nursing for money

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Does anyone here do nursing for money only? + maybe with little reason?

How do you cope with the job if so, like in terms of your moral adjustment

For me, I don't like direct care, and i don't believe in many things that hospital do to patients.

I go for job security in short time of study.

pls only reply if you can relate.. thank u

thx everyone for reply. I understand your point.

it's like sense of security in mind to have license job that is paying well, always there, and little study. and for some who say it's calling, do you at least enjoy cuz u cannot be called to scarifies your sanity. like how can you love god when your miserable. like even if its calling. im just asking.. how do you feel when you feel it is called? do you feel sense of joy to help patients, do you feel like you should save patients from evil hospital environment, do you feel like your moral is so great that you will be extraordinary superhero nurse, or just from young did you love helping others, etc,?

anyways good luck every one.

Specializes in Oncology, OCN.

I'm just finishing my first semester but money and short to no commute where absolutely my motivating factors in this career change. I love the science of nursing and believe I'll be good at it and at least moderately enjoy what I'm doing.

No clue what you're going on about with evil hospital environments.

I would say it is ok to choose the profession for money. But do you like nursing at all? A little bit? This is specific job, requires lots of empathy, smiling when you feel you would rather prefer to shoot the patients and psychological and often physical endurance. If you are ok with it and can cope for many years then its worth going for it.

Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

If it paid as much as nursing for the same investment I might have gone into social work or psychology.

I am a psych nurse. It gives me enough of what I want to do with better pay than a social worker and less student loans.

Another upside to nursing is that I can change fields very easily. If I burn out in psych, I can try something else.

Yet another big upside to nursing is the upward mobility. I can work while going back to school for NP, or management, and probably double my income. The world is my oyster. There is a very big need for NPs, nurse managers and nursing instructors where I live.

So while it wasn't my dream from day 1, it's a very attractive career for me, not just for the pay, but for everything else it offers.

Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

What "evil practices" are you referring to? Whether you will be OK with this line of work sort of hinges on that.

For my part, earnings, job security, and area of interest is why I chose nursing. I think when I started, I thought of it as something I would do until I figured out my true passion. Now, I feel very comfortable with the lifestyle I have with the schedule and money, and I like what I do so much that I can see myself being content to grow in this field (psych nursing) for a long time. Nursing isn't THE thing that fulfills me, and I don't believe in having a calling - you can choose to succeed and made a difference in pretty much any way you want. However, I don't think I could do this if I didn't at least somewhat enjoy my work and feel that it is important. Money and steady work are important, but no need to make yourself miserable to obtain them; there are lots of ways to make a good living.

I have met tons of nurses that entered the career for "the money". They seem to be the first to burn out and the first to quit. "I chose this because it was financially stable, it was just a two year degree program, the healthcare industry is recession-proof" etc. From what I've observed, those people don't make it. They get into nursing for the money and then don't actually like it. They realize how crazy and stressful the work actually is. Most of the time it ends up not being worth it to them.

I don't get the "nursing for the money" thing. IMO, it's really not that much money (for what we do) and also it's incredibly hard work. If someone wanted to make real money, I can think of so many other fields that would be easier and less stressful. Just saying.

Actually it kind of reminds me of people that join the military because they think it will be a breeze and they want to the benefits and the GI bill... oh man. I have heard some stories.

I'm not saying you have to love nursing and have a passion for it to be successful, but if you're just in it for the money there are so much simpler ways to make income lol.

The voices in my head told me to do it. ; )

In all seriousness, I am passionate about my job and love what I do. I can't see myself in any other career. Believe me, I thought long and hard about this. That being said, I wouldn't do nursing if it didn't pay well. I have a family to support.

Oh yeah, those voices ;) Many moons ago I was young and idealistic. I wanted to help people and make a difference.

Depending on where you land, that gets beaten out of you by system over time.

Glad that you like your job, makes ALL of the difference in answering OP's query.

Oh yeah, those voices ;) Many moons ago I was young and idealistic. I wanted to help people and make a difference.

Depending on where you land, that gets beaten out of you by system over time.

Glad that you like your job, makes ALL of the difference in answering OP's query.

^^^^^Love it! Been there, done that- thank you for telling it like it really is!

Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

The pay isn't that great on comparison to other majors. My 22 y.o. brother got an engineering job making 77k out of the gate with a nice 10k bonus. He isn't saving lives, has all nights, weekends and holidays off and he gets to work from home on Fridays.

And don't even get me started on those accountants and actuaries.

Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
Does anyone here do nursing for money only? + maybe with little reason?

How do you cope with the job if so, like in terms of your moral adjustment

For me, I don't like direct care, and i don't believe in many things that hospital do to patients.

I chose nursing because I like science, am good at science, and I have a caretaker personality. I also wanted job security and a stable income. Nursing was never my dream, I just figured it was a safe choice that I probably would like (I had no exposure to nursing as a basis for that idea, by the way).

However...

I'm not sure what you mean by "i don't believe in many things that hospital do to patients." Overall, I do believe in medical research and practices. That said, sometimes I have ethical dilemmas regarding certain patient situations such as prolonging suffering when medical intervention is futile.

"Moral adjustment" was never a problem because I can separate my professional duties from my own moral opinions. Morals and ethics are not the same thing. If I am in a situation where my professional judgement causes me to have an ethical dilemma regarding a patient's care, there are resources available for that, including ethics consults, social work consults, care conferences, etc.

I'm still a student and people are more than welcome to have their own views, but what I will say is this: I've never heard the opinion that nobody should be in nursing with compensation as a significant motivation from the nurses and other medical professionals I've spoken with who have actually done the work for as close as you can get to no pay. I've been lucky to know and/or at least talk with people who have worked for NGOs like Doctors Without Borders and other charity-oriented organizations about their work. Whenever I see someone shame others for being "in it for the money," I'm tempted to ask why they don't do it for free, then? If anyone here has worked in that capacity I'll eat crow, it's just a trend I've noticed.

I have met tons of nurses that entered the career for "the money". They seem to be the first to burn out and the first to quit. "I chose this because it was financially stable, it was just a two year degree program, the healthcare industry is recession-proof" etc. From what I've observed, those people don't make it. They get into nursing for the money and then don't actually like it. They realize how crazy and stressful the work actually is. Most of the time it ends up not being worth it to them.

I don't get the "nursing for the money" thing. IMO, it's really not that much money (for what we do) and also it's incredibly hard work. If someone wanted to make real money, I can think of so many other fields that would be easier and less stressful.

You I know if you had just switched the two positions around, and were talking about the nurses who went into it with a passion and a calling being the ones who burnt out first I could have written it myself LOL!

Seriously, in my experience, which I think has got a decent longevity, I have seen many fresh young things who after a year or two of nursing are disillusioned and disappointed and in general destroyed because the calling and passion that brought them to nursing was crushing them. They were disillusioned by the lack of appreciation that came their way, by the ingratitude and insufferable demands of family members who seem to care less about their own family than those fresh new nurses. They felt that they were giving 110% every day and there was nothing left for them to give to anyone else, even themselves. In other words, going into nursing NOT for the money but for an emotional reason was chewing them up. Those of us who can separate our emotions from career goals seem to be doing just fine from what I have seen.

+ Add a Comment