i am graduating in may after waiting years to become a nurse. i have always, since the tender age of about 9, wanted to be a nurse.
i simply cannot express how much it :angryfire burns my hide :angryfire that everyone and their mother wants to be a nurse now. what's with the sudden enthusiasm and interest in nursing??? particularly in ca, in seems that everyone is telling me that they are doing pre-req's for nursing. ***?? my friend (also graduating with me in may) pointed out that it seems more and more men are coming into nursing. now, maybe she and i will get raked over the coals for this one, but before the $$ spike for nursing pay, men would be laughed at (a la ben stiller in meet the parents) for being a nurse.
i just find it so frustrating that everyone wants to be a nurse now, especially since nursing has become quite the lucrative career. what happened to wanting to be a nurse because you (*gasp*) care about people and like (*gasp #2*) helping others???????
this is all boiling over with me because i see quite a few of my classmates that clearly are in this for the money. i, personally, would rather die than be their patients - that's how greedy, selfish, money-hungry some of my lovely classmates are.
sorry - i just have to vent.
**please note: i absolutely do not mean that men should not be in nursing - i think it's great. i am generally frustrated at seemingly everyone (both men and women) being interested in nursing, now that it pays so well (esp. in ca). please do not accuse me of being sexist**.
That's just funny! I am the 'and their mother' that was mentioned in the original post. I had 2 or 3 things that I wanted to be in high school - and yes, a nurse was one of them. Didn't think I could do it - the idea of needles freaked me out. A cat with kidney failure (needed LR SQ) and 2 kids changed that.
My cat (okay, my ex-roommate's cat) inspired me to become a nurse, too! I was the one who had to administer the Ringer's Lactate. The experience also taught me never to recap a needle (everyone in the ER asked "You had a needle in your cat?").
I grew up around a lot of nurses. I wanted to help people, but I wasn't interested in nursing right out of high school because I desperately wanted to leave the small town where I grew up. All of the nurses I saw were people who had gone to the local CC, gotten a job at the hospital down the street, and worked there until they died. I wasn't interested in that. If I had know that a 2-year degree meant I could go literally anywhere, I would have jumped on it.
I got into nursing because I want to help people, and make a decent wage while doing it. I help people in my current job, but I make poverty-level wages. I'd also like autonomy and a chance to advance, which my current job doesn't offer.
Yet another thread in which a student sees fit to judge the entire body of nursing based on his or her own limited view of the subject.
This is not meant to bash you, OP. This is meant to enlighten.
Not everyone who goes into nursing does so with a golden heart aching to heal the sick and tend the dying. Sometimes, people like the idea of such an environment BUT ALSO that it is the kind of occupation that can afford a decent living and flexible working hours for raising a family.
I realize that since you have always wanted to be a nurse, anyone who only just figured out they'd like to be a nurse a month before signing up for pre-reqs might seem "less worthy" to you. But you REALLY have to realize that the person who wanted to be a nurse for the last fifteen years and the one who only decided fifteen minutes ago might very well be equals when it comes to having the ability to do the job.
It would be nice if every person had a Mary Poppins glow of purity and healing about them. But the reality is, we're human, and most of us DO make some pretty rude cracks now and then about the very people we work for and with. Sometimes it's just our way of dealing with the dementia, the smells, the disease, the disorder and chaos. Sometimes making a joke about someone is the very way we are able to go back into that room and do it all over again.
I know you would prefer that every person going into nursing today do so because of a burning desire to feed the sick and cure the ill. But I'm ok with my loved one being cared for by a nurse whose desire to enter the field was motivated by money as well: as long as they are doing a competent job, I'm just glad THEY ARE THERE.
You are judging where you should not. Because I can assure you, after spending time in this field, if a person is not cut out for nursing he or she will simply not last. You do come across as smug that YOU are more worthy of being a nurse; perhaps your intention is to vent but the reality is you are wasting your time being worked up about this stuff enough TO need to vent. You might not like someone's style, but they might be better at nursing than you, regardless of your intentions.
I know a nurse who cracks wise about everyone and everything. She's got a foul mouth (in the breakroom) and is frequently rude about patients and their families. But when it comes to BEING with those same patients and families, you couldn't meet a more competent, effective nurse. Her patients sure aren't judging why she became a nurse, and whether she wanted to be one at age 9 or age 30. They couldn't give a rat's behind what her motivations are! They just know that she's the best at what she does, and ask for her time and again. You might do well to remember that.
Nursing is my second career. I made far more in my first career. But I had always had in the back of my mind that someday I would go back to school (again!)to become a nurse and I did. The pay is not equal to the amount of responsibilty in my opinion. But if I choose to leave nursing, then I can. But for now, for me, the rewards personally are an added benefit.
My husband always had a need for doing some type of altruistic work. Nursing would not have been for him!! He was led to become a lawyer. He practices family law. Talk about hearbreaking work! Now the words lawyer and altruistic may seemlike an odd pairing. But the heart and soul given to the cases he handles are at most heartbreaking. His salary is good but in no way is equal to that of a tax or corporate attorney. His job entails being social worker, psychiatrist, cop, mediator and the list goes. My husband often gets chided by his school buddies that say "Come work for me, you will make so much more". But my dh knows he would miserable and then it just be a "job".
Being able to make a living in which you can take of youself and your family is what we all pursue.
Being able to make a living doing what you love is priceless.
I don't see anything wrong with more people out there wanting to become nurses. I actually think it's great that more people want to get into the profession, but I do see your point about the ones who only get into it for the money. IMHO, I don't think that is a good reason to become a nurse, but like you said, there are some of those out there and unfortunately, we need to just ignore that and learn to work with them.
Besides the ones who have wanted to become nurses all their lives, there are also those (myself included) who just have an epiphany. For about 4 years I attended a community college part-time taking basics, being miserable, because I never knew what I was going to school for. I didn't think about becoming a nurse until after I had my daughter (over 4 years ago). I absoluetly loved my labor and delivery nurse, and she was the one who inspired me to get into nursing. Ever since that day I decided to complete my prerequisites, and now I'm done and ready to start the RN program in the fall, I have never looked back! And it's not because of the money, it's because I want to help new moms, and I would love for them to remember me in a positive way, just how I remember the nurse who took care of me. Inspiring someone else to get into nursing would really make me happy too! People are also realizing that nursing is a well-respected and growing profession. There's nothing wrong with that.
i am graduating in may after waiting years to become a nurse. i have always, since the tender age of about 9, wanted to be a nurse.
i simply cannot express how much it :angryfire burns my hide :angryfire that everyone and their mother wants to be a nurse now. what's with the sudden enthusiasm and interest in nursing??? particularly in ca, in seems that everyone is telling me that they are doing pre-req's for nursing. ***?? my friend (also graduating with me in may) pointed out that it seems more and more men are coming into nursing. now, maybe she and i will get raked over the coals for this one, but before the $$ spike for nursing pay, men would be laughed at (a la ben stiller in meet the parents) for being a nurse.
i just find it so frustrating that everyone wants to be a nurse now, especially since nursing has become quite the lucrative career. what happened to wanting to be a nurse because you (*gasp*) care about people and like (*gasp #2*) helping others???????
this is all boiling over with me because i see quite a few of my classmates that clearly are in this for the money. i, personally, would rather die than be their patients - that's how greedy, selfish, money-hungry some of my lovely classmates are.
sorry - i just have to vent.
**please note: i absolutely do not mean that men should not be in nursing - i think it's great. i am generally frustrated at seemingly everyone (both men and women) being interested in nursing, now that it pays so well (esp. in ca). please do not accuse me of being sexist**.
i read your post and most of the thread with much thought. you came on here asking everyone's opinion and you got it. i think we need men in nursing and more of them. i think this thought that nursing is for those who have a "calling" is rather "elitist" and a hinderance on the profession of nursing. if you hadn't realized already, our economy sucks. people are losing jobs left and right and realize that they need to go back to school and get a degree in a field where they will more than likely be hired and make a decent amount of money. sorry this is true but people have families to support.
in my case, i wanted to be a nurse, i wasn't called to it. i was just interested in the field. yeah, i came for the money too but that doesn't make me a bad nurse. i think you should get over the fact that people are coming into nursing for the money. perhaps they really wanted to be a nurse too? who cares? it's not any of your business anyway why people chose the profession they do. every one has their own reasons. who are you to judge?
I am glad that more men are going into nursing. Although it ticks me off to no end that men make $1.00 for every $0.75 that a women makes, history shows that when men start to enter a field that is predominately women, salaries go up for everyone (same thing happened to teaching). Also, I don't think men would be laughed at had the salary of nursing not gone up. Men in nursing is not a new thing. There are male nurses that have been nurses for YEARS.
Yes, there are people that go into nursing for the money. I am not one of those, but I am also not going into nursing to do it for FREE! And because I would not do it for free does not mean I am not passionate about nursing or that I do not have a "true calling" (if that even exists) it just means that I respect myself and know that I am of value. Nurses work hard, they should be paid what they are worth, and even now that is not enough. When I graduate I know I will be busting my orifice as a nurse, no way will I be willing to do if for free.
I also feel badly for you that you feel "beat up on", but remember the cliche about the power of the written word. It is not what one says, but how one says it {or in this case, written}, that disturbed some people. You have every right to vent, but just be careful in the future how your post will appear to others. The next time you need to vent, give yourself ten minutes before you press the send button. All this being said and with all due respect, I need to warn or advise you about this career. You can take it or leave it. As a new RN, please refrain from being judgemental towards your fellow nurses. You do not know if they are in pain and suffering inside either. We are people first with feelings and problems just like everyone else. Why is it nurses are treated without respect or kindness by patients or families? We, as nurses treat others better than we do ourselves. My point is...if you judge your fellow nurses so harshly, they will eat you alive. Unless physical harm, medication errors, etc, are harmful to a patient, do not be a snitch, or as we call them desk runners. One of the major problems with burnout with nurses is the lack of kindness and support we do not extend to each other. Also, once you begin your career as a RN, do not treat every patient as if it was your loved one. Too many sad and terrible things happen in hospitals, things you only read about or saw on television. If you personalize your patients as you would your loved one, you will quickly burn out. Also, I think you have an idealistic, unrealistic view of RN's. While I admire it, I want you to be careful...because once you are a RN somehow, someway it will get stomped out of you, leading to burnout. I know, I was once idealistic. If you dont believe me , just check out the section regarding nurse burnout. Good luck in your career!:mnnnrsngrk:
I'm sorry, but what's wrong with getting into nursing for the salary? As long as you give good, competent care -- whats the big deal? I think that is why nurses have been underpaid for so long. Many treat money as a dirty word, and frown upon any of those who dare mention it. Most male dominated professions are higher paid...wonder why? Because men are not afraid to ask -- to demand - higher pay. As long as nurses are stuck in this handmaiden, Florence Nightingale attitude, they will continue to not get the pay and respect they deserve! I think as you see more men enter the profession, this is changing -- which only helps the entire field.
I'm sorry, but what's wrong with getting into nursing for the salary? As long as you give good, competent care -- whats the big deal? I think that is why nurses have been underpaid for so long. Many treat money as a dirty word, and frown upon any of those who dare mention it. Most male dominated professions are higher paid...wonder why? Because men are not afraid to ask -- to demand - higher pay. As long as nurses are stuck in this handmaiden, Florence Nightingale attitude, they will continue to not get the pay and respect they deserve! I think as you see more men enter the profession, this is changing -- which only helps the entire field.
I have to respectfully disagree with you djc about women not asking/demanding higher pay and being stuck in a handmaiden/Florence Nightengale attitude. I believe the pay discrepancy is an issue intertwined with the gender biased social structure in our country and a lot more complex than a failure to simply ask for more money. As for the archaic mindset, I am sure there are some older nurses who haven't evolved with the changing environment, but the same holds true for any field. Out of all of the nursing students and the few RNs I've met (admittedly most are part of the younger population), none of them seem to hold the handmaiden/Florence Nightingale attitude). Though I whole-heartedly agree that men bring a different perspective to nursing, which should only work to improve things.
If you noticed in my posts, you will see that I am in CA - no nursing shortage here, buddy. Far from it. I'll be damn lucky if I can find a job when I'm done.
I am a humanist - maybe that's why I am CONCERNED with less-than-compassionate classmates.
Good god, I should have NEVER vented/tried to find support here. Big mistake.
I am sorry to hear you were put off or offended by the responses you got anxiouslywaiting. I don't come on this site to tear anyone down. I only meant to disagree and have open dialogue.
One of the reasons for the spike in pay is that men have fought for it,as a female nurse i am grateful for the insight and resources men have brought to the profession,as for your other point about coming into nursing for the wrong reasons,i agree with you but this is true of a lot of professions,take teaching for example,and evidently the people who were in banking and real estate in this country also were in it for the wrong reasons,but your presence as a dedicated nurse will bring out the best in others,being there for the right reasons inspires other people to examine their own motives and behaviors,keep up the good work !:)
i, personally, would rather die than be their patients - that's how greedy, selfish, money-hungry some of my lovely classmates are.
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Not_A_Hat_Person, RN
2,900 Posts
My cat (okay, my ex-roommate's cat) inspired me to become a nurse, too! I was the one who had to administer the Ringer's Lactate. The experience also taught me never to recap a needle (everyone in the ER asked "You had a needle in your cat?").
I grew up around a lot of nurses. I wanted to help people, but I wasn't interested in nursing right out of high school because I desperately wanted to leave the small town where I grew up. All of the nurses I saw were people who had gone to the local CC, gotten a job at the hospital down the street, and worked there until they died. I wasn't interested in that. If I had know that a 2-year degree meant I could go literally anywhere, I would have jumped on it.
I got into nursing because I want to help people, and make a decent wage while doing it. I help people in my current job, but I make poverty-level wages. I'd also like autonomy and a chance to advance, which my current job doesn't offer.