Nurses, how do you view your job?

[8*P23J]

I recently had a discussion with someone who views nursing as "just a job". But I feel it's more than that. They are using the fact that I am a new nurse against me and saying that basically I will eventually say it's " just a job". I never want to have that mentality though. I know that you get caregiver strain here and there and its hard work. But never could I picture saving lives as "just a job". Thoughts?

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

I don't even start my BSN program till September, however I do consider nursing to be my passion. When at my orientation I noticed a clear difference between the students who were there because it will lead to a good job and those who were there because it's their passion. Now, I'm not saying it will make any difference in performance, but it was indeed noticeable.

And yes, if I won a gazillion dollars I would still start school in two months. It would suck, but I would still have two months out of the year to travel, and much nicer sweatpants to study in .

That being said I wouldn't "work" for free ever. But I would want to volunteer as a nurse overseas often (when not drinking my way through France or eating my way through Spain...) and possibly work as a casual nurse when I've settled somewhere (so that I still had the flexibility and freedom to travel often). But then I'd also want to continue my education and probably try to work for the UN or something. Meh, who knows. I do know that nursing is always in my dreams though.

You should note that the thread is addressed to nurses that have held a job as a nurse.

A COMPLETELY different perspective from a soon to be student.

Get back to us when you have survived nursing school and worked for a year . Let us know where that DREAM and passion have landed.

[naptimeRN]

Good lord. You aren't doing yourself any favors posting this thread, OP.

I am a new grad. Young. I came into nursing for practical reasons...helping people is just a bonus. Yes, nursing is "just a job." Work is called work for a reason.

I deal with a very rough patient population. The vast majority are extremely rude, entitled and noncompliant clients who treat the nursing staff like crap. Just the other day, I broke down in tears because out of the five patients I was caring for, four of them were complete nasty, malicious jerks. Even my preceptors agreed that this assignment was unusually ridiculous.

But then I asked myself, why am I here? Surely not to be some butthead's punching bag. As my grandmother always says, "you don't have to take them home with you." You know what is a great motivator? Having financial stability. Great health insurance. A pension. Other fantastic benefits. The ability to help my single mother with her bills and mortgage and to help my special needs brother. To be able to live comfortably and live without deprivation.

Seeing nursing for what it is has helped me survive a brutal unit...not the intangible. If I wanted to help someone, there are many avenues besides nursing. Why aren't doctors shaming each other into being martyrs? Why is this calling only tied to nurses?

A nurse must be competent and safe. While it is nice to care, altruism in this profession is a guaranteed one-way ticket to burn out town. If I only came to be a martyr, I would have quit my job last week.

Nurses are professionals, not saints. The sooner you learn now, the better.

Good lord, amen. Could not have said it any better myself👍

[noelly10]

You should note that the thread is addressed to nurses that have held a job as a nurse.

A COMPLETELY different perspective from a soon to be student.

Get back to us when you have survived nursing school and worked for a year . Let us know where that DREAM and passion have landed.

I was just about to say the same thing. Glad I read the rest of the comments before I repeated something already said.

[naptimeRN]

Nursing is a calling...from my landlord!

Nursing is what I do a few nights a week, not who I am. Nursing is a nominal part of my story. In fact, my side gig as a freelance makeup artist at a cosmetics counter is way more integral to my identity than nursing is. I have many interests and relationships that encompass who I am. Nursing? Na. When I am off duty, any thoughts of patients are fleeting and infrequent. Flo, you can keep the lamp..I just want my paycheck.

It's just a job.

Exactly. Right on point. I'm happy to be reading some of these posts and see I'm not the only one who has always thought this way. I remember in nursing school I would silently sit there wondering if I was a horrible human being because they continuously drilled the whole "nursing is a calling" crap into your head while I sat there feeling a lot less saintly and a lot more realistic.

I go to my job and I perform my job to the best of my abilities. I'm not a saint. I'm not an angel healer walking around in society with birds singing on my shoulders. I'm an employee just doing my job like everybody else.

[Hygiene Queen]

Because we all stood up and introduced ourselves and said why we had chosen nursing. I found those that weren't necessarily passionate about it showed in other aspects; they weren't typically showing excitement for the orientation, often weren't dressed up and most seemed to be treating it like another errand in their day.

Now like I said before, this means nothing as to what kind of a nurse they will be, just that I noticed a difference.

I had an old stern nurse as my CNA instructor (oh, soooo long long ago) who asked us gals why we wanted to be CNA's. She cast a mean eye across her audience and said, "And don't give me any highfalutin answers!"

I don't think she wanted to hear about any calling or romantic thoughts of martyrdom, either.

I'm not really sure how you think a room full of adults should act during an orientation. Should they have been squealing with delight and gushing full-on about all the wonderous good they will be doing in the world?

You say "it means nothing as to what kind of nurse they will be", but then what is your point of making the observation? The power of observation is a fine thing in a nurse... passing judgement probably isn't.

[meowmeowchirp, BSN]

I'm sorry, I did preface by saying I am only a to be student, I just figured anyone who wasn't interested in that kind of opinion would ignore it. I still am interested in it as more than a job and would still pursue the education if I won the lottery. Which was honestly the side topic that I was responding to anyways...wasn't intending to add anything to the OP.

I also never said nor implied that anyone gushed about it or anything, but that people were either in it for the money or stability or whatever OR had some sort of a passion for it. One girl spent six months in the ICU after a sky diving accident and was moved by her kind nurses and wanted to help others like they had helped her. I spent all of high school working alongside public health nurses and a handful of fellow students teaching sex ed and developing the sexual health curriculum from year to year, which is where I realized I was passionate about health care and education.

Passionate does not equal martyrdom or "calling". I just do love my experience with it so much that if it could be one of my hobbies it would. And yes, I am well aware that my experience is next to nil and I may change my mind over time, but this is how I feel going into it.

I don't mean for my small observation to bother anyone. I didn't try to present it as scientific or anything haha. Just something I noticed in my tiny to be class.

And BellaCat, yes, perhaps. But it was at 9 in the morning and I'm talking about people in jean shorts and spaghetti strap tank tops. Not the way I would dress for anything (but the beach) however that being said there are no rules as to how one should approach their orientation, so I'm not passing judgement on any of them. I just thought it was interesting to see how different we all were and how different our reasonings and approaches were and how there seemed to be ... patterns? I guess. Keep in mind I'm noting this anonymously to strangers on the internet, I wouldn't say this to any of my fellow peers because I wouldn't want to risk having them misinterpret it.

However I don't have the experience necessarily for this thread anyways, so I shall bow out.:)

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

was never a calling to me. I needed a job. that was gainful employment in my area.

That said, I try to do the right thing. I try to do my best. I try to put my self in the other's shoes.

And because of that , it is burning me out. Such a conflict.

I only wish it were "just a job" . Then I wouldn't care, just like most of the people I work with.

[littlepeopleRNICU]

I'm glad I don't feel that I do nursing because it's "just a job". It would've been a miserable 5 years for me if so.

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

I do not have to work. I work because I love what I do. :) Period.