Being a newly grad nurse, I can't deny the fact that we are in need in money to help paying bills that have been piled up since we were in school. We doesn't love money, right? I am sure we all do, and we work hard for it.
But after listening to these nurses, I am wondering where is our professional/ethical practice?
I have recently picked some odd shifts and start working in a rural hospital through agency and happened to chat with few nurses who used to work in NWT and Yellowknife in isolated Northern Canada in the lunch room.
All they said is "working up north is good money and in fact, it is like our gold mine"... they went on and on about going through the loop hole such as ask the patient to come and see you after hours and you can get paid for call back, which is legal service just different time slot.. and get paid more.. etc
The more I listened, the more I feel wrong - first thing crossed my mind was "is that why we can't get too much work cause majority of the hospital / nursing facility is out of budget"???? Where is our ethic? I thought we all took an oath.
Well, maybe I am still a "new blood" to the profession and over-reacted with things like that, which is technically happening everywhere (someone has to watch out for themselves kind of mentality)?
"A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was.†- Joseph Hall
I tell you what I wouldn't do this type of work for free. I never took an oath and nursing wasn't a calling. Nurses are underpaid and the wear and tear on our bodies man oh man we earn every penny. I wish I knew then what I know now and I would have gone to school for something different that paid more money.
I did not take an oath, and I did not go into nursing for altruistic reasons. I wanted to make good money with a 2 year degree.
"is that why we can't get too much work cause majority of the hospital / nursing facility is out of budget"???? The reason nurses have trouble finding work is because corporate healthcare has ignored safe staffing ratios .. in order to boost their bottom line. More patients per nurse equals less need for nurses. Where are ethics when the fat cats at the top continue to rake in outrageous salaries and bonuses, while the nurses are stretched thinner?
Specializes in M/S, Pulmonary, Travel, Homecare, Psych..
I'm glad this hasn't turned into a 'for the calling nurses vs. for the money nurses' debate. Ugh.
I could never see the wisdom in slamming someone for wanting to do better financially. There is no moral higher ground to doing a job but taking less than fair compensation for it. I'll further that by pointing out, it'd possibly be immoral. Remember, many nurses have families. Is it somehow moral these days to accept less than fair wages for a calling but not be able to feed your kids?
I do understand, some take it to an extreme that is unhealthy. What I have to say about that is: The people who I've seen, who make money the only goal, tend to be selfish and unhappy in EVERYTHING. This includes their jobs and nursing practice, but a lot of other things as well. Their problems transcend nursing theory and safe work practice debates. Best you can do for them is wish them well and take them as an example of how not to.............
On the other hand, I am of the opinion that 99% of nursing positions wouldn't be filled if people were only out for money. It takes more than fair wages to keep someone in a career as stressful as ours. There is more motivation than just money pretty much any time a nurse shows up for work. That's just what I've observed.
I understand you are a new recruit and have many many "philisophical" questions. But it is important to know that the pursuit of money and ethical behavior do not have to be mutually exclusive endeavours.
Remember, the days of nursing being promoted as a religious calling are pretty much passe' unless it is a personal choice. Many of the hospital systems that the majority of nurses are employed by are hard core business entities who are traded on the stock market and are beholding to share holders who expect a reasonable return on their investement dollars.
So try not to be too hard on those nurses that you may hear talking about financial concerns. It should in no way lablel them as being less empathetic, professional or just plain good at what they do. In fact, it would be better for health care if nurses themselves owned the means of production being so intimately invoved with the ongoing HC delivery challenges of the 21st century.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
WHY do nurses have to be different than, say, accountants or lawyers who are in their fields to make money? I am not a nun and took no oath of poverty and were I not making decent money, I would not be doing what I do. I have bills, a family to support and like my vacations and nice things I can afford.
I suppose that makes me "unethical" in your estimation? Whatever.
Some nurses do see far north jobs as a goldmine opportunity.
But it happens everywhere. Recently AHS posted their sunshine list of staff making over $125k per year. Look at it to have your eyes opened. With UNA OT rates of a round $100 per hour there are numerous RNs on it. Several doctors I work with mad over $2,000,000 and they carry very little overhead.
senior RNs on my unit squabble over the OT with it rarely making it down to the newer hires. LPNS stand almost no chance of OT because somehow those same RNs claim there was no LPN available when the calls went out and they have totals the shift to keep the unit staffed.
its all about the money, here as it is around the world
Seems like AHS publishing the "sunshine list" has done nothing but created hatred in the AHS happy family of workers.
It seems only in nursing do we consider it a negative when people aspire to make a decent wage or desire more education.
Re: AHS sunshine list, I was not surprised at the salaries. As a brand new grad working for AHS, I made 87,000. Alberta RNs are well paid, but the cost of living is high too.
I need a specific date off that coincides with our rotating already scheduled for us weekends. Well our incentive program changes before the date. Someone said they totally would cover for me, but because they won't get their extra incentive to do so they won't pick it up...it's cool I didn't need to go to my sisters wedding.
I said it before, and I'll say it again...the people who go into this with that so-called 'true calling' from a higher power are going to surely be disappointed. No, money isn't everything but it sure plays a very large role. And as many have stated, it is not mutually exclusive from the care and compassion we provide to every single patient. This is such a fallacy from people who are unfamiliar with the system. Just because I don't warm your coffee (because I'm a little busy doing something else, like saving a life) does not make me a callus person.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Yup, nursing is a calling and we should be willing to do it for minimal pay. Because it is our dedication and altruism that motivates us to be nurses. And what century is this? Why are new grads still parroting that old chestnut?
Just like any profession, we're a lot better at it if we at least like and believe in what we do. But to feel somehow less-than because we want to be appropriately paid? Where is this crap still coming from?
It's not just the working conditions that make Armpit, NWT a tough sell. EVERYTHING needs to be trucked hundreds of miles to get there. A bag of carrots there does not have the same price tag as Edmonton, Portland or either of the Vancouvers. The money looks good on paper, but doesn't go as far as one might think.
Business is business is business. Im not a nurse yet, but the jobs I hold now are jobs I happen to really enjoy. However, I won't pretend that if all the money in the world disappeared tomorrow I would still show up for work on Monday. This is especially true of my future nursing job.
I chose nursing because of the job security, the options, the high ladder to climb, the eventual autonomy you can have as you progress in your career. The idea of patient care truly does appeal to me but not in a romanticized way. This field is hard work through and through. School is hard, and the actual work is hard, messy, and stressful. If you got into nursing JUST because of the money, you are going to hate it, but the same thing goes who get into nursing for the calling a lot of times. Actually, I recently just bought 8 nursing textbooks from a girl who decided nursing wasn't for her once she started clinicals, and switched majors.
Yes, there has to be more of a motive to do this than just a paycheck. But not everyone got into nursing wanting to be the next Mother Theresa. It's a job above all else, and it helps if you enjoy it, just like with every job. Lawyers and surgeons get into their fields to make money and nobody bats an eye. A nurse gets into the field and wants to continue her education to make money and some people have to question her integrity. Why? Bottom line...I don't know a nurse in the world who didn't choose nursing for one of its perks.
DoeRN
941 Posts
I tell you what I wouldn't do this type of work for free. I never took an oath and nursing wasn't a calling. Nurses are underpaid and the wear and tear on our bodies man oh man we earn every penny. I wish I knew then what I know now and I would have gone to school for something different that paid more money.