People in it only for the quick hire

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I hate how I see nurses in my hospital who I KNOW from the bottom of their heart, only went to nursing school because they wanted to get hired quickly and have a guaranteed job. To be in this profession you have to have compassion and empathy. I work as a nurse extender in my hospital and I see nurses who are there that don't give a rats @$$ about anything. They point their fingers and give orders, they don't have that quality that most other nurses have. People should be on a very massive probation when they get hired because the NCC needs to be aware of these idiot nurses who don't care about human emotions. I am so sick of it.

I went into nursing for the money, plain and simple ... no question about it. And I work in a prison because the pay and benefits are great.

But, I still do my job. Today I actually had to fight with some staffers over nursing care. Mostly because they believed the inmates were faking, which a lot of them do ... but that doesn't mean you don't do your job. They actually wanted me to ignore these inmates but as it turned out, these staffers were wrong and some of the inmates were really sick.

Even if you're greedy (which, I definitely am) there's still part of my brain that was hard wired during nursing school to be a patient advocate ... regardless of the fact that they're convicted felons.

So maybe I'll always be viewed as a bad nurse for going into the profession for the money but ... the fact is ... I work pretty hard and do take care of my patients.

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I honestly am going to nursing school for a secure job and good money. It's not a dream I have had.

If I had 4 years to go to college I would be a teacher...if I could go longer I would go into pharmacy.

I'm not saying I don't like the classes,but it's not my first choice.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

I think that even if a person is into nursing because of the money, but is competent and an advocate, then, they do have some ethics and empathy. At times, in fact, it may be better to not cloud our minds with too much compassion, otherwise we would not be able to function effectively. Also, it is true that we can't possibly know what is in someone else's head and heart. At work, I do not socialize too often, but, whether it is believed or not, I have a great deal of empathy and compassion for my co-workers. But I choose not to show it because I know that can be taken advantage of.

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Why doctors never question each other's motives of going into medicine?

Why nurses do it all the time?

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If someone wanted to get a quick hire then they shoud have went into fast food, because 3 years of nursing school hell isn't worth a "quick hire". IMO :lol2:

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Specializes in High Risk In Patient OB/GYN.
If someone wanted to get a quick hire then they shoud have went into fast food, because 3 years of nursing school hell isn't worth a "quick hire". IMO :lol2:

4 years of school, hired before you graduate making around $65k/year to start, union- with health ins., paid vacation, sick time, opportunities for OT? Yeah, that's worth it.

My sister works in fast food. She's a manager. She makes $10/hr, no health benefits, no night differential, no paid vacation/sick time, and she's an "at will" employee-can be fired any time for any reason (or none at all).

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Specializes in O.R., ED, M/S.

I have been doing this for over 30 years and have enough compassion and empathy to get me through any day. I don't get mushy and over reactive to what is wrong with my patient because you tend to lose focus. I am their advocate and protector because in the OR no one looks out for you except your RN circulator in the long run. I went into this profession because I had enough forsight to know that down the road I would ALWAYS have a job and a career that pays far more than ANY fast food job. I am very satisfied with my choice and cringe alot on what I might have done else. I don't need to qualify my reasons to anyone and like I said I didn't go into this because of some "calling". I had enough smarts to know that nursing would be area that would always be in need. I have enough ethics and sympathy for my patients to go around several times. I don't mind letting people know I went into nursing for the money and security. I have made well over $120,000 over the past 5 years. You tell me what "fast food" chain will pay even their top manager that kind of money with all the benes?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Stepdown, ICU, Emergency Room.

My thoughts on this Nursing for Money/Compassion/Motivation topic.

Lets pull something we all learned in Nursing School. Good old Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. One could argue that all the heartfelt motivation and desire to be the best nurse ever goes out the window the moment we cannot pay our bills. If being the new Florence "self-actualizes" us, we will never reach it unless we have a good job which satisfies the "safety" level. And for others Nursing might not be the "self-actualization". Nursing for them purely is the "safety" level, allowing them to become self-actualized in another area of their lifes. Does that make them a bad person? So they don't have the "Florence" level of compassion, but nursing gives them the pay and stability to be a good spouse and a good parent. Is that wrong?

Just some food for thought.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
I went into nursing for the money, plain and simple ... no question about it. And I work in a prison because the pay and benefits are great.

But, I still do my job. Today I actually had to fight with some staffers over nursing care. Mostly because they believed the inmates were faking, which a lot of them do ... but that doesn't mean you don't do your job. They actually wanted me to ignore these inmates but as it turned out, these staffers were wrong and some of the inmates were really sick.

Even if you're greedy (which, I definitely am) there's still part of my brain that was hard wired during nursing school to be a patient advocate ... regardless of the fact that they're convicted felons.

So maybe I'll always be viewed as a bad nurse for going into the profession for the money but ... the fact is ... I work pretty hard and do take care of my patients.

Talk to high schoolers and first year college students about why they are picking a particular career and money is going to come up. Why we as nurses judge each other for going for the money is beyond me because potential nurses are saying the same thing: the money's good, blah blah blah, and I like working with people (I like medicine, etc. etc.) but money is usually part of it. If the money were minimum wage and yet the person was compassionate and liked people, they probably would look for a field that would pay better and utilize their skills somewhere else.

I think most nurses, even those who go in for the money do have some semblemce of compassion, empathy, and a sense of patient advocacy such as yourself.

I've met one or two that are only just collecting a paycheck, have no compassion whatsoever and don't really care about their jobs and their patients and they are dreadful nurses. But I haven't come across too many of them to worry they are polluting our profession.

To me when I look at mentors and nurses I like working with it's the ones who work hard, have compassion, are smart, and think fast on their toes. I would also venture to say if I grilled tham "why did you choose nursing in the first place, did the fact that it pays a nice middle income come into play" the answer would be "most definitely it did, but I also............" Or if I ask "why, if nursing is so hard and stressful to do stay in nursing? Does the fact it's a stable job that pays a good middle income come into play?" 99.99999999% of us would answer yes it does.

The ones who are in it soley for the money, hate their jobs, and hate people, while they are few and far between are horrible nurses in my opinion.

Honestly, some burned out stressed out days when I want to quit, the only thing I have is "well it pays the mortgage on my three-bedroom two bath house, and I'm going to the mountains this year, and I'm not likely to not have a job in the coming years, so I'll stick it out."

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