This article insults nursing as a lower skilled job

[Cheyenne RN,BSHS]

i just read this article that down plays the work and hard study that rn's all put in to obtain a degree in college or a university. i feel insulted and plan to write them. :angryfire and a i am trying to "edit" to stay legal here, it is the fact that nursing is lumped into the mind set of a "lower skilled job" that precisely burns me up.

no college? not necessarily a problem

report points to 16 good fields for lower-skilled workers

by andrea coombes, marketwatch

last update: 7:36 pm et oct. 27, 2005

san francisco (marketwatch) -- the reigning assumption among many americans is that teenagers go directly from high school to college, but that's not the way life always works.

just 27% of americans over age 25 hold bachelor's degrees or higher, according to 2004 census data. see the census data.

the report details 16 jobs, all in growing industries, that pay more than $25,000 a year, are available to workers holding an associate's degree or less, and don't require a significant amount of previous work experience.

those occupations include nursing, carpentry, bookkeeping, plumbers and electricians. (see full list below.)

"there's no question that the payoff for a college degree is highly valuable and getting more valuable every year, [but] there are major occupations with large numbers of jobs going wanting that pay reasonably good wages, and are within reach of working adults that don't yet have postsecondary education," rubin said.

some barriers to entry

but just because you don't necessarily need a college degree doesn't mean entry into these jobs is easy.

for instance, "registered nurse" tops the list of 16 jobs because it has the greatest number of projected annual job openings, but that job poses barriers for some lower-skilled entrants, including training programs that tend to be highly competitive and full-time.

"registered nurse is certainly an excellent paying occupation and an occupation where there are tremendous shortages," rubin said. but, he added, entry to the field usually requires at least three years of full-time study and "very, very strong math and science skills."

an alternative is to become a licensed practical nurse, another job on the list. certification is often available through part-time training programs, making that occupation a more manageable entry point into the nursing field for those needing to support themselves and a family.

link to the full article:::

http://aolpf5.marketwatch.com/news/archivedstory.asp?archive=true&dist=special&siteid=aolpf&guid=%7b3daf2918%2dceb4%2d406c%2d9e20%2df78863532640%7d&returnurl=%2fnews%2fstory%2easp%3fguid%3d%7b3daf2918%2dceb4%2d406c%2d9e20%2df78863532640%7d%26siteid%3daolp

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

(I think you're only supposed to post a few lines and then a link to the article.)

This article obviously doesn't think an associate degree is a "college degree". That's all it's saying. it's not saying nursing is low skilled, but that you can make good money without a bachelor's degree.

[elkpark]

I'm not sure what you found insulting about the article -- I just read it, and it didn't say anything that wasn't true ... In fact, it specifically commented on how competitive nursing school admissions are and that "very, very strong science and math skills" are needed, and stated that "just because you don't necessarily need a college degree doesn't mean entry into these jobs is easy." It identifies nursing as an occupation in which people can make a very good salary with an associates' degree -- well, that's true!

I acknowledge that the title of the article is unfortunate (and please note that titles of articles in newspapers, magazines, etc., are often written by someone other than the author of the article itself, often an editor) -- the title talks about lower-skilled workers but the focus of the body of the article is clearly less-educated (less than a baccalaureate degree, that is) workers. I know some master plumbers, carpenters, and electricians who would also take great offense at the idea that they are "lower-skilled."

Of course, it's also possible that the point of the title is that the JFF report "points to 16 good fields for lower-skilled workers" to get into (that is, to move up into), not that the people in those occupations are lower-skilled ...

The reality is that, as long as it's possible to get licensed as an RN with (just) an associates' degree, we're going to see articles like this, so you may as well get used to it. :)

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I'm not sure what you found insulting about the article --:)

I think the quote at the top is what's unsettling to the op "Report points to 16 good fields for lower-skilled workers" That registered nurses are included in this is a bit unsettling, especially since so many RNs hold BSNs.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

"Lower skill" doesn't mean "low life," which is the reason why i don't find this insulting.

[ZASHAGALKA, RN]

One of the main reasons I went into nursing was an article just like this one many years ago, although that article was titled " Best college bang for your buck."

~faith,

Timothy.

[SmilingBluEyes]

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[fergus51]

Lower skilled? Please. Come to my unit and work my job and then tell me I am lower skilled..... This isn't McDonald's where we get a few hours of orientation then start work.

[estrogen]

Lower skilled? Please. Come to my unit and work my job and then tell me I am lower skilled..... This isn't McDonald's where we get a few hours of orientation then start work.

I actually found the wording of the article quite respectful and truthful except of the phrase "lower skilled" as the writers were setting themselves up for a misunderstanding... They could have found a better phrase, but it is evident what they ment. Say Carpentry is also not McDonald's and requires a significant amount of complicated knowledge and skill. I don't have a problem my profession being grouped into the same category.

Basically, what they ment was probably "skilled jobs requiring less than a Master's Degree or Doctorate".

[nurse4theplanet, RN]

the article is poorly titled.

but the content is perfectly okay.

Nursing is one of the few degrees that can earn you a comfortable living without holding a BSN. But if you think about, at least this is true for my school, we usually have 3-5 yrs of college under our belt by the time we get our associates...kinda ironic huh? low skilled workers like us:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[onconurseRT]

I read the article with an open mind and there are certainly words/phrases that could have been edited so that the message from the article was not overlooked by misunderstandings. I can say that every time I see an advertisement or an article about nursing and in the same sentence see information about pay standards I get sick! I am a BSN RN and getting my MSN and it is not for the money. In fact, my "job" is not even aware that I am attending grad. school because frankly I currently work at a place in which some fellow nurses and specifically my managers could give a crap about if I am in grad. school or not (another topic-some other day). So money is certainly not my motivation and it never has been. The real problem that I see is that there are advertisements and programs that are offering the fast methods into registered nursing including BSN programs making the field look "attractive". In the meanwhile, there are some RN's working on the floor for the paycheck and the paycheck only- patient care declines. They burn out after a couple of years because the bottom line is that it is hard to be a dedicated nurse in the current system. I know there is a shortage in some areas of the country, but I am SOOOO amazed that hospital mangers and each state nursing departments are not looking at retention issues (ie. job satisfaction) rather than creating an upcoming workforce that will not have the true committment that it takes to be a good nurse. Lets face it folks... there is no amount of money that could be given to me that can erase or ease the heart ache, frustrations, physical and mental exhaustions, and sometimes helplessness that true-dedicated nurses feel and carry home with them. That sense of ease comes from within and is not found in a high salarly. The article shows nursing as a high end $40,000/year job up there with plumbing and other needed trades, however, in my opinion nursing is in a league of it's own!

[Murse901, MSN, RN]

I think that the title of the article is misleading and a poor choice of words, but the article itself was completely true.