I'm in my 4th semester of nursing school and have one more to go (graduating in August!!) and I truly have a deep passion for nursing and I am very excited to get out into the field.
However...
I am SO tired of the future "paycheck nurses" in my class. Just to clarify (and this is from an instructor not me) a paycheck nurse is a nurse who really has little to no interest in the field of nursing outside of the job security and pay. You know the kind, probably older, probably doing nursing as a second career, or younger and still thinking "I don't know what I wanna be when I grow up but nurses are paid pretty well so here we go!". My class is pretty large (started around 150 people, now down to about 80) and a good few of the people who just wanted the good pay and a "guaranteed" job were weeded out pretty quickly (usually shortly after they realized nursing school required effort) but unfortunately there are still a few left.
It just really grinds on my nerves when I see them passing (barely passing, more often than not) while people who truly want to be nurses, who would be great nurses, fail. These paycheck nurses in training are pretty open about why they're in nursing school (they're nothing if not honest), but they're negative attitudes in class and clinical is getting pretty old pretty quick.
In class they're the ones on their phones the whole time checking facebook or whatever, and when they do decide to tune in to the lecture they ask questions the instructor just answered and waste everyone's time (thankfully the instructors are starting to call them out on it but still). They're the ones bragging about having not even bought the book or taken it out of the plastic wrapping, but not bragging about their grades. In my school, after the first two semesters attendance isn't mandatory (lectures/powerpoints are recorded and posted online) and you can go hybrid and only come to class for tests, and they tend to be the ones who only come for tests.
In clinical they like to hide, doing the bare minimum patient care and avoiding anything they don't want to do (answering call bells, giving baths, assisting pts to the bathroom, skills, etc.) and when asked to do these things by the clinical instructor they roll their eyes and whine about it the rest of the day. If a fellow student asks for help they look at them like their stupid and spout little gems like "Ew gross, no." or "That's CNA ****" or my personal favorite "I'm an RN student so go find an LPN or CNA or something."
NOTE: Our school really emphasizes, and I firmly believe, that nothing is beneath us at clinical; if someone asks for/needs help then we should help them.
I know the news and everyone likes to talk about nursing be the land of milk and honey, and that kind of representation attracts this kind of person but I can't help but think that if paralegals or electronics technicians or some other associate degree accessible career were paid more than nurses then these people would be sitting in legal or electronics classes instead of medsurg ones.
ALSO: I don't mean to say that every second career nursing student, or older nursing student, or anyone is automatically a paycheck nurse in training. I have several friends that are older/second career who are in nursing school because they want to be nurses, and they are just now having the chance to pursue their dream for whatever reason. I have nothing for respect for anyone going through nursing school for the right reasons, but I have a hard time respecting those who don't respect the profession enough to treat it as anything other than a meal ticket.
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Umm lets all be honest here
Yes let's.
we ... all... love nursing
Um, no... honestly, I do not love nursing. I am thankful to have a good job that is both interesting and very stable... but love it? Nope... I'm a paycheck nurse... they pay me, I come do it... they stop, and so do I.
as nurses- we still get under pay....compared to the amount of physical and mental work we do.
Not in this neck of the woods....
Everyone is good after all.
Not from what I've observed over 50 years of living with other people... some are... and many are not.
♪♫ in my ♥- you don't love your work? do you even least bit like it? Being a nurse comes with character- not everyone's cup of tea and if you don't like it and is just in it for the money.... your work is going to seem like work and that is it. My work- I enjoy it so its not work to me. It's a part of my life that I enjoy among many other things.
I cannot sit behind a desk and do paperwork- I am not that kind of gal no matter how much you pay me. I am a social butterfly that likes to take care of others.
Speaking as a 'calling' nurse, one who has genuinely tried to think of something else I could do after having a bad day at work (couldn't think of anything), I really couldn't care less what one's motivation is. If patients are cared for properly and competently, who cares? I've met some dumb-as-dirt, total sweetheart nurses who were 'calling' nurses, and would trust many of the 'paycheck nurses' on here in an instant before the dim sweeties.
And you know, the paycheck nurses who are in your class are just as deserving to be there as anyone. They had the grades to get in, clearly better than others who missed out or got wait-listed or whatever. They pay tuition like everyone. And if they don't cut it from there, either they fail or NCLEX will weed them out. Same process as the 'calling' nurses.
Speaking as a 'calling' nurse one who has genuinely tried to think of something else I could do after having a bad day at work (couldn't think of anything), I really couldn't care less what one's motivation is. If patients are cared for properly and competently, who cares? I've met some dumb-as-dirt, total sweetheart nurses who were 'calling' nurses, and would trust many of the 'paycheck nurses' on here in an instant before the dim sweeties. And you know, the paycheck nurses who are in your class are just as deserving to be there as anyone. They had the grades to get in, clearly better than others who missed out or got wait-listed or whatever. They pay tuition like everyone. And if they don't cut it from there, either they fail or NCLEX will weed them out. Same process as the 'calling' nurses.[/quote']
Lmao @ dim sweeties. My first laugh of the morning. Lol
ALSO: I don't mean to say that every second career nursing student, or older nursing student, or anyone is automatically a paycheck nurse in training. I have several friends that are older/second career who are in nursing school because they want to be nurses, and they are just now having the chance to pursue their dream for whatever reason. I have nothing for respect for anyone going through nursing school for the right reasons, but I have a hard time respecting those who don't respect the profession enough to treat it as anything other than a meal ticket.
IMO, you shouldn't be saying it about ANY older and/or second career student. I'm going to assume you're relatively young, but perhaps old enough to know this is exactly what you want in life, and that is terrific. Good for you. I'm sure you'll make a great nurse, that is if you don't judge and stereotype your patients in the way you do your classmates. I was one of several older students in my graduating class. Not one of us were there because we thought it was easy and secure money. When you got a bit older, you realize nothing worthwhile in life is easy, and no job is secure... so to assume the older students are so stupid and shallow that they'd say, "oh, I'm just going to go be a nurse and have a secure job and future and I don't give a crap about the patients" is insulting. I spent YEARS, literally YEARS getting the courage to become a nurse. I've always loved taking care of people. I think people my age (41, btw, started back at school in my mid-30s) have a pretty good grasp on the world, and the RESPONSIBILITY that nursing is. We also know at this stage in our lives that live is more better doing something you really want to do, not because you have to. Career changers have jobs with money, now they want jobs they will love (thought money HAS to be considered when you have a family to feed!).
You said, "You know the kind, probably older, probably doing nursing as a second career, or younger and still thinking "I don't know what I wanna be when I grow up but nurses are paid pretty well so here we go!"
Well I was definitely the kind of student. Older, always felt like I was barely passing, and oh goodness me, there were books I never even purchased! I graduated with a better than B average and guess what? I worked my butt off in clinical and in my school work. If I didn't buy a book it was because the instructors never used it and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for a book they've never even seen.
You have put yourself on quite a pedestal.. please be careful, as your should already know being the good student that you are, that puts you at risk for falls.
She's been an LPN for 15 years, and decided to "screw around" and get her RN so she can finally get that Unit Coordinator position she's been coveting for 5 years. That's the only reason. And that's directly from her..
It sounds like she may be an annoying person but what is wrong with furthering your education with a specific goal? There is a job she wants that she needs an RN to get.. what is wrong with doing exactly what she's doing? She's been a nurse for 15 years.. she must have been taking good enough care of her patients all this time to still be in the field.
2: The people I'm speaking of have repeatedly used their reasons for being in nursing as an excuse for having bad attitudes and poor work ethics. For example, a girl my age in my class with a bachelor's degree in business constantly whines when given patient care tasks because she "[is] just going to be a unit manager and never really see patients when [she] graduates anyway."
I experienced this attitude with a lot of the 20-somethings in my clinical rotations. Here are some of the things I heard:
"I can't take care of elderly people"
"Old people gross me out"
"I hate sick people"
"Where is the PCA, the patient needs help walking to the bathroom" (I ended up just going in and helping the patient, while she looked for the PCA)
"I hate touching people"
One semester 6 of the people in my clinical group (there were 10 of us) would take a late lunch, and then hide on the top floors for the rest of the shift, literally NEVER returning to their patients after lunch. All 20-somethings.
I've never seen such poor work ethics as I did with some of the 'kids' in my class. The vast majority of the 20-somethings worked hard.. but I had a couple clinical groups that if I were a boss, would have been fired on the spot. If they'd been caught, they'd have failed clinical, I'm sure (no, I didn't turn them in, I was too busy caring for my patients- that is probably another debate altogether).
I'm not trying to be mean, but I was somewhat insulted by your assumptions of older students... and it may just be we need to open our eyes to each other, young students and old..
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