I hate to say this, but I think it's true.....

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I think alot of people are going into nursing these days because of the economy and the stories drilled in peoples heads about how nurses make alot of money for only a 2 yr degree. I can tell this by listening to students in my pre-req classes. Some whom I talk to don't have the slightest clue about nursing but they can spout off how much money they think they'll make when they first start out. I'm sure some of you on here will agree with me. I was talking to this one student and he told me, "Yeah, I'm going into nursing. I was a mechanical engineer and was laid off. I can't find work in that right now. Nursing is only two years. I made good money on my last job."

Whatever the reason that people go to Nursing school, at the 1/2 way mark most people figure out whether it's for them or not. I know some nurses that got into when the economy was good, because they thought they'd make a good nurse. They turned out to be real b__ches.

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Specializes in adult nursing.
I'm not sure that engineers have a "cushy" job. I have a friend who lost a finger why managing a project. There's plenty of stress in most jobs, just pick your poison. Good engineers will find ways to make good money. Good nurses will find ways to make good money. And so on.

I really dont get all this good money stuff. Its really not the case over here. Therefor in the UK this whole debate is void. Actually I think it is void over there too. All points have been made and now it is just people going round and round in circles. The bottom line is there is a shortage of nurses all around the world. People will always need nurses and if you were in hospital in pain would you be quizing a nurse over his or her motives for getting into the profession? I think not.

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I really dont get all this good money stuff. Its really not the case over here. Therefor in the UK this whole debate is void. Actually I think it is void over there too. All points have been made and now it is just people going round and round in circles. The bottom line is there is a shortage of nurses all around the world. People will always need nurses and if you were in hospital in pain would you be quizing a nurse over his or her motives for getting into the profession? I think not.

I think too many people on here have had their mind clouded from second hand info. I believed all the crap when I was in school also and came out making only $3/hr. more than I did driving trucks, with a lot more stress. By the way, to the person I quoted:How do you have 3 yrs experience as a nurse at age 20?!!!!!Must be really different in the UK.:confused::confused:

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Specializes in adult nursing.
I think too many people on here have had their mind clouded from second hand info. I believed all the crap when I was in school also and came out making only $3/hr. more than I did driving trucks, with a lot more stress. By the way, to the person I quoted:How do you have 3 yrs experience as a nurse at age 20?!!!!!Must be really different in the UK.:confused::confused:

three exoperience nursing people, not as a nurse lol, i am a student but am three years into my cousre, will be qualified in a few months. takes 3-4 years to qualify here. and you cannot do it in college, it is a university course. and we do get paid a wee bit more than £3 an hour because that is below minimum wage here. although as a student i don't get paid at all.

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How about -- I'm interested in health, and science -- always have been. I also generally like and am interested in people and helping them to live better lives. Business seems dry, law seems dry, as do many other professions. However, nursing IS demanding and not any dummy can do it. If I happen to want to be a nurse, qualify to be a nurse, am smart enough to BE one -- isn't it fair that I get paid for that?

And I agree w/ the poster who said no other professions seem to get scrutinized as we do. Do you think lawyers do what they do because it's "fun," ? No -- them do it because THEY CAN -- and because it pays well. Same goes for nurses.

I went into nursing ALSO for the convenience of the shift work and how it allows me to be home w/ my kids for good amounts of time. That's not altruistic, and it's not all about money. A lot of it is being attracted to the lifestyle as well.

What other job allows me to make over $2000 a month part time and be home all week long for my kids? And when i'm off -- I'm OFF. No reports, no paperwork, no take home work. I really enjoy my time off.

Someday, I hope nursing is ALL about the money, as in I'd like to see nurses actually get paid for what they're worth at some point. Still hasn't happened. I somehow am still responsible for what doctors do, even though they get paid 4-5 times as much as me or more.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

what i have noticed however is the moral of nurses has detiorated over the years i have been a nurse, there is far more moaning, complaining, arguing, back stabbing, general discontentment these days than there was 10-15yrs ago.

nursing has always been an overworked, underpaid, difficult profession it is no different these days than it was then. yet nurses laughed a lot, enjoyed themselves at work, cared about each other. so i have to question what is different about the nurses today??

people have changed a lot over the more than three decades i've been a nurse. over the past decade or so, we've seen nurses enter the profession who were raised to believe that they could have anything they wanted and they deserved it. were entitled to it. about ten years ago, i precepted an orientee who wanted christmas off to spend with her family and new year's to spend with her friends. and she was getting married in october, so she needed this day off to shop for a wedding dress, and she'd made appointments with caterers so she'd have to have that day off, too. at first, her demands were accomodated, but when they showed no evidence of tapering off, preceptors began to grumble. "i can't believe she (the orientee) asked me (the preceptor) to switch weekends because she wanted to go to her boyfriend's work party on this weekend but didn't want to have to work with a different preceptor. while this orientee was a little bit more extreme than most, there has been a definite shift toward people believing that they both need to get and are entitled to get anything they want. nursing being a 24/7/365 kind of job, that isn't a compatible expectation.

the nurses coming up through school now are the ones who were raised to believe that everyone gets a trophy just for showing up. so when no one pats them on the back and tells them they're wonderful because they came to work on time every day this week, they're disgruntled. and it wouldn't occur to those of us born in the 50s and 60s to pat them on the back because that's just the expectation. of course you come to work on time every day this week.

and of course since people have changed, patients and their families have as well. they're no longer happy that you saved mom's life because you were slow getting them the iced diet coke while you did it. people aren't polite, respectful or grateful and that just adds to the stress nurses feel in dealing with them.

i know i've oversimplified and overgeneralized, but i hope you catch my drift.

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Specializes in L&D; GI; Fam Med; Home H; Case mgmt.
people have changed a lot over the more than three decades i've been a nurse. over the past decade or so, we've seen nurses enter the profession who were raised to believe that they could have anything they wanted and they deserved it. were entitled to it. about ten years ago, i precepted an orientee who wanted christmas off to spend with her family and new year's to spend with her friends. and she was getting married in october, so she needed this day off to shop for a wedding dress, and she'd made appointments with caterers so she'd have to have that day off, too. at first, her demands were accomodated, but when they showed no evidence of tapering off, preceptors began to grumble. "i can't believe she (the orientee) asked me (the preceptor) to switch weekends because she wanted to go to her boyfriend's work party on this weekend but didn't want to have to work with a different preceptor. while this orientee was a little bit more extreme than most, there has been a definite shift toward people believing that they both need to get and are entitled to get anything they want. nursing being a 24/7/365 kind of job, that isn't a compatible expectation.

the nurses coming up through school now are the ones who were raised to believe that everyone gets a trophy just for showing up. so when no one pats them on the back and tells them they're wonderful because they came to work on time every day this week, they're disgruntled. and it wouldn't occur to those of us born in the 50s and 60s to pat them on the back because that's just the expectation. of course you come to work on time every day this week.

and of course since people have changed, patients and their families have as well. they're no longer happy that you saved mom's life because you were slow getting them the iced diet coke while you did it. people aren't polite, respectful or grateful and that just adds to the stress nurses feel in dealing with them.

i know i've oversimplified and overgeneralized, but i hope you catch my drift.

i catch it, and i completely agree. although i'm a relative "baby" nurse (having only graduated in april '08), i am of the same mindset as you, being born in the 60s. you work when you're needed to work and you show up on-time - no, early, every single shift and you don't get a medal for it. you don't get the days off that you ask for every time. in fact, as a new nurse, you rarely get those days! you got dues to pay. the more seasoned nurses have earned the days off that they need, period. that's life and you either suck it up and do it, or you find another profession.

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I do notice that the younger generations (I'm 52) think they should get a pat on the back for anything they do, and expect the world to shift out of its way for them. Life isn't like that, especially nursing! Nursing includes working bad hours, holidays, and missing out on some family events. Spending time with family on a major holiday is not always possible. Nursing can wear a family down emotionally. In the U.S., the financial benefits are pretty good though.

Many patients treat you like you are their personal slave. Their feelings are, "my insurance is paying for you to take care of ME (and only me!)" They don't care that you have 10 or more other patients to take care of. Nursing can make you feel like you are nothing more than a butt-wiper, pill pusher. The few patients that show their appreciation is what makes the difference, though.

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
I do notice that the younger generations (I'm 52) think they should get a pat on the back for anything they do, and expect the world to shift out of its way for them. Life isn't like that, especially nursing! Nursing includes working bad hours, holidays, and missing out on some family events. Spending time with family on a major holiday is not always possible. Nursing can wear a family down emotionally. In the U.S., the financial benefits are pretty good though.

Many patients treat you like you are their personal slave. Their feelings are, "my insurance is paying for you to take care of ME (and only me!)" They don't care that you have 10 or more other patients to take care of. Nursing can make you feel like you are nothing more than a butt-wiper, pill pusher. The few patients that show their appreciation is what makes the difference, though.

Agree. You know, more often than not, I encounter that the pt's who have the "my insurance is paying for you to take care of ME (and only me)" attitude are the ones on free insurance that my hard earned tax dollars are paying for.

As for pt's not caring about the nurse juggling 10+ pt's, you do have to admit that a part of you has to agree with them. It should NOT be that way. Due to administration's greedy and all aout the bottom dollar mentality, often pt's have to wait and awful long time because it would be just much more manegeable to have a decent work load and provide efficient nursing care. Sometimes, it takes just one more unlicensed personnel to go around ensuring their pitchers are full of ice water or to make sure lunch's tray is removed from their bedside table (things that save us nurses time to do NURSING things). Yes, I have been the patient, my daughter has been the patient and no matter how nice, quiet and understandable I may be........you have to admit that grossely delayed care at times (because the nurse has 10+ pt's) still should not be the case and 'understandable'. By this, I don't blame the nurse........I blame the greedy head honchos above who purposely understaff or low census nurses and have them work literally busting at the seams.

As for the younger nurses with feelings of entitlement.......there are many and plenty out there, you are correct. To those younger nurses advocating (a.k.a b!xching, complaining, bickering etc) for better working conditions.......I find nothing wrong. Long gone are the days (or should be perhaps) when a nurse accepted the abuse, worked for nearly free, wouldn't bat an eye when a physician would throw a chart at her...........there should be a happy medium between the two extremes.

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So what? People, women in particular, have gone into nursing for decades because it offered them a means of making a decent living. Does this make them any worse a nurse because they consider their needs when selecting a career? Sacrificing yourself for anything is a dumb, unhealthy way to live - and die.

When my mother went into nursing over 60 years ago she did it because it offered her a way out and a level of financial independence. When I went into nursing over 35 years ago it was because it offered me the best chance of providing a living wage. Just because there are more options for women today than there was 35 or 60 years ago does not make nursing any less atractive a career option

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people need to worry about themselves, instead of others. The medical field can be extremely nasty , but if being a nurse is in ur heart. No matter what others say.... IT WILL NOT MATTER. Some people will luv being a nurse because of the money (thats up to them) and others will luv it because its their "true calling" in life. U have to do whats best for u. My fav saying.... "Nevermind, what others have to say ."

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Nursing is the only profession I know that judges the motives of others for going into it. And it's one of the professions mainly packed with women!

Why not worry about your motives and let others do their own worrying?

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