ErRn2006

Well pig farmers make close to what I make as a RN who went to college and earned a degree. Making barely over $20/hr is sickening for having to know about medications, medication interactions, allergies, physiology of the body, changes in VS that may indicate changes in the patients condition, when to notify the dr of pt status changes, lifting heavy pt's all day long, taking verbal and physical abuse from patients and families etc. the list goes on and on. For holding someone's life in your hands you sure as hell should make more than a pig farmer. If something happens to someone's medical status who is too blame? The nurse....of course there are others that should probably be considered along the lines as well, but the nurse is the one with the most to lose. Nurses require a lot of medical knowledge and that should be reflected in the pay earned, however that is definately not the case. If you have a job where you make less than $20 an hour then that's on you, everybody thinks they should make more money but when working with human lives I would think the price of pay should be higher.

I thinks it's a good foundation for all nurses to start out as CNA's, I know there are some that will disagree, but it's a good starting point and get's your foot in the door. I absolutely love my job currently! I am going on to be a NP and I only hope I love it as much as I love where I am now. If you think your true passion is nursing then do it. It is a demanding job emotionally and physically and I think that's why it can be high burn out. I've only been a nurse for 5 years so I am still learning new things every day and that's what I love about nursing is that it is always changing and never gets boring. Good luck to you.

Well, not long ago my FF came in by ambulance of course, was of course discharged, and of course she did not have a ride home. It was after hours for the bus she normally takes home, so I said do you have a friend or family that can pick you up, I can call the other 24 hr taxi service. Then she proceeds to yell at me "I don't have anybody to pick me up and I don't have any money!" I should have let her walk after that but I did call the bus that takes donations to get her the heck out of there. I about literally had to kick her out of the bed besause she did not want to leave, she just layed there covering her head up on the bed. I said you need to head out front the bus is coming and you can sleep at home. Unbelievable!