Why is it a crime...

Nurses General Nursing

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why is it a crime to also want to be a nurse because of salary and security? :igtsyt:

i am changing careers and i'm 39. i have had a desk job all my life, but have found that the times when i have had to help people close to me while they were sick, made me feel good; it meant something and helped someone. i truly found my desk jobs to be boring and not fulfilling.:uhoh3: :throcomp:

however, when i chose nursing, salary and money was a big deciding factor. why is it you have to also be willing to work for free to honestly be "fit" for nursing??? :saint:

i have come across a few posts on this website where people are attacked at the mere mention of a career in nursing providing decent/good salary and/or job security. let's get real a minute please...while some people may very well volunteer their time, most of us can't and need a salary for what we do. i think you can want both. you can want to help people and want a decent salary too.

if your employer told you they couldn't pay you anymore for all you do...would you still work there every day and do what you do for free?

:twocents:

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
why is it a crime to also want to be a nurse because of salary and security? :igtsyt:

i am changing careers and i'm 39. i have had a desk job all my life, but have found that the times when i have had to help people close to me while they were sick, made me feel good; it meant something and helped someone. i truly found my desk jobs to be boring and not fulfilling.:uhoh3: :throcomp:

however, when i chose nursing, salary and money was a big deciding factor. why is it you have to also be willing to work for free to honestly be "fit" for nursing??? :saint:

i have come across a few posts on this website where people are attacked at the mere mention of a career in nursing providing decent/good salary and/or job security. let's get real a minute please...while some people may very well volunteer their time, most of us can't and need a salary for what we do. i think you can want both. you can want to help people and want a decent salary too.

if your employer told you they couldn't pay you anymore for all you do...would you still work there every day and do what you do for free?

:twocents:

although i've never done a formal study of it, i suspect that most of those people who are attacking others for going into nursing "for the money" as opposed to having a calling are probably still in nursing school or perhaps haven't even gotten there yet. i doubt that anyone who has been actually practicing nursing for very long has that attitude!

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

They pay does not comiserate with what you have to do and the responsibility you have. That being said it is still a good dollar. What I think some nurses are feeling is that ther are good nurses having a hard time finding jobs and there are those who have come to the field "for the money" and are crummy nurses. YOu have to like what you do and if it pays well....BONOUS!

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"It's not a crime to want money or security. But right now, and for the past couple of years, there hasn't been any job security in nursing, there are no jobs at all, and the next few years look pretty miserable."

Honestly, this is the way it is everywhere. However, sometimes we are told there is/or will be a nursing shortage, sometimes we are not. Just like I have read that some people have not found a job yet, I have also read here that some people have.

"And honestly, the pay is not all that great considering everything nurses have to deal with."

People in a lot of different jobs have to deal with things that are hard and things they don't like. I'm not demeaning what nurses do in anyway, their job is definitely challenging. As far as the pay, a salary beats NO salary at all in my book. Millions of people right now would be happy with a salary (even half the avg. nurses salary) right now.

"It is frustrating when people come here and say they want to get into the profession for money and security because you really need to have an emotional investment in helping others when they are more vulnerable then at any other time in their lives.

Nurses have to be patient advocates, there has to be a commitment to putting the patient first when you're on the job. The way the business of health care works these days nurses find themselves fighting tooth and nail with administration to get the support and resources they need to provide good patient care.

When you hear someone say that they're in this for the money and the security it brings up some concerns about priorities. Is this nurse prepared to be a partner in the daily battle of patient care? There is nothing worse than having to work with a nurse who only cares about their own needs.

I'm sure that there are some people who can do this job well without that emotional investment but that is very rare. So even though I agree 100% that nurses deserve to be well compensated, I also worry when people come here saying that they want to get into nursing for the money and security."

I completely understand your viewpoint. However, what does that have to do with being capable of doing a job and your reasons for doing it? For arguments sake, Some people can be:

-a patient advocate

-committed to putting the patient first

-fight tooth and nail with administration to get the support and resources they need to provide good patient care

-be prepared to be a partner in the daily battle of patient care

All while, being concerned with their own needs and not being emotionally attached. I think being concerned with someone's motives is a dangerous arena because unless you out right ask them, and they tell you, "I don't care about the patients, I'm in it for the money," it's a dangerous judgment call.

Who knows...that very person that you thought was just in it for the money...could become the biggest "softy" you know. I think we should give folks a chance. No one is perfect.:D

I kind of feel like, who is anyone to judge why another person has chosen a career?

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It's not a crime. It really doesn't pay that well either. I know people who make more money for doing far less than I do.

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No, i wouldn't. I do think my pay is a fair pay. When it comes to satisfaction, there is nothing better than using my nursing degree to help others in volunteer settings (my city, my church, respite care for friends/family, etc)

That is when i really enjoy nursing. No politics involved~

Agreed...I have worked around politicians and politics all I can say is NEVER AGAIN! :bugeyes:

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People who enter nursing for the money are weeded out in the clinical courses.

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I don't think it is a crime. I just think that if someone went into nursing for the money only...they would be in for a rude awakening. IT IS HARD WORK! Some days I feel like, " I can not believe I get paid to do this!" Other days, being a Walmart greeter seems like it would be so worth the pay cut!

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People who enter nursing for the money are weeded out in the clinical courses.

Not true. I've seen plenty of registered and practicing nurses who clearly aren't in it for the patient. The OP isn't going into it just for the money anyway.

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People who enter nursing for the money are weeded out in the clinical courses.

No they are not. There are some cold blooded, cut throat nurses in it for the money alone. These nurses can usually be found in upper management or as DONs of private nursing schools. It's a pipe dream to think clinicals weeds out anything, money talks, bs walks. Every student is $$, now if any student is to be weeded out it will happen during ATI or HESI testing not clinically because clinicals don't affect a school's future NCLEX pass rate. Money & pass rates is the name of the game in nursing schools.

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I don't think it is a crime. I just think that if someone went into nursing for the money only...they would be in for a rude awakening. IT IS HARD WORK! Some days I feel like, " I can not believe I get paid to do this!" Other days, being a Walmart greeter seems like it would be so worth the pay cut!

I believe you. I have been told by so many that NS is hard and the job itself is hard. I prefer to work hard at a job I really see making a difference than a job that doesn't. I'm sure you have had some good days though...right??? I would love to hear about those too. I think that will be the topic of my next post. :D

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OK, here goes... Nursing is a calling. If we were paid what some of our clergy are paid, then we would do it b/c we love it.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
People who enter nursing for the money are weeded out in the clinical courses.

I have to disagree there. I have seen many people who had warped reasons for wanting to be a nurse who do make it through the program successfully, pass NCLEX and, unfortunately are working and making our lives a disaster. If a person is deluded enough to believe that nursing means walking around in crisp, neat white uniforms and seeking to being a physician's wife, they will and have done whatever they had to do to earn that license. Also clinicals can fool you. Usually, you may be assigned to one or two patients and have the support of your clinical instructor as well as the assigned nurse, who is ultimately responsible for the outcome of that patient.

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