single mothers or need that big paycheck to be able to provide for their family. they are just as deserving of the opportunity to become an rn.

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There is not enough money in the world to pay anyone for the crap nurses have to put up with, wheter it be a " calling" or not. We are exposed to hazards of all different types of body fluids, insects, and diseases thought of. We are treated like second class citizens by the public, doctors, and superiors. We have 12 to 14 hours shifts to work and no way out of them, except quit the job and lose your home and starve your family. Every day is full of cleaning up another person's excrement that is up to your elbows and listening to people complain during which a nurse must compose themselves with a smile and say the right thing, in the right tone. Nurses for the most part are hard working and have more stamina than athletes. Not to mention the mental and intelectual challenges they face. No wonder nurses get burnt out and have musculosketetal difficulties. There is nothing glorious about the pay either. Construction workers, plumbers, electricians and mechanics make more than nurses do and get more respect. In it for the money? I don't think so!

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I'm not giving up my paycheck.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
as a pre-nursing student (i will find out in april/may if im in for fall 08) i find it very very annoying being in classes with other students who have either already gotten in our are applying just for the money. these people are cheating the real candidates, like myself, who actually care about the patients (i'm already a cma) and want to further their education in order to provide better care, not to bring home a better pay check!! if i wanted money so bad i'd have taken steps to take over my father's corporate job! it just really gets me fired up!!!!!!! :angryfire

what's wrong with wanting to provide better care and bring home a better paycheck?

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heck, when it comes to raises, i expect what i command and deserve.

i have been in 1 specialty for 11+ yrs, and i know my stuff.

if they want to recognize top-notch nursing, they best pay me for it.

leslie

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As long as patient care is the highest priority I don't care about people's motiviating factors.

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Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

Sorry, I didn't read all the replys but I'm at work and time is limited. I'm only in it for the money! The pay stops and so do I. Nursing as some sort of "holy calling" is damaging to our profession. You can expect a person who is following thier calling to take double assignments, poor pay, no respect, verbal abuse, mandatory overtime...it comes with the calling. An educated skilled professional can demand fair wages, decent assignments, and to have a voice in the way the job is practiced. They have a life outside of thier job and it takes president.

I do a good job but that is what it is-a job.

I wasn't "called" to nursing- or at least I'll never tell my employer that I was!

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Specializes in OR-ortho, neuro, trauma.
what's wrong with wanting to provide better care and bring home a better paycheck?

absolutely nothing!!!!!!!!!!!! it's the people that are in it just for the money that bother me. but people have brought up good points about being in situations where they need the jobs that take in the most money, and i can understand that. just for me personally it kinda bothers me when i hear people talk about it only for the money. it's not a "calling" for me, it's a career change i made from criminal justice to health care and i enjoy it more so i guess the money isn't as important to me at this point in my life.

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Specializes in Med Surg/Ortho.

Don't kid yourself when people say they don't do it for the money. No matter what your job, everyone works for the money. You need money to survive....to pay bills, mortgages, buy groceries, etc. I realize that more than ever now that I have kids and a family to help support. When it was just me, I found jobs that I enjoyed doing that payed crap, but I got by. Now I worry about everything. My husband is having problems and going in for a "procedure" end of the month. I wonder what I would do without him, raising two kids on my own. I want to know I can take care of them myself, without worry or asking for assistance. So everyone has to work to live.

I do worry about people that say they are doing it only for the money. People that have no interest in medicine or patient care. People that are otherwise lazy and would rather sit on their butts than help someone. Those people scare me.

What is just as bad, if not worse, are people that have "a calling" and truly want to help others, but have no aptitude for nursing. I have seen more of these. Nurses (or students) that have no technical skills, make stupid errors constantly, and are just a liability to the profession. These people are dangerous and can hurt or even kill a patient.

So honestly, I don't care why you entered the profession. As long as you are competent, patient, good at what you are doing and not afraid of hard work. If you do your job to the best of your ability, safely and effectively, then more power to you. We need more good nurses, who cares the motivation behind their decision.

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