Social Class and Nursing

[AllOfMyWat]

This is not a question about ECONOMIC class/how much you make. I've noticed a fair number of nurses who make the same amount of money are varied in their social class. This isn't a value judgment, but it is visible in the food nurses eat, clothing choices, recreation, and behavior. (My prepatory school educated, Latin and Greek speaking, fair trade, organic eating husband readily points out my lower socioeconomic habits, which I enjoy and am unlikely to change.)

Does social class impact where you work? I've heard nurses complain you won't survive at the major hospital here if you're not a Stepford wife. I've also looked at facilities and thought I wouldn't fit into the predominant culture.

[NursesRmofun, ASN, RN]

Hmph. Never thought being blue collar denotes........not a profession.

Professional plumber comes to mind. Professional brick layer too. Professional contractor. Professional chef.

All jobs that have all the qualities of a profession, but are blue collar.

I'm no expert on the matter though, classifying blue vs white collar.

True! Good point...but I did say the two together...the profession with the education. I don't think of a Chef being blue collar either. I wish there were a clearer definition. I'll have to do more research!

[cherryelle07]

Wikipedia describes blue collar workers as people who work in unskilled professions that involve physical trades such as construction, HVAC, plumbing, etc. Nursing is considered pink collar since its more service industry based.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Hmph. Never thought being blue collar denotes........not a profession.

Professional plumber comes to mind. Professional brick layer too. Professional contractor. Professional chef.

All jobs that have all the qualities of a profession, but are blue collar.

I'm no expert on the matter though, classifying blue vs white collar.

When people talk about a given line of work being a "profession" or not, they are not simply talking something you do in exchange for money. Usually they are making a distinction of whether it is primarily physical labor or if it requires a substantial amount of higher education.

"1 : an occupation (as medicine, law, or teaching) that is not mechanical or agricultural and that requires special education."

Profession | Definition of Profession by Merriam-Webster

Often it is expected that the particular line of work would be considered a "profession" if it has a professional "body" by which it is governed, such as a medical board, the Bar that governs lawyers, and nursing, which answers to a Board and has legal parameters (Nurse Practice Act).

The word "profession" is not necessarily so narrowly defined in common usage, which explains why people disagree about it.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Interesting blurb about the various "collars" in reference to types of jobs:

Collar workers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Libby1987]

No it is not. My mother who was originally a Doctor in Mexico and became a nurse here says you hardly use your brain. It's not like you're diagnosing an illness you are simply caring for a sick person. Once you learn it you don't really have to do much work(with your brain). It's all routine and it's more physical than anything. A knowledge based career would be someone who can actually diagnose the disease not treat it.

You and your mom know very little of the requirements in different fields of nursing or you wouldn't say something so ignorant.

I work with nurses who are of the task oriented mindset you speak of, and they are potentially dangerous in our setting, as they would be in most settings.

[Libby1987]

And now I want to have a glass of wine with my horse friends martymoose, Kalycat and neenrn.

[cherryelle07]

I disagree with the term service industry as it implies to me Hospitality.

Healthcare is healthcare and there are all walks of life in the various strata of professions. I will provide hospitality after I deliver my skills and labor, if time and circumstances permit.

Personally I would consider nursing a blend of all 3 blue, white, and pink. Nursing combines aspects of all 3 if you think about it. Nursing is definitely physical if you work bedside, but it can also be white collar as all RNs are educated workers and some work desk jobs as managers, consultants, etc, and nursing does have a service aspect to it as they do provide a service to their patients via their medical care. Some nursing jobs are more blue collar or more white collar then others. It just depends.

[TuesdaysChild]

Without an objective measurement, it's not very helpful to discuss how much "brain power" is required for nursing because it's purely subjective, whether it's personal experience or someone's mom who used to be a doctor or the pope. Just to provide an objective basis, I've made a table using the listed required intellectual competencies and vocational skills level for the professions of nurse, AP nurse, general practitioner, and surgeon. This information was taken from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles that is maintained by the U.S. Department of Something or Other.

As you can see, there's a difficulty gradient moving from left to right. However, considering the overall scales that the competencies are measured on, these are all jobs that require above-average mental capacity and critical thinking. If every job was placed in a histogram relative to its academic requirements, the distribution would be skewed to the right with all all of these professions lying in the tail of the graph. My current job scores a 3-2-3 (out of 6) on competencies and a 4 (out of 9) on overall skill. I can literally feel the folds of my cerebral cortex drying up every day from underuse. But..... nursing will still be a significant paycut. I just value challenge more than money.

But also keep in mind as to job categories like blue/white/pink collar and what is a "profession", these are all social constructs. It's not real. They're just values that have been arbitrarily assigned because, I dunno, society likes to walk around with clipboards and make check marks on them, I guess. I once worked on a lawsuit where a food company was suing a warehouse because the temperature rose above the minimum for food preservation and a couple hundred pounds of garlic went bad. Garlic goes bad all the time and gets thrown out. Spoiled garlic is spoiled garlic, but this particular spoiled garlic was assigned value because it was worth money to the food company.

So I would say any job is what it is. Whatever value or category is given to it by arbitrary means isn't real. It's a construct that we've made up so we can keep things nice and neat in our little brains

[NursesRmofun, ASN, RN]

In Mexico nurses are looked down upon. It's such a shock to come to the US where the profession is more respected and pay is higher. That being said I still consider it to be a working class profession compared to that of a doctor. It is physical job not knowledged based.

I imagine a lot of people aren't paid well in Mexico.

I don't agree that nurses are manual workers alone, etc. And, of course, we are knowledge based. We get tested on our knowledge for our licenses.

I've known many doctors that were not the brightest bulbs in the box as well.

P.S. Work on that punctuation and grammar.

[VeggieBSN]

I feel like I've gotten the whole "stepford nurse" when co-workers ask me why I work when my parents are well off and supportive and husband has well payed professional but I honestly think it's something women say when they are still stuck with the idea that a man should provide and when people work just to (hopefully) enjoy retirement. I want to enjoy life every and be financially care-free every step of the way.

[Greenclip]

Most of the cultures where I have worked have been pretty solidly middle-class -- and I have seen that cause problems for some upper middle class and upper class students and orientees. I have seen the staff be biased against that more privileged culture and reject those students/orientees because they did not share the same middle or lower middle class experiences and perspectives.

That's why I am usual careful not to speak too much of some aspects of my life lean more to the upper class end of the spectrum when I am work or with my work friends.

Agree with this assessment 100%. By observation, I would say that most nurses are at the lower-middle to middle-class level in SOCIAL class, although often not in income. Experience, aspirations, and taste all reflect that. I haven't seen too much variation between hospitals. Most staff members are definitely biased against those whose background is upper-middle. (I'd say that most Americans would not call themselves upper class unless they do not need an earned income. Usually children from those families do not look into nursing at all.)

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

(I'd say that most Americans would not call themselves upper class unless they do not need an earned income. Usually children from those families do not look into nursing at all.)

This observation is spot on. Most children who hail from society's upper echelon pursue law, business, economics, or finance...the majors or concentrations that provide them with the knowledge to someday manage the family's vast fortune.