Why is it that many laypeople think nurses make a ton of money? It's kind of annoying that just about every other time I say to someone what I do professionally, they say "oh, there's a lot of money in nursing because of the shortage" or "oh, my aunt Sally is a nurse- she works for XYZ medical center and makes, like, $90,000 a year." I'm not venting because I expected there to be a lot of money when I got out of school (I just recently graduated); I worked as a CNA and know that many nurses don't make nearly as much as the public thinks they do. Hence, I certainly didn't get into nursing for the money- I chose to be a nurse because I thought it would be a great way to help others while working with people who value learning and intellectual challenges. But seriously, I don't take home much more than other people who are in the helping or public service professions. It just blows my mind when people I've met who are in business/law/finance talk so casually about how they're expecting $10-20,000 performance bonuses or how much vacation time they have coming up. I'm sure they work 60-70 hours/week for their salaries and are scared fudgeless about the prospect of layoffs. However, it's still mind-boggling how people who don't help others in their daily work lives get away with that much cash. So here's to hoping that enough future nursing students who want to quit their investment banking jobs do their homework and go to nursing school for the right reasons (not just the money). And here's to hoping that we as nurses can further educate the public about what we do and the fact that many of us don't get paid a lot for doing it.
