We had this huge discussion at work today, and i thought i'd get your opinions.
The statement was this: "We have to many people becoming nurses for the money. Its not like it used to be, where a nurse chose to be a nurse because they liked helping people. Its all about the money,."
We were talking about the increased patient complaints, and an older nurse stated the above and thats the reason for increased patient complaints.
I'm a fairly new graduate (Dec.'03) and was in the health care field before going back to nursing school. I figured I might as well make the $$, since I had the ability to do the book work and was already "nursing" patients in my old job. I think that nursing creates it's own environment, due to the shortage, overwork, too many shifts in a row, too many weekends, nights, evenings, holidays, missed family events etc. Now that I no longer need to work 7 days a week to make ends meet, I feel pressured to do so anyway because the nurses with rotations "need" their holidays, weekends off etc. They work none, I work them all (weekends).
I just finished a two week stint totalling 110 hours between two casual jobs, and on Friday night, the nurse clerk called to see if I "knew" that I had been pencilled in to work the weekend. I said no, and that they needed to let me know a little sooner than that. The nurse manager has double booked, forgotten to book, asked me 3 times for the same shift and on and on. I'm sick of this already!!!
It's hard to maintain the compassion and empathy that we expect from ourselves when we are worked to death and expected to sacrifice our own wellbeing for others.
Specializes in med/surg, cardiac/tele, critical care.
"It's hard to maintain the compassion and empathy that we expect from ourselves when we are worked to death and expected to sacrifice our own wellbeing for others."
Well said! I've heard many times that nursing is a profession where, "we eat our young." I think a better mantra would be, "The nursing profession eats its own" (If you let it.) Burn-out is not a fictional assessment of experienced nurses, but more than a reality for the highly stressful environment in which we work.
If I did not care about making money, I wouldn't work at all. I would sit at home with my feet propped up. However, I do need to make money. Exactly like people in other fields, I went to college, earned a degree, and I expect to be well compensated. I chose my major based on my interests - not on a calling. If you think I shouldn't be a nurse because of that, well too bad - because I am a nurse and I'm good at what I do. I wasn't expecting to become a millionaire when I chose nursing, but I did (and still do) expect my income to reflect the fact that I have a degree and I expect it to be competitive with that of other professionals, not with that of some high school kid working at McD's.
As for the increase in patient complaints, I believe that reflects the shift in the focus of health care from treating illness to customer service. In the "good old days" of health care, patients were not led to believe that they were at the Burger King and could "have it their way". It was understood that a hospital was a place to get treatment and recover from illness and/or injury and was not a place to get your butt kissed.
I don't think there is any way that I could agree with you more!!
To all those who have mentioned classmates who talk about how much money they are going to make when they are nurses, please consider that they may be in dire straits right now.
Up until I started getting my paychecks in January of this year, we lived on my husband's unemployment checks, as he lost his job that was supporting us while I finished nursing school. For a family of five (six including my stepdaughter) that was tough. We didn't starve, thanks to food stamps; thanks to Medicaid, I didn't have to worry about paying any medical bills, including the prescription for my daughter's anti-seizure meds.
I became an RN in January, and the minute I started receiving my paychecks it was like a switch was flipped. While finishing my degree, I kept the extent of our strained financial situation to myself, but especially towards the end I was thinking "I can't wait until I'm getting paid." If I had voiced my eagerness to start making money to any of my fellow classmates, I may have been wrongly stereotyped as being in it only for the money. I care deeply for my patients, but I'm not going into nursing as charity work either.
My point is you may not know where your fellow nursing classmates are coming from. Even if they aren't financially strapped, it isn't wrong to be eager to make money.
:yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat:
I relate to your post WHOLEHEARTEDLY! I experienced those same things, right down to the husband on unemployment. Even when he did secure employment it was a struggle because the state did not take out any child support from his unemployment checks and they hit him HARD for about three months, which crippled us even further financially. :angryfire I know from my own personal experience that once it neared the end of school and I was job hunting I did verbalize my need for decent money. I did make statements such as "I can't go with that facility because they aren't willing to start me high enough and their raises aren't going to put me where I feel I should be." It has NOTHING to do with being in it just for the money, but I have bills to pay and children to feed. I will be so happy when I get my first check. I CAN'T WAIT to cut up my benefits (food stamp) card!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sure most medical students are tired of being broke and look forward to making some decent money too.
I have never heard a discussion by doctors and student doctors criticizing their peers for the reasons they went into medicine. I sure would like to see nurses stop competing and undercutting each other and become more like docs in their treatment of one another.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I'm sure most medical students are tired of being broke and look forward to making some decent money too.
I have never heard a discussion by doctors and student doctors criticizing their peers for the reasons they went into medicine. I sure would like to see nurses stop competing and undercutting each other and become more like docs in their treatment of one another.
thank you!!!! why should those of us seeking gainful employment be criticized so roundly by "our own"???! that really makes me angry, sorry.
thank you!!!! why should those of us seeking gainful employment be criticized so roundly by "our own"???! that really makes me angry, sorry.
I think it requires so much schooling to become a MD, that they have more respect for each other. They are also more respected than a simple ol' "Nurse".
You dont see many people go to med school after a divorce or losing their job. The fact it only takes 2 years to get your RN and make some good money brings in a lot of people to our position. Also the job security helps out. Its ok to do something for the money, but it does hurt our profession in many aspects, by giving the nurses who care a bad name. You can tell a lot of the times whose in nursing because they want to, and whose in nursing because they have to. Now I know everyone has to pay the bills and so forth........But you can tell......No matter the argument, you can tell for the most part whose in nursing for the right reasons.
I agree...I think some people become nurses for the money and do not realize what the profession truly entails. They don't have compassion or patience, so they don't put care into their nursing.
We had this huge discussion at work today, and i thought i'd get your opinions.
The statement was this: "We have to many people becoming nurses for the money. Its not like it used to be, where a nurse chose to be a nurse because they liked helping people. Its all about the money,."
We were talking about the increased patient complaints, and an older nurse stated the above and thats the reason for increased patient complaints.
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
I can't understand how anybody could stay in nursing if they were in it only for the money. I think it's way too much work and stress - and you can make money elsewhere. There are so many things wrong with nursing, that if I didn't have a true belief in the profession, and real caring towards my patients, I wouldn't do it. But, then again, someone who doesn't care might not feel the stress of having someone's life in their hands, or their responsibility to the patient. The paycheck isn't what makes me want to go to work everyday!
Paychecks aren't what make me "want" to go to work but they are, in fact, the reason that I do go to work. If I were able to live off of my caring nature, or support my children and send them to college, then I would. In reality, I can't. I must work in order to take care of my responsibilities. I might as well be trained to work in a field that pays me well and feeds my desire to care for people. That is why I'm going to school to obtain my ASN.
For the life of me, I will never understand why people think they have the right to judge someone based on the decisions they have made to better their lot in life. Frankly, it's not anyone's business. If they are not doing their jobs correctly, then they can't really care about the money either because they would do whatever is necessary to protect it. I know that I hate my current position, (not nursing) but my boss would never know that because I need the income it provides. I perform my job with a high level of professionalism and have been given a few awards and countless nominations for other awards.
I remember hearing somewhere, maybe Oprah, that the way to success is to find something you love and get paid for doing it. I love people. I have since I was a young girl volunteering at the senior citizens home and later as a little league cheerleading coach. Now, I am an adult with adult-sized responsibilities. I have chosen my path because of the pay and the ability to care for my patients. Sue me. I thought we had grown out of the us vs. them stuff when we left high school. Too sad to see that is not the case.
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
Paychecks aren't what make me "want" to go to work but they are, in fact, the reason that I do go to work. If I were able to live off of my caring nature, or support my children and send them to college, then I would. In reality, I can't. I must work in order to take care of my responsibilities. I might as well be trained to work in a field that pays me well and feeds my desire to care for people. That is why I'm going to school to obtain my ASN.
For the life of me, I will never understand why people think they have the right to judge someone based on the decisions they have made to better their lot in life. Frankly, it's not anyone's business. If they are not doing their jobs correctly, then they can't really care about the money either because they would do whatever is necessary to protect it. I know that I hate my current position, (not nursing) but my boss would never know that because I need the income it provides. I perform my job with a high level of professionalism and have been given a few awards and countless nominations for other awards.
I remember hearing somewhere, maybe Oprah, that the way to success is to find something you love and get paid for doing it. I love people. I have since I was a young girl volunteering at the senior citizens home and later as a little league cheerleading coach. Now, I am an adult with adult-sized responsibilities. I have chosen my path because of the pay and the ability to care for my patients. Sue me. I thought we had grown out of the us vs. them stuff when we left high school. Too sad to see that is not the case.
If you're upset with me, I'm sorry, I meant no offense to anybody. I don't really care why people choose nursing, as long as they do their jobs well. I was just saying, that if I were looking only for money, I wouldn't choose nursing for myself. I guess I'm just not explaining myself well enough. I think it's just too much work/stress if you don't like the caring aspect of the job. The paycheck isn't enough to keep me going back. I think most of us (myself included) have stated that a secure job market and decent pay scale were one of the reasons we chose nursing.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I think it requires so much schooling to become a MD, that they have more respect for each other. They are also more respected than a simple ol' "Nurse".
You dont see many people go to med school after a divorce or losing their job. The fact it only takes 2 years to get your RN and make some good money brings in a lot of people to our position. Also the job security helps out. Its ok to do something for the money, but it does hurt our profession in many aspects, by giving the nurses who care a bad name. You can tell a lot of the times whose in nursing because they want to, and whose in nursing because they have to. Now I know everyone has to pay the bills and so forth........But you can tell......No matter the argument, you can tell for the most part whose in nursing for the right reasons.
nurseinlimbo
262 Posts
I'm a fairly new graduate (Dec.'03) and was in the health care field before going back to nursing school. I figured I might as well make the $$, since I had the ability to do the book work and was already "nursing" patients in my old job. I think that nursing creates it's own environment, due to the shortage, overwork, too many shifts in a row, too many weekends, nights, evenings, holidays, missed family events etc. Now that I no longer need to work 7 days a week to make ends meet, I feel pressured to do so anyway because the nurses with rotations "need" their holidays, weekends off etc. They work none, I work them all (weekends).
I just finished a two week stint totalling 110 hours between two casual jobs, and on Friday night, the nurse clerk called to see if I "knew" that I had been pencilled in to work the weekend. I said no, and that they needed to let me know a little sooner than that. The nurse manager has double booked, forgotten to book, asked me 3 times for the same shift and on and on. I'm sick of this already!!!
It's hard to maintain the compassion and empathy that we expect from ourselves when we are worked to death and expected to sacrifice our own wellbeing for others.