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.
I'm glad I became a nurse 6 years ago. I went from LPN, To ADN, to BSN. I have NO regrets and I consider my future to be bright in nursing, why because I'm doing what I love to do.
If your future in nursing is black then maybe you should seek another career but don't discourage others from accomplishing their goals.
Experienced, competent RNs are not treated like children, morons or menials.
I was with you until this statement. You can't possibly make that blanket statement. This depends greatly on management. I have seen many experienced, competent RNs treated this way. I've been one of them. I've been scolded, chided, guilt-tripped, blamed for things I haven't done, been asked to have my notes reviewed before entering them(I have 8 years experience, I haven't had my notes reviewed since I was a new grad), etc. I've seen even worse things done to other good nurses.
My close friend had a 2.6 grade point average when applying to nursing schools several years ago. Although she's not the most academically gifted person by a long shot, she is now a director of nurses at a local healthcare facility.
There are no doubt exceptions on all aspects of the spectrum, but in general I think GPA reflects several characteristics of applicants at that point in time.
And if it's not, why would you help them? Why would a clinical student of any kind be supported through school when they aren't able to independently perform basic math?
1) No
2) Just because they haven't been taught basic math doesn't make them unteachable. That's why I taught them. It just pissed me off that it was necessary in the first place. Why wouldn't I help them? It isn't their fault the school stopped requiring the TEAS.
I hope I'm not the only one who believes in "DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T DO!" OP, you do sound a bit frustrated, but I'll be the one to decide my future. Granted, I'm not a 2.5 GPA'er, I already have a previous degree, working on BSN, and I understand that I'll be working my butt off, all while starting at the bottom...all over again.
Just asking for people to be careful about making blanket statements, and to realize that there are some extremely competent, hard-working and compassionate folks out there who would like to join you, and to learn from you. Peace.
Then you have Obama pushing a bill for free 2 yrs of college. How about funneling the money towards encouraging high school grads into trade schools? There are too many highly educated college graduates working at Wal-Mart and Starbucks. I am sorry to say that Billy, who barely graduated high school, doesn't want to want to work and just wants to party, should not be getting grants and student loans to go to college for a year to party just so the universities can collect more tuition money.
You do realize that to keep getting that free education the student has both a mandatory course load requirement and mandatory progress towards completion? And ol' Billy still has to be, like, admitted? And financial support for trade schools has increased, as have seats in them, over the past several years?
I'm becoming a huge fan of standardized entry standards and preparation for nursing, whatever level you want it to be.
I had some clinical students who can't perform basic math, such as if you need 650 mg of Tylenol and have a bottle of 325 mg tablets, how many tablets should you take out?
Drives me crazy that I had to teach this so some of them could pass the med calc test.
That's a gross exaggeration, right?
And if it's not, why would you help them? Why would a clinical student of any kind be supported through school when they aren't able to independently perform basic math?
Ummm, no, it's not a gross exaggeration. We see some degree of this innumeracy on the student boards allllllll day long. That student never should have been admitted to a clinical program in the first place without being able to demonstrate that ability. A professional program is, by definition, not supposed to be remedial.
That scares me ....ALOT.
And did I mention "ability to communicate in accurate English"? That inability scares me a lot. A better-educated professional is a more effective one.
Not all of us 65 year old BB's plan on stopping work and retiring......because we CAN'T AFFORD TO. I have co-workers in their 70's who also are going to keep working as long as possible.
Although I plan to go to the cheapest, crappiest nursing home around if the need arises in plans of hastening my death from neglect I absolutely will not be one of the oldies but goodies still working the floor into my twilight years.
Very early in my career I saw the 60s and early 70s hobbling along with knee, hip, back, you name it pain and I started socking my money away so I can retire at 60-62. Of course there are no absolutes but just noticing my own decline in speed, dexterity and stamina in my early 50s I can't imagine even attempting to keep up the facade that I'm still on the top of my game into my mid-late 60s. I'm not going to be one of those who has to get asked to retire because I'm not longer competent.
Personally I can allllllmost count the months to Medicare in my fingers, so I can finally save some money on health insurance, but I'll be working until I die or get too demented to send out invoices. But I'm not taking a bedside job away from any newbies, so why would they care what I do?
I'd like to think that competetive grades are keeping the 2.5'rs out of the program.
Welp, I have no problem admitting that as a bored and confused college kid, I graduated with a Bachelor's in Sociology with a French minor and a lovely GPA of 2.6. It was related to pure laziness and immaturity and had absolutely nothing to do with my level of intelligence. When I regrouped and decided to become a nurse, I graduated with my ADN with a 3.9 and currently have a 4.0 in my BSN program with 3 classes to go. I passed NCLEX on my first try and have successfully worked in critical care for two years now. We "2.5 ers" do have our place in nursing.
BSNbeauty, BSN, RN
1,939 Posts
Okay, and your point is ????
I'm glad I became a nurse 6 years ago. I went from LPN, To ADN, to BSN. I have NO regrets and I consider my future to be bright in nursing, why because I'm doing what I love to do.
If your future in nursing is black then maybe you should seek another career but don't discourage others from accomplishing their goals.