Which came first, the $ or the ♥ ?

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At some point in your life you decided to become a nurse. So, for you, which came first?

A love of nursing (with the wage secondary)

.....or ....

Did the pay catch your eye and then you 'grew into' the idea of it all?

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Specializes in Tele.

I've always been a nurturing person....(though unfortunately sometimes in toxic situations.) It's trying at times but whenever I feel a bit jaded, I take a mental health day....to go running, get pampered, and spend time with loved ones.

I DO want to travel and volunteer in other countries after I have experience though.

Edit: And financial independence is always a plus

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Sad to say I think it was the wages. I have cousins that work in this field. I think she just got her BSN or something and shes making like $45/hr.

I do really want this job. But I am going to explore other career options while I try to get into this job field.

I'm sick of living with my parents! :scrying:

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Specializes in Cardiothoracic ICU.

new grad at $45/hr ...doubt it

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.

I honestly went back to school b/c I wanted to gain more knowledge ( I was a surgical technologist for years)...with the $$ being secondary. My heart was never a big factor. I am not a nurturing person naturally, but I find this job does bring out the caring side that barely used to see the light of day. :p

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The $$ helps but there is more to it than that. If engineers were offering 150k base starting salary, I wouldn't do it cause I could careless about it and it would bore me to death to have to go to work everyday.

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My youngest sister said that I should be paid for being crazy and that was what started me on this path. Thanks snort!!

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The $$ helps but there is more to it than that. If engineers were offering 150k base starting salary, I wouldn't do it cause I could careless about it and it would bore me to death to have to go to work everyday.

That is perfectly stated! Nursing, for me, has the perfect mix of challenge and financial security. Would I be a receptionist for $60 an hour? Probably not. Nor would I be a nurse for $12 :D

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Specializes in Psych.

Neither. I went for nursing because it combined my favorite part of other jobs I have enjoyed. I love teaching and am good at it. I prefer working independently as long as I get to interact with folks through the day. I love changing technology and evolving scientific knowledge. I like people. I really like making a positive difference in the world. I like evaluating my work process and coming up with the most efficient techniques. So, when I learned that there was a career that combined my favorites and I could support my kids with it, I was thrilled.

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Neither. I went for nursing because it combined my favorite part of other jobs I have enjoyed. I love teaching and am good at it. I prefer working independently as long as I get to interact with folks through the day. I love changing technology and evolving scientific knowledge. I like people. I really like making a positive difference in the world. I like evaluating my work process and coming up with the most efficient techniques. So, when I learned that there was a career that combined my favorites and I could support my kids with it, I was thrilled.

I guess you and I found the perfect job.

I'm not going to fault those who are driven by the money. There are terrific nurses out there who do this purely for the money and I live in the bay area and see plenty of this. As long as you can provide safe competent care, I could careless what your motives are as long as you can get the job done.

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I'm agreein' with you two, the wage is still a definite incentive.

But I do feel I have a lot of characteristics that will be full utilized in this field. As a human I work best when I have an overwhelming amount of things to do. I multi task really efficiently, plus I'm un-phazed by any gross bodily fluid or image.

^_^ The sicker side of me is really excited to be able to deal with all of the things i'm going to be dealing with.

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I'm still looking into nursing but I have to say I am excited about the prospect. I am in a different situation in that I will be taking a drastic pay cut to go into nursing. My pay potential is much higher in my current industry but I've always been interested in medicine, I want to help people and I want a more active job.

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