new twist on the old "would you encourage your daughter to be a nurse" question

Nurses General Nursing

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My daughter is 29, works in IT at a very good job I might add. We were cleaning her stuff out of her room. She and her hubby have had there own home for over year now but you know how it takes a while to get completely moved out. Anyway, somehow the conversation came around to her friends. There were 6 of them that got their BSN the same year she graduated from college(95). Only one of them works in anything that remotely resembles healthcare and she works part time. We were joking that the real answer to that question is, "what difference does it make whether I did or did not, the truth is that she is not and would not be working as a nurse now". After we got done talking about it I went, "hmmm, I should post about that".

Hi Zee, never to soon to think about college, especially when you got triplets. I know several people who graduated in '95. They all tell the same story as you. If they decided to stay in the business they really struggled for several years. On the bright side nowdays they are all terrific nurses with broad experience in several disciplines. I can't really blame the ones that sought retraining, the job market looked so bleak at the time, it did not look like there would be any change for years and years. The actually situation was that things improved greatly within 2 to 3 years but no one knew that back then.

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I graduated in 93 with a BSN. Couldn't find a job anywhere in the burgh! I continued to work as a CNA for a few months and moved down south where I got a job right away.

As far as encouraging my daughter, she tells me she wants to be a nurse like mommy (she's five) I'm sure she'll change her mind a few times between now and then, but if she doesn't I would back her up. I would just make sure she was well informed as to what she was getting into.

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Hi All,

I just wanted to say that I agree with N2B has said and reiterate her statement.

I graduated College with a BS, not in nursing, back in December of '97. There are very few people that I graduated with that are working in the field that they have a degree in. That is if they were lucky enough to find a job at all. And the few that are in their chosen field aren't that happy doing what they are doing and their jobs really aren't that great, don't pay much, can't move up, etc.

And I know that women these days have a lot more career choices but there is still a lot of underlying resentment and bias towards women in once male dominated professions. At least that is what I have found in Pittsburgh. God help you if you are a minority too.

Col

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PS, I know some things can be misconstrued and I just wanted to add that what I meant about my last statement about being a minority is that my husband is a minority so maybe I'm a little more sensitive to it but there are very few minorities that have key positions in business' here in Pittsburgh. In fact, there are very few minorities at all. My husband had an opportunity to do consulting work for another company other than the one he is currently working for. I think he was out in Chicago. He was really impressed and excited to see how many minorities this company had working for them. At his office of about 100 he is the only one. And I can say that the company I currently work for with a staff of about 168 there are none.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency, Infusion.
Originally posted by np2b

. . .but I thought it might also be worth considering that very few of us really know what we want to be when we grow up while we're in college.

My daughter who is a high school senior received her acceptance letter to a nursing school just last week.

She has heard me complain about nursing -- not the job of nursing, but the politics of nursing (I am a 1995 graduate) -- since day one. I was so surprised when she told me she wanted to be a nurse. However, deep down inside I believe she chose nursing because I am and she doesn't really know what she wants to do but felt pressured into choosing something. I will not be surprised if she changes her major while in college. I hope she does, because I really do not want her to be a nurse if the conditions continue as they are. She is so sweet, I am afraid the people in medicine (doctors, managers, administrators) will eat her alive!

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It's true many people get their degree and end up working in some other field entirely. I graduted in 98 w/ my BS in Nursing. I was absolutely passionate about being an RN and helping others. My mom was glad I was going for the BS degree "just in case nursing didn't work out." I thought she was crazy! I knew I had made the right choice by becoming an RN.

But just 4 years later, I am slowly making plans to leave. It's not that I don't like being a nurse. I do. But the environment of healthcare today is unsafe & unhealthy.I don't regret becoming a nurse. I just resent that I am expected to work in such shoddy conditions. There are other careers where I can "help others," work hard and be creative, still get a lunch break, and not have to work overtime every single *&%$#! day. I am so burned out on putting myself last. I do it everyday as a "nurse."

I don't think my education & skills will go to waste. Nurses are awesome & I know my skills will transfer well into many other professions.

Working conditions are so harsh, I would hesitate to encourage someone to be a nurse. I would recommend that they do several job shadows and work in the field 1st, to see what it's really like. True, there are many wonderful opportunities in nursing. But I think many of us had no idea what we were in for.

I never expected that this was where I would end up. But I am taking my wonderful experience in nursing & planning to move on in the next 1-2 years. I will never forget the ecstatic joy I felt when I got my acceptance letter to nursing school, or the time I passed boards, and that 1st job offer! *sigh*

But life's an adventure! I have other passions & I am heading into a whole new career. I know I will have other exciting moments in my future career, even if it's not in nursing...I'll miss it though, I have to admit.

;)

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Great thread and great points made all around. :)

Kona, you are right that education is never wasted and nurses have many transferable skills that are welcome in other professions too. :)

As I look around me at the hospital now, I see most nurses in my area are imports. I guess this is our future as a profession.

I interviewed for a teaching position last week at a local LVN school and they warned me most of my students will be subsidized/sponsored 'imports' and much of my job would involve cultural education.

Thought that was interesting and a strange commentary on our profession's future as well.

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Originally posted by mattsmom81

Great thread and great points made all around. :)

quote

Would you elaborate on this mattsmom81: your definition of 'imports' and how you could tell by 'looking'

quote

Again, I find it VERY difficult to believe that employers are providing 'subsidized/sponsored' assistance to LVN students who are 'imports'. I thought this had been clearly discussed in another thread where no one who responded(foreign RNs) knew of or had heard of any such subsidized or sponsored student financial aid!!!

The only assistance is for VISA assistance or the like, certainly not for a RN or LVN educational assistance. Perhaps these were foreign RNs who were to be working as LVNs?

?????

======================================

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Should I discourage her?

Did you let yourself be discouraged?

I know I didn't. My daughter knows my stories, my friends stories and the stories of her Grandparents.

She wants to be a nurse?

I AM SO PROUD OF HER!!

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I've been gone awhile so guess I missed some of the earlier discussion on imports....sorry if it's been rehashed.

There apparently IS some form of recruitment of students from foreign countries at this particular school; as the director of THIS particular school made general reference to it and that both facilities' AND government assistance are at play here. She did not give details other than what I've posted. The areas of recruitment she made specific reference to in my interview were the African countries and the need for instructors to address cultural/language issues in clinical and classroom instruction.

If I get the job I will be happy to post more details as I learn them. I posted my surprise at hearing this in my interview.....not a blasting of the practice...just surprise and felt it worthy of comment on this thread.

Just curious...as an instructor in Europe are you expected to provide cultural and language education (to those outside your own) as well as nursing/medical education? Perhaps this is universal...I do not know as this is my first instructor interview..

Sorry if I offend......not intended...cultural sensitivities are a big buzzword today but I think we should also be able to comment/discuss without being offended at another's observation TOO easily.

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That thing about people changing jobs and careers reguardless of what field they are in is absolutely true. They also change majors a lot when they are in college. I just think that it a little more freqent in nusing. However, I have no proof of that fact just a gut feeling.

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Would I encourage or discourage her? That's hard to say, if she had her heart set on being a nurse and couldn't see herself doing anything else then I would encourage her. On the other hand, if she was unsure I would encourage her to NOT enter nursing. Let's face it nursing is physically hard, emotionally draining, under paid, and under respected- why would I want this for my child? Nursing is not a career, it's more like a calling- if you have a vocation than you accept nursing and all it's failures, if you do not have a vocation you'll never make it.

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