Hope for Nurses

I love being a nurse myself. Does the work break my heart? Absolutely!! When a mother arrives at the bedside, having just received the call at 0300 that her son has just shot himself in the head, it breaks my heart. When a mother of four young kids--who are still overseas because she had come to the US first--is lying broken and severely brain damaged because a truck driver wouldn't drive at a speed safe for road conditions, it breaks my heart. When a dad begs his 20 y/o son with tears in his voice to "please wake up...your sister misses you at dinner," after being in a head-on collision on the way to work, it breaks my heart.

And you know what? The thought of leaving my work, even for something as wonderful as being home full-time with my kids, breaks my heart. And so I keep going back.

You clearly have a big heart and a sharp mind--this combo is a huge asset to the nursing profession! But I'll share a few thoughts on your post that came to my mind.

You do sound really idealistic. It sounds like you have some expectations that are not the norm in real life.

You're going to be extremely hard pressed to find anyone willing to come in on their day off for situations like you describe. Of course there are staff nurses/CNAs who will pick up shifts if someone calls off sick, but to come in just to help w/ a particular resident or task? Everyone needs work-life balance. Everyone needs days off. To never be able to just enjoy your day off, enjoy your family and friends, recharge, etc. is a recipe for burnout. That's not a lack of passion for their work--it's being wise.

I'm not sure what the management at your place makes (do you know how much they make, really?) But, I happen to be married to a suit so will speak to that. He's not in healthcare; he's the CFO of a hedge fund firm. I truly don't understand what he does on a day-to-day basis. But I know he works under a lot of pressure. Some days he comes home and gets lost in Korean soap operas, some days he falls asleep sitting up on the couch, b/c he's just mentally exhausted. Some days he doesn't even come home until after the kids are in bed b/c he doesn't work 8- hour shifts. He works until the work is done. The kids and I will barely see him this week b/c he's travelling. He's gone Tuesday-Thursday, and leaving again on Saturday night and won't be home until next Thursday. (He's leaving over the weekend b/c he's flying overseas and wants to get on top of the jet lag before Monday.) He does make a good salary--not the level that you hear about exec's making, but good--but he EARNS it. I'm sure management in healthcare works under a lot of pressure themselves. They're not hands on with the clients, but they're dealing with the mountains of legal issues, budgeting, everything that is involved in running a facility beyond resident care, litigation... I don't see it as being a cushy job at all.

I also don't see nurses being money hungry. Really, we're in the wrong profession if we're money hungry. But we shouldn't feel we need to be willing to work for substandard wages either, just because We Are Nurses. We should be paid decent wages because we are nurses. We are professionals. We have life-preserving responsibility; we make life-and-death decisions. We can be sued for malpractice. This work can be hard on our bodies. Nor does making more mean our work will be shoddy (at least that's how I took your statement

nurses out their that are willing to use their skills and training for a $$ amount and the quality of care they provide and the setting that care is provided means nothing for $8-10 more an hour

to mean.) That's a work ethic issue, not a money issue. Now personally, I do plan on eventually doing some surgical mission work on a volunteer basis... but right now, I'm employed. And I see no shame in being compensated fairly.

Liked the post, Here!

I wanted to post something of a variant that I have posted before; couldn't find it (on the phone... ) so here it goes:

To the OP: I was discouraged many years ago as a middle school student at a career fair; the economy sucked, healthcare reimbursement was changing (sound familiar?).

What I did was be very objective to the information that was being presented to me; if I had listened to the nurse and became a writer (she advised me to do something that I loved-I love to write) I would've missed out on a career that fit for me.

I enjoy being a nurse; I never felt disrespected, stomped on, etc. I have been in this business for 14 years and I have an objectivity in approaching interacting with the human condition in its most vulnerable state; and it can be ugly, and challenging, and that's putting it very mildly. In all my years of being in healthcare; I have always felt empowered; even more so as a licensed nurse.

As long as you are cognizant of the challenges of nursing and can be self aware in those times of challenge, you will carve you niche out and enjoy this business; you can also help evolve and preserve the positives of the profession as many generations have done in the past-it will be up to YOU.