There are loads of discussions on this BB about the fluff in curriculums for Nursing school.
Yet, I repeatedly see posts displaying total ignorance of most basic economic issues and how it affects them. I have friends who are recruiters who get resumes that are a disgrace from people that have a BSN. I have coworkers that have no clue of how financial issues work.
I see repeated posts from new grads and experienced nurses about ignorance of local pay rates - do you not research your job field BEFORE you spent 2-4 years getting a degree or deciding to move across country?
You don't think that your credit rating, or your DUI or your conviction from check is going to follow you? Or that it should affect you.
You think that you can bring your kids to work or to an interview, that since you have kids, that means you get the "preferred" schedule...right out of nursing school
You think that employers can be "guilted" into hiring you, that all it takes is a good storyabout how hard it is to get a job, will trump finances and have the employer pony up the 40-80 grand a year plus training and benies.
Or that a hospital that had the kind consideration to PERMIT you to learn on their campus, despite the strain on their resources (ie. nurses that did not get pay for taking the stress of precepting, and dealt with the liability), should be forced to hire you and perhaps fire/cut hours for those very nurses that sacrificed to help you learn.
Or that the large number of unemployed/uninsured/underinsured are not going to affect our bottom line.
I would like to see Nursing schools incorporate some form of business/basic economics class in Nursing school. Included should be current economic conditions, world economy issues, researching (accurately) salaries, COL of where on intends to practice, filing taxes, getting licensed, WRITING A RESUME AND INTERVIEWING, proper behavior in the workplace. And a week or so of workplace poliics and how to deal with them.
Sometimes just plain common sense and a lack of a trusting nature is needed when dealing with the world. I went out of my way to explain to everyone involved that I wanted a mortgage that I could convert to fixed rate after one year. Over and over again, I repeated myself. At the one year mark I called the mortgage company. Guess what they told me? Yes, the loan officer lied to my face. Had I read the paperwork he put in front of me with a discerning mind, or better yet, had a real estate attorney review it, I would have received what I asked for. Stupid me. And I was so shocked that someone that important would lie to me. The people at the mortgage company told me to file a formal complaint. I told them, "Why? You aren't going to rectify anything!"
Here's one more: in this era where pensions have largely disappeared and saving for your own retirement has become all-too-necessary, most nurses have not a clue about what is involved in the simplest forms of investing and saving. Nor any concept of living within their means, even when making very good salaries.
"You think that you can bring your kids to work or to an interview, that since you have kids, that means you get the "preferred" schedule...right out of nursing school"
Just wanted to point out, I feel the opposite as this one! When I interview for jobs, I never EVER mention the fact that I have a child (and definitely don't mention the fact that I am a single parent). Rather than thinking that they will hire me and give me a great schedule to fit around my daughter's school schedule, I assume that they will be less likely to hire me because they think I will call in all the time, or complain about the schedule that I do get. We had to do the whole career counseling thing in nursing school (they basically taught us about resume writing and interviewing), and that was one thing the counselor suggested.... don't mention children or single parenthood. And they are also not allowed to ask in the interview. I've only had one interview where the interviewer started asking me about if I was married... and then asking if I was divorced, had children etc.... I thought it was innappropriate. Anyways, I guess the point is... who would in their right minds think that bringing their child to a job interview with them would help them get a job?! Wouldn't it just show that child care may end up being a problem with that employee?? Just my 2 cents
I wish I had been offered a course in personal finances when I was in high school. I believe this should be mandatory for every high school student.
Sure, knowledge of the basics of life seems like "common sense" stuff to people who were taught the basics of life, but I came from a home where talking about common-sense stuff (for example, money) was as taboo as talking about sex. If I hadn't had sex ed in school, heaven knows where I'd be now. Probably with ten kids and raging herpes infection.
I simply didn't learn the most important things at home. I am not a stupid person; allegedly I have a high IQ and I was a straight-A student. But I wasn't taught the things I needed to know most.
Nowadays, I can learn more than I ever thought possible because of the internet. Even now though, a person has to know where their knowledge is lacking before they can Google it. My knowledge was sorely lacking. I paid the highest price I think a person could pay: pretty much ruining my own life and hurting those I loved most.
If I had been offered a course in basic life skills, I would be in a completely different situation today. Sure, my parents "should have" taught me these things, but they did not. My parents were above-average people, but they mysteriously failed to teach me the most important lessons. How many kids out there have average or below-average parents, who are also deprived of these lessons? Obviously far too many.
Let's teach kids in high school or (preferably!) start teaching them even earlier. Saying "if he/she doesn't know this stuff, my chances for success are better" is like saying "kids should teach math to themselves, let's not teach it in school, that way the kids who learn on their own will outcompete the ones that don't!". All children have the right to a basic education, and part of that basic education (in my opinion) should be a few skills they will need in order to survive in the world.
I'm not a whiner; my parents did the best they could with what they had. I'm an adult, have been for some time, and I'm completely responsible for every hardship my adult actions have caused. It's just such a pity that so many people like me (reasonably intelligent people trying to do our best) are left to "wing it" in regards to the most important aspects of life.
I remember in seventh grade, the health teacher spent a whole class period teaching (and assigned a two-page essay as homework) HOW TO TAKE A SHOWER. Seriously. How I wish I'd had even a few class periods learning how Action A leads to Consequence B. I would have learned that and used it.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
QUOTE=caliotter3;4327475. . . .]Sometimes just plain common sense and a lack of a trusting nature is needed when dealing with the world.
I'm finding that financial institutions that formerly were ethical and had great customer service becoming far less so in both areas. It's like they're p*ssed off about the bad press they got regarding bonusses and lavish conventions.
And on the subject of naivete, I know two, yes TWO nurses who sent several hundred dollars each to e-mail scammers from Nigeria. Boggles the mind, it does.
And on the subject of naivete, I know two, yes TWO nurses who sent several hundred dollars each to e-mail scammers from Nigeria. Boggles the mind, it does.
No way! Come on, those scams have been around so long they aren't even joke fodder anymore!
Kids or mothers to interviews? Well at least it make a decision easy for the person hiring...
I was raised in a rural area. I remember coming home from college one day (this was in the early 80s) and my Mom telling me that my cousin, same age as me, had gone to interview for a job in response to an ad that said 'girl wanted to work in trucking company office' (obviously this was before it became illegal to discriminate based on sex). I was aghast when my Mom told me that her father went with her. My Mom's response to my astonishment was "Well, of course, he's going to go with her...to make sure it's okay for her to work there. You never know what they want a GIRL for." LOL I do believe there are both cultures and regions around the country where bringing kids/parents along to the interview is regarded as rather 'normal' through their eyes.
I'm finding that financial institutions that formerly were ethical and had great customer service becoming far less so in both areas. It's like they're p*ssed off about the bad press they got regarding bonusses and lavish conventions.
And on the subject of naivete, I know two, yes TWO nurses who sent several hundred dollars each to e-mail scammers from Nigeria. Boggles the mind, it does.
I spent the first decade of my working life in a lucrative IT job working for a household name secondary mortgage institution. At the time, everyone was proud to be an employee there, largely because of our mission to make homes affordable for American home buyers. It has gotten bad press in recent years...for its role in the collapse of the American economy, questionable accounting practices, and lavish compensation to senior executives. Ethics, when I was there, really had been the foundation for everything we did, and I'm so glad I wasn't around for everything that happened thereafter. I'm completely disenchanted with corporate America. I'm also rather wary of the stock market anymore and definitely see the potential for a crash as big as the one that started the Great Depression. Woe to this country in the next several decades as an aging America that has experienced a cultural shift away from pensions and generations of families living closely together is at the mercy of their 401Ks and social security for survival.
This problem is in all careers not just nursing . Many people cannot write a resume, cover letter or even know how to conduct themselves during an interview. For instance i went to a interview at Walmart and the other appilcant had on jeans and multicolor hair blue and green braids and was wondering why she did not get hired!
We had a course which covered interviews, resumes/cover letters, filing taxes, different types of accounts, saving for retirement, budgeting, stocks, credit and credit cards, and many topics such as that. It was required to take this class to graduate. I thought it was stupid, but as I get closer to being on my own I realize how valueable it was. I'm glad we had to take this and I wish every high school student took it.
I was raised in a rural area. I remember coming home from college one day (this was in the early 80s) and my Mom telling me that my cousin, same age as me, had gone to interview for a job in response to an ad that said 'girl wanted to work in trucking company office' (obviously this was before it became illegal to discriminate based on sex). I was aghast when my Mom told me that her father went with her. My Mom's response to my astonishment was "Well, of course, he's going to go with her...to make sure it's okay for her to work there. You never know what they want a GIRL for." LOL I do believe there are both cultures and regions around the country where bringing kids/parents along to the interview is regarded as rather 'normal' through their eyes.
Uh, I live in a rural section of the country, and there is no way in the world anyone in management in ANY business around here would think an applicant who brought a parent or child with him/her anything but unprofessional, unreliable/immature, and bizarrely out-of-touch. I can't speak about other sections of the country (I'm from the midwest) and I definitely can't speak about hiring practices in the early 1980s, because I hadn't even hit double digits at that point, but in this place at this time - NO WAY! The applicant's resume would be in the trash can before s/he left the building.
Boggles the mind, it does.
Otessa, BSN, RN
1,601 Posts
Plain and simple common sense.
otessa