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.
Forgive me - I did not mean to imply that ALL nurses who were not factory workers would say this, think this, or roll their eyes. I meant that those who worked in the factories would empathize with this much easier and would be more likely to understand.
My apologies. I was so passionate about what I felt that I did not point this out.
I don't really think that this is true, to be honest. I've never worked in a factory before but I very well know what it's like living paycheck to paycheck, wondering what would happen if I got injured with no health insurance - and I'm only 19 years old. So I think it's somewhat rude to assume that /only/ people who have been factory workers can empathize with those who cannot afford some sort of treatment or another. I think a lot of us have/will go in debt to go to nursing school - it's similar there. If anything, I think some MDs would have that kind of attitude - think about how much THEY make compared to nurses! Yeah, they have a lot of debt, but their income makes up for a lot of it.
I don't see how kids fresh out of high school or even still in high school would make better nurses or be more deserving of a nursing career than ex-factory workers. What the OP is saying is ridiculous.
If a lot of the advertising is to get more men to investigate nursing careers I think the advertising and recruiters are doing a great thing. We need male nurses so badly that I think any kind of recruitment is great.
If I had a choice of a female nurse or a male ex-factory working nurse I would take the man 100% of the time, especially for intimate exams or procedures. What you're saying OP is very insulting and ridiculous.
nohika
506 Posts
I don't really think that this is true, to be honest. I've never worked in a factory before but I very well know what it's like living paycheck to paycheck, wondering what would happen if I got injured with no health insurance - and I'm only 19 years old. So I think it's somewhat rude to assume that /only/ people who have been factory workers can empathize with those who cannot afford some sort of treatment or another. I think a lot of us have/will go in debt to go to nursing school - it's similar there. If anything, I think some MDs would have that kind of attitude - think about how much THEY make compared to nurses!
Yeah, they have a lot of debt, but their income makes up for a lot of it.
Just my two cents.