Nursing is Just a Job - Common Myths in Nursing

[The_Optimist]

Nursing is just a job

For some it may be a calling,all well and good but for most, it is simply just a job.

When you learn to look at it scientifically without having too much expectation of suddenly becoming all altruistic or Nightingalish”, you would truly have a better time and go at it.

Common Myths (& facts) in Nursing

Myth: Becoming a nurse means becoming angelic overnight

Fact: Nope! If you were Dracula before nursing school, you will still be Dracula after nursing school (and if you weren't, you'd become one!:)

Myth: Everyone is pleasant in nursing

Fact: Nope! Nursing is a job and like all jobs you get the good mixed in with the bad

Myth: You suddenly feel called to a purpose

Fact: Nope! Nursing is a job , a darn good job that pays the bills and keeps up whatever lifestyle you have is all it is.

Myth: You become a martyr

Fact: Nope! You still have choices and it is up to you to decide whether you want to be stepped on or not.

So understand that nursing is just a job. When you put things in perspective, you find that you have a clearer sense of what it is that you do or don't want. Peace;)

[Cola89]

I didn't start doing it for the money, yet I keep doing it for the money. I don't mind it, even though it's different from what I'd imagined.

[HealSpec]

ETA, meant this as a reply to Ruby Vee but musty have missed a click

Regarding spiritual distress: yes, it is real and I use the stuff we learned about it frequently (because I work acute psych), but in our classes I often saw psychosocial stuff stressed as if it were just as important as medical stuff (yes, spiritual distress is important, but if we need an airway then that needs to come first). It was mixed in with the stuff about being called into this profession to care for the whole patient, and their family... and while I use that stuff in my psych job, I can distinctly remember sitting in class thinking that I'll never walk onto the floor and hear "he's coding! Push one of epi and ask about his family structure and coping skills!"

I realize that the rhetoric and all the "psychosocial stuff" are different, but they were so often presented together, and so often on the heels of some exciting medical topic... the patient's family life and coping skills are important, but I'm not going to pause mid-code or mid-surgery to ask about them. They're simply not as important. And while we were taught to prioritize care, the extra attention and weight given to the "soft skills" over actual medical practice still rubs me the wrong way... and it's become inextricably tied with the whole bit about how nurses are angels (if not outright martyrs) for whom the medical parts of the job are secondary to the social and personal parts. I don't like that idea--we are healers first, not second.

[SkyDrift]

Yes, it's just a job. You signed up for it. You get paid for your work. You pay the bills. Rinse and repeat. The only difference is the fact that some people may have more "passion" than others. How motivated you are to work depends on what goals you are trying to reach in life.

[Rexie]

The idea of nursing being just a job has kept me sane (less crazy?). Last summer I posted about being tired of being angry all the time. I was burning out big time. It has helped me detach and by doing so, I am actually a better nurse.

I have to confess that deep down, I still want to change to world one person at a time. But by fighting that impulse to try too hard and take too much to heart, I find that I have less stress and more energy to apply to the actual care of my patients.

I really appreciated that article and have bookmarked it. I plan on reading it from time to time to help keep my priorities in clearer focus.

[NuGuyNurse2b]

I disagree. One of my residents, whom I'd worked with for about 3 years, whispered 'I love you' into my ear when I kissed her on the cheek when she'd gotten into a van to move to another facility. That kind of thing never happened when I was a programmer/analyst, I can tell you that.

I would hope it didn't happen when you were a programmer/analyst. That would be an HR case.

[wannabeny]

hmm..love,love, love this thread & the ideas. For me at least, the way nurses are portrayed is this "compassion, empathy, kindness always" look. Then..you hit nursing school & it smacks you with a few "what were you thinking" bricks. I think it's good to feel passionate to the point where you still feel motivated to bring your A game, but there's a time and a place to be empathetic & compassionate & a time to just put your foot down, and get the job done. The profession isn't portrayed realistically. I think there would be a lot more appreciation, by patients especially, if they really tried to walk a day in nursing shoes. It's such a grey-area mix of communicating, patient care, dealing w/ administration & hospital politics. Takes a thick skin.

It is nice, to see how the theory of nursing as an art & a science actually come together in the real world..and in a much more realistic manner than what we're taught.

As long as you provide care to patients safely & work as part of a team, personal motivations like striving for financial security, feeling called to nursing, etc shouldn't really matter.

[AutumnApple]

While I am the first to call out "for the calling" types, I believe that emotion of being called to the profession helps us when we are new. It can be a double edged sword though too.

I think wanting to be altruistic and a valuable community member are fine motivations when handled MATURELY. The drive we receive from "the calling" helps us overcome the shock of finding out what nursing is really about. That is when growth as a professional occurs.

Too many of us think our "calling" should be everyone else's priority though. We want everyone else to be on the same page as us and to follow our lead. We dismiss the wisdom of other nurses who have already been there and learned the hard facts of the profession: The calling will not carry you through your career. We become emotional vampires when it runs it's course.

In order to avoid burnout, we must learn coping skills and perspective.

Altruism helps, but if it's the only thing on your plate, you are doomed.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

hmm..love,love, love this thread & the ideas. For me at least, the way nurses are portrayed is this "compassion, empathy, kindness always" look. Then..you hit nursing school & it smacks you with a few "what were you thinking" bricks. I think it's good to feel passionate to the point where you still feel motivated to bring your A game, but there's a time and a place to be empathetic & compassionate & a time to just put your foot down, and get the job done. The profession isn't portrayed realistically. I think there would be a lot more appreciation, by patients especially, if they really tried to walk a day in nursing shoes. It's such a grey-area mix of communicating, patient care, dealing w/ administration & hospital politics. Takes a thick skin.

It is nice, to see how the theory of nursing as an art & a science actually come together in the real world..and in a much more realistic manner than what we're taught.

As long as you provide care to patients safely & work as part of a team, personal motivations like striving for financial security, feeling called to nursing, etc shouldn't really matter.

A lot of people seem to come into the profession with the idea that nurses are "compassion, empathy, kindness always." Somehow, it seems to have escaped them that nurses are human. NO ONE can be an endless fountain of empathy, compassion and kindness ALL THE TIME. And no job is ever portrayed realistically. (When was the last time you saw a doctor spending the day ambulatory, massaging, medicating and comforting a patient and they weren't on a TV show?)

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

While I am the first to call out "for the calling" types, I believe that emotion of being called to the profession helps us when we are new. It can be a double edged sword though too.

I think wanting to be altruistic and a valuable community member are fine motivations when handled MATURELY. The drive we receive from "the calling" helps us overcome the shock of finding out what nursing is really about. That is when growth as a professional occurs.

Too many of us think our "calling" should be everyone else's priority though. We want everyone else to be on the same page as us and to follow our lead. We dismiss the wisdom of other nurses who have already been there and learned the hard facts of the profession: The calling will not carry you through your career. We become emotional vampires when it runs it's course.

In order to avoid burnout, we must learn coping skills and perspective.

Altruism helps, but if it's the only thing on your plate, you are doomed.

Like you, I'm one of the first to "call out the calling." Assuming that the person with "the calling" has what it takes to actually make it through nursing school -- many of them don't -- it's a double edged sword the moment you start your first job. If the exposure to the realities of nursing doesn't shake you to your core and make you question your "calling", exposure to your colleagues will make them question whether you should be in the profession.

No one likes being judged, and I've seen all too many of these "calling" folks come onto the unit and immediately start judging their colleagues. One memorable orientee told me I was going to hell for divorcing my (abusive) spouse. (I'm sure he picked that up in the break room, because I didn't discuss it with him.). He told me that the man is the head of the household, and if I didn't submit to my husband I was breaking God's laws. As such a sinner, I had no business being a nurse, and he had no need to listen to anything I had to say. Another new nurse wandered up to start a conversation with me. Her opener was "The male nurses here are all immoral." Yeah, that makes for good colleagial relations.

I've seen "the calling" folks complaining that others shouldn't be in nursing school because "I'm so much more compassionate than them, and they should have saved the spot for someone "who would make a good nurse." I rather wish "the calling" could be surgically extracted from folks before they hit the nursing unit so I don't have to work with them.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

In response to the OP that being a nurse is just a robot following Dr's orders. I disagree it is not the Dr that is the problem it is the computer big brother micromanaging everything you do, questioning the meds you give, demanding excessive documentation just because you can.

I went into nursing to both help others and have a "feel good" career, while making a living wage. The reality is disheartening, excessive stress combined with micromanagement,short staffing and inadequate equipment just so the corporate healthcare suits can get their bonuses and excessive salaries at our expense! It is a real letdown!

I feel sorry for the new nurses that never knew what it was like when you actually had time to care for your patients and had a benevolent employer where profit didn't rule. I miss the good old days!

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

There are plenty of jobs out there where you have to deal with screaming, entitled children and their helicopter parents who think the teachers should be teaching their offspring things like manners and values that the parents should have been instilling all along. There are plenty of jobs out there where you have to work outside in the sun and heat, in the snow, in the rain and even in a swamp full of mud and insects. (DH worked construction and the oil fields before becoming a nurse.). There are plenty of jobs out there where you work for peanuts and still have to deal with the general public and all that entails. There are plenty of jobs out there that require a lot more (expensive) education and leave you with an even larger pile of student loans to pay off. There are plenty of jobs out there that require being away from home five nights a week (or more) and make family life impossible. There are plenty of jobs out there that require being deployed to a desert for months or years at a time, where you risk your life every minute of every day. There are plenty of jobs out there that require you to risk your life every minute of every shift. There are plenty of jobs out there, and each and every one of them has something negative about it. Bodily fluids, sick people and demanding patients (and visitors) is a negative, but it's not nearly as negative to me as being shot at, deployed, working outside in all weather or being away from home for long periods of time.

I don't think nursing is overglamourized. Medicine is, being a lawyer or a police officer is, being a "fixer" is. I don't think that nursing is glamorized enough. Being a nurse doesn't make one an angel, but being a good nurse makes one a person who is good at a tough job.

I think it would be a lot easier to actually enjoy the job if staffing, resources and equipment weren't cut to the bone, just so some suits can get lots of money! Morale is really low due to this callous mentality from the top. The consolidation of healthcare by big corporations has taken the heart out of it and turned it into a assembly line job or skilled trade as one person mentioned.

Still when you look at the world around us, how many people are suffering due to fire, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes and wars, I guess it puts it into perspective. I don't know how people rise above and survive thru such disasters. I don't think I would be strong enough to survive.

When I get down about work, I am reminded that things could be worse and at least I have a roof over my head and live in a safe, peaceful place.

[guest974915]

While I do feel that most nurses are good hearted individuals with altruistic motives, having been in this the discipline for 25 years, I am mostly disillusioned with health care today. I now see that with administrators, hospitals, and many physicians, it's all about the money-how very sad, but true! As a result, I don't give 110% to my employer anymore-perhaps to my patients, but not to my work. Sign up for extra overtime, come in on my days off, volunteer for committees, serve as a preceptor? Don't think so-respect is reciprocal. My hospital (and I'm sure yours) have chosen profit over patients and they would fire us both tomorrow, despite many years of committed service, if they could find a comparable, cheaper replacement. I've witnessed benefits dramatically slashed over the years, layoffs, higher and higher nurse/patient ratios while hospital CEOs are now enjoying obscene salaries. I'm going to try travel nursing for a while as I'm tired of running on the hampster wheel and playing the game. I hope to never again be a permanent hospital employee again-yes, Nursing is indeed just a job.