So I am a first quarter nursing student, and I was talking to some of my classmates. One mentioned how, at clinical, an older nurse kept trying to talk her out of the profession, basically trashing the field. Her opinion. So we keep talking and one of the things that came up was floor nursing. EVERY SINGLE one of them said they didn't want to work on the floor/be a floor nurse!
I was shocked. ***** Why are you even trying to be a nurse if all you want to do is go straight to grad school to become a Nurse Practitioner (Peds)???? One of these girls was the same girl who talked about other students who had to be rushed into the emergency room during clinical, saying they had no place in nursing school.
Maybe it is because I work as a "sitter"/safety care associate and am use to the "dirty working" (i.e. I had to hold a man's member in a urinary because he was in restraints last week).
Am I the only one who has a bad taste in their mouths? Many of these are little girls barely out of high school who have never worked or volunteered a day in their lives at a hospital. I would hate to have a nurse who hated her job and only did it so she could get accepted into grad school.
They will be in for a rude awakening when they realize that most *decent* grad schools aren't going to bother looking at an applicant with 0 or the bare minimum floor experience, and I hope they wouldn't look at someone who has less than two years of work experience on the floor. I see most of the nursing students who say they don't want to work on the floor leaving the profession entirely within the first five years (and I'm being generous)...what do you think?
Just because they don't want to do floor nursing, it doesn't mean they don't have respect for it. These are different things. Not everybody has to like/do floor.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
I don't think poorly of anyone, but I think poorly of this lack of disrespect LOTS of Nursing students have toward floor nurses when they haven't even been around them, except for clinical.
And it ticks me off. That "I'm too good to be a floor nurse" attitude that too many nursing students have...what is up with that?
You've written this twice now. I think you mean "lack of respect"
1. I definitely think it's helpful and personally plan to work for awhile before I consider going back to grad school. However I am 23 years old and have the time to wait, maybe even start my family first, and gain experience while I wait. I think if I was 43 and wanted to be an NP, I would be trying my hardest to go back as soon as possible. I also think that if I was single I would likely want to further my education now.
2. If they are competent enough to pass their boards and graduate, they are able to function as a safe NP. Much as many nursing students graduate and pass NCLEX and start their first RN job with little bedside experience outside of school.
3. I haven't noticed a disrespect for floor nursing as much as a distaste for the conditions. When you begin doing 12 hour clinicals with 4 patients in nursing school, you will understand how busy it can be and how it can affect your health negatively if you're in a toxic environment.
4. You are berating your classmates for having long-term goals that require furthering their education and continuing to play a part in healthcare. I don't see how that's incompatible with getting their RN first. Or what role it plays in your schooling and career. Your OP came off as judgmental whether you intended to or not.
5. This doesn't "hit close to home" to me in any way except the fact that there were some condescending statements made regarding those who wish to go into peds or OB. As I said before, it's annoying when people act like it's a fad and that we made that decision with no real reason.
Just because they don't want to do floor nursing, it doesn't mean they don't have respect for it. These are different things. Not everybody has to like/do floor.
It could be because this is all in words, but it was the tone behind it and the facial expressions that made me believe that they didn't have respect for floor nursing. And at any rate, if one truly had respect for floor nursing, they wouldn't shoot it down before trying it and he or she would realize how important that bedside nursing is prior to advancing one's career. If anything, other than knowledge, it will help them realize that being a floor nurse isn't easy.
Nursing isn't all floor nursing. I think You are perceiving them as looking down on floor nursing. It's just not for some people. And there is nothing wrong with that.
Quite personally, I can't stand when a nurse is disrespected or looked down upon when she hasn't done floor nursing and doesn't like it. I did it for almost 5 years. I planned on getting out in 5 years doing it full-time. I did. I loved the ICU, and I was fortunate enough to get a position in the ICU after working only 4months as a mew grad floating.
Ya know what? With everything else I have going on in my life, being on my feet running my A off for 12 and a half hours didn't fit into the equation for me after some time. I was quite often mentally and physically exhausted. I had an infant at home and my husband left me for another woman. So crap, I'll be damned if I wasn't going to kill myself anymore so my daughter had a stressed out exhausted mom.
So there you go. You don't know what the stories are behind your fellow nursing students. Respect them, they are going through the program just as you are, with their own goals in mind.
1. I definitely think it's helpful and personally plan to work for awhile before I consider going back to grad school. However I am 23 years old and have the time to wait, maybe even start my family first, and gain experience while I wait. I think if I was 43 and wanted to be an NP, I would be trying my hardest to go back as soon as possible. I also think that if I was single I would likely want to further my education now.
2. If they are competent enough to pass their boards and graduate, they are able to function as a safe NP. Much as many nursing students graduate and pass NCLEX and start their first RN job with little bedside experience outside of school.
3. I haven't noticed a disrespect for floor nursing as much as a distaste for the conditions. When you begin doing 12 hour clinicals with 4 patients in nursing school, you will understand how busy it can be and how it can affect your health negatively if you're in a toxic environment.
4. You are berating your classmates for having long-term goals that require furthering their education and continuing to play a part in healthcare. I don't see how that's incompatible with getting their RN first. Or what role it plays in your schooling and career. Your OP came off as judgmental whether you intended to or not.
5. This doesn't "hit close to home" to me in any way except the fact that there were some condescending statements made regarding those who wish to go into peds or OB. As I said before, it's annoying when people act like it's a fad and that we made that decision with no real reason.
No, I was berating them for looking down at floor nursing. And that one had the audacity to tell another nursing student she didn't have a right to be in the school because she suffered a seizure during clinical.
And no, I don't necessarily think it is a fad, moreso than people feeling pressured in the rat race to make it to the top and earn the big bucks.
I mean, it is one thing to want to become an NP, but how will they know what kind they want to be if they haven't even worked in the field yet? Again, another reason prior experience is so important. Sorry you don't value it as much as I do.
Nursing isn't all floor nursing. I think You are perceiving them as looking down on floor nursing. It's just not for some people. And there is nothing wrong with that.
Quite personally, I can't stand when a nurse is disrespected or looked down upon when she hasn't done floor nursing and doesn't like it. I did it for almost 5 years. I planned on getting out in 5 years doing it full-time. I did. I loved the ICU, and I was fortunate enough to get a position in the ICU after working only 4months as a mew grad floating.
Ya know what? With everything else I have going on in my life, being on my feet running my A off for 12 and a half hours didn't fit into the equation for me after some time. I was quite often mentally and physically exhausted. I had an infant at home and my husband left me for another woman. So crap, I'll be damned if I wasn't going to kill myself anymore so my daughter had a stressed out exhausted mom.
So there you go. You don't know what the stories are behind your fellow nursing students. Respect them, they are going through the program just as you are, with their own goals in mind.
Again, I realize that floor nursing isn't for everyone, but they may it seem as though it was "too dirty" and it wasn't "good enough" for them. And, as someone who works side by side with floor nurses, it angered me to here them say that.
And yes, I will still say that a person should have at least one to two years worth of floor experience prior to becoming an NP. But again, I know that is a VERY unpopular opinion amoung nursing students.
And yes, I will still say that a person should have at least one to two years worth of floor experience prior to becoming an NP. But again, I know that is a VERY unpopular opinion amoung nursing students.
This is not so much the opinion of nursing students, it is the opinion of Deans and chancellors who happen to be in charge of the top NP programs in the world....I suggest you take it up with them yes?
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
And yes, I will still say that a person should have at least one to two years worth of floor experience prior to becoming an NP. But again, I know that is a VERY unpopular opinion amoung nursing students.
This is not so much the opinion of nursing students, it is the opinion of Deans and chancellors who happen to be in charge of the top NP programs in the world....I suggest you take it up with them yes?
I'm confused, didn't you just post that some of the top universities in the country have direct entry NP programs and advocate going into grad school directly out of nursing school?
And yes, I will still say that a person should have at least one to two years worth of floor experience prior to becoming an NP. But again, I know that is a VERY unpopular opinion amoung nursing students.
This is not so much the opinion of nursing students, it is the opinion of Deans and chancellors who happen to be in charge of the top NP programs in the world....I suggest you take it up with them yes?
I am not following you. I am in agreement with them.
Seas
519 Posts
Just because they don't want to do floor nursing, it doesn't mean they don't have respect for it. These are different things. Not everybody has to like/do floor.