Why do some fairly new nurses talk down about bedside nursing?

[Googlenurse, ASN, BSN, RN]

I overheard a few coworkers talking about how they do not want to push a med cart at 50. They were particularly talking about us nurses with over 15 years experience who still "push a med cart".

The problem? I love bedside nursing and I can't see my self going into management or working for an insurance company. 
I don't know how to counteract or have anything to say when fellow nurses do this. These were all nurses who have less than 5 years experience. 
 

[Wuzzie]

Why? Because they're taught in their programs that being a bedside nurse is not enough. 

[RNperdiem, RN]

Social status.

Unfortunately, there is a status hierarchy in most jobs, and nursing is no exception.

The status tracks with the patient population served. Serving populations that are poor, marginalized, disabled and/or elderly (maybe all of the above) reflects the societal attitude that there working with low status people equals a low status job. 

Other factors like physical labor involved an, shift work count too.

There is nothing you can say to your coworkers. If you are satisfied with your job, just nod and keep on working.  

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

They drill it in nurses from the first semester of school that we have to want more. Before students are even done with their ADN they're being hounded about when they'll go back for their BSN. And before the ink is dry they're being asked when they'll get their MSN. 

But if you love what you do then that's what YOU should be doing. It's unfortunate that most people are being taught to look down on bedside nursing before they've even experienced it. They're told that their bedside experience is nothing more than a necessary stepping stone to get them "where they want to be". You don't have to defend your decisions and choices to anyone. Your love for your job will hopefully show them that their impression that everyone has to want to leave bedside nursing just isn't so. 

[JKL33]

Googlenurse said:

I don't know how to counteract or have anything to say when fellow nurses do this.

That's just as well because there is no need to. In fact I would try real hard not to hear or care to listen to what they're talking about anyway; it sounds unproductive and one of those "I need to make myself feel better than someone else" types of conversations and listening to those is a waste of life.

Do keep in mind that there are legit reasons why people may feel that way though. Their reasons have nothing to do with you.

[HiddenAngels]

JBMmom said:

They drill it in nurses from the first semester of school that we have to want more. Before students are even done with their ADN they're being hounded about when they'll go back for their BSN. And before the ink is dry they're being asked when they'll get their MSN. 

 

????yep 

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

I have close t0 20 years experience in the facility where I work. One day a newish physician approached me and said, "Can I ask you a question?" I  indicated he could and he asked "Why aren't you a Supervisor/Manager? I think this is because I am known as someone who can address problems with patients and their families and usually get a favorable result.  I simply told him I didn't need the headache and like being able to leave at the end of my shift without a lot of worry and stress. 

Hppy

[Okami_CCRN, BSN, RN]

I actually see bedside nursing as unsustainable in the long term. I have worked bedside MICU/SICU for a little over eight years and am burned out. 

I have seen co-workers have their PTO requests denied constantly, patients/family members berate and threaten nurses, absent administration in times of need, increasing workloads with increased acuity and decreasing resources. 

Inflation is at an all time high; a gallon of milk is now 5-6 dollars and a dozen eggs are over 8 dollars. Bedside nurses who stay are getting on average a 3-4 percent raise yearly if that. How can they afford to stay given the state of it all?

I don't think there is one single answer for this, but rather it is multi-factorial. 

When I was in nursing school no one told us we had to go on advance practice degrees or go into administration. They told us that nursing would open many doors and give us flexibility, which it did. 

 

 

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I became a nurse at 48 (almost 11 years now) and I have gone through school to get BSN and MSN (informatics). Many people ask me why I still work on the floor. I'm either too educated, too smart, etc. I LOVE bedside nursing still! I love caring for patients and I like teaching new nurses, I am the floor expert on diabetes (I have 2 T1 kids), on EPIC, pain and I work as charge about 50% of my shifts. 

It's a teaching hospital and I love working with the new docs and the NP/PA. When it is no longer fun, I will find something else to do. I wish people would not poo-poo the idea that there is something wrong with being at the bedside. ❤️

[JuliaPMHNP]

Because it's garbage 

[vintagegal, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

When I was in nursing school, they trash talked anyone who stated they wanted to get more than a BSN. (It was a BSN program). In fact, they constantly would make those students who dreamed about any non-bedside position feel less than. I kept my mouth shut about my goals,  but the truth is I was always drawn to the elderly, long term care, and a more home like setting for my patients. At that time I had no solid direction on where I wanted to go, but I never felt like I fit in as a hospital RN.  I turned out to spend my career in hospice and palliative care, also working in LTC. Fast forward a few years, I never took a bedside position because that was never my passion. I would never get and hold a position that was just a "job". For me it had to be something more.

I went back to school to get my DNP with focus on care of the adult-geriatric client. I want to continue to work in the outpatient setting. There is nothing wrong with nurses who decide that the bedside isn't for them. There are tons of positions out there that need to be filled by competent, qualified, and passionate individuals. 
If you love beside, great! If you don't, that's fine too. We should stop perpetuating narratives that to be a good nurse you have to be down in the trenches of a hospital. I have colleagues that work in addiction medicine and I am very impressed with the work they do for our community. To each their own. If your happy, your happy and that's all that matters.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I've been at the bedside for 31 years now.  So yes, it is sustainable.

 I left for six months over 12 years ago to work in the Admit-Transfer centers as a "manager" (in quotes because it was two of us).  I hated being away from the bedside and left after six months.

I've been offered management positions several times and always say no.  
I'm even more bottom of the barrel in that I've stayed in med-surg areas the whole time and have a BSN.

My job satisfaction is not contingent on what new nurses or anyone that look down on med-surg/bedside nurses think.