How come people portray nursing so negatively on here?

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It seems like a majority of the threads are about how BAD nursing is and not how good it is. I'm currently a student and chose nursing for the following reasons.

-Job security

-Well compensated (to me at least; I have never made over $8.50 an hour)

-Flexibility

-The fact that your job actually makes a difference.

I don't get how a job you have to get a degree for can be so negatively portrayed. It can't be THAT bad, can it?

Well, I think I need to get off this site for a while to see if the way YOU guys portray nursing is a general consensus or something that is just unique to here... I mean if nursing were THAT bad, then people wouldn't do it... right?

There's a good reason the number of licensed nurses versus the number of licensed PRACTICING nurses is disproportionate.

(And it's not because of new grads who can't find jobs. ;) )

I read somewhere a while back that many nurses leaving nursing after the first year of practice. How true that is exactly, I don't know.

ETA: Here's a brief article I found from 2008: http://www.afscme.org/docs/Winter08_UNA_Action.pdf

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
Nursing is a job and people love to complain about their jobs. nursing is hard im often tired i do not live the "swt life". However, I enjoy what I do, as soon as I get really upset with my job it seems like i have a husband call the unit to thank me or a letter from a family member to let me know how much they appreciated everything i did for their mother. it is what you make it people seem to get such an experiance from a mission trip or giving their time at the nursing home or church but as soon as you get paid for it people start complaining. Nurses that complain all the time most likely would complain about any job that they had. ive done yard work, taught tennis and golf, been a waiter, bar tended and its the same everywhere. heck my dads a successful surgeon and complains about his job. stick to it and have a good attitude and yes you can make a difference. its more so the lifestyle that i think they are upset with. they work, go out and drink, sleep around, dont get married, get a couple STDs along the way, maybe take some diet pills which trash their hormones because they dont have the self restraint to not eat Mackers (Micky Ds) and or get some sort of physical fitness in the day. Id be upset with my life/job also.

Dude. Seriously?

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Specializes in acute care med/surg, LTC, orthopedics.
Nursing is a job and people love to complain about their jobs. nursing is hard im often tired i do not live the "swt life". However, I enjoy what I do, as soon as I get really upset with my job it seems like i have a husband call the unit to thank me or a letter from a family member to let me know how much they appreciated everything i did for their mother. it is what you make it people seem to get such an experiance from a mission trip or giving their time at the nursing home or church but as soon as you get paid for it people start complaining. Nurses that complain all the time most likely would complain about any job that they had. ive done yard work, taught tennis and golf, been a waiter, bar tended and its the same everywhere. heck my dads a successful surgeon and complains about his job. stick to it and have a good attitude and yes you can make a difference. its more so the lifestyle that i think they are upset with. they work, go out and drink, sleep around, dont get married, get a couple STDs along the way, maybe take some diet pills which trash their hormones because they dont have the self restraint to not eat Mackers (Micky Ds) and or get some sort of physical fitness in the day. Id be upset with my life/job also.

I work, drink socially, am happily married, don't sleep around, never had an STD in my life, never took diet pills in my life, absolutely despise Micky D's, and work out regularly.

There. Shove that down your pipe and smoke it.

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Specializes in Health Information Management.
Well, I think I need to get off this site for a while to see if the way YOU guys portray nursing is a general consensus or something that is just unique to here... I mean if nursing were THAT bad, then people wouldn't do it... right?

Why slave away at school for 2/4 years when you can just get a manual labor job or a job that just requires a HS diploma?

I am curious about the latter part of your statement. Where exactly can you find a manual labor job or a job that just requires a HS diploma that will allow you to be paid on the same scale as a nurse? Let's take an entry-level RN position. Let's give it a conservative wage of $20 per hour. At 40 hours a week with no overtime, that gives you a gross income of $41,600. There are a limited number of manufacturing jobs (mostly union) that might come close to or match an RN's pay rate (especially an RN with some experience), but you'd have to be luckier than someone who captured a leprechaun at the fabled Fountain of Youth to land one at this point! Maybe working a sales job you could make what nurses do (if you're good enough to make substantial commission - a big "if"), but even a lot of sales job now have some higher ed preferences/requirements. Same thing for administrative assistant positions; executive assistant positions usually require a bachelor's degree and significant experience. Some state and federal jobs pay decently and don't require anything beyond a HS diploma, but the paperwork and hiring process is long, sometimes civil-service testing is involved, and the competition is always fierce because of the pay rate and benefits.

Now, that's not to say nurses are overpaid, because they certainly aren't when one considers all they're responsible for handling. But at least from my experience, you'd have a rough time finding a job that pays what an average entry-level RN's job pays without at least an associate's degree.

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
I am curious about the latter part of your statement. Where exactly can you find a manual labor job or a job that just requires a HS diploma that will allow you to be paid on the same scale as a nurse? Let's take an entry-level RN position. Let's give it a conservative wage of $20 per hour. At 40 hours a week with no overtime, that gives you a gross income of $41,600. There are a limited number of manufacturing jobs (mostly union) that might come close to or match an RN's pay rate (especially an RN with some experience), but you'd have to be luckier than someone who captured a leprechaun at the fabled Fountain of Youth to land one at this point! Maybe working a sales job you could make what nurses do (if you're good enough to make substantial commission - a big "if"), but even a lot of sales job now have some higher ed preferences/requirements. Same thing for administrative assistant positions; executive assistant positions usually require a bachelor's degree and significant experience. Some state and federal jobs pay decently and don't require anything beyond a HS diploma, but the paperwork and hiring process is long, sometimes civil-service testing is involved, and the competition is always fierce because of the pay rate and benefits.

Now, that's not to say nurses are overpaid, because they certainly aren't when one considers all they're responsible for handling. But at least from my experience, you'd have a rough time finding a job that pays what an average entry-level RN's job pays without at least an associate's degree.

Right you are! After I had 7 years of experience as a staff nurse, I decided to try my hand at travel nursing and made $90,000 my first year. Hmmm...D$, what manual labor job (that is LEGAL) can match that? When you find it, forward it to me!

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Specializes in Case Manager.

You can work for cable companies and make pretty decent money... or be a cell phones rep and work your way up to management...

But those cap out really quickly and don't require degrees... at least with nursing you can get a BSN or an MSN and increase your salary cap by double.

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To dhellwege: Have you ever seen the movie, "The Great Santini?" You revealed that you are a male nurse and your father is a surgeon. Did he ever bounce a basketball against your head? Why such contempt for people you have joined in your profession?

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It seems like a majority of the threads are about how BAD nursing is and not how good it is. I'm currently a student and chose nursing for the following reasons.

-Job security

-Well compensated (to me at least; I have never made over $8.50 an hour)

-Flexibility

-The fact that your job actually makes a difference.

I don't get how a job you have to get a degree for can be so negatively portrayed. It can't be THAT bad, can it?

It can be that bad. No need to be Pollyanna (everything is always peachy-keen) about it. We all have our days, we all have problems, and sometimes we need to vent. This forum is used for that. As for points that you made for nursing

1) There is NO job security in this economy...for anyone.

2) You are going to have days where if you got paid $100.00 an hour, it still wouldn't be enough to compensate for the stuff endured.

3) Flexibility-usually only if you have a BSN. In a hospital setting I have worked many a major holiday that I would rather spent at home with my kids when they were little :(

4) Yes, sometimes my job does make a difference. These times balance out the bad stuff.

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This is understandable... but it seems like people use therapy A LOT on here!

If you only knew how many actually availed themselves of mental health services :) These are the folks that recognize that they are having problems and they get all my respect.:yeah:

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