Nurses Who Shouldn't be Nurses

Jen2 · Jun 1, 2005

Hell, if money was so important to me i could become an exotic dancer. Dont they make really good money? ha

I thought about this, but after the fifteen pounds I gained in nursing school, I really don't think the pole would support my hind end. Althoug I did graduate with an exotic dancer and guess what? She has no student loans to pay back for the next 20 years like I do.

smk1, LPN · Jun 1, 2005

I think there is nothing wrong with wanting a good or even high-paying job. There are many, many people who are not primarily motivated by "caring" or wanting to "help people" although that might be considered for them a secondary benefit to being a nurse. For instance, the line of thinking might be: "I want to be a nurse because it is a (relatively) well-paying, stable career with lots of opportunities for professional advancement and the chance to make good money. And as an added benefit, I would be helping people." I see nothing wrong with that.

thanks sharon for posting this! I am currently a student and this is exactly how i feel. I'm sorry but the primary reason ANY of us are at any given job is money. We want and we need it. If I could just be an heiress then i would not be going into any career. I do enjoy helping people, science, physiology and so when choosing a career these things came to mind. Also why would I spend 4 yrs of my life and student loans and such to pay for a useless degree? Nursing gives options, flexibility, and nurses are in demand all over the country. Sounds like a good fit for me and as I've worked around and with nurses, I am not going into this blindly. As long as a person is competent and does their job, it shouldn't matter if they came into it for money, or to leave their spouse, or anything else. Nursing doesn't HAVE to be a calling.

GrnHonu99, RN · Jun 1, 2005

I thought about this, but after the fifteen pounds I gained in nursing school, I really don't think the pole would support my hind end. Althoug I did graduate with an exotic dancer and guess what? She has no student loans to pay back for the next 20 years like I do.

lmao...im right there with ya!

i think that we get into these debates every time we try to generalize a group of people...

KayceeLeeRN, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2005

Oh boy...this subject always gets me upset. I knew I wanted to become a Nurse when I was 14 years old. Back then, I knew absolutly nothing about the salary...or even the reality of the profession. Something just told me that I was made for it, I was made to help people...I guess I would say it is a "calling". People tell me all the time that it is a great profession to go into, that I will make good money and I will always have a job...anywhere I want. I think to myself...These things are great, I am very lucky that the one thing I am drawn to in life happens to be something with good benefits for me and my future. But if suddenly there were less jobs available and I couldnt make more then a cashier at Walmart, I honestly dont know what I would do with my life....because this is ALL I CAN IMAGINE for my future. I dont think of Nursing as just my future career...I think of it as defining who I AM. I feel it is who I AM.

So with that said...I have a friend who is a Medical Assistant. She spent a lot of money on a technical program to become an MA. She is now working in an office making $11/hr with no benefits. She is now saying she wants to go to Nursing school and, "...wouldnt mind making money like that".

I just HATE it when people just casually decide to go to nursing school like its "just a job" to make more money. I have this deep, unrelenting passion for nursing...and then someone comes along and says "yea I guess I'll just be a nurse". .............. :angryfire

How can someone with that mindset provide quality patient care, let alone get through SCHOOL? How could someone with this casual attitute towards nursing ENJOY their profession? It is a VERY hard job...I couldnt see how you could do it WITHOUT a true LOVE for it!

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Jun 1, 2005

Every time this topic comes up we get a battle between the "nursing is a calling and all about the warm fuzzies" versus the "I am an educated professional and I want a well-paying job."

To me, the bottom line is - if nursing paid minimum wage, would you still do it? I am pretty sure that there are some out there who truly would. There are even more who would CLAIM that they would. Would I? - NO WAY. Not this nurse.

Not because I am a bad nurse or I don't care, but because *I* have needs and wants too and I want to be able to afford/accommodate them. I need flexible scheduling. I enjoy having the option of working agency, per diem, or even as a travel nurse. I enjoy having the option of leaving anything that even resembles my job to do something completely different, yet still remaining in the same profession. To me, flexibility is one of nursing's biggest selling points.

We all have our own reasons for choosing ANY career, but I am growing very weary of the nursier than thous who feel they must look down their noses upon anyone whose motivation for entering nursing differs from their own.

lady_jezebel · Jun 1, 2005

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.

Don't make me laugh. the money??? A college graduate can make more money doing other things, like engineering, medicine, law, & pharmacy. A dental hygenist makes more, according to an earlier post. I've never heard of anyone in university choosing to major in nursing b/c of the money!

And then as to age... time in the field doesn't equate with good nursing. I've worked with some crappy older nurses & crappy younger nurses. Age has nothing to do with it.

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Jun 1, 2005

A college graduate can make more money doing other things, like engineering, medicine, law, & pharmacy.

With the exception of engineering, the entry level for all of these fields is the doctorate. Nurses with higher levels of education tend to make more, as well. It is not fair to compare an associates or bachelor's degree to a doctorate, when it comes to salary. Engineers do well, but depending on location, their jobs are not always very secure. My college roommate's boyfriend (now husband) graduated with a bachelor's in engineering. It took him over a year to find a job and he has been downsized twice since then. You have to admit, nursing is pretty secure. Like I said in my previous post, there are many factors to consider.

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2005

To my knowledge, there arent that many associate degree graduates that make what a RN makes.........Also, what other professions cater to the working adult. I mean they have night classes, weekend classes, online classes, and so forth to get your nursing degree.......I dont see this with many other degrees.....
So its a easy fix for someone to go into nursing, say a single mom or a dad who just lost their job.
Each of us can tell who the nurses are who are just there for a paycheck, and those who are there because they have compassion and are caring........Its the little things that separate the two.

Bob,

Everyone with an Associate's Degree in Nursing makes what a RN does. They ARE Registered Nurses. Also, you should check out your local university's website. Most of them have Saturday classes, weekend classes,online classes, you name it for nearly all of their majors. There are many degree programs for second careers. I know several engineers who received their degrees this way. Most university's try to cater to the adult student, not just the adult nursing student. Also, if someone just lost a job and had an interest in the medical field, why not encourage them to go into nursing? They bring valuable work experience to the table and of course they are going to be looking for stability. There's nothing wrong with that. Can you tell which nurses don't have compassion and caring? Usually. People who don't have any wind up weeding themselves out sooner or later. Like Deb and several other's have said, nursing pays pretty well, but you EARN every penny. People who want easy money usually don't want to work for it. :rolleyes:

I love what I do. I'm a good nurse and sometimes compassionate and caring to a fault. However, my primary reason for biting the bullet and leaving my previous profession was a guarantee of a job with flexibility, benefits and a decent wage. I sat down one day and calcualted that I would be taking home $50-$100 a paycheck if we had one child and put him in daycare full time with the income from my previous job. Actually, I take that back, I would have been working for free. I forgot that I would be paying out of pocket for medical for dh and future child. My dh has been laid off periodically for the majority of the time we have been married. He's an IT(Computer) professional and the market for his job is in the toilet with no prognosis of getting any better. He loves what he does and we both want to stay in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, the only expanding career field around here is medical. I have always had an interest all things medical and knew I would enjoy what I do. Other than the usual bs that goes on in ANY profession, I love it and would not do anything else. (Unless, of course, there was a mistake with the last Powerball drawing. ) I'm a nurse, not a martyr.

SmilingBluEyes · Jun 1, 2005

I agree, too. We had nursing students in my class who were in it for the money. One wanted to be a nurse so that she cold get a good paying job and leave her husband. There are very few from my graduating class that I would let touch me. There are a few like me who went into nursing to help people, but sadly they see this shortage as a way into a steady income.

I am sorry but, I have to ask: what on earth is wrong w/wanting a steady income?

If you are purely altruistic, wonderful. Then, if you want to REALLY help others, join Peace Corps or go on mission to places where people are desperately needy. Go do Doctors Without Borders or some other worthy and selfless endeavor.

If you are entering nursing and intend to make a living, well that means You DO plan on being compensated for caring for others professionally, right? Then you are no different than most of us. There is room for all kinds of people in nursing.......and when I think about it, the martyrs among us are not doing us any favors or advancing the profession as the millenium continues. We DO deserve compensation for the risks and professional hazards associated with our unique line of work!

Feel glad you don't need to get into nursing or some other reasonably secure job to escape a horrendous marriage or poverty! Some do.......does not make them "bad" nurses......

I don't mean to pick on YOU specifically, but this ideal---- of nurses who are called being the only ones who belong---- is very common. To me, it's grossly unfair to those of us who did not come into nursing in response to some sort of divine calling. Some of us have families to feed and a future to plan.

leslie :-D · Jun 1, 2005

personally i've always wanted to be a nurse, since adolescents. i had no idea as to their wages.

yet as an adult and still had this passion to become a nurse, yet found out they made $10/hr., i would have to pick another profession.

my passion for nursing is purely emotional.

my desire for decent wages is purely practical and realistic.

i need to make a decent wage to pay for kids' schooling, basic family needs, mortgage, transportatiaon.....i can't do this on $10/hr.

so to me i'm in a profession that offers flexibility, potential for great wages, personal and educational growth, helping those less fortunate than us and for me, this is all icing on the cake.

and yes, there are those that go into it just for the $$ but they can still be great nurses.

and then there are the not so great, the new and the older burn-outs.

what is boils down to is work ethic- either you have it or you don't; both of which are totally irrelevant to the enticement of the money.

leslie

Mystery5 · Jun 1, 2005

I personally went into nursing for several reasons.
1. I like people.
2. I wanted job security.
3. I wanted to make a decent living wage.(ie. above minimum)
4. I have career ADD (I get bored doing the same thing everyday and once I learn a job I am ususally bored and dissatisfied with it, not a problem in nursing, never done learning!)
5. I wanted flexible scheduling.
6. I wanted to be able to move my job if necessary (hubby's job can move and he would need to go)
There are more I have forgotten I am sure. What other career can give you all of these.

Yes, I think this sums it up. In my own words...

1) Get a job anywhere

2) Help people

3) Get a decent wage

4) Flexible hours

5) Always something new

6) Great co-workers

What's wrong with making a decent living to support your family? Also, I don't think today's nursing student is any more deficient than any other generation. Take off the rose colored glasses already!

medsurgnurse, RN · Jun 1, 2005

This whole "nurses do it because they love it" is just a pile of you-know-what to get us to accept poor wages and intolerable working conditions.

I haven't heard it put quite like that but you made a good point. Thank You.