Is nursing for me???

Published

So I've been on the fence about a number of things. I've recently graduated from a BSN program and I'm wondering if nursing is really what I want to do long term. My issues with nursing sort of center around nursing's image and general lack of professional esteem, especially being a male nurse. I cant stand being seen as inferior to physicians, or handmaidens. I think nursing is still a long ways away from gaining the prestige and recognition it deserves. In my personal opinion, that would take doing away with LPNs, ADN nurses, and possibly making an MSN the entry degree for nurses.

I kind of bounce around from different ideas of what I should do. I do realize it will be necessary and most beneficial to practice as a staff nurse for at least a year or 2. I'm thinking of getting an MSN/MBA online from Grand Canyon University or perhaps taking my LSAT and going to law school. Not sure yet...

I'm wondering if anyone is in a similar situation or has ventured into either law or administration after nursing school and can provide insight... Thanks :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Acute Mental Health.

But if MSN was entry level, the powers-that-be would have to pay a lot more to us lil' ole' worker bees, lol. I am currently in a BSN Completion program and also just completed a BA in Health Care Administration. I was hoping to get more into administration, but with an associates in nursing, it just isn't happening After the BSN then I'll go for a masters in HCA. That should do it, if I don't die of old age first. Whatever you decide, having that BSN will help!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thanks for the input. I hope my comment wasn't offensive. I was also an LPN in the military for a couple years, so I've had to climb the ladder as well.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Who would want to spend the money and time to get a Master's to work on a floor, and why on earth would anyone need one? When you have worked and nursed for any period of time you will see that being able to write a phenomenal paper in APA format isn't going to help you when your patient arrests.

The really sad thing is that a lot of administration "climbed the ladder" without knowing what it is really like to be a nurse.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care.

I get the impression your issue is more with the role of Nursing than it is with the level of education required. If you think we're handmaidens now, then requiring a MSN would only make us handmaidens with MSNs.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
XcrMat Thanks for the input. I hope my comment wasn't offensive.

Yes.....Your comment is offensive. I am not sure how to respond.....
doing away with LPNs, ADN nurses, and possibly making an MSN the entry degree for nurses.
I am Godsmacked! I am at a loss of words....and many here will tell you that isn't often.

There is a thread currently about losing the art of nursing....here is part of my response....

In the last 10 years it seems the bedside nurse has become an undesirable place to be and those who really like it are viewed as....unambitious and having no goals. I remember on an interview I was on a few years ago.....I was asked what were my long term goals were.....I replied that I wanted to stay as close to the bedside as possible where I love being......that I wanted to advocate for my patients and ensure they had the best care possible.

I was asked why I lacked any ambition to further my career with an advanced degree ....as if being a bedside nurse was unacceptable and beneath the profession itself. That made me sad. Bedside nurses are looked down upon these days when they are the backbone of everything we do.....as if being the best bedside nurse I can was being somehow....lazy. I am proud that I care well for my patients...that I can make them comfortable in clean neat linen....to give them some comfort that someone in the room of strangers is in their corner and has their back.....that someone cares.

I didn't become a nurse to become something else......I don't feel being a bedside nurse is degrading or anything to be ashamed of.....yet I hear so many these days who walk away from graduation talking about how they are going to get out of the bedside.....however it is the bedside nurse who will be caring for you one day when you need it most.

I think we are educating ourselves out of the bedside as if it is some sleazy place to be....and I find that sad.

What made you go into nursing.....what did you think it was? Did you do any research about nursing and what that means? I would think that being an LPN you would have a clear vision of where you were going and what being a nurse meant.
My issues with nursing sort of center around nursing's image and general lack of professional esteem, especially being a male nurse. I cant stand being seen as inferior to physicians, or handmaidens. I think nursing is still a long ways away from gaining the prestige and recognition it deserves.
Did you any research at all? I have been a nurse for 35 years and I am very proud....... I have ALWAYS been very respected by my peers INCLUDING MD's. I have NEVER felt inferior. I very much believe that there is an art to being a good nurse
I think we have lost some of that....it did get lost with corporate America. With the fixation on higher and higher degrees and the world using bedside nursing to the real paying jobs of CRNA or NP so they can have their "autonomy" ........it seems those who believe it is a calling are a rare commodity. When I went into nursing it wasn't about the money for we were barely paid over minimum wage..... it was a love for what we do.
You maybe right .....nursing isn't for you....although why being a male somehow places you in a different class that the rest of us subservient creatures puzzles me.

A great lady once said......

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent"........ Eleanor Roosevelt

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

" I cant stand being seen as inferior to physicians, or handmaidens"

Be careful with broadcasting your assumption that others view you as a "handmaiden." i often find that those who have that perception are merely reflecting their own inner insecurities and fears.

Even if your perception is accurate, I could care less what others think of my "standing" in the medical community. I know what I and millions of other nurses manage to accomplish every day under very challenging circumstances. To paraphrase Esme's Eleanor Roosevelt quote (above): No one can make me feel inferior without my permission.

I do wonder how much research you put into choosing your career?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I don't know where you live or what you do but whenever I tell someone I'm a nurse I always get complimented and appreciated. My grandma always tells me how proud she is.

Handmaiden? If anything you are the eyes and ears for your patients and the mds listen to your assessments when they guide their care too!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

If the OP feels inferior then that is a problem within himself, not the fault of the nursing profession. He mentions prestige and recognition.If that is what he went into nursing for he has made a big mistake.I have never felt like I was any less important than any other member of the health care team.

As others have pointed out, does he really think that people would get a MSN just to work bedside?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

The handmaiden role is about 20 % of daily tasks. I personally loved it when the call light was for fresh ice water.. an easy one.

It appears you feel demeaned by that aspect of nursing care. You could probably find a position where CNA's did most of that and you charted and passed meds, but it's a cop out. Nursing requires compassion and understanding of ALL the patient's needs.

BTW.. I held an ADN during my floor nursing days. I was well respected by doctors and administration... because I earned it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

if the OP is looking for prestige and titles then choose another profession. You have to earn those in nursing. In my facility there are many male nurses in Director roles (about 50/50 male/female). But they were excellent nurses before getting that job.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I forgot to add to my post #3...........Most definitely Nursing is not for you, bedside or administration.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion