Nurses, how do you view your job?

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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?

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

I have a feeling the OP is no longer with us. But, I agree with you. I, for sure, would not be a nurse for free. If I had a gazillion dollars, I definitely would rather do volunteer work.

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If I had a gazillion dollars I would want to do some charitable work, not in the worst of conditions but for people who would otherwise not get the care if not for volunteers. I would love to do wound care. With my gazillion dollars I would bring the supplies with me :-)

ETA I had years off with disposable income and hobbies of my choosing. I was always restless until I went back to work and found purpose in my country home health role.

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
But, if you had a gazillion dollars...?

I'd probably still do something in the health field, I'd love to do some time for a place called Freeset in India

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

It's going to be different for just about everyone you ask. 100 nurses = 100 different answers.

I love my job. I don't know how to be anything but a nurse, and I think I'm good at it. I enjoy my coworkers, most of the doctors, and about 99.9% of my patients. My manager is great. And my work schedule can't be beat for a girl who's in grad school full time.

But I don't do it for free and if I won the powerball tomorrow I'd quit, travel the world, then come home to my ecofriendly cabin out in the middle of nowhere with a big library, a big backyard, and raise honeybees or something. So for me, it's a little of both.

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Specializes in Adolescent and Adult Psychiatry.

I am an adolescent psychiatric RN and I definitely don't view it as "just a job". Mental health and mental health advocacy are passions of mine, so I view coming to work each day as doing my part to help a bigger cause. I know that when I'm talking with my patients that I could potentially have a huge impact on whether or not they continue to cycle through mental health hospitals for the rest of their lives. I also feel honored when they choose to open up to me about issues that are difficult for them. However, this question is definitely subjective and I am sure that if you asked it in relation to any career that you'd get an array of answers. Regardless of how any other care providers answer on this site, it's still great that we are all helping people in one way or another. :)

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That's interesting. What happens if you're out grocery shopping and someone collapses? Or if you're out to eat and someone is choking? Will you be a nurse then, or is the badge still off?

Absolutely no snark intended- genuinely curious

And what would you do if you *weren't* a nurse? Just say "oh, well" and walk on past the collapsed/choking person? The Heimlich Maneuver or CPR hardly require a nursing background.

It's not as though nursing entails some sort of 24/7 life-saving burden that is our cross to bear, even off duty. That's being a little melodramatic.

Being a nurse is a job. Considering it a lifestyle is going too far.

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Specializes in Adolescent and Adult Psychiatry.
And what would you do if you *weren't* a nurse? Just say "oh, well" and walk on past the collapsed/choking person? The Heimlich Maneuver or CPR hardly require a nursing background.

It's not as though nursing entails some sort of 24/7 life-saving burden that is our cross to bear, even off duty. That's being a little melodramatic.

Being a nurse is a job. Considering it a lifestyle is going too far.

I wouldn't call it a burden, but I think there is a certain sort of duty that falls in line as a human being who happens to be thoroughly trained in healthcare and emergency situations. I can say I've been in a number of situations where a medical emergency occurred (ATV accident, physical altercation leading to broken bones, baseball game- unconscious victim) and those without our background panicked and I was able to step in. I honestly almost considered mentioning it as a lifestyle in my original post, so, in my opinion, I think it could be appropriate.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
It's not as though nursing entails some sort of 24/7 life-saving burden that is our cross to bear, even off duty.
Speaking of crosses to bear, some nurses truly need to get off the cross. After all, we desperately need the wood.
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I wouldn't call it a burden, but I think there is a certain sort of duty that falls in line as a human being who happens to be thoroughly trained in healthcare and emergency situations. I can say I've been in a number of situations where a medical emergency occurred (ATV accident, physical altercation leading to broken bones, baseball game- unconscious victim) and those without our background panicked and I was able to step in. I honestly almost considered mentioning it as a lifestyle in my original post, so, in my opinion, I think it could be appropriate.

I'll agree that one has the duty to reasonably provide help in a first aid sort of situation if the need arises, who could argue with that? But some nurses here truly do seem to act like nursing is some sort of sacred burden, in the "martyr" sense of the word.

And I don't really understand how nursing could be a lifestyle. How do you consider it a lifestyle?

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I don't care how many times Commuter says this. I will always "like" it as it always rings true for me.

For me, nursing is just a job and a means to an end, although I have not yet figured out what the end shall be. Time will furnish the answer.

I'm not the type of person who achieves validation through being needed by patients. I do not view nursing as a higher calling or majestic avocation. I do not feel the sense of honor that some other nurses feel when they've been invited into the most intimate aspects of patients' lives.

As someone who grew up on the lower end of the economic rung, I entered nursing for practical reasons: career mobility, middle income, and opportunities for advancement.

However, I must add that I was always more satisfied as a CNA than I am as a nurse. That's my quirk, I guess. I sometimes feel I sold my soul to the devil for a better paycheck, but it was what I needed to do.

Being a nurse lets me work part time and get paid what I would have made as an aide working full time... and I can work part time and still have health insurance.

I do not think of my job as a career. I have no desire to climb the ladder. I like to be Robin-- not Batman.

I hate inservices, paperwork, phones, being in charge and coordinating things... but I do it because that's what you get. I may not be crazy about some parts of being a nurse, but I still strive to learn what I can and do the best I can because that's what you do when you have a job, no matter what it is, because... ya know... pride and stuff :up:

No calling here.

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I think you could ask, "what does just a job" mean and we would get varied answers as well.

Anywhere from working just for the check to leaving nothing on the field while not emotionally bringing it home.

Even though I would have no reaction to say an auditor saying they're there just for the paycheck I would cringe a bit to hear a hospice nurse say the same thing.

But on the other hand a hospice nurse could be there only to maintain their personal lifestyle and take zero home with them while still providing personalized compassionate service, it just sounds offputting.

Personally I'd like to think someone like a hospice nurse, or as another poster who works with adolescent mental health patients, wouldn't drop their job like a hot potato given the chance, but I don't really know if it makes a difference in the nuances of their work.

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In the end, it's just a job to me. It's a job that requires more than any other job, because with no other job are you required to care for another person's well-being. But at the end of the day, when I go home, it's just another job. I don't take work home with me, unless something went wrong, because of me or inspite of me. Such as a bad patient outcome, a stupid mistake I made, or dealings with jerk doctors. That I end up thinking about while in bed. But most days I leave work at work and manage to sleep well.

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