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?
Hi OP, not to disagree or agree. I am very unsure what conclusions to make and some of the stuff I already thought about, has been said.
But it sounds to me that a lot of students who seem to look down on floor nursing, may not truly be looking down at the job itself. But what goes on in the floors (ie. treatments, stress levels, multiple types of stressors...).
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
It isn't the goal, it is the intent behind the goal, the "I'm too good to wipe a patient's ass, to insert a catheter, to do a floor nurse's work" that bothers me, and maybe I didn't make that clear in my first post. I apologize if it looked like I was attacking their goals, but I was attacking that snobbery towards floor nursing.
I don't think anyone can be a GREAT NP without a least some experience, a couple years or so, on the floor. An experienced RN is going to have more to offer, to bring to the table than a new grad who has never touched a patient outside of clinicals. Scary kind of. Almost like a Med student (surgeon) skipping residency and going straight on to work as a surgeon.
Again, how does it affect you what other people plan to do? I was going to be a psych nurse forever. I have been many, many things since then. Just worry about your only priority...getting through nsg. school and passing NCLEX.
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).
If you think this is "dirty," wait until you are elbows deep in a Code Brown
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.
Are you in an ADN or a BSN program? I'm graduating in a month with my BSN and I've been in nursing school for three years now. I feel like I've gotten a lot of clinical experience and in a variety of areas, all things considered. I'm currently doing my capstone. It includes working 120 hours side by side with an RN working as the RN in a chosen area (mine is in peds heme-onc, but all areas are available). Beyond administering chemo and hanging blood because we're not allowed, I'm functioning as a nurse. I have no doubt that any student in my program that wanted to go on to grad school next semester would do fine, and a few of them are planning to do just that. I realize that all nursing schools are not created equal - I believe that THIS is a bigger problem than having aspirations for an advanced degree right off the bat.
Also wanted to add that we definitely need nurse educators and many of our professors are getting older and closer to retirement. We need some younger students to go to grad school and become professors rather than work on the floor.
Again, how does it affect you what other people plan to do? I was going to be a psych nurse forever. I have been many, many things since then. Just worry about your only priority...getting through nsg. school and passing NCLEX.
I understand that, and maybe this was more of a vent post. Again, I apologize if I came off as judgmental. I was just upset at the way some nursing students look down upon floor nursing and make it painfully obvious that they don't care for the profession of a floor nurse.
I noticed how combative and defensive some nursing students get. I seriously want to know, why is floor nursing beneath them that they feel the need to skip it altogether? Is floor nursing not important?
Yes, I agree that having a lot of experience doesn't automatically equate to being a great NP, but having NO experience as an RN can be a huge detriment as well.
I don't have a problem with their goals. In fact, I have kept my options open, but I realize that bedside experience is extremely important to have prior to applying to grad school. It is this distain for the floor nurses and nursing in general that bothers me, especially since many of these girls haven't even been in a hospital environment and haven't a clue what floor nurses do.
I'm sorry but I am also a stusdent and theres plenty of people in my class that have tehse aspirations and it doesn't bother me teh least bit. I also used to feel this way but am not sure where I'll end up. I do think as a 1st semester student that do not have even close to enough knowledge to say what an NP needs or all that floor nurses do. I'm also curious why if you want to know why students feel all these different ways that you didn't post this in the student section. I, personally, think you posted it here because you figured everyone here would agree with you on these classmates of yours erroneous ways.
I'm sorry but I am also a stusdent and theres plenty of people in my class that have tehse aspirations and it doesn't bother me teh least bit. I also used to feel this way but am not sure where I'll end up. I do think as a 1st semester student that do not have even close to enough knowledge to say what an NP needs or all that floor nurses do. I'm also curious why if you want to know why students feel all these different ways that you didn't post this in the student section. I, personally, think you posted it here because you figured everyone here would agree with you on these classmates of yours erroneous ways.
I actually wanted to get responses from floor nurses and their opinions. Instead I got some offended nursing students who I suspect fit the description.
And I wanted to hear if floor nurses have gotten that vibe from nursing students and what their opinion is on nursing students skipping the floor experience.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
As a floor nurse, I guess I don't have an opinion. There are good nurses and bad nurses; good NPs and bad NPs, and IMO, it has little to do with how much time they've spent on the floor.
WHNP DEN student here, graduating in May. Never worked on a floor, don't intend to do so (though I think you all are saints!). Remind me again how working on a floor will help me manage abnormal Paps, provide good contraceptive counseling, or diagnose and treat recurrent yeast infections, because I'm not really clear on that. I do, however, think floor experience is probably extremely valuable for ACNPs, though perhaps not essential.
Seohyun
23 Posts
Hi OP, not to disagree or agree. I am very unsure what conclusions to make and some of the stuff I already thought about, has been said.
But it sounds to me that a lot of students who seem to look down on floor nursing, may not truly be looking down at the job itself. But what goes on in the floors (ie. treatments, stress levels, multiple types of stressors...).