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 think someone in this thread, on this page, is a little over sensitive.
What I find scary is when you disagree with someone and that person takes offense to the disagreement. I don't expect anyone here to agree with me and I hope they don't expect the same of me. But I will remain civil and not attack those who do not hold my same opinion or view.
Do I think it's wrong to want to be a nurse because you have a "calling"? No.
Do I think it's wrong to want to be a nurse because it provides job stability? No.
What matters is that the person who decides to enter the field of nursing provides SAFE and COMPETENT care. This is just my opinion. I don't expect anyone to hold the same view.
As for the matter at hand... there are worse reasons for becoming nurse, I met a skank who wanted to be a RN to score a doctor husband.
But its my experience that those who go in for money (which isn't a lot in New Zealand) end up either horrified at the gore and mess of the job and so leave, or end up having themselves a revelation and becoming fantastic nurses.
Some of these post are very unpleasant to read. So you're wondering why I keep reading, because I'm hoping to find at least one post that isn't mean,nasty, or offensive. Can't believe this thread lasted so long. Please close it already.
Frankly, I find this post offensive. I believe my post just four posts above it was neither mean, nasty, nor offensive and was actually quite respectful considering how offensive I felt the original post to be.
I honestly don't know why she is so offended! People are just contributing their own opinions and experiences. No one was throwing "sticks" or "stones" at her!
I went into nursing due to flexible hours/decent pay check for the hours I work and am able to use my mind and my hands---plus I am a social person and the thought of working behind a desk drives me CRAZY.
Nursing was a win/win choice for me and my family.
For those nurses that say "I dont do it for the money" my standard response is "oh so your a volunteer?"
Obviously you misinterpreted some of the peoples posts in which they stated that their not going for money....what we meant was that MONEY wasnt the main reasoh why we choose nursing,is this such a bad thing that you find it so offensive?
Some of these post are very unpleasant to read. So you're wondering why I keep reading, because I'm hoping to find at least one post that isn't mean,nasty, or offensive. Can't believe this thread lasted so long. Please close it already.
Please don't close this thread! I've gone back through the posts and have found very few statement that seemed gratuitously nasty or pejorative.
And I think that it's important examine our motives ... both for new nurses and students and for those of us who have been around a while. It's part of having realistic expectations ... and having one's expectations let down is a prime factor in burn-out.
I am an older nurse myself,i meant no disrespect to those of us who have been there and fought the hard fight,that is why i said "ONE of the reasons" and not "the only reason"
Some of these post are very unpleasant to read. So you're wondering why I keep reading, because I'm hoping to find at least one post that isn't mean,nasty, or offensive. Can't believe this thread lasted so long. Please close it already.
I'm offended that you're offended :)
Seriously, if you're finding this or any thread unpleasant to read the answer is very simple: stop reading it.
I, for one, am getting darned tired of interesting worthwhile threads getting closed every time somebody gets offended.
Obviously you misinterpreted some of the peoples posts in which they stated that their not going for money....what we meant was that MONEY wasnt the main reasoh why we choose nursing,is this such a bad thing that you find it so offensive?
The idea that someone would include financial stability as a reason to choose nursing as evidence that they are less worthy of being a nurse is what some of us are offended by. Caring about a paycheck does not preclude compassionate care. The implication to the contrary is what some of us find offensive.
If someone else's decision to become a nurse has nothing to do with money, I have no problem with that. Just please do not imply that I am a lesser nurse because I do care about financial stability. It is that holier than thou-ism that offends some of us.
I'm just curious why I offended her. Whatever...back to topic.
Perhaps the offence came from her beleiving eveyrone would start dancing around agreeing with her and replying with "posting to the choir, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl friend!"
But another point - I was going to be a lawyer, and it wasnt' for the money, I had grand dreams of becoming a lawyer that would challenge all the disgusting anti-life laws that exist in my country, also, my bro and my dad were both lawyers and I wanted to join the family firm they were talking about starting, I had no want for the money. I didn't figure to be a nurse till I was 21. Prior to then I wanted to be a lawyer - ever since I was a kid, from about when I could remember to well, I still contemplate it, I wanted to be a nun!
Essentially - what if this las gets into nursing school and then reaslises she doesn't want to be a nurse? She can argue against that possibility all she wants, but I was determined to be a lawyer and no one was going to tell me otherwise. Well, now I"m a RN!
There was a topic much like this that had the same issue become the focus (actually, the other topic WAS this issue). Should someone go into nursing primarily for the money?
Now, this is what I have to say, and its not targeted at anyone...........except you traumanurse cause you offend everyone lmao.
If you are in nursing and your reason is not primarily financial, there is nothing to hand your head about. Good for you. Thats what people who are sick and depressed from being sick need, a nurse who see's her position in life as being one who brings joy to the lives of those suffering. And I do agree too, that to EXCELl in nursing..........ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, one must have at least some interest other than money.
Now, on the other hand, you have many who will admit, the job opportunity, the pay and benefits, are the primary reason they are in nursing. Good. Nothing wrong with that. MIllions of people are in jobs soley because they need the payments they get for their services. They need said payments to do other things just as respectable as the life choosen by the ones mentioned above (raise children, help care for parents........heck, simply paying taxes and spending money in the community to help the local business). People of this group can/are suitable nurses who save lives every day and eat crow for all the things nurses eat crow for just like their counterparts.
This is the part that I think makes it sticky and offensive. Sometimes, the nurses who are in it for the money assume those who are not are only saying that because they are.......not up to snuff. Like its a mask the nurses who "feel a calling" wear to disguise their poor clinical performance.
Then, the "nurses with a calling" group does what upsets me most. They assume, because they choose a life in which they service others on every level possible, that it is the only right choice. When you do good deeds, then turn around and beat others over the head about what you have done and why they should feel the same.........you are doing no one any good, including the patients you claim to have a higher calling for. Serving a higher purpose in no way shape or form includes beating others over the head with our ideals. The second you cross this line, your hard work and effort is wasted and meaningless. You have staryed from the path of "a higher calling" to Self Righteous Indignation. It does not protray a belief in what you are doing but instead reveals that perhaps the "higher calling" approach is more about ego than serving others.
The second you choose to bash others over the head with your "higher calling" ideals, you not only displace all the efforts you have made, but instead of inspiring people to do the same, you turn them off, convince them to dig in their heels and defend their way to approaching nursing. What a wasted opportunity, when your time would have been better spent leading by example and showing the fruits of "being in it for more than money".
i, personally, would rather die than be their patients - that's how greedy, selfish, money-hungry some of my lovely classmates are.
RN1982
3,362 Posts
What I find scary is when you disagree with someone and that person takes offense to the disagreement. I don't expect anyone here to agree with me and I hope they don't expect the same of me. But I will remain civil and not attack those who do not hold my same opinion or view.
Do I think it's wrong to want to be a nurse because you have a "calling"? No.
Do I think it's wrong to want to be a nurse because it provides job stability? No.
What matters is that the person who decides to enter the field of nursing provides SAFE and COMPETENT care. This is just my opinion. I don't expect anyone to hold the same view.