I would like to first say that I come from a family full of nurses, both sides (so I've seen the fight to show that nursing is a professional field first-hand, 1970's onward).
I also have factory worker relatives, and I have respect for hard working people. I am not trying to diss on someone who works in a factory -- it's difficult and honest work. It's not an easy way to make ends meet.
However, where I live in Ohio, something strange is happening. All the trade schools, community colleges and even some universities are push, push, pushing displaced factory and auto workers into nursing due to (you guessed it) "guaranteed employment, plenty of jobs etc." (yeah, RIGHT!)
There's practically an LPN or RN evening/weekend program on every corner, and all the websites show a guy (God forbid they show a female nurse) who lost his job in the auto plant last week in scrubs, putting up an IV or something like that (you should surf the web and see some for yourselves!). Some of these guys look kind of unkempt or need a shave (sorry, not trying to be mean!).
Of course I am very happy for someone who gets a new career in this terrible recession, and works hard to earn a nursing credential. That deserves recognition and respect. But sometimes I wonder if the profession of nursing, which has fought so hard since the 1970's to be considered a white-collar, professional occupation, is going to suffer a big image hit due to these fly-by-night colleges PUSHING "get your RN, get your LPN, make money" to literally everyone with a pulse and then flooooooding the market.
There are lots of news stories up here in Ohio that contribute to this image of "Anyone can do it! Easy money!" They always interview a guy who barely graduated from high school, got laid off from the factory, uses poor grammar, and now he almost has his RN license.
Again -- that's is wonderful for him, and I respect that. If he can pass the courses and the tests, kudos to him! He deserves his success! But it worries me that this situation is going to make nursing look like a non-professional occupation in the future.
People should not go into anything just for the money, especially nursing. You need to have a passion. There are no sure-fire recession-proof jobs anymore; it really doesn't matter what you choose in college (I know first-hand due to a derailed librarian career that was booming in 2000). So, choose your calling!
I hope I did not offend anyone. I just wonder what will happen in the future. My aunt was the head nurse in a large hospital in Columbus, and she was one of those people who fought like hell to let people know that nursing is a professional medical occupation -- not a glorified bottom-wiping job!
Nurses know as much or MORE than doctors. I worry that people are going to forget this.
If my post offended anyone, that was not the intent. I think people can tend to take things too personally online.
I am not backing down from what I said, since I did not say anything wrong. I hear the jokes out here in Ohio all the time, people saying things like "So-and-so was on the line last week, now he's drawing blood"! It's a common perception that is wrong and hurtful; but it's there. I'm certainly not making it up.
I merely wished to start a discussion about this perception, not support it. I felt a discussion would refute it.
Like I said, if someone is offended they chose to take offense.
I don't think you can compare 2 years of nursing school to 4 years of med school and 3 years of residency. We know a lot, but let's be real here.
As far as Nursing schools go, there is definitely a glut, but I think the cirriculum and clinicals will weed out those who aren't fit for the job. If someone makes it through, they deserve it just as much as the next person.
I'm comparing nurses with MSN's to docs -- NP's -- I should have made that clear but did not.
The entrance tests will weed out some that need to brush up on basics before they even enter NS. And NS will weed out some others that think it will be a breeze and happen overnight. It doesn't work that way and those that think it does will see the error of their ways rather quickly. I do think NS should be honest about the time and effort needed to graduate and pass boards.
As far as others coming into the profession as second careers I'm more than okay with that. Some great nurses come into the field after years of service elsewhere.
I'm also not against people becoming nurses not due to passion but necessity. People need to put food on their tables and I respect that. If they can provide competent and kind care the reasons behind them entering the field don't bother me in the least. Nurses are paid professionals not martyrs.
ha- im not insulted- i took that route too- worked for GM until they sent everything to mexico. Funny, before I worked there, I had intended to go to school for rad tech. Never finished- why? Because that factory job had full paid benefits, retirement, and started at a rate triple minimum wage back in '85.Why the heck should I go to school, when I had a good paying job. Well, fast forward to 2002- guess what, our jobs went bye bye- ohoh, time to go to back to school. My friend wanted to be a maternity nurse- I thought, what the heck, my pre-req's for RT also counted for AAS nursing. I graduated with a 3.4 avg. I can see how the schools have the factory mentality of shooshing you thru school- heck- we have 5 colleges in the vicinity spitting out nurses twice a year. Now tell me, the schools didnt jump on that bandwagon when they saw all( and I mean ALL) the manufacturing industry leave the area. Thing is , the schools dont give a reality of what a nursing job is. Ive been nursing in med/tele for 5 years now. Have always gotten good reviews from my supervisor. My colleages come up to me to ask opinions on things. I have precepted a few new grads/students. You know what? I woudl give my right arm( oh wait, that wouldnt work on the line) to have that factory job back. Why? because a nurse is nothing more than a glorified waitress with a 2 year degree in a medical field, and a whole lot of responsibility that goes along with it. This is all stemming from the new customer service focus that the hospitals are now having. I'm sure you can find threads on it, I wont go into it now.I'm sure you must be seeing how many nurses are crying to get out of the hospital setting- due to being treated like a piece of expendable garbage. Why? Because the market is saturated- the employer knows there a new grad waiting behind them. I'm sure you've seen the threads of how nurses with experience are not valued anymore( by the company , that is)
I guess my point is the colleges are seeing a way to pull in the bucks by advertising the next "guaranteed " job. If more people saw the way things REALLY are right now, no one in their right mind would go into nursing school.
I made an observation too- many of the people I work with have come from other settings before nursing. The factory people seem to do pretty good.My friend worked with me for 15 years at GM, and is in the Cath Lab now-she is very good in that setting. It's the engineers and IT people that I had worked with who didnt do so well,and moved on to different jobs, after not doing so well on the floors.
Wow. I went to school with some laid off line workers, and don't think they met the stereotypes that you illustrated at all. Just because someone works in a factory or on the line doesn't make them any less worthy of a career change than someone who is changing from an 'educated' career. My brother is attending college for the first time. He's in his thirties. He's working very hard to get through his nursing pre-reqs. And his previous career? He worked in a warehouse. Completely unskilled. Just because it took an economic downturn to give him the final nudge that he needed to further his education and career doesn't make him an unshaven idiot undeserving of walking the same hallowed halls that his mother or sister do (should I ever actually land a job).
I think what she is trying to say is that people should not go into nursing just because they lost their job but also because they have sincere interest in becoming RN and I totally agree with the OP.
Some of these guys look kind of unkempt or need a shave (sorry, not trying to be mean!).
What I would like to know is what in the world a useless, good for nothing, poorly dressed FAILED librarian could ever offer the prestigious, challenging field of professional nursing?
Oh, and how did that go...oh yes: "Sorry, not trying to be mean."
Look, some ex-factory workers have made fantastic nurses, and some of them never made it through. One of the best nurses I ever saw work was a crane operator before he got his LPN, then later his BSN.
it surely seems that more than a few have missed the point......these colleges/voc schools, are taking money to train these persons for JOBS THAT DO NOT EXIST, probably federal money in some cases.
it surely seems that more than a few have missed the point......these colleges/voc schools, are taking money to train these persons for JOBS THAT DO NOT EXIST, probably federal money in some cases.
Yup, said the same thing in my post. It is as close to fraud as you can get to paint a glowing portrait of the job market to desperate people just to rope them into nursing school. Now I am one of the people that think it is going to turn around and the shortage is going to come back. However, nursing schools do have a responsibility to describe the situation as it exist right now to prospective clients.
Regarding the schools promising jobs and false advertising - maybe the local media would be interested in running an "expose" on the unethical practices of local schools of nursing? My local news has a guy that runs a segment where he tries to solve viewers problems or get answers to their questions (usually from government or big business, but if would apply in this scenerio too). I think a story like this would make for GREAT news!
I don't think it matters what someone did in their pre-nursing life. We all have to go through schooling clinicals, pass the same NCLEX and secure and keep a job. If you are a good nurse, I don't care what you used to do for a living! Who are we to judge someone's motivations. It may appear that they came into nursing for the promise of a good income and steady work, but you don't know what their reality is. They may have been dreaming of nursing their whole lives but were had to do what they had to do to get by until they could make it reality. Or even if they did not always want to be a nurse (like myself), they could have fallen in love with nursing once they got into it. Bottom line is you don't know what is inside someone, and you should not judge.
If these schools really are popping up on every corner, I wonder what the quality of the graduate is. Sure we all pass the same NCLEX, but the NCLEX is the bare minimum. Are the graduates of these "fly-by-night" schools barely passing? Are they really getting a quality education? Who are their teachers, what are their clinical situations like?
I graduated from a major university and there is a glut of RN programs in my city. I know that clinical sites were scarce. For OB, we have three hospitals that deliver babies. We had one day of clinical in a hospital. They just can't allow nursing students in from all the schools around all the time. Psych was a similar story. A lot of students were at apartment complexes that serve the mentally ill. Because we only have three psych hospitals.
And if the education is really questionable, do you want to be the hiring manager having to orient these people? No wonder hospitals aren't hiring new grads. Sounds like a loose-loose situation to me.
helikias
136 Posts
If my post offended anyone, that was not the intent. I think people can tend to take things too personally online.
I am not backing down from what I said, since I did not say anything wrong. I hear the jokes out here in Ohio all the time, people saying things like "So-and-so was on the line last week, now he's drawing blood"! It's a common perception that is wrong and hurtful; but it's there. I'm certainly not making it up.
I merely wished to start a discussion about this perception, not support it. I felt a discussion would refute it.
Like I said, if someone is offended they chose to take offense.