I am a high school senior currently interested in pursuing nursing or at least another health care profession (such as speech therapy). I'm planning on trying to get my BSN in nursing. I will admit that because of my recent interest in nursing, I have learned a LOT about the career. Before, I wasn't even quite sure what nurses did; I knew the stereotypes, but I never actually thought about it. Now seeing how difficult it is to get into nursing school, the performance demanded by nursing students in order to get through school, the amount of hours put into becoming a nurse...it is a lot more training than the general public believes. Hell, I'm sure there's people out there that think becoming a nurse is easy.
And that's the problem. As awesome a job I think nursing is, and as much as I respect nurses for everything they do, I'm worried about how the general public perceives nursing. I read so much online about how nurses are disrespected, how people don't understand what nurses do, and how the media portrays nurses (i.e. either as hand maidens or naughty nurses). I probably won't be able to watch Scrubs anymore, one of my favorite shows, simply because of the way it tends to portray nursing! I'm very sensitive to this, especially because I can't stand people disrespecting me. I'm afraid that if I became a nurse, I wouldn't be able to just "shrug off" any disrespect I received from others for becoming a nurse. I'm afraid it would really get to me, hurt me, make me become defensive, or even make me switch to another job.
So I would really like to know what you nurses think. Do you often feel disrespected, or do you think nursing has a more positive image now? Do more people seem to understand how much work it takes to become, and be, a nurse?
For the most part nursing is very respected, despite the negative stereotypes. I avoid watching TV shows that portray nurses in a negative light, because it bothers me.
However, the other thing to keep in mind, is when you are part of the profession, you are affecting how it is viewed. If you come in contact with people who are negative, then I feel it is your responsibility to educate them and defend the profession. If we, as nurses, don't do what we can to change the public's image of what we do, then who will?
I dunno, I had the same thoughts as I thought about entering nursing.
But honestly, now that I am a nurse, the media portrayal doesn't bother me that much because when I am on the job, I can feel how much responsibility I have and how much docs/NPs/PAs rely on my assessment skills and listen to me when I say something is not right with patient x. I feel like a very well-respected member of the "team" and I love my job because I am the last line of protection against my patient--it's an enormous responsibility.
What other people think starts to fall flat when I know how valued I am as a member of the health care team. With friends and family, I point them to pictures on the internet about sick babies and tell them about all the machines and that's what I do every day and they start to "get" it a little.
Best of luck whatever you decide. Whatever anyone else may say, don't worry about asking these kinds of questions. To be a nurse, it takes too much time and effort, not to mention money, not to be asking them. Know that only you can know what you will feel like. I highly suggest becoming a CNA or NA (nursing assistant) to get a better idea about how hospitals work and get a realistic picture.
i went to nursing school and condemned myself for choosing it 'cuz i was superly worried about how people are going to trust me. i was beating myself up for going to nursing until i found this awesome ER nurse who taught me so much that i'm in love with nursing and i don't care about anything anymore. find a good mentor and reflect on the time you've spent with her. mentors are everywhere. they are very nice. whenever life hit you hard, reflect on how those nurses react and how you admire them for their knowledge and experience. you'll make it. good luck.
I want to clarify that I do not think nursing is an "embarrassing" profession. I think nurses are wonderful people; in all actuality, I think everyone in hospital faculty are wonderful people because they are all needed to keep a hospital running/take care of the patients. I am only sensitive towards the public perception towards nursing, because I'm worried that if I go into nursing, I'll be faced with a lot of disrespect and will be disenchanted with the career.
I know I should worry less about what other people think of me, but it makes me mad that some nurses don't get respect when they do so much for people.
Just wait till the day you're done with nursing school, enjoying your job, having doctors and higher ups respect your opinions and make pretty decent money doing it.....or just wait until the disrespectful people are your patients or their families...we'll see who has the last laugh. Everyone understands it eventually- when they are in the actual environment and witness first hand the things nurses go through and the hard work they do. It really is a selfless profession though- you have to have a tough skin and you go through the ringer quite often. Like my med student friend said: "I don't know how you guys do it- all of the same work with none of the glory..." do it because you love it not because of what other people may think about it.
and by the way......EVERY single person I've told that I'm in nursing school light up and are like wow that's amazing congratulations. People still respect nurses....plus this is an issue that the nursing profession has been working on so maybe this will be another passion for you is to change the public views of nursing!!
you learn to choose your battles. In every job you do this. You can be disrespected anywhere. Eventually, you weed out those around you that might disrespect you and once they're not around or have minimal impact, it doesn't matter so much anymore. I find there are far more people out there that do their job without purposefully creating hate and discontent with their coworkers. However, it only takes one bad apple to ruin the bunch.
Just to let you know, as a nursing student I'm getting about ten times less questions like "WHO did you say you are?":eek:, "WHAT did you say you're doing?":mad: and (the most maddening) "what're you paid THAT kind of money for?":devil: than my husband, who spent good quater of a century working on his two PhDs and results of whose (and his colleagues') sleepless nights and 80+ hours working weeks are literally all around of each of us.
I have enough of my own problems in life besides worrying about someone who just can't get it, whether we're speaking abou nursing, science or ballet, or whatever else. So I just ignore such folks... wish my hubby could one day do the same:redbeathe:redbeathe:redbeathe.
I can count on one hand how many times I have felt disrespected at work in my almost 3 years in the profession, on the other hand I could use more hands to count the unintentional disrespect/ignorance/deamining attitute/whatever you want to call it that the general public has about nurses. If you want to attain social status, unless you come from certain immigrant groups, nursing will not be your best option!
I'll go easy on you because you are still in high school. First of all, Nursing is by far one of the most challenging professions on so many levels. INtellectually, emotionally and physically. With that actually becomes a certain amount of respect. I don't know if you have noticed, but certain retail shops offer special discounts to nurses. Johnson and Johnson has a commercial honoring them. There is a whole week in may dedicated to celebrating and recognizing nurses. Yearly, Nurses are voted the most trusted profession according to the Gallop poll.
So, if what you are concerned about when choosing a profession is respect, then nursing is actually the way to go. However, you will not survive in nursing if that is how you are choosing your career. You need to love it in order to do it. You can not chose it for money or respect. Those are bonuses.
Yes, there are days you are disrespected, maybe spoken down to by a family member, patient or Dr. But every career comes with these moments. But when you can recognize a patient going south, implement the appropriate intervention and save their life, help ease a patients pain or keep them comfortable in their last days, or teach someone how to care for themselves where they can keep themselves healthy or just put a smile on someones face in perhaps their darkest days, it's all worth it.
And guess what. I can be one of the biggest complainers about nursing sometimes. But i was born to do it and I love it.
I keep running into the level of respect issue in a slightly different way. My fiancee's father is an anesthesiologist (MDA) and my dream is to become a CRNA. He firmly believes that the MDA should be the only one to provide anesthesia. I recommend that you just do what I'm doing. Follow your dream and to hell with the rest of them. They won't be the one determine how great you can be.
I do think there is a lack of knowledge in regards to what nurses actually do and the level of responsibility we have each and every day. I sometimes wonder if people think fairies come in and keep the patients alive. lol
Instead however about worrying about how we are perceived how about investing that time into educating family, friends, patients, etc. about all we do? I do that quite a bit and many are so open to learning all we do. They just need to be told so they understand.
They won't be the one determine how great you can be.
Annaiya, NP
555 Posts
For the most part nursing is very respected, despite the negative stereotypes. I avoid watching TV shows that portray nurses in a negative light, because it bothers me.
However, the other thing to keep in mind, is when you are part of the profession, you are affecting how it is viewed. If you come in contact with people who are negative, then I feel it is your responsibility to educate them and defend the profession. If we, as nurses, don't do what we can to change the public's image of what we do, then who will?