Nurses, how do you view your job?

Farawyn · Jul 1, 2015

I thought that it was a calling and finding out that it wasn't was very, very rough on me. It's a job and one that I hope to get better at.

I like that you are acknowledging this. You will be okay.

AspiringNurseMW · Jul 1, 2015

Aspiring NMW
Nurse and midwife bleed into one another. I know this as someone who has been both an L&D nurse, a Mom-baby nurse, and a CNM in practice for 10 years. Nursing skills are foundational to midwifery, which builds on the knowledge, skills, values, ethics, ability to communicate, assess, problem-solve, evaluate, and more learned through nursing education and practice at the bedside. Please do not undervalue or discount this, or view nursing education as just something you have to endure to get to the good stuff, being a midwife.
Maybe you did not mean to come across as you did, but I sure hope you do not and will not look down on the RNs you will need to work with and rely on. Maybe the persons who stay RNs don't want to responsibility or crazy hours, are sick of going to school, etc. Maybe they like relating to patients one-to-one in L&D or helping to launch new families on Mom-Baby. It is that often RN who is at the bedside helping that woman through her labor for hours before you come in. Many of them know as much or more than some CNMs, and may some day pull YOUR feet out of a fire. They have a deep understanding of labor, of FHts, and more, so show listen to the, value them, and show them some respect.

Sorry, I think you totally misinterpreted my post. Read into it all wrong. I would actually might have pursued being a CPM if my family weren't so young, but the more I learn about nursing the more I respect it. But in the end, it's not the role I intend to stay in. As a doula and a future Childbirth Educator I'm very much aware how key nurses are in L&D, they practically run everything unless something is wrong or its baby time.

But the way I want to support women and help make change in the end is in the role of a midwife. I hope to eventually establish a homebirth practice or open a birth center. That's where my passion is, so yeah, your comments are understood but not necessary.

Oh'Ello, BSN, RN · Jul 1, 2015

Job. (nothing else to say here but post must be at least 5 characters).

Jensmom7, BSN, RN · Jul 1, 2015

Supernurse, what's your opposition to Dranger referencing another thread that you posted on, about the same topic?

Because she didn't get the responses and kudos she was looking for, she started a new thread.

As far as Nursing being a calling, that's entirely Flo's fault. She had a religious epiphany when she decided to go into Nursing (which gave her parents the flux, because upper class Victorian girls simply did NOT go into Nursing; at the time, most nurses were prostitutes, since people figured they'd seen it all already).

That thinking is part of what has kept Nursing from being truly recognized as a profession. How can one fight for better working conditions, better pay, unionization if they've been "called"? Shame on you for not being a shining beacon of unselfish nurseness, a "Healing Angel", a Super Nurse!

Nursing is a job. We all worked hard for our credentials. It's a frustrating, overwhelming, exhilarating, I-can't-see-myself-doing-anything-else job; sometimes all at once, sometimes every other day.

BSNbeauty, BSN, RN · Jul 1, 2015

Nursing is my ministry. I know very few of you will get where I'm coming from. So no, nursing is more than just a job to me.

noelly10 · Jul 1, 2015

I'm not sure if everyone else has noticed, but OP has taken herself off the site, it seems. It no longer says what her SN is. I feel like every point from here on out is a moot point (correct me if I'm using that wrong), and taking jabs at her when she's withdrawn from it seems slightly pointless. However, some of this info might be, on the same note, a lesson to others who spoke out as she did, or to those wondering this information as well.

Libby1987 · Jul 1, 2015

Yeah I would be depressed if I couldn't work in some form of my capacity. My dad was depressed when he had to retire early, he was a truck driver for 29 yrs and loved the road and truck stops for biscuits and gravy. Not being able to work and having to give up a vocation he liked very much was tough on him for a good year or so. I don't think they're anything wrong with that. I don't think people question say a veterinarian who loves and identifies with their work.

However, I can't say that I'm *saving* lives. Improvingthem yes, minimizing complications definitely but saving lives is a bit of a romantic notion, for me anyway.

It's also never been thankless, I've always felt gratitude. And at my income level, my employer compensates me fairly.

n.igmatic1 · Jul 1, 2015

Every person on this board chose their profession for a reason. Whether it was a calling or out of practicality, that impetus was right for them. The various reasons do not make one right or wrong. I do feel that the pervasive idea that one must have a "calling" to be a nurse may be one of the reasons the profession of nursing is often downplayed if not outright dismissed by hospital administration. We have gone through rigorous training, and are faced with an ever increasing list of duties that we are required to accomplish with sometimes little to no support from management. However one sees nursing personally, it is in fact a Profession, and in my opinion, should be primarily viewed as such. Maybe I should change my screen name to "I'm no saint" Ha! :devil:

canigraduate · Jul 1, 2015

Nursing is not a calling. It is a career choice. For most, it is based on practicality.

I don't think most people know what a calling is. It is not some nebulous concept that means you are passionate about your job.

A calling is something that you cannot help but do, something that you must do no matter what, something that you feel a higher power or inner compulsion is forcing you to do.

Examples are: nun/priest, volunteer, missionary, artist, etc. Think Doctors without Borders, mission trips with your local church, Habitat for Humanity, local soup kitchens, starving artists, out of work actors, entrepreneurs, fledgling authors.

Some nurses, a very small percentage, are actually called to care for people, and nursing is their entire life. The only ones I have known don't get paid for most of it. They work just enough to support themselves so they can do volunteer work with disadvantaged populations.

I hope this helps y'all understand what a true calling is.

SubSippi · Jul 1, 2015

But, if you had a gazillion dollars...?

In that case, I'd come to work once a month. And start working on a new identity.

noelly10 · Jul 1, 2015

Nursing is not a calling. It is a career choice. For most, it is based on practicality.
I don't think most people know what a calling is. It is not some nebulous concept that means you are passionate about your job.
A calling is something that you cannot help but do, something that you must do no matter what, something that you feel a higher power or inner compulsion is forcing you to do.
Examples are: nun/priest, volunteer, missionary, artist, etc. Think Doctors without Borders, mission trips with your local church, Habitat for Humanity, local soup kitchens, starving artists, out of work actors, entrepreneurs, fledgling authors.
Some nurses, a very small percentage, are actually called to care for people, and nursing is their entire life. The only ones I have known don't get paid for most of it. They work just enough to support themselves so they can do volunteer work with disadvantaged populations.
I hope this helps y'all understand what a true calling is.

Great explanation. Couldn't have said it better myself.

canigraduate · Jul 1, 2015

If I had a gazillion dollars, I wouldn't be a nurse. I would be a volunteer helping the elderly and homeless pets. So, I am definitely not "called." I do like nursing as a career, but I wouldn't do it for free.

I guess that's the most telling attribute, OP. Would you be a nurse for free?