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.
BSNs are arrogent young know-it-alls, who are too big for their britches... Their heads are so filled with useless fluff from their over-rated programs, that they can't tell the difference from a meatus and a panniculus...:chuckle
Did I skip this part? What about managers??? What prompted them to become managers?? More money, better benefits, Mon-Fri, no holidays, etc. Many of them have forgotten what it was like as a staff nurse, have little empahty or support for their staff. Should THEY remain as nurses??? Maybe they should be required to work as staff of some sort so many hours per year to maintain their licenses??? That might just keep them supportive to know what their staff is doing??
Specializes in Trauma acute surgery, surgical ICU, PACU.
Did I skip this part? What about managers??? What prompted them to become managers?? More money, better benefits, Mon-Fri, no holidays, etc. Many of them have forgotten what it was like as a staff nurse, have little empahty or support for their staff. Should THEY remain as nurses??? Maybe they should be required to work as staff of some sort so many hours per year to maintain their licenses??? That might just keep them supportive to know what their staff is doing??
Some of them, I agree, might have those motivations.
I had a meeting once with the VP of nursing for my (large) hospital. My boss's boss's boss!
Anyway, she told me about a management conference she'd been at, where they all had to get into small groups, say their name and why they went into nursing management. A lot of them went into management because they had experienced the effects of BAD managers and learned from it, wanted to make a difference in a positive way. Having seen my new manager and the stress wear her down over the one year she's been in the job, I doubt if she's getting financial reward that makes it that enticing.....
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
Did I skip this part? What about managers??? What prompted them to become managers?? More money, better benefits, Mon-Fri, no holidays, etc. Many of them have forgotten what it was like as a staff nurse, have little empahty or support for their staff. Should THEY remain as nurses??? Maybe they should be required to work as staff of some sort so many hours per year to maintain their licenses??? That might just keep them supportive to know what their staff is doing??
I think that may be true for some, but I agree with pebbles - many go into it these days thinking they are going to make a difference. Unfortunately, I think they find their hands tied and end up looking like the bad guy. Sometimes I find myself thinking "Boy, if I were manager, I would....." end up having to do whatever administration says whether it's the best option or not. It can't be that rewarding to be a puppet.
Hey, I just thought of a pretty good question: Where are all of these bad nurses who shouldn't be nurses? Seriously. I know a few nurses who aren't the greatest co-workers. I know a few who aren't overly quick answering call lights. I know a few who are old and slow, and a few who are young and green. I know quite a few nurses who are exemplary, and some of them are some of the above. By that I mean, some of the strongest nurses I've seen have weaknesses, but I'm hard pressed to think of many who don't have some strengths.
MattsMom, I'm with you. Enough with the "nursier than thou." How about we just accept each other and try to feed and feed on each other's strong suits.
If, as it certainly appears, the vast majority of us agree that caring and making a living are both important, isn't it probable that 99% of our peers feel the same way? I'm not saying this hasn't been a useful thread, but in the end I don't accept the underlying premise. You can't judge another's motives, not least because you can't really even begin to know another's motives.
I've seen nurses I'd have sworn were heartless crying over a patient. I've seen nurses who excel in every way, but who never indulge in such displays of open emotion.
I'm starting my orientation Monday. I'm lucky. The nurses I will be working with already know I'm not lazy, or stupid, or just in it for the money, or a selfless martyr, and I truly can't think of one who will feel happy or vindicated to see me fail.
So I'm just thinking, what if every new nurse walking onto any new floor could do so with those same assurances? What if every experienced nurse who transfered to a new unit could be seen as someone with knowledge, skills, and experience to offer? What if there weren't any "bad seeds" to be "weeded out," but just colleagues to be appreciated and encouraged. What if nursing was, like--I don't know--a profession, maybe? Wouldn't that be cool?
"In it for the money" ..... well yeah I want to get paid for what I'll be doing! So in a way I am getting into it for the money, because I like to be able to eat and have a roof over my head and buy nice things every once in a while. I didn't go into it ONLY because the pay is good though. I have thousands of dollars of student loans that I'll be paying on for many years , definitely not going into it just for the money.
I agree bad seeds would be weeded out if it took 6 years to become a nurse, as for $20-30/hr it would be the only the mother theresa's of the profession who would go through that many years of misery for that wage.
It took me 7 years to finally get my degree, and I'm definitely no Mother Theresa. I wanted it and kept on with it. After all those years I could be a doctor by now! (um, NO thanks!)
OH good grief, here we go with the endless BSN versus ADN argument. Why does this have to enter EVERY controversial nursing thread????
Anyone care to leave the BSN/ADN thing behind and tackle the original idea here?!
Without going into it again: Can you not see why it's insulting to be constantly told that, because I'm a 'technical' nurse, I'm holding back my profession. Especially when nothing could be further from the truth. Even the die-hard pro-BSNs will tell you it's not a peer thing; it's an image thing. But you're still pointing to me and saying that I'm the reason why RN's credibility/respect is awful.
~faith.
I know how you feel. When I first met my spouse, who is a BSN, he would say "Nursing will never get anywhere or any respect until the BSN is the standard...."...."sorry, didn't know I was holding you back...."
Can you also emphasize with the BSN who hears "I don't know why you're getting your BSN, you won't make any more money". "You only have more book knowledge but that isn't really going to help you." "It's not the degree that makes a good nurse" "You know what the BS in BSN stands for..." Sometimes in our defense of the associate degree we throw disrespect right back.
, definitely not going into it just for the money.
Mystery5
475 Posts
You want some excitement, Prickly??? OK.....
BSNs are arrogent young know-it-alls, who are too big for their britches... Their heads are so filled with useless fluff from their over-rated programs, that they can't tell the difference from a meatus and a panniculus...:chuckle
Hows that???
Don't get excited now, just kiddin':chuckle