None of you will like what I have to say. But let me kick the hard truth to you. Honestly about 50% of people I talk to are in nursing school or are taking pre-reqs for nursing school. This is a major red flag for several reasons. If you have not noticed, nursing wages/benefits have been on the down trend.
Pension?? goodbye.
Crud 401k 403b plans hello. Raise? LOL "sorry hospital is working out financial issues, maybe next year".
Nevermind if you work for a community/SNF agency. Yet insurance companies, medicare derived/gov agencies, and anyone else from the top 1% will continue to blast the RN as "shortage" in order to drive drones of students into nursing schools pulling each others hair out on the way to land a seat. Proof of this is, let's see (ABSN ***** ADN, BSN, diploma, LPN/LVN bridge to RN programs, RN to BSN) Why do these different routes exist? To flood the RN market as fast as possible to drive the wage, need, and profession into the ground.
Let's look at our oh so loyal CNA's. If you can find one that isn't in nursing school to be a nurse, ask them how much they make?
Look at LPN's 20-30 years ago and look at them today??
Surely the ANA and other organizations treated them with respect. The RN is next, so make sure to support your local nursing agency so they can do nothing for you. So they can be paid off by organizations so powerful that no one can say no and "not have the power to stop a bill". So they can continue to cry nursing shortage when this is not true.
RNs today are treated like children and are required to demonstrate fundamental task and other skills in inservices which were designed for nothing else but cut throat. To place blame of UTI's and poor patient satisfaction on the nurse.
If you are an RN today, your only safety net is to become an APRN if you want to live comfortably but in several decades the APRN will be under attack just like the LPN had been an RNs currently are. "OH the aging population is going to need nurses" You really think so?
Nursing homes are shutting down and now elderly people live at home with "24 hour care takers" that get paid **** wages and do things only an RN should be doing. You don't think so? Wake up.
None of this is to say that I hate nursing. I love helping people who are mentally ill, suffering from dementia, sick, or on their death beds. It is when we do great things for them that my love for nursing shines. There aren't other people standing around to reward you for your great deeds.
When the family comes in the next day complaining about everything, they never had a chance to see how well their dying loved one was cared for. Your good deeds will never be rewarded, but in a safe place in your heart.
I am just here to open the eyes of people who are intelligent and looking for a new career. I think you may find better job security else where. Invest your time in classes and money else where. Nursing is honestly under great attack right now and the future is black.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
"An exception"? What do you mean by that? It's the current situation. It's really simple, math or not. People living longer+wanting to remain "relevant" and "productive"+ crappy economy = people working longer and longer and I don't see that trend ending any time too soon.
Besides, people are working longer all over. Not just nursing. I see baggers at my grocery store who are clearly in their 70s and 80s....as well as retirement-age folks working at fast food places or hosting at restaurants, places that used to hire teens (who now can't find work). People are living longer and can't afford to retire, OR they don't want to. In all sectors of society here in our country, older people are working longer and doing well at it.
If they are not retiring when projected to, then we need to re-evaluate our projections
You make excellent points about society and new nurses possibly needing to rethink their expectations of retirement age. The thing that concerns me the most is the large number of schools churning out nurses. This can not possibly result in an overall quality workforce, imo.
Now that you mention it there are older people in the service industry such as retail and fast food now but I always figured it was because they retired from their previous professions but can't afford to remain retired.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
My grandfather was a perfect example of "not being the norm". He retired from 45 years of faithful employment with the railroad. He had a sweet lifetime retirement "golden parachute" and never needed to work another day of his life. He was roughly 65 or 66 at that time. He CHOSE to re-enter the work force when he realized sitting home after 45 years of 12 hours/6 day workweeks was simply not going to work for him. He was used to being needed and busy.
So he found work at a large nursing home, of all places, being a "fix it" man, from tv's to furnaces, he fixed it all. And he fixed broken hearts by being a companion to the elderly who had no visitors.
He enjoyed doing what he loved, even though he was legally blind, to the day he died. At 90.
I sure as heck would not want to tell a man like my gramps he needed to step aside cause he was "old" and no longer needed----simply to make room for others younger than he.
we need to look at the huge, uncontrolled influx of new graduate nurses with unfairly false expectations of finding a job any time soon in their area.....
or hospitals firing or laying off nurses, only to bring in cheaper labor from out of the country......
Hospitals and other places hiring unlicensed staff to do tasks that should only be performed by licensed nurses.........
*and* finally, we need to look at employers who deliberately short-staff their units, while posting job openings that magically never really pan out, as well.
THAT is what we need to be looking at, cause those situations are unethical. Nurses working beyond an imagined "shelf life" are not unethical.
Besides, people are working longer all over. Not just nursing. I see baggers at my grocery store who are clearly in their 70s and 80s....as well as retirement-age folks working at fast food places or hosting at restaurants, places that used to hire teens (who now can't find work). People are living longer and can't afford to retire, OR they don't want to. In all sectors of society here in our country, older people are working longer and doing well at it.
If they are not retiring when projected to, then we need to re-evaluate our projections
To sum it up, prospective nursing students need to more clearly understand the realities of the job market they are trying to enter, and either plan to be very patient and persistent in seeking work, or look elsewhere if when they do understand, that nursing may well not meet their expectations or needs for rapid or satisfying employment.
Yes you are correct! Projections need to recalculated and newcomers need have a better reality of what's to come. And new grads should not expect older nurses to give up their positions, so that they can have a job...lol and smh...I know that this line of thought maybe a common belief amongst new grads, and those that think this way are simply ignorant.
I won't even get started on Importing nurses....I will say that legislation needs to be put in place to protect our nurses from foreign influences. Or maybe nurses need to used their powerful lobbying powers to fight against this!
Now for the influx control..I totally agree!! How do we do that? One way would be for the ACEN to stop accrediting every fly by night program and Tougher NCLEX rules..
My grandfather was a perfect example of "not being the norm". He retired from 45 years of faithful employment with the railroad. He had a sweet lifetime retirement "golden parachute" and never needed to work another day of his life. He was roughly 65 or 66 at that time. He CHOSE to re-enter the work force when he realized sitting home after 45 years of 12 hours/6 day workweeks was simply not going to work for him. He was used to being needed and busy.
So he found work at a large nursing home, of all places, being a "fix it" man, from tv's to furnaces, he fixed it all. And he fixed broken hearts by being a companion to the elderly who had no visitors.
He enjoyed doing what he loved, even though he was legally blind, to the day he died. At 90.
I sure as heck would not want to tell a man like my gramps he needed to step aside cause he was "old" and no longer needed----simply to make room for others younger than he.
What a wonderful story, thank you for sharing it with us. I can't imagine anyone would have dared tell him he was no longer needed in the new role he created. I think the difference is largely that he did shift gears and found a perfect alternative that met everyone's needs as he aged. He sounds amazing and I can only imagine the joy he brought to the senior's days.
The retirement issue. Hmm, my spouse retired and after 6 months of house husbanding found himself a job. Not in his area of expertise but a job that pays more than minimum wage and that he has outlasted several younger hires than him. They didn't like getting up early, working in the cold, didn't like the commute. He likes it because he's out of the house and doesn't have to cook my supper!
Now, there is a unit in my hospital that hires retired nurses. There are a lot of nurses unhappy with this decision. Nurses in my health system have good pensions. These nurses who return are collecting their health authority pension, government old age pension and upto $300 a day that they work. They were bored but never thought of volunteering. These aren't health women. They limp along the halls of the unit, only want to work day shifts, no weekends, one simply cannot start or maintain an IV due to severe arthritis in her hands. The manager's solution is to send her to an area of the unit where the skill is not required.
Patients have made remarks about these nurses being slower, lamer, etc but have been accused of "ageism" by the manager. There are nurses in the float pool that would love to work these shifts but again the manager steps in to deflect any flack. It's destroying moral on that unit.
But hey there is no mandatory retirement age here and until one of these gems actually hurts someone, we are stuck with them. The only other option is reporting them as unfit to practice due to their physical ailments and have the regulatory body put them on "trial" to demonstrate that they are fit enough to do the job.
It all comes down to money. These women like to travel 3-4 times a year and have said they can't afford to on their pensions. Their pension are more than I make in a month. It's a case of you have to change your expectations when your income changes.
I'll agree with you that one should have the intelligence and critical thinking skills necessary to learn to do the job of a nurse competently. But I don't think there's any negatives to doing the job because it's an interesting and challenging way to do a job that yields a steady paycheck, good benefits and doesn't require being outside in nasty weather.
From one's own point of view as a nurse, you're right.
But from a patient's/family member's point of view, competence and critical thinking abilities without the ability to be caring are not enough. Patients want to be cared for by nurses who are competent AND caring. The nurse-patient relationship is a therapeutic one; without caring the nurse is just providing a business service. People at their most vulnerable want to be cared for, not just receive impersonal nursing services.
I agree with amzyRN above, that people who don't have a legitimate desire to help others should choose another career.
From one's own point of view as a nurse, you're right.
But from a patient's/family member's point of view, competence and critical thinking abilities without the ability to be caring are not enough. Patients want to be cared for by nurses who are competent AND caring. The nurse-patient relationship is a therapeutic one; without caring the nurse is just providing a business service. People at their most vulnerable want to be cared for, not just receive impersonal nursing services.
I agree with amzyRN above, that people who don't have a legitimate desire to help others should choose another career.
Interesting and although I would imagine a majority agree with you I'm not so sure I do. If I had to choose I think I would forgo a pleasant bedside manner for a hot shot surgeon attitude with the balls to back it up over someone singing kumbaya and mopping my brow who might not quickly recognize the subtle signs of a change in status.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Female dominated fields. I bet you a million dollars if the first nurses were dudes, by this point nursing would be up there with physical therapists and pharmacists.
Actually, the first nurses WERE "dudes". The Alexian Brothers -- monks.
QuietRiot
292 Posts
Lol, I have s math tutor that's 91..
but I, unlike some, recognize that this is an exception not the norm.