What is the draw to nursing these days

[Libby1987]

I've been isolated in an apparently small corner of the nursing world and it wasn't until I started hanging out here that I've caught up on the current state of nursing*. I've read that it's usually the discontented and disgruntled that post or comment on venting threads but I think there is still a unanimous acknowledgement that nurses are understaffed, overworked, and often under paid. As well as the near universal glutted job market.

Which is then countered by pre nursing students clamoring for acceptance into a program.

It's puzzling to me. Is it denial on the part of those wanting to enter nursing? Or exaggeration on the part of working nurses? The middle is usually where the reality falls but it's hard to ignore that people are intentionally trying jump into what is often described as a pit.

*This actually concerns me as to what I will find when I relocate and try to secure a new position.

[Bbett, MSN, NP]

My draw to nursing is simple.

A) a highly respectable job that pays well

B)fairly easy degree to obtain in only a small amount of time

C) countless opportunities to further your education( I love going to school)

D) full ride to college due to scholarships and tuition assistance from the hospital I work at.

The nurses where I work don't seem to have the problems everyone here is talking about. Everyone loves their job. I don't think I am looking through rose colored glasses at all.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

I can pay my bills. And I have money left over. I am a million times better off than just about anybody else my age that I know about.

Here's my best comparison - two friends, within six months of my age. They are engaged. He got a bachelor's degree and couldn't find good work - stocked shelves at a grocery store for a while, worked at a home improvement store for a while, both minimum wage, and then went to technical school to work on airplanes. He makes around $15/hour and has more than $60,000 in student loans. His fiancé got a bachelor's degree, couldn't find work in her field, and worked as a secretary making low wages for a while. She went back, got her master's, and teaches in a private high school now, and also makes less than I do. Her student loans are more than his. Both of them pay out more in student loans than their rent costs. They live together and can barely make ends meet. He is constantly exposed to carcinogens and comes home with a lot of back injuries, for a lot less than I make. She has some anxiety problems, which have been quadrupled by her very demanding rich kid students, are keeping their relationship pretty rocky. The condo they are renting is many years old and has constant problems with the air conditioning. They have a washer and dryer which are older than either of them and don't work well.

Me? I just bought a townhouse by myself - a new construction townhouse. Everything is under warranty. All of my things are brand new - except for my washer and dryer, which I bought brand new last year. My mortgage is less than their rent. My BSN cost less than their bachelor's did because I didn't live on campus, and I worked through school anyway. I don't just have enough money to pay my bills - I have enough money for nice things and to take vacations. Other friends my age have moved back in with their parents. Some are waitressing, some are cashiers - bachelor's degrees are a dime a dozen now and all they mean is that you will probably be able to get a minimum wage job if you have one. Not much else is guaranteed.

It's a pretty horrible world out there. That's one reason why I think so many people are trying to pile into nursing. My job is awful, and it has made me a very bitter, pessimistic person - but hey, at least I am burned out in a nice townhouse with nice things, instead of being burned out in a total hovel, or in a family member's basement, buried under tens of thousands of dollars in student loans that I'd never be able to pay back. That's the draw of nursing. I can actually live like this without hating my life.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

I agree with calivianya many people are drawn into nursing due to the crappy economy, all the media hype about a nursing shortage, and the chance to help people. But the reality of nursing in many places leaves much to be desired! I've been fortunate to have worked many non nursing jobs so know there are good jobs out there, but the problem is many don't pay a living wage. Nursing is one of the few accessible jobs that pays a living wage, but you pay dearly for it with your health and life! It is ridiculous that once again people are bringing up the widespread problem still of people working off the clock and not even getting paid for missing lunch! This after how many class action lawsuits again and again where the hospitals are fined and forced to provide back pay, yet it is still an ongoing practice in many places!

Also I have never been so harassed and bullied as I have as a nurse. Not NETY just cliques and bullying where one person tries to destroy someone's reputation or get them to quit or be fired and how many nurses go along and gang up on an individual. I have seen it and experienced it and while I survived it has taught me to be very disengaged at work and with coworkers. I make a point of not having close work friendships because of this. Ironically I crossed paths with the bully who made work a living hell for me years later. She became a patient and I even refused to care for her at first, but months later I had to face her again as a patient and finally gave in and took care of her. It was surreal. She never mentioned the past or bothered to apologize, but I let her know how well I was doing, how well my life, both at work and in my personal life had turned out and it was liberating. I faced her down and feel peace, also will admit to schadenfreude at her many personal problems including a foreclosure. It is true what goes around comes around.

I have also taken care of a medical professional who was deeply hurt by bullying by colleagues, just the mention of a past incident years ago left the person with tears in their eyes. This is a problem for doctors as well and doctors have even committed suicide. This topic is brought up on KevinMD. So it is not just nursing, but seems to be the whole medical profession!

My family life and personal life matters to me, work is just a job. Frankly there are so many problems with the state of nursing that I won't go back to school for a BSN. I'm looking forward to retirement. If I won the lottery I would just retire early and enjoy a stress free life where I didn't have to put up with nasty people!

To those who insist on pursuing nursing in spite of all the warnings, I suggest you keep student loans at a minimum and plan on going all the way and getting an NP where at least you can use your brain and not your body, although you will still be subject to assembly line working conditions!

[roser13, ASN, RN]

"To those who insist on pursuing nursing in spite of all the warnings, I suggest you keep student loans at a minimum and plan on going all the way and getting an NP where at least you can use your brain and not your body, although you will still be subject to assembly line working conditions!"

Amen to this. All you have to do is read the other current thread about a 3-year nurse who is struggling to pay $100,000+ student loan bills.