Parent Reactions

[StudentPrudence]

So, I've done quite a bit of research -- some of which involved investigating the RL experiences of nurses on this very site -- and I've made the decision to go to nursing school. I told my parents, and my father flew into a rage, talking about how his mother was a nurse and had to deal with long hours, low pay, and denigrating treatment from patients and colleagues -- she was a black nurse in the 60's south. My mother acted like I'd decided to join a rock band... she expressed her disappointment, and suggested that I should become a doctor -- preferably a "clean" one like an optometrist -- instead. I tried to explain that the money and time investment was much higher for doctors, but evidently she believes that nurses do all of the dirty work with the same knowledge while doctors do.... nothing except brief diagnoses. She thinks that I'm going into nursing because I don't believe that I'm "good enough" to be a doctor and will end up "trapped," exerting myself on the floor until I'm her age. All of this, despite the fact that my child prodigy cousin (graduated college when she was 18) went into nursing and is doing quite well for herself, and I've never expressed any desire to become a doctor. I hadn't internalized these beliefs about the profession and so I feel like I've made a good, responsible choice, but my parents, much to my surprise, do not. Has anyone else had similar experiences?

[checkmarks0725]

My parents were pretty disappointed that I waited so late into the game to decide to switch my major from broadcast journalism to nursing! As far as actually becoming a nurse, however, they don't really seem to mind.

It seems like your parents have some extreme fears about your choice. Maybe you could put them in touch with someone at your nursing school to answer some of their questions and maybe ease their fears a bit?