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.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

You know it's always something with nursing. This cliquish profession with it's women. And it's crap. I can't wait to get out of this profession. I'm counting down the days. To answer your stupid question, not necessarily. It depends on how long you've been a nurse; if you're PRN or full time. if you work night shift or not determines your pay. What's up with stepford wife crap???? I haven't seen one yet maybe they work in psych where they don't do anything but sit on their butt and medicate people. the nursing profession is a waste of time. if you're in it now get out. i told this 16 year old girl to not go into nursing. it'll be the best decision she'll ever make. she'll be thanking me 20 years down the line when she's my age. i'm glad that i didn't become a nurse.

What a nasty post!

If you didn't become a nurse, you're not IN this profession, which is good because with your low opinion of nurses and nursing you would not be an asset.

[NursesRmofun, ASN, RN]

This does not surprise me. Many members of the public view nursing as a career that does not usually attract the best and the brightest of society.

I have never gotten that idea from anyone. Odd. I usually get the "admiration for nurses" dialogue -OR- the "I've had a bad experience with nurses" kind of thing, to a lesser degree....but never a reference to nurses not being bright!

[Medic/Nurse, BSN, RN]

I think the way you spend the money you make is influenced by a number of variables besides social class. Social class is what "others" see when they they judge you. The income I report on my taxes may be 7 figures but if I don't value fancy cars, wear expensive clothes into the hospital or wear my exmemberve watch or diamonds to work — are you going to be watching what I bring to lunch (and who gets a lunch anyway!?!?! — lol) to give away clues on my social class? Maybe I don't invite folks from work to my home, so that's not going to give much away.

Maybe my posture will give away that I had some dance training, surely that's a sign that my parents had resources. But, I speak with the Appalachian mountain twang (especially if I'm tired), as I was raised there. I tend to speak properly and politely, write decently (when I wear my glasses) and limit profanity to the essential. Even with an active spoken working vocabulary of 20,000+ unique words, sometimes a few with just 4 letters really make the point with some people.

I think I kinda get the OP vibe, but consider the fact that most RN's earn between 50-75k (yep, there are some outliers, some geographical variables, AP folks earn more, experience pays more — key is MOST). I'd offer that IF your income is NECESSARY for life essentials, you're not using your paycheck for shopping trips to buy $700 shoes, the purse du jour or the outfit of the week.

I would argue that as long as we are cogs in the wheel of a service economy, with rare exception, most all nurses fall somewhere on a middle class spectrum. Don't kid yourself otherwise.

When I started as a firefighter/paramedic a friend of mine and I were talking about how choice changes people's perceptions of us. His dad is a millionaire many times over and he, too, could have been anything he wanted to be. We talked about getting a bit of grief about "just being a firefighter/paramedic". After all, be a doctor, lawyer, yada, yada, yada. Even though each of us had completed a degree and went back to university paramedic program a few years apart and a firefighter was a respectable job, it seemed that both of us had had similar experiences of people questioning why we wanted to do that job when we had other, more lucrative options "befitting" each of us. Both of us ultimately had the same answer for the question, tho he was much clearer, I tried harder to "soften the message" and be accommodating of others feelings (I've recovered from that as I've gotten older, but still). The answer: What is the problem with the person answering the 911 call who has the choice to do any program of study, but wants this more than anything and is top of their class and capable? It certainly helps that I have a formal education and a financial cushion as pubic service pays very poorly. All choices are a privilege.

Now, what social class one is "born" is set, the class that one transitions into can be complicated Fortunes change. Investments can take a dive. Even if you find yourself with an influx of wealth, does that really chance your class or just your income. Likewise, marriage can change social class, as can divorce. Is class learned or inbred? Or is it all just a yearning, keeping up with the Joneses and doing better than our parents?

It's all window dressing to a point.

I know a number of seemingly "rich" folks that are vapid, filthy rubes.

And, likewise, I know a number of outwardly appearing "poor" folks that are cultured, decent people.

Maybe bad breeding and poor manners can't be offset by a flush checkbook?

I think the real question is one of income utilization vs. value utilization. And that may have something to do with how you are raised, but I think that it's not exclusive to class.

I encourage all my amazing AN peeps to consider that life comes at you fast. The future looks different at 35, 45 than it will at 25. Time is not on your side. While being amazing is amazing, cash really is king. Debt can be like a poision to everything good. Imagine the freedom of not having debt.

Jobs get downsized. Even hospitals get consolidated. Folks get sick. Families have illnesses, sometimes they are prolonged. Injuries happen, not just on the job. Even an on-the-job injury will not be compensated well, I promise. Cars get wrecked. Half of all marriages end in divorce per statistics.

If you lost your income (if married, consider if you lost the income of just your spouse too, then consider if you lost both) could you sustain your complete lifestyle for 6 months. Do you have that cash on hand, readily available? IF you can't sustain your lifestyle for 6 months without panic, worry and problem, then you're living an unsustainable lifestyle. Are you living far above your "class"? Maybe. Maybe not. That's more of a value and income utilization issue.

Stay classy, everyone.

:angel:

[RNBSN1000]

I think it depends very much on which region you live in, the culture of the city and the educational options in the city. When your city is full of for-profit career-colleges offering unaccredited but "state-approved" nursing degrees, it can shape how the public views the profession.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Earlier in this thread, someone made an interesting point about social class and the perception of others.

I define social class according to actual, not perceived assets or status. Many people live well beyond their means, and many people live below their means for various reasons.

[WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN]

My wife has been an elementary school teacher for 25 years. In this area (Seattle), a bachelor's is still entry-level for teaching. New teachers in this area are paid considerably less than new inpatient nurses.

I'll see your entry level teaching degree and raise you licensure as a social worker. In my area MSW is preferred aND required for most positions. Salary averages mid 30s k/year.

[cherryelle07]

Earlier in this thread, someone made an interesting point about social class and the perception of others.

I define social class according to actual, not perceived assets or status. Many people live well beyond their means, and many people live below their means for various reasons.

^ Agree with this. Although I will financial social class DOES affect what you were exposed to growing up. Once you are an adult, it becomes your responsibility to culture yourself. With that said, I was exposed to a lot more then most people I grew up with. I know plenty of people who never left our hometown and I went on multiple vacations with my grandparents. While we give our kids everything they need, my boyfriend's grandparents are upper class and pay for my 13 year old's acting classes and often take my kids to theater productions, shopping at high end stores, and extremely nice restaurants. So their upbringing will probably be similar to mine, but not as much of a stark contrast. Except maybe with my son. His biological mother was a runner and they were always moving around. So he never had his own room and his stuff was always getting left behind, stolen, or sold. He didn't have a stable home until my boyfriend got custody of him. He's moved twice since then, but we've always made sure he kept his stuff and had his own room. He will not move again until he's an adult. He cried when we bought our house, because he had never had a home that was permanent and it meant a lot to him that our house was his forever home.

[fawnmarie, ASN]

"The culture you were raised in will impact your behavior, usually." Exactly!

[fawnmarie, ASN]

Sorry, that was in response to NurseCard, the very first comment on the thread.

[rikkitikki]

Another important, but often ignored, attribute of social class is the cultural capital, life experience, and worldview that each person brings to the table...This results in differing class-based worldviews

This is usually what I think of when I think of social class. I grew up somewhere between the upper end of middle class and the lower end of upper middle class. This is a specific distinction, but an important one as it shaped my worldview. I tend to think the middle class is characterized by a need for stability and focuses on maintaining that through practical life choices, e.g. becoming a nurse (which is by and large a stable career choice). The upper middle class has comparatively more room for frivolity and more options period, e.g. some of the trappings of wealth that people have previously described like a boat, fancier cars, designer labels, but also different cultural capital like an active interest in the arts and travel. (Again, this is just my view; I'm not a sociologist.)

Personally, I've been to private schools all my life, took multiple trips with my family every year, had a tutor, speak, as my mom insisted, the King's English. Starting as a nurse with a solidly working class and veteran patient and nurse population was honestly a culture shock. My interests admittedly tend to skew to the hoity-toitier side of things: theater, dance, travel, trying new cuisines, lectures at local museums (do I sound like Frasier? I feel like I sound like Frasier). My co-workers and patients initially treated me like an anomaly; I got comments like "You don't talk like us, where are you from?" and "Don't ask Rikki to see that movie, it's not her kind of thing." At first I felt really out of place; I didn't want to come off as snobby or aloof but I found it difficult to strike up conversations. But now that I've explored a few hospitals, I've learned everyone responds well to basic kindness, courteousness, and good humor and if they don't, that's got nothing to do with class. So to answer OP's actual question, social class doesn't influence where I work and I don't think it does as much as one might think.

[BeenThere2012, ASN, RN]

If you are doing it right, nursing is a "knowledge based" career.

I fully agree.

[BeenThere2012, ASN, RN]

I changed my mind....nevermind. I don't have a simple story!