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?
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Generally, I would agree with you. That level of performance does weed out the narcissists, by and large. I see a much larger problem with the self-indulgent attitude coming out of the undergrad programs- which is part of the problem with the flooded job market.
The perceived prestige and money in Nursing draws many for ,ah, questionable reasons, at best (this is validated by turn-over rates, whether you believe the good leave because of the bad, or the bad because they are unable to achieve their self-fulfilling goals in a care-delivery model, or some mixed-model). Directly, it is the call of SCARF(see below).
I'm clipping this from a friend's blog:
This is part of a running series that can be summed up by calling it the "universal economics of life" (my terminology, not Bel's.)
(I'm not terribly bright, I just have the talent for seeking out extraordinary mentors!)
okay, lots of replies.....FIRE!. All through nursing school my professors had to keep reminding me...."stop thinking like a physician!, nursing is different entirely". If I hadn't have been thinking about supporting and raising my children with the best wages I could find.....I would have been a physician instead. And being an NP is sort of like being a physician. So I can see why folks would have that in their heads. We all think differently and have different talents.
I turned out to be a good bedside nurse. But I work in a teaching hospital now, and find that I think further and more to the point than the residents......because I think like a physician half the time. If were younger and/or more ambitious, I would go for NP too. But I didn't have enough time at the time. And now, I think it is better spiritually for me to be the RN rather than the physician or even NP. Nurses heal, physicians diagnose and prescribe. NP's do both..they are a really well built bridge.
Again, who cares what everyone else is doing? Us women often compare ourselves and that is spiritual and attidudinal suicide. My S.O. is often telling me "do not think about things that do not concern you...." (he's a nurse too)....male nurses are pretty good at this one. Just focus on being the best bedside nurse in the world because we need more of us. And let the NPs discover their lacks or advantages on their own. You will spend too much mileage comparing and judging. And when you DO become a bedside nurse, you WILL learn the subtle difference between judgement and assessment. Because judgement will kill you....assessment is what you get paid well for. Just sayin.
I AM glad, however, that as a student you take so much pride in the goal of the bedside. It is the true hallmark of a nurse. When you can make a dire situation comfortable and safe for whomever is striken by it......at the same time.....seeing that patient as equal to all human beings, even yourself. This attitude is a lot harder to come by for physicians and probably NPs too......all meant with blessings.....and self reflection as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Specializes in Infectious Disease, Neuro, Research.
Liar....
Hmmm... That smart bastid(above) runs his own "boutique private investment firm", and managed to manitain an 80% return when things fell apart('08)- as per his bio, and yes, it appears to be true. Clearly, he strays far afield from raw market computations. I was doing well to re-fi at 5.xx% on a fixed 20. 'Course we didn't buy more han we could afford in the first place...
Want to make addendum.....I wasn't speaking about NURSING JUDGEMENT killing one. I was speaking of the judgement that belittles or raises us in comparison to others.
And GEE.......Rob and you others are very well read.......and really smart. I hope if I get sick no one finds me except the coyotes and mountain lions.....but if someone gets me into a hospital by far chance......hope I get all you intellectual nurses as my caretakers.......I am not being sarcastic either. oxoxo
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Hmmm... That smart bastid(above) runs his own "boutique private investment firm", and managed to manitain an 80% return when things fell apart('08)- as per his bio, and yes, it appears to be true. Clearly, he strays far afield from raw market computations. I was doing well to re-fi at 5.xx% on a fixed 20. 'Course we didn't buy more han we could afford in the first place...
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
At 20, YOU are barely out of high school I agree that NPs should have some floor experience. As should MSNs and DsN/PhDs... but there are evidently schools who want the tuition money more than experienced candidates. JMO.
So happy I read this. Reading all this I kept seeing "These little girls barely out of HS" yet the OP is 20.(which to me would be someone barely out of HS)
Was making me feel super old. Part of that is because I think I am in a mini midlife crisis with my age. lol
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
So happy I read this. Reading all this I kept seeing "These little girls barely out of HS" yet the OP is 20.(which to me would be someone barely out of HS)
Was making me feel super old. Part of that is because I think I am in a mini midlife crisis with my age. lol
You're having a mid-life crisis at 32? That's young!
I think that's great and I also think you will be a better NP because you had valuable floor experience.
I don't know exactly what the OP was trying to get across, but my point was whether you go for a NP or any other advanced nursing degree I think its imperative someone begins with the basics of nursing and then move on to advance their nursing career.
So happy I read this. Reading all this I kept seeing "These little girls barely out of HS" yet the OP is 20.(which to me would be someone barely out of HS)
Was making me feel super old. Part of that is because I think I am in a mini midlife crisis with my age. lol
Eh...I wouldn't call being out for almost three years "barely". That, and having a tough life ages you quicker.
I live in the dorms with the freshmen and the maturity difference between the freshmen and the juniors/seniors is very striking. Even that extra year [or two] can give you a great insight into yourself and what you want out of life. I know the girl I was in 2008/2009 is profoundly different from the person I am today, and I see it in the upper classmen as well. They are much more serious about their career goals. The students that make it to their junior and senior year are more focused and less "Animal House" than those two years younger than them.
It may not seem a lot because you are [far???] removed from the age group, but those of us within the age group can tell the difference between freshmen/sophomores and juniors/seniors.
I completely understand that to you, living in a college environment, there seems to be a vast difference between you as a junior and students who are freshman or sophomores. However, to the rest of the world (post-college), you are still considered "barely out of high school" yourself. When you are in your late 20s, 30s, 40s, you will know what I mean. :) It is not so much related to maturity as to life/work experience. And I don't mean that as an insult at all!! Just a clarification so you can better understand why so many posts have pointed this out to you.
Eh...I wouldn't call being out for almost three years "barely". That, and having a tough life ages you quicker.
I live in the dorms with the freshmen and the maturity difference between the freshmen and the juniors/seniors is very striking. Even that extra year [or two] can give you a great insight into yourself and what you want out of life. I know the girl I was in 2008/2009 is profoundly different from the person I am today, and I see it in the upper classmen as well. They are much more serious about their career goals. The students that make it to their junior and senior year are more focused and less "Animal House" than those two years younger than them.
It may not seem a lot because you are [far???] removed from the age group, but those of us within the age group can tell the difference between freshmen/sophomores and juniors/seniors.
I remember thinking kindergarteners were awfully young when I was in first grade. We were all still little kids though. A junior in college might feel much more mature than a freshman, but if you went straight to college from high school, you ARE fresh out of high school.
'Course we didn't buy more han we could afford in the first place...
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I agree that NPs should have some floor experience. As should MSNs and DsN/PhDs... but there are evidently schools who want the tuition money more than experienced candidates. JMO.
Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN
20,908 Posts
Liar....