Got No Job? Come be an RN !

[madwife2002]

I am fed up with hearing about people seeing nursing as a quick route to money it is so much more and it offends me that nursing is used as a short cut to being employed. We should have stricter entry rules and by this I mean more screening to make sure the nurses coming into the profession actually want to be a nurse for the right reasons and employment not being one of them.

We all know nursing is a hard profession it takes from your soul sometimes but you know who has the passion because they ride the storms better than the nurses who dont have it.

I have had a passion for nursing most of my life and I am now struggling with some of the harsh realities-but give me a patient any patient and I come alive, I thrive. I forget why I am tired after all my years, I forget why I want a new job, I forget why the management make my life harder each day.

For me nursing is almost like acting I can be somebody else with a patient I can be who they need me to be for that person and their family, I have the ability to calm a tense situation, I can bring trust to the room, I can make that patient feel like they are the most special person in the hospital and that nothing is too much trouble for me. I have knowledge and can educate. I can make that person feel safe, I can make them laugh even when they don't want to, I can be their advocate, their confident, their friend, but also I can persuade them to take the shot, to take the medicine, to go for the test. I can hold their hand and I can be firm. I can predict their mood and can listen to their worries and woes. I can educate their families and friends and I can educate and train their future RN's.

It doesn't matter that outside that room chaos is happening, that 3 other pts need me as much if not more than the patient I am with. They at that moment are the most special important person in my working day.

In 20 years I have had this ability it has shone out of every bone in my body. I have smiled constantly even if my world is falling apart. I have the passion I can make somebodies life better, I know my 'stuff' and I care.

[Katie5]

PS if I was Egotistical I wouldn't have approved many of the posts on this 'blog' or 'thread' how ever you look at it because I have total control on who gets to have their say or not!

For the record blogs are moderated and I have approved all messages to date!

I wondered at the restriction in the first place. Makes for limitations. Should I laud you for that?

[Katie5]

LOL

Why do you want to read my job description? I am just an RN? Read any RN job description in the country it will all more or less say the same thing I believe.

What is wrong with actually coming out and saying 'What I want'?

Label it curiosity:)

[Kaileeia]

That makes it sound like you think you can't be a good nurse if you are "only in it for the money." Several other people have already made good cases for why this notion is a crock. I also believe that those nurses who are "passionate" are emotionally invested and less likely to come to a dispassionate, logical conclusion about the things that they are most passionate about. Some of the posts in this thread prove that. Who cares why a nurse has become a nurse? The most important people in this equation are the patients, and I guarantee you that they don't give a hoot about a nurse's motives for becoming a nurse as long as they get the care that they need. Getting the J.O.B. done is the real bottom line here.

Well, I guess one will read and see as they wish. Anyone can be a good nurse, but it takes some sort of compassion to be half way decent. I have seen many nurses who were absolutely lazy about their jobs, not only that but the rudest people you could imagine. This comes from the experience of being in and out of the hospital every few months due to my extremely sick Grandfather or Mother. Sure they get the job done, but what ever happened to a little respect? I guess that sort of vanished when the 80's did. Just because a nurse is motivated and passionate to make a difference in someone's life, doesn't mean they are emotionally invested. You can be a compassionate person without crying and whining over every little detail.

[Midwest4me]

lol

why do you want to read my job description? i am just an rn? read any rn job description in the country it will all more or less say the same thing i believe.

what is wrong with actually coming out and saying 'what i want'?

there is absolutely nothing wrong with you (or anyone else) stating "what i want." seems to me you're getting attacked by katie5 for airing your view on things. we need to respect one another's views, not dissect them with a barrage of disrespectful comments.

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

I wondered at the restriction in the first place. Makes for limitations. Should I laud you for that?

I dont think you understood what I meant I dont send things for moderation myself it is controlled by admin but I do get to approve or dissaprove posts. Some posts just go to the mod queue.

[CrazierThanYou]

One RN I was working with the other night stated that they started out with 70 and ended up with something like 13 people! That is 81% of the class that did not graduate and will have to find another way to get that 'quick money'.

My school starts with 26 people each year, but they only graduate between 7 and 10 each year. I have to say, I am a bit relieved to hear that it isn't just my school....

[FocusRN]

In response to what someone else said:

"I talk with other competent, professional nurses at work all the time about how if we could make the same money waiting tables or cutting grass, we'd be gone in an instant."

I think that was kind of the OPs point. Yes there are a lot of jobs that people take just because of perceived security and money, but Nursing shouldn't be one of them.

My sister graduated two years ago with dual BS degrees one in Business and the other in Finance. Good for her. She went into the arena of sports marketing, not because of the love for sports or marketing, but because it gave her money and benefits that were really good. That is absolutely fine because, when the next best thing comes along for her with more money and better benefits (which she will), there will be someone with enough book smarts, whether their personality be warm or cold, whether they care about others or no, to do the job that she leaves behind, and not leave people's lives hanging in the balance.

But in the Nursing field, people like you that will jump ship as soon as something better comes along, honestly are not needed. People who are needed are those who do care about the staffing issues, and care about giving patients the best care possible, not just what can be done, with limited staff, ect.

Now, am I saying that all of these people had the "calling" of nursing like I, well maybe not. But these sure aren't the people who went to Nursing as JUST a job, and JUST for job security, and an income.

I don't know about anyone else, but two years ago, when my baby boy was having surgery, he had one of the nurses that you describe as getting in a "tissy", and I much rather her, than the one who was calm, cool, and collected just doing her JOB, and watching to clock out.

And as a matter of fact speaking of hourly pay you could probably make more cutting grass. My lawn service guy, comes weekly for no more than an hour and I pay him $35, every week, as I'm sure all of his other clients do. He will always have a job because people will always have grass, now talk about job security.

Oh, and I have a friend from high school that waits tables at a "Gentleman's Club", she supposedly takes home anywhere from $400-$600 a night, for 5 hours of work, 3 nights a week.

So there you go, two viable sources of income, from what you named Be sure to tell the New Grads, with the "calling", or atleast those who won't jump ship for something "better", that you are quitting so they can apply.

[RB2000]

Ok lets be honest here. 2 years is not a quick fix to money woes. If someone wants a quick fix to money woes they will become a drug dealer or play the lottery. ; )

In an attempt to play devils advocate here. I would like to ask how many nurses would continue to work if their employer stopped paying them or would only pay them minimum wage? If it is only for the love of the profession and from the heart, then if you received nothing from it you would continue to do it. To say that you don't do it for the money is ridiculous.

I like to help people. I was the director of a local youth program for many years. One of the reasons that I am looking to get into nursing is to help others. However, I want to "help" my family too. In order to do that I need to make money.

Most people that are soley motivated by money will lose their motivation soon enough. When they realize the sacrifice and hard work that goes into being successful in any career the money will not be worth it anymore.

A friend of mine asked why I wanted to get into nursing, and he said don't even tell me it is because of the money. He is a school teacher, and he loves his job. However, he has a wife and two children to support. I know that he wouldn't work as a teacher if it paid him minimum wage no matter how much he loved to do it.

Let people do it for money if they want. Why should that bother you or me? Who cares what peoples motivations are? Not everyone in the medical profession are mother Theresa's.

Am I doing it for the money? Partially I can say "Yepper!!!" Is it because I love money? Nope! It is because I love my family. Are they worth the sacrifice? You bet they are. If anyone doesn't care about the money that is awesome! I will gladly accept your pay check as an offering of your great generousity and heart for helping people. I know that my family could use it. : )

[kcochrane]

There is nothing wrong with stating what you want. Especially if you are the one that is left to take up the slack of those that don't want to work and/or don't care. I really don't care why someone became a nurse, but if you are working with me, I want someone that cares about their job and is going to do their best.

[Moogie]

there is absolutely nothing wrong with you (or anyone else) stating "what i want." seems to me you're getting attacked by katie5 for airing your view on things. we need to respect one another's views, not dissect them with a barrage of disrespectful comments.

i agree. i think we're getting out of the realm of civil discourse with persons of differing perspectives stating their views---and getting into personal attacks, which only polarize people and make them distrust each other.

if we can't get along on this board, how the h*** can we get along with each other in a practice setting?

[ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN]

When I started school, I was trying to decide business or nursing. I chose the business route. I have had a good career, but now I have reached a point in my life when quality of life means more to me than a high salary. Let me tell you that by changing careers to nursing, I am taking a salary cut. So, I sold that BMW 7 series, sold the 550K home and purchased a 110K home, I sold the boat and I returned to school to pursue my nursing degree. People think I have lost my mind. I think that I have finally put life into its' proper perspective. Am I compassionate? I think a little too much. I think this may be my down fall as I get into the career. I will have to develop a tougher skin, but I prepared to do so.

I can understand your frustrations. I am sure there are a lot of people out there who decided to pursue nursing for the money or security. However, you shouldn't make a blanketed statement about those currently going into nursing because it doesn't apply to all of us. There will be lazy people in every career. There will always be people in careers because of the money, regardless of what it may do to their soul. Don't forget that people have free will. I say if the person wants to go into nursing for the money, who am I to judge? I figure that after graduating and working as a nurse for a few months, the person will know if it is cut out for him/her. If not, then at least he/she tried. I would much rather try it out than to sit back in my recliner twenty years from now "wondering" what could have been.

You chose nursing as your career and it sounds like you made the right choice for you. I am happy for you as many of us are career changers and did not find that happiness the first time around. Rather than being so acidic in your tone, how about you just simply say "good luck". "I hope this works out for you because we need really good nurses in our profession". There is enough negativity in the world already, please don't add to it.

[ilovechadkrause]

Yes, I agree that people often don't realize how hard a nurse's job is, and how passionate one must be in order to be a GREAT nurse.

I agree that some nurses are better than others. But I don't believe we need to do a screening process to enter nursing.

It is like this in EVERY work place. Some people excel, and others dont.

Are we going to start screening EVERY person for EVERY occupation? What makes screening for nursing okay?

I also wonder where the following comment came from:

"I am fed up with hearing about people seeing nursing as a quick route to money it is so much more and it offends me that nursing is used as a short cut to being employed."

I suppose this might depend on where you practice nursing. I live in an area where most nursing grads are fear unemployment! And besides, in my province, nurses generally make less than tradesworkers! Kind of unfair to categorize ALL nursing students as money hungry and looking for the "easy" way out.

I was visiting with a nursing student today, and was reminded of just how difficult nursing papers, courses, etc. can be. I don't think a person would go through all those years of school without having a passion (or at least in interest) in their chosen career.