Why are you REALLY going into nursing? Honest answers please.

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Ok, I'm a bit frustrated with all of these posts telling us that we shouldn't go into nursing because we need a job and steady income. Sure, I do like to help people, but I need a steady job even more. So, I decided to post a poll to see if we can get some honest answers.

:p

Specializes in Psychiatric.

I am going into nursing for several reasons:

1) I have always been fascinated with the human body, whether it be physical, emotional, whatever...it just boggles my mind that we work the way we do, and I want to work with all aspects of the human body every day.

2) My husband is in the Coast Guard and we move a LOT, so I needed a job that would 'travel' well.

3) I wanted a job that is important...now not to offend anyone, but to me, pushing pencils and that stuff is not an important job...I wanted a job where I could truly make a difference in this world, even if only for one person at a time, and one where I'd learn more about myself in the end.

I just finished my first semester, and I fell in LOVE with everything I did and everything I learned, and everyone I met...I feel that I was meant to do this and I kick myself for waiting so long to try it out!! lol

Because there are nurses on this board who tell us every day that we're supposed to feel bad about the money. We're supposed to answer to a higher "calling" instead, and be Mother Teresa or something, I dunno.

:smokin:

I wasn't going to confess this, but what the heck. I'm only halfway through nursing school and I love it, especially the patient teaching part. I really love working with people and helping them to get better. I seriously believe I'm on the perfect career path for me, and its not just because of "helper's high".

BUT, I love other things, too... such as gold, silver, cash, Mercedez Benz, Kenneth Cole, Gucci, and Prada. Which is why I plan to transition to the ARNP/CRNA program after I finish my BSN. With the very modest salary CRNAs make, I'm hoping I'll be able to afford at least some of the things on my list. Nothing at all wrong with being ambitious. :coollook:

Specializes in Critical Care / Psychiatry.

Science and Medicine is what I am interested in.

Becoming a doctor is too intimidating, time-consuming, and expensive.

I wanted something versatile as my husband and I may move to B.C., Canada within the next few years.

I wanted to know for certain that all my hard work in college and the debt I acquire will ensure me a job and a career from the beginning. I know way too many people with 4 year psychology or sociology degrees who work retail for $6.50/hr and owe the government tens of thousands of dollars for their student loans.

I wanted a 2 year program to begin with and then opportunities to advance from there.

I want to help people heal, mentally and physically. I have a gift for that and I want to pursue it.

If those aren't enough reasons I'm sure I can come up with more. ;)

Shel

I know way too many people with 4 year psychology or sociology degrees who work retail for $6.50/hr and owe the government tens of thousands of dollars for their student loans.

Shel

You know, you are so right about that. A friend of mine spent 23 grand on a masters degree at a private university, and she's now working part-time for $12.00 an hour, which is the same amount that a junior secretary with a high school diploma makes.

Specializes in Med/Surg..

I honestly have a "calling" to do this and it's been calling me for 20 years since my days as a Candy Striper in High School - I wanted to be like "Clara Barton".. :) I was a Hospital Corpsman in the Navy for quite a few years and I absolutely loved caring for people. It was an incredibly "crappy" paying job - but when someone I was helping would grab my hand and say Thank You - that was my real "payment"!!!!

If money was all I was after I would have stayed in the Business World I worked in after I got out of the Navy - great paying job - but oh so unsatisfying and Nursing kept "calling" me away from my desk. Nursing Programs are not only difficult to get into and stay in but there's an incredible amount of work involved with school itself and "stress, stress, stress". Nursing can be a very dirty, stressful "mentally & physically" job and I would never even consider putting myself, family and limited finances through all of this if my #1 reason wasn't to help people and make a difference in their lives.

Not to say that people that do this just for the $$$ don't make good Nurses - but I've worked with quite a few over the years who chose this career for that reason only and spent most of their time complaining about patients, etc. - they really didn't want to be there - but if you asked them why they didn't just go get a job they'd be happier doing - it always came down to CASH. One Nurse said on a nightly basis - if Wal-Mart paid better I'd go work there (she hated her job and it was obvious to her patients). I want my patients to know I'm there because I truly want to help them - it's not just a job to me - besides being a Wife & Mother, this is what I was meant to do with my life as sappy as that might sound to some of you..

I wanted to be a social worker like my mom but my husband (who has a business degree lol) figured it would not be cost effective for me to abandon my 40+k a year job in IT to go to school for 7 years to make 15 bucks an hour. Science is easy to me and I compromised with nursing. I found I am making the right decision. If it is anything like school, I know I will love it. I hate hearing about burnout. Hello.. I wanted to be a social worker.. lol.

So, money was factor -definately. Job security is a factor. I have this need to help people.. that was a factor. I am sure there are those who are only in it for the love of it. Maybe they will donate their services to volunteering at shelters, planned parenthood, rural clinics. etc... If money is not an issue I am sure they can do a world of good making little money but doing what they love.. I hope to volunteer SOME of my time once I finish school but for the most part, I want to make $$$$.

Ps.. My husband makes pretty good money. I don't have to work. But you know.. Call us greedy but we LIKE two incomes.

Interesting thread, interesting responses. Can't quite figure out the big argument behind it, but oh well.

Anyway are my reasons for wanting to be a nurse:

1. I have always wanted to be a nurse. Can't remember wanting to be anything else. Being hospitalized at age 8 further cemented my dream of being a nurse.

2. Nursing is SO versatile. There are endless possibilities for nurses, you can't say that about many other degrees. *Which is the reason that burned out nurses irritate me. Move on. Don't stay somewhere, be miserable and make everyone else miserable. Find another avenue of nursing and try it out.

3. Nursing will allow me to be the kind of mom that I want to be. Nursing is so flexible. I simply don't want to be away from my familly 5 days a week. I won't have to as a nurse!!

4. Job security. As many have said, there will likely always be a need for nurses. Most areas are dying for nurses. I am in a big city and there are always tons of ads for nursing jobs.

5. I love working with people, I love feeling at the end of the day that I have made a difference in someone's life. I love caring for other people, helping other people. I love a challenge. As a nurse, I can do all that. And get paid for it too, sounds good to me.

I think most have many reasons to be a nurse, and if money just happens to be a top priority, who cares?? As long as they provide good and safe nursing care, what does it matter? Not everybody can afford not to work. (I could, but we would forever live check to check, not my idea of fun)

I have to say that `helping people' didn't make it onto my list of reasons for becoming a nurse now or in the past when I did it before.

I chose to go back to school and do this basically because of the job security it offered, the relatively decent wage, and the fact I can travel and work the world over with a nursing degree. I also have always loved `medical stuff'....procedures, learning about diseases etc.

Thats not to say I am not compassionate or caring with my patients, in fact I consistently get great marks in clinicals for the way I deal with patients and staff - which is odd given that helping them is not even a factor in my being in school now :D

Of course I appreciate that I get to help people, and by nature I am a `helper' I suppose, but it comes a long way down the list compared to being able to get a job anywhere anytime. Frankly if I had my way, I'd be something like a wild-life photographer, or do research into horses. But I need to eat, pay bills and put a roof over my head, and I need to do it sooner rather than later, so nursing it is!

I wish I could say I love it, but the best I can say is I like it a lot. Which is more than many people can say about their (potential) jobs. I hope to find an area of nursing that I might come to love....but if not, then I still have a satisfying job, which pays fairly well, has much diversity and will see me always employed. Not too bad!

Yeah, it's true. I have no delusions about that aspect of the profession.

:uhoh21:

I think I do. Can you explain? Who are the rich executives in a hospital system and how do they maintain control over our lives?

I think most have many reasons to be a nurse, and if money just happens to be a top priority, who cares?? As long as they provide good and safe nursing care, what does it matter? Not everybody can afford not to work. (I could, but we would forever live check to check, not my idea of fun)

Well, actually, that's what the argument is about. Many nurses seem to feel that if you are going into this profession for the money, you're NOT going to provide good and safe patient care.

:smokin:

I think I do. Can you explain? Who are the rich executives in a hospital system and how do they maintain control over our lives?

Anytime you're working for a major corporation, you're going to have problems with management. I think that's true of any job. Just read all of the posts from working nurses on this board. The list goes on and on. Probably the biggest complaint would be high nurse patient ratios, where nurses have to juggle too many patients.

But Christina (Hellllllo Nurse) is much more of an expert than I am. She could answer this question much better than me. ;)

The solution, IMHO, is a strong nurses union which, luckily we have here with the California Nurses Association. And, CNA successfully lobbied for the first nurse ratio law, which limits the ratio to a more manageable six patients per nurse, in most cases.

I'll probably work for a CNA hospital, if I work for any hospitals at all.

:eek:

BUT, I love other things, too... such as gold, silver, cash, Mercedez Benz, Kenneth Cole, Gucci, and Prada. Which is why I plan to transition to the ARNP/CRNA program after I finish my BSN. With the very modest salary CRNAs make, I'm hoping I'll be able to afford at least some of the things on my list. Nothing at all wrong with being ambitious. :coollook:

I wouldn't count those dollars yet. I don't know if you've been following the AA discussions on the CRNA board but, AA competition with CRNAs might put a dent in that Mercedes, long term, that is. It's not much of a threat now, but it could be in five to ten years. It's difficult to predict, and something I'll certainly watch before I decide on CRNA school.

;)

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