Soonurse1

I understand the need to rest and recouperate when off-duty, and I think it is very important. But I still say that it takes very little effort to support the ANA, just joining and paying dues probably helps out a ton. Of course if your like me, you want to know who your'e giving money to, and what they do with it. I still have this feeling that any little bit helps, and just being a paying member would do a lot. There's got to be a good reason why most nurses don't join, I'll admit I don't know, but it simply bugs me to death that the members of a profession don't join their own professional organization. If there is a good reason why membership is so low, then I hope to be part of the solution of getting rid of whatever that barrier is, and if there is no good reason for the low membership, I hope more nurses will begin to join. I know I must sound like a little greenhorn here, I'm not even out of school yet, but my youth and idealism must be here for something.

I first got interested in nursing as a pizza delivery driver in Durant, while in my senior year of college, I didn't know what I was going to do when I graduated but fortunately my manager was married to a nurse, and he told me lots of good stuff about it. I learned about the shortage, and he made it sound like the money was pretty good, so I decided to transfer to OU and go for a bachelors in nursing. I worked as a CNA in a LTC for about a year and a half before I actually started the nursing program at OU, and right now I am a final semester senior waiting to graduate in May. I plan to pass the NCLEX and join the US Air Force and have tons of great experciences in life and in nursing. I don't really have a favorite area of nursing, I want to try them all first then I'll decide.

I am a Senior in nursing school, and I have several male friends that go to medical school, none of them have ever dated a nurse yet, but some of my classmates are married/engaged to men in med school, but these couples were in existence before nursing and medical school. I did notice that two of my buddies from high school, one's a first year, and the other a second year at the College of medicine at my university, both immediately landed girlfriends when they got into medical school, but it was with other females in medical school. You don't have time to meet anyone else I guess, I feel the same way, but unfortunately my attempts at dating my classmates has met with some resistance. I get the response that it would be boring to date someone who does the same thing as you, but I think that is their way of saying that dating an equal (nurse to nurse) is not attractive, I've come to learn that good looking, educated woman usually "date" up if you know what I mean. They are interested in meeting someone who has what they see as a better job that pays better than theirs. However, all my professors talk about their marriages, and many of them have been married twice, it always seems to be the same, "My first marriage was to a jerk cardiologist who thought he could sleep with anyone but me, but I left him and eventually I found the best man ever who I love, oh yeah he's a doctor too, just not like the first one" I think that's funny, but knowing my professors, they are all smart ladies, who don't seem like they need to latch onto a mealticket so I am assuming they married doctors because that might have been the only kind of available men they were around when they were younger. I'll shut up now, plain and simple, I just think that when a doctor marries a nurse it is most likely a coincedence that gets overemphasized as the nurse marrying up to better herself, but I'm sure there is much more to it than that. Keith, male, OU College of Nursing

I am a senior at OU's BSN program and I am very anxious to graduate and start working here in Oklahoma. My question to those who are already working as nurses, are you a member of any national and/or state nursing organizations like the ANA, and if you could guess, how many nurses are involved in nursing organizations (out of those you know or work with)? What is your opinion on there usefulness, and how much time does work + your personal life allow you to actively participate in these kinds of issues? I'm also curious about what other Oklahoma nurses think about unions and nursing. I hope to hear back from lots of folks on this, I never have time to discuss these subjects with the nurses I work with in clinicals, we are too busy.