Years ago when I first became a nurse I was so proud to be called a 'nurse' I would have shouted it across the roof tops. The reason I came into nursing is very old fashioned and you are now criticized for wanting to help people and care.
Today if you admit you are a RN who came into nursing because you care about people and want to help them it is almost like you are blaspheming.
I read that only nurses who came into the profession for financial and career reasons, or because they lost their first job and have decided nurses is the career for them are the ones who succeed in the profession.
I don't believe it is true I think there is a place for both kinds of nurses, I also don't believe the ones who don't care are the most successful.
In my company you wouldn't get far up the ladder if you said you were in nursing because you are a career RN and that you don't really care about the patient. You have to really want to be a nurse to succeed and it becomes very obvious when you don't care about the patient or want to do the right thing
It is old fashioned to say why I came into nursing 24 years ago, although I didn't come into the profession initially as a career, I have had one heck of a career and have managed to climb the ladder to a dizzy height!
So for all those RN's out there who are frightened to say they came into nursing for reasons of caring or helping people-stand tall and be counted!
Hi, I think I might know what do you think. I noticed the trend myself. What I think is the reason that we who cares are pushed over and the cold hearted egoists succeed is this:
First of all medicine is not what it used to be. It used to be done to help others. Not anymore - nowadays it is cut throat business for profit. No one cares anymore about patient. You service them, you please them even if it is plain wrong. They refuse monitoring, blood test, medication (except pain meds) they refuse tests, but they hold you responsible for miracle cure. And administration plays along - because they need they appeasement to make money.
Second - nurse who does not care - are highly soughted for - they don't care. Thus, they don't care if pt dies, or gets worse. They will serve with smile, sweet talking and giving reasons why test can't be done, why meds was not passed, why vitals were not taken and why pt who is confused or not oriented = and thus will not complain - the excrements are still sucked in the bed linens surrounding patient skin 3D. But they gave them H2O, even pt is on fluid restrictions... sure they are popular by patients, they have plenty of time to spend on chating with family and doctors, joke and smile, pick the lunch and coffee too, and they do not talk back to administration if admins decision is non sence, regressive, jeopardizing safety and so on... that is why they are wanted, preferred and they rock place. You care? You are the obstruction to the business! And possibly pain in the neck. One unpleasant cold hearted with low work enthusiasm will flock to another such ... and oh my, if you say you care about the patient - you are laughed at weirdo. Just my observation. Cure? IF: stop private nursing colleges from recruiting anyone. (there are exceptions, though), stop nonsence patient satisfaction determining hospital income, and stop medical services to be profitable business.... make hospital and administration accountable for their decisions...
Hmmm... what is wrong with you?
I got as far as cold-hearted egoist and decided that whatever else you had to say was probably inflammatory and stupid.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Hi, I think I might know what do you think. I noticed the trend myself. What I think is the reason that we who cares are pushed over and the cold hearted egoists succeed is this:
First of all medicine is not what it used to be. It used to be done to help others. Not anymore - nowadays it is cut throat business for profit. No one cares anymore about patient. You service them, you please them even if it is plain wrong. They refuse monitoring, blood test, medication (except pain meds) they refuse tests, but they hold you responsible for miracle cure. And administration plays along - because they need they appeasement to make money.
Second - nurse who does not care - are highly soughted for - they don't care. Thus, they don't care if pt dies, or gets worse. They will serve with smile, sweet talking and giving reasons why test can't be done, why meds was not passed, why vitals were not taken and why pt who is confused or not oriented = and thus will not complain - the excrements are still sucked in the bed linens surrounding patient skin 3D. But they gave them H2O, even pt is on fluid restrictions... sure they are popular by patients, they have plenty of time to spend on chating with family and doctors, joke and smile, pick the lunch and coffee too, and they do not talk back to administration if admins decision is non sence, regressive, jeopardizing safety and so on... that is why they are wanted, preferred and they rock place. You care? You are the obstruction to the business! And possibly pain in the neck. One unpleasant cold hearted with low work enthusiasm will flock to another such ... and oh my, if you say you care about the patient - you are laughed at weirdo. Just my observation. Cure? IF: stop private nursing colleges from recruiting anyone. (there are exceptions, though), stop nonsence patient satisfaction determining hospital income, and stop medical services to be profitable business.... make hospital and administration accountable for their decisions...
Oh, good Lord! "We who care" are pushed over and the "cold hearted egotists succeed"??? "The nurse who does not care is highly soughted for?" Written English doesn't seem to be your strong suit; your post doesn't make any sense. I'm not sure what axe you're trying to grind here, but I'm not convinced you know, either.
Oh, good Lord! "We who care" are pushed over and the "cold hearted egotists succeed"??? "The nurse who does not care is highly soughted for?" Written English doesn't seem to be your strong suit; your post doesn't make any sense. I'm not sure what axe you're trying to grind here, but I'm not convinced you know, either.
I didn't get to read all the comments, but I agree with OP to a certain extent. Regardless of why you came into nursing, I do NOT think one can be a good nurse if they don't like working with people and helping others, even if those weren't the main reasons they went into nursing. At the last facility I worked at, there were some nurses who made it obvious that they only cared about getting in, getting out, and getting a paycheck. I saw nurses yell at patients, make patients cry (and not just confused patients, but patients who were completely AAOx3), and nurses who take forever to give a patient a pain med after they c/o pain, not because they are busy, but because they are on their phones or chatting with other staff members. Sometimes I felt so bad/embarrassed that I'd offer to give the pain med to the patient for them (because God forbid I criticize the way they work). I've also worked in a hospital as a tech before becoming a nurse, and saw another tech report a low BP to a nurse, only to have the nurse say "Yeah, I'll be there in a minute," but didn't, even after the tech came back 15 min later to remind her/notify her that the BP was even lower after taking it again. After several minutes waiting for that nurse to leave the break room (and she was not on her break), the tech went to a different nurse, who did step in, and the patient ended up coding and was dead within an hour. Who knows, maybe there was nothing that could have been done, and he would have died no matter what, but then again, I can't help but wonder.
I guess what I am trying to say is, regardless of the main reason someone becomes a nurse, if they just don't care, then I don't think they can ever be a great nurse, and it's not fair for the patients who depend on them. Yes, there are nurses who go into nursing for a paycheck or whatever other reason, and end up as great nurses. But those nurses still care, and I am sure they feel good when they help their patients (how can you not?). But unfortunately, there are those few who have no compassion and really just don't belong in nursing.
My boyfriend was making fun of me the other night because we play each other in fantasy football for fun. Just for bragging rights each week. I lose every week. He says if I would pick with my head and not my heart, I might win. I said after 8 mos, you mean you don't know that I think with my heart on almost everything I do? We had a good laugh and he said he would never change me and my heart one bit.
Okay, so that is a nice anecdote, and I can relate. When I am playing games I often rely on my gut instead of logic, because it is fun to play that way. Like you, I also lose more often than not when I employ this "strategy" lol.
However. It is not admirable to "pick with your heart and not your head" when you are caring for sick and vulnerable people. You choose a course of action based on knowledge and experience, and then you use your heart to provide care with kindness and compassion.
Of course, I do consider feelings to be a key part of my clinical decision making. But not MY feelings. It is the patient's feelings that matter.
I went into nursing for probably one of the least-liked reasons- to become an APRN. Never, ever wanted to be a bedside RN and it was nothing but a means to an end for me. I certainly did not become a nurse because I am somehow more caring and compassionate than the general population. I would wager I am averagely-compassionate (i.e.- I care a LOT, sometimes to a fault, just like most people). As an RN (and now CNM), I provide the best care I can, including attending to the emotional/psychosocial needs of my patients. A nurse "with a calling" does not provides better care than me by virtue of the purity of her motives.
I went into nursing to help people but I spend 95% of my time on the computer. I check boxes to meet the demands of regulatory agencies so the hospital gets money. That I am helping set up someone so they can eat is not what they want to hear if you can't immediately come to the desk, talk to a Dr. I hope where most of you work is better. Nurses are at the beck and call of a long list of people besides the patient. I don't think I should be interrupted when I am passing meds but counting the interruptions that I do get I am in the minority!
The reality of nursing is that it's a helping profession.This is why nursing is on the rock bottom of professions that attract psychopaths, along with most other helping professions; the nature of the job requires a great deal of interpersonal interaction, indeed caring, and carries very little prestige or power. So people who just want money and truly "don't care" (ie psychopaths) don't even consider nursing to begin with. They want to be CEOs (which is of course the most attractive job to psychopaths), and they don't see why they should ever help anyone but themselves.
So yeah. It's basically a given that the person who chooses a helping profession values others and wants to help them. So much so that many don't consider it a "reason" and instead point to other things that are more indicative of which helping profession they chose.
With all that said, when someone sets themselves up against other nurses because of their level of compassion, it can be grating. If it is a given that we all care, such rebukes intimate that we don't care enough. While I doubt that's the message that is meant to be sent, it's often the one that's received.
canigraduate
2,107 Posts
Hmmm... what is wrong with you?
I got as far as cold-hearted egoist and decided that whatever else you had to say was probably inflammatory and stupid.
Man, I wish I had stopped there.