Nursing has a high divorce rate

Farawyn · Dec 22, 2015

Consider also that nursing is a profession with a good income compared with others. I would say the divorce rate could be higher because the nurse in the couple can afford to leave. I had a nurse coworker, Who had to pay her husband alimony because her income was so much higher than his.

Yep. One of my GFs from nursing school, the same thing. Because hubs worked in a liquor store the whole time she was in school, therefore he was the "steady income" who sacrificed so she could go to school.

Unfortunately, he drank everything in the liquor store, hence the divorce in the first place...

middleagednurse · Dec 22, 2015

Nurses, social workers, etc. often have an "I can fix this" personality. They meet someone who has issues, such as drug abuse or alcoholism, and they think they can help that person get "well". So the nurse tries to fix the spouse, the spouse doesn't want to be fixed, so eventually the spouse wises up (hopefully) and leaves the relationship. So, advice to you single people who are looking for spouses, pick someone who doesn't need to be fixed.

Farawyn · Dec 22, 2015

Nurses, social workers, etc. often have an "I can fix this" personality. They meet someone who has issues, such as drug abuse or alcoholism, and they think they can help that person get "well". So the nurse tries to fix the spouse, the spouse doesn't want to be fixed, so eventually the spouse wises up (hopefully) and leaves the relationship. So, advice to you single people who are looking for spouses, pick someone who doesn't need to be fixed.

Yea, who's that, then?

llg, PhD, RN · Dec 22, 2015

Consider also that nursing is a profession with a good income compared with others. I would say the divorce rate could be higher because the nurse in the couple can afford to leave. I had a nurse coworker, Who had to pay her husband alimony because her income was so much higher than his.

... and they are surrounded at work by strong, independent women who remind them that they don't need a man to take care of them.

RNperdiem, RN · Dec 22, 2015

The trouble with divorce statistics is that they are often outdated. The most recent data I have read about puts actual divorce rate below the much quoted 50% and varies by socioeconomic status with low divorce rates at the high end and low divorce rates at the bottom (lower rates of marriage-cohabitation is more popular). Nurses fall somewhere in the middle.

ixchel · Dec 22, 2015

When I looked it up I think I typed nurse divorce rate, it was that 20-30 ( depending on what source you read) of nurses get a divorce.
I was just curious of other people's thoughts on the matter

That's actually better than national averages.

Eta: my LEO husband knows of two coworkers whose wives went through nursing school while the LEO was the income. After graduation, the newly minted nurses divorced the LEOs. This makes me wonder if, due to nursing being an acceptable and somewhat normal career choice for 30- and 40-somethings, it is viewed as a viable "ticket out" of a bad marriage.

brownbook · Dec 22, 2015

Interesting discussion, but just makes me think of the saying, There are lies, dammed lies, and stasticics.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Dec 22, 2015

I don't know that nurses necessarily have a higher percentage of failed marriages than other careers, but I guess I can believe it. It is for most nurses a fairly high stress job with varying hours. Hard to establish a regular routine when you are working long hours and bounced between different shifts. I bet the failed relationship percentage is fairly high for any couple that deals with high stress careers and/or shift work.

traveler782 · Dec 22, 2015

Yea, I think nursing stress contributes but generally the divorce rate is inching for aociety as a whole. I think their is a lot more going on. Societal views on marriage, changes financial and family dynamics and economics.

idialyze, BSN, RN · Dec 22, 2015

My first husband was a brand new LEO when I married him at the extremely mature age of 19! When I divorced him 10 years later he was an RN that I put through school. He wanted me to send him to Law School at that time, and I kicked him out! He never held a job very long, but he LOVED to go to school.

Number 2 and I are still going strong, our 24th anniversary is Christmas Eve!

LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN · Dec 23, 2015

I think it has to do with the off shifts and I will tell ya why! I am an LPN and have had clinical office hours mostly my whole career but my husband's job works all shifts/holiday/weekends and it has put a major strain on us at times. He is on thirds right now and it's the worst because a combo of things: 1) lack of sleep makes him a completely different person 2) he could get a full 8 hours but wants to putz around with the kids instead (love that he is a good dad but health/mentally this isn't good). He makes good money for a mechanic, enough that I only work PRN while I complete RN school, but honestly I would rather work more and have him make $10 less on the hour if he could work a job that was strictly days. Now of course he could handle his sleeping habits much better than he is now.

ClaraRedheart, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2015

I'm with LPNtoRN on this one. I worked nights for my first year and a half as a new nurse. My husband BEGGED me to go to days. I did. They're harder over all, but apparently, according to him, I'm nicer now.

I NEVER slept well on night shift. I'd get home, take my Ambien (I don't have to take that to sleep now) MAYBE go to sleep by 1030. My husband got off work at 1 PM, though he'd try oto not wake me, the dog would always jump on me when he got let out. Couldn't go back to sleep. MAYBE if I DID go back to sleep, my daughter would wake me at 3 PM when she got out of school. I'd yell with being woken up more than I care to admit because I was tired, frustrated, etc... Go to work crying from desperation and lack of sleep. Yeah. Glad I"m on days now.