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.
But this is a trick that Administrators use to JUSTIFY paying you less: you don't want more money, you're in it for the caring.
I'm in it for the money.
The neat thing is that has no bearing on my ability to care.
~faith,
Timothy.
I certainly agree with that also. However there are also a large amount of nurses that do allow their love for the money to interfere with the aspect of us being nurses because we love to care for others. Thats why I am glad that this is such a vast field that when you become burned out in a particular area you can just get into another and provide care in another venue. My comment specifically refered to people who are just starting out in this field. I was trying to say that if you start out on the right pretense you will stay in it for the right ones also, no matter what type or aspect of the field you go into. I also want to get paid, but I have worked in this field many years and I definately think it is fair to get paid fairly especially if you bring experience to the field however just like you this has no bearing on my ability to care that will always come first.
I tutored freshmen nursing students this past year, and I had one student who I have concerns about. She made straight A's, but was extremely ticked off that "They" expected someone with a Masters in Business, with "Her Level of Education" to clean "these dirty, smelly people" ("Don't they have people hired to do that?")-she hated all of the basic nursing care-I mean I understand that we all are not excited about bed baths, rear-end wiping, and cleaning up vomitus, but she was beyond that, she cried everyday after clinicals because of how "humiliated" she was by doing total care. It didn't get any better 2nd semester even when she was doing more meds and complex care; she only wants to do the "cool" stuff on "nice" patients. Clinicals are pass/fail ,and you have to really, really screw up to fail, and since she is a straight a diadatic student, she passes.
I tried having discussions with her about working through it, it'll get better, brainstorming about how to cope, etc. But to no avail, she likes the thought of being a nurse-that mythical status of a caring angel-but the down and dirty part of it, she can't handle. The last time I tutored her, I opened a dialog up about being a non-clinical nurse...
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
But what is the value of a non-clinical nurse w/o clinical experience? Maybe research? I don't know. I just think if you want to be a nurse, you better be prepared to take the good with the bad. I don't want someone like her sitting on some committee somewhere making up things for me to do w/o any "in the trenches" experience. Why does she even continue??????
But what is the value of a non-clinical nurse w/o clinical experience? Maybe research? I don't know. I just think if you want to be a nurse, you better be prepared to take the good with the bad. I don't want someone like her sitting on some committee somewhere making up things for me to do w/o any "in the trenches" experience. Why does she even continue??????
That was my thought. Seeing where she is a freshman, I bet she'll be out of there before long...she'll soon get her fill of those "dirty, smelly people."
I tutored freshmen nursing students this past year, and I had one student who I have concerns about. She made straight A's, but was extremely ticked off that "They" expected someone with a Masters in Business, with "Her Level of Education" to clean "these dirty, smelly people" ("Don't they have people hired to do that?")-she hated all of the basic nursing care-I mean I understand that we all are not excited about bed baths, rear-end wiping, and cleaning up vomitus, but she was beyond that, she cried everyday after clinicals because of how "humiliated" she was by doing total care. It didn't get any better 2nd semester even when she was doing more meds and complex care; she only wants to do the "cool" stuff on "nice" patients. Clinicals are pass/fail ,and you have to really, really screw up to fail, and since she is a straight a diadatic student, she passes.
I tried having discussions with her about working through it, it'll get better, brainstorming about how to cope, etc. But to no avail, she likes the thought of being a nurse-that mythical status of a caring angel-but the down and dirty part of it, she can't handle. The last time I tutored her, I opened a dialog up about being a non-clinical nurse...
That kind of reminds me of my friend that's going to medical school. She took the CNA course with me. I thought it was odd that she was taking the CNA course if she was going to med school, but she made a darn good CNA student and I'm sure she'll make a darn good doctor now. She has no problem whatsoever being the one to volunteer to clean up patients. She's really got a heart of gold.
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
That kind of reminds me of my friend that's going to medical school. She took the CNA course with me. I thought it was odd that she was taking the CNA course if she was going to med school, but she made a darn good CNA student and I'm sure she'll make a darn good doctor now. She has no problem whatsoever being the one to volunteer to clean up patients. She's really got a heart of gold.
This reminds me of a doctor I knew. I was in a pt's room getting her straightened up in bed and he walked in on rounds. Her feet were practically off the end of the bed. I said "let me get someone to help me pull her up so you can check her out" He said, "I can do it!" So he skillfully grabbed the draw sheet in just the right place, counted to 3 and we pulled her up. I was so astounded - I had never had a doctor do that before. I said something stupid like "Wow, where'd you learn to do that?" He said he was a CNA during med school, "and a darn good one, too!". He was always the coolest doc to work with.
i feel that a lot of the caring has gone from the delivery of the service. the advanced knowledge required from a technical point of view has possibly incringed on the nurses time. paperwork/computer reports take up a lot of time. nurses are often asked to perform more & more clerical type duties such as data collection.
but i also feel that there a a good few ambitious types who work their way into management positions and lack compassion, especially for their nursing colleagues. i have been nursing for 41 years & have noticed the lack of comradeship from managers these days compared to the nursing managers of old. of course there were some dragons but generally they usually had considerable experience in the field & weren't driven solely by budget/bonus motivation.
I am an instructor of patient care technicians. Although this is at the lowest level, this is the level that they need to learn the true appreciation for nursing. It is also the time when as an instructor you can really tell who is in it for the right reasons. I feel this problem of having the wrong nurses in the field come from the fact that we don't have the type of instructors in this field that we use to. In the nursing school I attended, there was an instructor that would weed out the students that she perceived as not being "Nursing material" She was usually right. She would call these students in her office and you would not see them again. Too much power you say? If she was wrong what this experience would do for these students is make them work so hard to prove her wrong that if they wasn't nursing material before they certainly became nursing material. Those teachers years ago were tough. I was taught that if you wanted to really make a good impression with a prospective employer you DIDN'T bring up money. You were a nurse and you most definately was not in it for the money. What they instructors looked for in the students was the same pasion that brought them into this field and that was caring.
Well, I am certaintly glad that nurse instructor is long gone. What gave her the right to destroy someone dream who was applying themselves, JUST because she maybe thought they wouldn't make a good nurse. How many futures did she destroy because she didnt like the way the person look. I believe that nursing school is hard enough with the sacrifices that are made and the book work and clinicals. Most people who go to nursing school and are not serious about nursing usually make that decision at some point between nursing school and the 1st year of employment. I believe that the people who do go into it for money have as much right to be there as the person who chose nursing because they feel they have a calling. They both pass the NCLEX.
But what is the value of a non-clinical nurse w/o clinical experience? Maybe research? I don't know. I just think if you want to be a nurse, you better be prepared to take the good with the bad. I don't want someone like her sitting on some committee somewhere making up things for me to do w/o any "in the trenches" experience. Why does she even continue??????
I was thinking research for her-her husband is a research pharmacist-so I was trying to get her to think about her career in general-did she even want to be a nurse at all-that kind of thing-But she's very into being a nurse in name if not in act-she already owns t-shirts,bags, etc etc proclaiming "Nurse" or "Nursing is..."-so who knows?I agree with you completely about lack of "in the trenches" experience.
I was a CST in a L&D for 14 years, the nurse manager was a diploma nurse who had little or no actual "real" experience. She'd do things like design the new OR rooms with the supply cabinets behind where the sterile field would be-the circulator would have to walk through the sterile area to get supplies-why did the NM do this? Because the room "looked nicer" that way..... :angryfire
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.
So, what do you think.
I do think a lot of people are going into nursing because of the money ... But I don't think it's exclusive to one generation over another.
A study by Buerhaus, et. al. found that 130,000 nurses ages 54-65 came back to work in 2001-2003. Presumbly these were the same older nurses who supposedly became RNs because they liked helping people ... not because of the money.
Lots of people like to say that these nurses left the profession because of lousy working conditions. So ... did working conditions suddenly improve? Not likely. The most likely reason they came back was because they needed the money.
The report points out that the recession occurred during this same time period. And the highest number of RN's returning to work also lived in states with the highest unemployment rates. In many cases their spouses were probably laid off.
Also during the recession (and, unlike other professions) RN salaries actually started increasing at a rate higher than inflation for the first time in decades ... Mostly because of the shortage driving up wages.
So ... in light of this data ... it's a good bet that even older RN's are in it for the money ... at least to some extent.
Also they teach it to us (BSNs) in school. I'm being dead serious. We have a class "issues in professional nursing", and a good hour of the first lecture was about some morbidity and mortality study by a researcher named Aiken that "proved" a higher M&M rate when the primary nurse in a pts care was ADN as opposed to BSN. And on, and on. I think she told us we smell better too, but I might have tuned out by then.
So I got to spend my lunch hour disabusing my friends of those silly notions, and being glad for the time I've spent on these forums so I didn't fall for it too.
The first course in my RN to BSN course, the book and the school took the position of the ANA that the entry level for RN should be the BSN and went into a lot of reasons, mainly because of the definition of a "profression". But at least they didn't bring up that warped study, that has yet to be duplicated. :)
I was thinking research for her-her husband is a research pharmacist-so I was trying to get her to think about her career in general-did she even want to be a nurse at all-that kind of thing-But she's very into being a nurse in name if not in act-she already owns t-shirts,bags, etc etc proclaiming "Nurse" or "Nursing is..."-so who knows?I agree with you completely about lack of "in the trenches" experience.
I was a CST in a L&D for 14 years, the nurse manager was a diploma nurse who had little or no actual "real" experience. She'd do things like design the new OR rooms with the supply cabinets behind where the sterile field would be-the circulator would have to walk through the sterile area to get supplies-why did the NM do this? Because the room "looked nicer" that way..... :angryfire
It's funny that you mention this. At first my clinical instructor also suggested that I look into research. Why? Because when she first asked me why I wanted to be a nurse ... I was honest about the fact that I needed a steady job and the money.
It kinda freaked her out, I think. Then, she saw how I took care of patients. I had no problems changing colostomy bags, multiple incidents of diarrhea, vomit etc. I took a CNA course before I got into nursing school and currently work as a CNA. And, she ended up giving me excellent grades and recommendations in clinicals.
Still ... just the other day she said she still couldn't figure out why I worked so hard to take good care of the patients if I was only in it for the money. Apparently most students who are in it for the money aren't willing to get their hands dirty ...
The answer is: 1) I have a conscience 2) I can't stand doing a lousy job ... it just doesn't feel right and ... 3) I've actually come to love the patients.
Am I still in it for the money? Yes. Does that mean that any patient of mine going to be dirty or unattended or endangered on my watch? Hell no.
cynthiajn1
4 Posts