Maybe I'm just old and cynical, but....

Moogie · Feb 23, 2011

Flogging a dead horse...
I wonder is it this way with other professions or just nursing?
Is it because it is a female dominated profession where one has to put another down to make themselves feel good?
Who cares what another's motives are so long as excellent care is provided in a compassionate way?
In a way,we all are actors/actresses- some are just better at it,than others:)

Quadruple kudos, especially for the bolded part.

Mothers do this, too. Lots of press about the so-called "Mommy wars", that is, stay at home moms vs. moms who work and have their kids in day care. You do what's right for your situation. This nurse vs. nurse stuff is tiresome. I really don't understand why we're so divided over the motives of someone entering this profession. Why do we focus on either/or? Why can't someone be motivated by a number of reasons? Why is it considered selfish to ask to be properly compensated for the services we render? No matter how far women have gotten in the workplace, there's always going to be someone questioning their motives. No one scrutinizes persons in male-dominated professions as being motivated by love or money.

Could it be that society just doesn't value nursing because it's "women's work"?

Katie5, I think you are onto something. We fight among ourselves about motives and squander our energies. Think of what we could do if we used those energies toward changing the status quo in nursing.

regularRN · Feb 23, 2011

Way back when in the early 1980s I embarked on my nursing career... not for the money, or the kudos, but because I wanted to make a difference in peoples' lives...

Lately I earn a lot more, but I continue to strive towards making a positive difference in my pts' experience in the hospital, including their family and friends. This can be psychologically exhausting, but ultimately rewarding....

Scrubby · Feb 23, 2011

I wouldn't be doing this for less either.

When I was still making up my mind what career path I wanted, I looked at becoming a veterinary nurse (yes they are nurses in Australia not techs) but when I saw how little they earned compared to us I scrapped that idea.

Anyone who judges someone for their reasons for going into a career seriously needs to get a life. At the end of the day if you do your job well then that's all that matters.

j464335 · Feb 23, 2011

BahHAHA... Everyone who has been a nurse for longer than 6 months knows this funny and true!!:fnypst:

palmsofvictory · Feb 23, 2011

Totally agreed.

People say dumb stuff. A lot. Most of the knuckleheads that boast superior motives are full of crap. Let me hear your peers and your patients say that you'd do it for nothing and THEN i might start to give that thought a snowball's chance in HELLo! Let me observe how you treat kids, animals, and your spouse/SO. If your sweet motives are self-assessed, your usually full of crap/yourself/both. I spent 9 years in the military and 5 as a teacher. People in both careers spit out the same exact stupid lines. And the same folks are the loudest whiners and complainers when they don't as high an annual raise as they expected. Let their bosses say they've got to take a pay cut in order to meet budgets and the riots begin.

gardenstt · Feb 23, 2011

I have heard a lot of people say that too and it does get old and annoying BUT.... I think what some people mean when they say that is that they are more interested in the act of nursing and science and helping others than the salary that comes along with it. I recently witnessed a woman who I don't know talk with my friend about getting into nursing. This woman had tried to get into a dental hygienist program, but didn't get good enough grades.... her goal, she said, was to be a nurse for a plastic surgeon. "That would make GREAT money!" I think THIS is the kind of person that some of us talk negatively about. It's this person who thinks they can probably get into nursing (they most likely don't even know how hard it is to get into a program!!) and it's appealing because of the money FIRST and FOREMOST and all the rest is second.

I can honestly say that I don't think these people get very far with their nursing careers. I also think that most of the people on this board that are practicing nurses aren't this person!

anotherone, BSN, RN · Feb 23, 2011

But I read one more post where people say they aren't into nursing for the money, I am going to scream.
Seriously? Is anyone THAT naive?
NOBODY does work for free, out of the love of their hearts, unless they're independently wealthy and need something to do, giving back to their fellow man and all that.
All these people who are horrified at those who do nursing or doctoring or lawyering or any other profession for the money -- really??? And you personally would do it for free because you love your fellow man so much?
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for helping one's fellow human along their road of suffering and trying to help them as we are able, I've done it for years. But I would not do all the down and dirty work of nursing for someone I didn't personally love or respect for free. And when they say they're not in it for the money, that's what it implies to me, that they'd do it for nothing if they had to.
Anyone with an ounce of sense in their head picks a career that they have interest in AND pays enough to live on!!!!! You don't see lines forming to dig ditches for free. BUT.... a lot of people are taking up technology type jobs - interesting, not dirty and they pay decently.
Maybe I just didn't get enough caffeine this morning, but I read several posts in a couple different threads about how the money didn't mean a thing to them and it makes my brains curdle!! Horse freakin' feathers!!!!!!!!
(And no I'm not in financial difficulties and yes I make decent money).

I do it for the money! I am not ashamed to say that. Why else would I do any job? If i was super wealthy I would not be working any job for fun and would use my money to "give back" if i felt so inclined. I sure as hell wouldn't be working....................

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Feb 23, 2011

I wonder what all these "In nursing for the calling" types would do if they realized 90% of their patients make jokes about them as soon as their shift is over and they leave.

Funny this thread came up actually. I had a pt., an older woman, whose daughter is part of the legal dept. at our hospital. Both are nurses. The pt. was telling me about how they used to have to "cook" the IV pain meds. This of course lead to a lot of chatter about how nursing has changed. Then the daughter added that is changed a lot even since she was bedside. Then the mother chimed in and asked me "Will that student nurse I had the other day be back?"

Now, I'm thinking she liked the student nurse and all the 1:1 and hence was asking if she'd be back. Nah. When I told her I wasn't too familiar with the student's schedules, she followed her question by saying "Oh bother, another day of being bathed in Holy water by God's little gift." lol Then a nice discussion about all the "altruistic" motivations that seem to be attracting people to nursing and how the first year of nursing is basically about having them stomped out.

I've had many incidents where patients tell me someone seems too "Lovey Dovey, not up to the real task".

Trust me, if you have a calling and feel "God's hand is working through me" then by all means follow your heart. Just be careful about mistaking your experience for something that interests your coworkers or your patients.

Old.Timer · Feb 23, 2011

When I say "I don't do it for the money," what I mean is that I, unlike the majority on this thread, do NOT think nursing pays very much. Relative to what most of my friends with similar levels of education make, I don't find the salary offered to nurses to be even remotely comparable. But in spite of that, I like my job, and continue to work at an undervalued and underpaid profession. Therefore, I can say that I do this job because I like it, "I don't do it for the money." In other words, if money was my main motivator, I would definitely have chosen a different career.

Horseshoe, THANK YOU ........my sentiments exactly !!!!!!!!

steelydanfan · Feb 23, 2011

But I read one more post where people say they aren't into nursing for the money, I am going to scream.
Seriously? Is anyone THAT naive?
NOBODY does work for free, out of the love of their hearts, unless they're independently wealthy and need something to do, giving back to their fellow man and all that.
All these people who are horrified at those who do nursing or doctoring or lawyering or any other profession for the money -- really??? And you personally would do it for free because you love your fellow man so much?
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for helping one's fellow human along their road of suffering and trying to help them as we are able, I've done it for years. But I would not do all the down and dirty work of nursing for someone I didn't personally love or respect for free. And when they say they're not in it for the money, that's what it implies to me, that they'd do it for nothing if they had to.
Anyone with an ounce of sense in their head picks a career that they have interest in AND pays enough to live on!!!!! You don't see lines forming to dig ditches for free. BUT.... a lot of people are taking up technology type jobs - interesting, not dirty and they pay decently.
Maybe I just didn't get enough caffeine this morning, but I read several posts in a couple different threads about how the money didn't mean a thing to them and it makes my brains curdle!! Horse freakin' feathers!!!!!!!!
(And no I'm not in financial difficulties and yes I make decent money).

Oh, for heavens sake, we ALL know that HALF of todays nursing students chose the field as a route to a steady paycheck instead of the more 'idealified" motives we would all like them to have.

Trust me, those people will be gone at the first sight of a major lower GI bleed gone bad!

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Feb 23, 2011

I wonder, how is it exactly that nurses are "called"? And if so, does that imply that they don't need to be paid, or will work for a stipend? Not in this day, I'm sure.

Ever see the Bill Cosby stint where he does Noah? God "calls" Noah on some imaginary phone and talks to him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0KHt8xrQkk

"Nursey"

"Yes, who is this. Can't you see I'm busy, I have to memorize the entire nomenclature for the bones of the hand by morning"

"Its GOD"

"Seriously, who is this? Is this a crank call? Am I on Candid Camera? This better not be you messing with me John, I told you I have a headache tonight and I need to study for my A+P class"

"NO. Its GOD. I have a message for you."

"Really? Its not you John wanting to play Twister again? Well what do you want then, I'm busy studying?"

I need you to tell all the other nurses to make room for you, cause they are in the profession for all the wrong reasons and were not chosen like you were by me. Don't worry about your grades now or your med passes once your are nursing. I'm going to give you a magical therapeutic touch that I reserve only for people in it for the right reason. You don't have to know what your are doing like the other nurses."

"You want me to tell all the other nurses to make room for me? I got news for ya pal, I know you are not God now, cause he'd know.............I've been doing that since half way through Intro. to Psych. I figured as soon as I was done with that and English Comp. 101, I'd know all I needed for nursing right there."

[Thunder and Lightning] "I also want you to make sure your patients know they owe me one when you give them their meds. I've been falling a little behind lately"

[Looks up in the sky, fearful at first from the storm, but then smiles ear to ear] "It really is you then, huh? Wow. Well, thanks for the therapeutic touch. Guess I don't have to worry about this A+P stuff. I'm going to John's to play twister. See ya later."

bethann27 · Feb 23, 2011

I strive every day not to judge or stereotype others because it is the reality of human nature to tend to do so, but this is what I do know . . .

You can feel a "calling" to do be a nurse, not want to run @ the first sign of a crisis (i.e the GI bleed mentioned earlier) & at the same time GET PAID WELL TO DO IT!!!

:heartbeat: ):heartbeat That's the beauty of how God works in our lives.):heartbeat