Nursing for compassion or the financial reward?

kmwlpn · Mar 19, 2007

If people choose nursing for the money, then they must not live in Virginia...because we don't get paid no more then some factory jobs...of course their is always job securtiy....I guess that's something...

sunshines66, BSN · Mar 19, 2007

Well I wouldn't do it for free. I think I am not adequately compensated financially for this profession. So if I didn't feel I had a higher calling to do this, I would have left nursing years ago. I have been doing this for 19 years and somedays it feels like it is a life sentence without the possibility of parole. I have had several times in my career that I have prayed for the answer to the question of should I still be a nurse. I am always shown that this is my professional purpose so I stay. It is not easy all the time but I understand that for the time being it is what I need to be doing. Yes some times I love nursing and sometimes I wonder if I hate it. But it is where I need to be.

nurse4theplanet, RN · Mar 19, 2007

This has been discussed many times.

The majority always seems to say that the money is important, but not the only factor they considered when becoming a nurse.

I agree and I think most people choose their professions based on a long list of factors...time in school, flexibility, pay, benefits, advancement opportunities, job security.

PurrRN · Mar 19, 2007

Like asoldierswife 05 posted, this has been discussed quite alot, with most saying its a combination of factors.

My question to you would be this: If you are not in nursing for the money, but simply because you are a compassionate, caring individual, how much money could your employer cut from your wages and still have you stay in an RN positon that includes all of the patient loads, responsibility, and risk that you incurr now. Is minimum wage how much a nurse should earn in your eyes to be considered compassionate and not money hungry? Should nurses be a service organization only and be rewarded with just room and board?

Since you brought this subject up again, I would truely like to have your take on what makes a nurse "in it" for the intangible rewards as opposed to financial ones. I for one, have three little boys to raise, house, feed, and keep healthy.

sunnyjohn · Mar 19, 2007

Okay, I'll post.

I've wanted to work in healthcare ever since the fifth grade.

A few years ago I sat down and considered my options. As a person with lots of various interests I realised quickly I needed a job with maximum flexibility with decent pay opportunites. I have every intention of owning many companies one day as well as my own philanthropic organisation. I have always known I would be a sucessful self-made billionaire (a non-famous Oprah) who made it using a normal salary. Having worked in finance I was able to carefully and prayfully make out a plan using my potential nursing salary as my seed money.

As a surgical tech, working alongside the nurses has been very rewarding. Working on the floors as a HUC and CNA doing the "grunt" work was equally rewarding. So I settled on nursing.

I enjoy working with patients. I also enjoy taking care of my mum and dad who have given me the world. Nursing will allow me to do both.

I'm in it for the job AND the money.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Mar 28, 2007

Ah, very old topic, and one likely to end in rancor as those who feel nursing is a "calling" clash mightily with those who feel it's a "job".

But ok, I'm in :)

I chose to go into nursing because it combined my need to be a do-gooder with my need to be a financial contributor to my household. I felt no "calling"; I'm not a missionary. I researched this option as I looked for "something else", and it fit.

I wanted to find a new career as my children entered school, one that could work around their schedules and needs. But I wanted a career, not a job--most any low-paying job could also be worked around the kids' plans--but wouldn't pay what I desired nor give them the type of role-model I wished for them.

I'm in nursing (as a job --> income) specifically because the combination of decent pay and perks and flexible scheduling is most compatible with my family goals. I'm in nursing (as a career --> personal reward) as a way to make a positive difference in my community in some small way, and give my children something positive to know about me. My children watched me go through rigorous, years-long schooling and are proud of what I do, I imagine moreso than if I worked at the Dairy Queen. Academics are stressed alot around here

I would never be a nurse without the appropriate financial reward; there's just too much responsibility involved to take less. But I would always be doing (as I have always done) community service, so being a nurse is a good fit for me.

I have a better question for this thread: why do so many people feel that a person must either be a saint taking a vow of poverty who feels a "higher calling" toward nursing OR a money-grubber who callously puts up with patients and rides out each shift only for the paycheck? Why do we feel the need to polarize the "reasons" one is a nurse? I don't see too many other careers doing this....probably yet another example of the in-fighting that makes it so hard for nurses as a whole to gain the incredible political power we COULD have.

Ariesbsn · Mar 28, 2007

My earliest memory of wanting to be an nurse goes back to age 2. I remember listening to my mother's stories about her patients. I was so proud that my mommy was a nurse because nurses made people better and I wanted to make people better too.

By the time I was 5 (1972) my mother was telling me all the reasons that I didn't want to be a nurse. One of the reasons was that nurses didn't make much money. I can remember saying that it didn't matter how much money I made, making people better was important.

Money has not been a huge motivator for me now that I am grown. I nixed some hospitals in my city because I didn't like the way the nurses treated the patients. I nixed other hospitals because they weren't big enough. I ruled out places based on acuity and one place because all of the necrotizing fasciitis cases in the state go there. Talk about something that you don't want to take home with you! I ruled out the highest paying hospitals because I didn't want the 40 minute commute. I chose the place I work now because they were so nice to us when we were doing our clinicals. I work for one of the lowest paying hospitals in the area.

Would I still be a nurse if I didn't have to work? Absolutely!

ZASHAGALKA, RN · Mar 28, 2007

I'm in it for the money. I'm not NEARLY enough of an angel to be in it for the calling. . .

~faith,

Timothy.

lllliv · Mar 28, 2007

money

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2007

I'd hate to burst anyone's bubble, but I have not met any angels of mercy in nursing during my short career.

My coworkers do not answer call lights. If a patient needs to use the restroom, my fellow nurses would rather expend 45 minutes to locate an aide rather than toilet the patient themselves. My fellow nurses seldom assist the aides in their daily duties. I am no angel of mercy, either. However, I have not met any nurse who is so compassionate that they would go out of their way to assist the patients with the so-called 'dirty work'. I have toileted patients, chenged diapers, and fed meals, but few other nurses at my workplace would bother.

And, yes, I expect to be monetarily compensated for my work. I definitely wouldn't do this for free.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Mar 30, 2007

I'm in it for the money. I'm not NEARLY enough of an angel to be in it for the calling. . .
~faith,
Timothy.

Aw, Tim...you ARE being "called", but by ugly green rectangular pieces of paper, not golden halos

I happen to be hearing that "calling" myself lately. I could do an extra shift for regular pay, but won't. I wait until they're throwing a bushel of money at me to do it. Not exactly angelic!