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.

[GM2RN]

I agree, either extreme............a nurse who is all compassion but nothing else, and.......the nurse with zero compassion.......are not good.

My arguement is simply that........you don't have to "feel a calling" to be a good nurse. Lots of people who don't take on the "God works miracles through my hands" persona are still great nurses. Just a little......less dramatic about it.

I think a lot of "Nurses with a calling" are quick to put down people who are not as passionate as them. Sometimes people like me, who simply see it as a job (a job that requires caring, but still a job) are made to feel like we should apologize for having a life. I don't like that.

I completely agree. The problem that I have seen with some of these posts is that the "nurses with a calling" group are equating a calling with compassion, and any nurse who didn't have a "calling" does not have compassion for people, nor are they passionate nurses. I am one of those nurses who changed careers out of necessity and got into nursing to replace an income that was higher than I make now. That doesn't make me a less than stellar nurse. I have a great work ethic, I am passionate about performing to the best of my ability, and I care that my patients get the care that they need. But truth be told, it's a job for me and not a calling. I am a much better nurse than some who claim to have a calling but don't have the work ethic or desire to do the best that they can.

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

When I was growing up, my Dad was the strongest man I knew, my model for what a man should be, and a carpenter. Now, I have always been someone who thought about things, and one of the things I've thought a lot about is what it means to be a man. That's a complicated subject, and probably one with no single, clear-cut answer, and I've understood that for a long time, but on a certain level, in a part of my psyche, I've always believed the measure of a man is what he builds. So, when I began to do carpentry, I didn't have a very high opinion of some of the jack-legs who slap crap together as quick and cheap and dirty as they can and call themselves carpenters.

Now, I know being able to drive a nail or saw a straight line doesn't make you a man. I knew that even when I was learning to drive a nail and saw a straight line. But I also know I wasn't entirely wrong. A man who doesn't respect his craft, whatever his craft may be, is missing out on something that matters in life. And a man who doesn't respect my craft, even--maybe especially--when he calls it his craft, offends me.

And now I'm a nurse, and what's true for the handful of us who have a Y chromosome is no less true for many of our feminine peers. There have been times when I felt that God wanted me to be a nurse, now. Is that a calling? It's a very hard question for an agnostic like me to answer. But this is the career I've chosen, and it's a craft I respect. It offends me to hear some suggest that any bozo can be a nurse. It offends me that some people think nursing is for those who couldn't get into med school. It offends me when some seem to think academic nursing or nursing administration of some other sort of nursing is somehow better than passing meds and changing dressings and q2h turns and ambulating, and yes, wiping butts. I'm no martyr, and I'm damned sure no saint, but the time I spend in patients' rooms is the part of my job that makes all the other crap worthwhile. And, you know what? I really think I do have a right to question the motives of anyone who acts like this field is beneath their dignity or not worthy of their energy, or no different than stamping out widgets on a widget stamper. Nursing is a job. Nursing is a science. But nursing really is also an art, and artists are allowed to be a little tempermental, now and then.

Plus, you know, it's a great way to meet doctors.

[Spode]

I know my stuff, I really care, and I cannot get a FREAKIN job as a RN!

[pre-nursing]

It is a very interesting posting. However, I still think your job could be counted secure as you still were able to find the job even 45 min away. In addition to that you can look for another one while still working and having enough money to meet your ends. Something positive yah? It is my attitude.

[Mijourney]

Very interesting blog and responses. My experience in nursing has been that some nurses or maybe more seem on the surface to have what it takes to be a nurse. But, underneath the cover is that of a selfish, inconsiderate, ill-mannered slob. Some of these nurses treat patients and physicians well but for the life of them do not show the same type of compassion and courtesy to their co-workers. Also, as nurses we are representive of the profession on and off the field. Why do some of us leave our cover as nurses at work and act a fool with our families or out in public? To me, that is is the telling part of a nurse-what do we do when we're not in uniform.

[diane227, LPN, RN]

I went to nursing school because I was just simply interested in medicine. The study of the human body was interesting to me. I did feel that it was somewhat of a calling because when I finally made the decision to major in nursing I felt a great sense of purpose and satisfaction. I don't think nursing has been a bad career. It has had it's up's and down's like every other job. The problems we have in nursing (communication, working with people who are stupid or lazy, nasty or all those things) are not unique to nursing. It is just when they get that way with us they might be naked. We have all had bad managers and horrible doctors to work with. Other people have jerks to work with. Our only additional problem is however, is that we are trying to keep stupid people from killing someone. And that is a big responsibility. If people want to go into nursing to have a mobile career and to make money that is OK with me because I too believe that nursing school will weed most of the bad ones out. Nursing is a lot harder than they make it look on TV.

[creakyjoints]

I am frustrated and angry with nursing schools and what they are doing with the admission process. I know people with "pre-existing" BS will not like this, but I don't give a hoot. Your existing BS most of the time has absolutely nothing to do with science or with nursing and many schools are now taking these " so called qualified applicants" over applicants in the admission process. I believe it is not fair to the people that ACTUALLY have the desire to be nurses and are not just looking for a field where there are job openings. I worked with many of the pre existing BS people. And, maybe I don't know all of them, but I knew enough to say this...they were not in the field to be a nurse. They were in it for a paycheck. EX. Is that your call bell going off.. yes...are you going to get it...it can wait...20 mins later...the person still sat at the desk doing absolutely nothing. And I could go and on with examples of Rns just like him. When asked why they were nurses? Because it was a guaranteed job...They don't have the desire and the soul that it takes to be a nurse. And that causes patients to suffer and the hospital staff to suffer. And schools of nursing need to wake up to the fact, just because someone has a BS degree already, it doesn't mean they are the better applicant. You are making a huge mistake by assuming the less educated will be less qualified. A HUGE MISTAKE. The waiting lists are getting longer, some schools no longer have waiting lists because it is fruitless to have them, the list is so long, the number of applicants are growing too quickly. If the government really wants to do something about jobs??? Do something about getting nursing instructors back in the classroom by changing tort reform so instructors don't have to be so wary of lawsuits. Nursing schools need to start making it worth instructors worthwhile to get back in the classroom. Pay them more. We need instructors. There are so many worthwhile nursing students waiting to be educated and many nurses that are already retired or soon to be retired from the baby boom generation...we need to get this problem fixed and soon. And we don't need a glut of business people just looking for a paycheck filling up our nursing schools to make it look like the number of nurses is going up because that kind of quality I don't need or want.

[meghan91]

i totally agree with you. I am only 18 and I am not even a RN yet but I am in the process and a lot of people I am going to school with along with my cousin who is going for nursing are just in it because it is "easy". I dont think a lot of people know what their getting into when it comes to nursing. I have a very strong passion to be a nurse and I can't wait to be a nurse I dont care if I have to do the dirty work to me it is all worth it because I am helping someone who needs me. I really think people need to look at what nursing is really like other than what it looks like on tv or what they think it is like. I know a lot of nurses and they always say how hard of work it is especially if you are in certain nursing areas but in the end it is very rewarding seeing someone go home and knowing you helped them through a hard time in their life.

[kvisintine, BSN, RN]

creakyjointswrote: "I am frustrated and angry with nursing schools and what they are doing with the admission process. I know people with "pre-existing" BS will not like this, but I don't give a hoot. Your existing BS most of the time has absolutely nothing to do with science or with nursing and many schools are now taking these " so called qualified applicants" over applicants in the admission process. I believe it is not fair to the people that ACTUALLY have the desire to be nurses and are not just looking for a field where there are job openings. I worked with many of the pre existing BS people. And, maybe I don't know all of them, but I knew enough to say this...they were not in the field to be a nurse. They were in it for a paycheck."

Sorry... I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you. I have a prior BS... in engineering. 4 calculus classes, 2 chemistry courses, 3 physics courses, plus all of my thermodynamics, labs, etc later coupled with my required nursing pre-req's (A&P, Micro, etc) I think that I am just as qualified from a math and science perspective. Technically, my undergrad science classes were probally more advanced, as my required chemistry was engineering level, not introductory level, I had a higher math requirement, and while nurses study the law of thermodynamics for 2 days in biology, I studied it for an entire year... Actually, I have college friends that went on to take their MCAT's after we completed our undergrad. 20 years later, I am choosing the nursing path instead, because I have a passion and want to work with people. My long term goal is to become a CRNA... and that means quitting my current engineering job for a year of the accelerated BSN, at least 1 year ICU experience and then another 2 years out of work for my CRNA. My initial paycheck will be less than I make now, and I will be incurring at least 60K in school loans before all is said and done. It is frustrating to me as a student, to be lumped into the category of being a freeloader, looking for an easy job, to make alot of money, just because I am choosing to leave the manufacturing world for nursing. Please do not be so quick to judge, or discriminate!!! My work ethic is a strong as anyone else's... I have small children, work anywhere between 60 - 80 hours a week, travel for work monthly (sometimes internationally), and still manage to juggle school, career,and family. Every individual has their own personal reasons for switching careers... it is not always just about the money... but I can tell you that if I were to win the lottery tomorrow, I would not be working in any hospital or factory .... as I am sure is the case for most folks... so I guess money is a factor for all of us, to some extent.

[dsahrens]

Hi, My husband is also an Engineer by profession. I would love to hear more about your transition to Nursing. I am also a RN and would think that my husband might benefit from your experience in this job market.

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

creakyjointswrote: "I am frustrated and angry with nursing schools and what they are doing with the admission process. I know people with "pre-existing" BS will not like this, but I don't give a hoot. Your existing BS most of the time has absolutely nothing to do with science or with nursing and many schools are now taking these " so called qualified applicants" over applicants in the admission process. I believe it is not fair to the people that ACTUALLY have the desire to be nurses and are not just looking for a field where there are job openings. I worked with many of the pre existing BS people. And, maybe I don't know all of them, but I knew enough to say this...they were not in the field to be a nurse. They were in it for a paycheck."

Sorry... I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you. I have a prior BS... in engineering. 4 calculus classes, 2 chemistry courses, 3 physics courses, plus all of my thermodynamics, labs, etc later coupled with my required nursing pre-req's (A&P, Micro, etc) I think that I am just as qualified from a math and science perspective. Technically, my undergrad science classes were probally more advanced, as my required chemistry was engineering level, not introductory level, I had a higher math requirement, and while nurses study the law of thermodynamics for 2 days in biology, I studied it for an entire year... Actually, I have college friends that went on to take their MCAT's after we completed our undergrad. 20 years later, I am choosing the nursing path instead, because I have a passion and want to work with people. My long term goal is to become a CRNA... and that means quitting my current engineering job for a year of the accelerated BSN, at least 1 year ICU experience and then another 2 years out of work for my CRNA. My initial paycheck will be less than I make now, and I will be incurring at least 60K in school loans before all is said and done. It is frustrating to me as a student, to be lumped into the category of being a freeloader, looking for an easy job, to make alot of money, just because I am choosing to leave the manufacturing world for nursing. Please do not be so quick to judge, or discriminate!!! My work ethic is a strong as anyone else's... I have small children, work anywhere between 60 - 80 hours a week, travel for work monthly (sometimes internationally), and still manage to juggle school, career,and family. Every individual has their own personal reasons for switching careers... it is not always just about the money... but I can tell you that if I were to win the lottery tomorrow, I would not be working in any hospital or factory .... as I am sure is the case for most folks... so I guess money is a factor for all of us, to some extent.

I believe the poster was thinking more of people with degrees in Comparative Lit, or even IT, and not that they shouldn't be able to go to nursing school, but just that they shouldn't get preference over someone with no degree because all they ever wanted to be was a nurse. And, really, while your engineering degree should be more than adequate for nursing math or chemistry and strongly suggests you won't have much trouble with life sciences or Pharmacology, it isn't much of a predictor whether you'll be a good nurse. A strong work ethic will mean at least as much as your degree.

I'm a second career nurse, myself, and took my entry-level healthcare job because it was available and sounded interesting. I thought it might be a good foot in the door while I waited for someone to die in Facilities, where I really wanted to work, but those jobs don't come open very often. Turned out I loved interacting with patients, so I went to nursing school. I'd flunked out of Physics many years before, so I didn't have much trouble with the science side, either. (My physics courses were among the few I passed. English 1 and Psych 1 were F's when I was young and undisciplined, but A's once I was ready to get serious).

I don't mean to flame anybody's choice of career, although I suppose, in a way, I might be doing just that, but I do wish they would come up with some other route for people who want to be CRNAs. It isn't the poster's fault, but it's painful to see the career I love used as a stepping stone to "bigger and better" things. This is only partly sour grapes that I'll likely never earn a six-figure income. It's probably also partly ignorance on my part, because I'm having a hard time picturing what CRNA really has to do with nursing. And, I'll admit, it wouldn't get my hackles up as much to hear someone was getting into nursing with the ultimate goal of becoming a midwife. (FNP is somewhere between, in my world-view) Again, though, I don't mean to fault someone for knowing what they want to do. It's just that nursing school seats are hard to come by, and so are bedside nurses.

Anyway, best of luck. One of my newer co-workers is an ex-engineer, and he's doing really well. So, for that matter, are some former psych and social work majors. We can debate generalities all day, but it doesn't say much of anything about a given individual. I actually use things I learned as a carpenter every day.

ETA: thanks for reminding me to check my lottery ticket.

[kvisintine, BSN, RN]

Hey dsahrens,

I am still finishing up my pre-reqs (complete this December). I have wanted to make this career switch for a while, but my kids were still babies... so I waited until they were school age. I entered engineering, because I always enjoyed the science aspect... but years later, I have found that I just don't go home at the end of the day with any sort of fufillment, or feeling that I have done something worthwhile. My oldest child had a brain tumor and I recieved a crash course into oncology/ neurosurgery... I really admired the nurses and knew that this is the field that I belonged in. I have to admit that I am scared to death to quit a paying job in this economy... but my industry is not that stable right now, which is giving me the extra incentive to make the switch. Is your husband thinking of switching careeers too?

Hi Nursemike,

I have to admit that I have been following your previous posts and admire that you too made a pretty drastic career switch. I agree that education/ skill alone may not transition well into the medical field... but I think working in a career, definately gives one a different perspective, that may help in day to day tasks.

I have chosen the CRNA path,for a variety of reasons. My son was diagnosed with a GBM 2 days after his birth... a year of chemo, neurosurgeries, extended time in the NICU, PICU and on the hem-onc floor followed. I practically lived at the hospital, leaving only to shower and go to work. I learned how to change g-tubes, clean central lines, use an infusion pump, insert an IV for vanc., give intermusclar shots, check sodium levels with a home monitor, what to do when one is neutropenic... (and the list goes on)... I promised my husband that I would steer clear of pediatic oncology if I changed professions (too close to home with our past experiences). I don't think that I have the right personality for the ER/ Trauma... but I was very interested in the ICU/ med surg staff that we were in daily contact with (my son spent 3 months intubated with psydemonus in the PICU). I have researched quite a bit, and believe that this is where my passion is (although we will see how I feel after my clinicals :))...with my science background, I felt that then next logical step would be a CRNA...who knows...I may find that I would be just as content as a surgical nurse... I do know that I will pursue an advanced degree.

Again... thank you for your posts... it is nice to know that there are existing nurses out there that are not against us 2nd Degree folks... it gets kind of depressing for us newbies to read all of the negativity from my future peers.