Why do so many people want to discourage nursing students???? (vent)

portland_guy · Nov 21, 2002

I am in the same boat. I have been taking pre-reqs for a year now (can only go part time) and finally told my parents. They were shocked!

"What about medical school?"

"What about counseling?"

"What about physical therapy?"

Luckily, my partner has been 100% supportive. He understands that the job that I now have where I am trapped at a desk all day and not feeling like I contribute to society has its downsides. (He's a teacher though so his job is demanding)

Sure, I get decent pay, have an easy day sitting in an ergonomic chair sipping my tea while I push a few buttons. But, I have no person 2 person interaction, and at the end of the day I don't feel good at all about what I have accomplished. The majority of office positions out there are similar. I look forward to finally getting into the nursing field so I can make change in people's lives, make change in the career, and feel good that even though the day was demanding, long, and probably quite difficult, I helped people.

Eric · Nov 21, 2002

I'm not a nurse yet, but I have done a ton of research into the matter before even considering the career switch.

The first thing I had to deal with was the assumption that if I switched careers I would be making less money. So lets take a pop quiz, who makes more money?:

A - A computer programmer with 8 years experience

B - A BSN with 2 years experience.

The correct answer (at least in the area I live in, is B).

Then I had to think about where I was going to be personally, 10 years from now.

Now, 10 years from now, who will have had more opportunities to make people happy, to comfort the sick and the dying, and work in the career that is most beneficial to humanity as a whole:

A - Computer programmer

B - A nurse

(again, the correct answer is B)

Finally, I looked at the personal gratification for each career.

If I work my a$$ of this week as a programmer, I will have managed to create an application that makes a roadmap of our software archive that we use here at work. All of this will be done in the privacy of my tiny cubicle where I have little interaction with anyone.

If I had spent the week working my a$$ off as a nurse, I believe that I will most likely have been in contact with a lot more people, and would have had the opportunity to do something more satisfying than developing another application that in 2 years will be obsolete.

I cannot dramatically describe my role as a computer programmer. However, I could dramatically describe a nurse:

"A nurse is one who has chosen to take up the horrendous burden of helping others bear their pain. A nurse stands alone in the night, ever vigilant for the slightest change in the condition of those she has been charged with, ready to do whatever is necessary to relieve the pain of those who suffer. Tasks that more recognized men and women are loathe to even discuss, a nurse performs on a daily basis because it needs to be done, and the nurse, stronger than any other, has agreed to do it."

portland_guy · Nov 21, 2002

Yay Eric! Well put!

colleen10 · Nov 21, 2002

WOW ERIC!!!!!!!

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hapeewendy · Nov 22, 2002

sound advice from all

just wanted to add my voice to many..

for all the negativity remember the positives..

when someone starts to spew forth their misconceptions,jaded opinions or just general pessimism

NOD AND SMILE AND TUNE RIGHT OUT!

you are doing this for a reason ,a reason that many of the nay sayers cannot comprehend, nor will they ever be able to because they have not had the experience of knowing what to do with their lives.

its a bitter person who wants to cut others down.

consider the source and rise above it.

for every one of their negative comments you have myself and others who are sitting here cheering you on, rooting for you, sharing your failures AND your successes and anxiously awaiting your graduation so that you can see first hand that its not all bad

infact its mostly all good....

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

Eleanor Roosevelt

(so dont let them!!!)

jschut, BSN, RN · Nov 22, 2002

I like what Wendy said....smile, nod and tune out. I chose to be a nurse after many years of nursing knocking at my door and telling me it was choosing me!

I like what I do, and although at times it is stressful, I wouldn't trade it for anything... :)

2banurse · Nov 22, 2002

Wendy, I really appreciate your posts. You make some very valid points, particularly shutting out the naysayers and concentrating on those nurses with positive attitudes. In the past, I had also read the threads on the BB and actually let the negativeness in and put this dream away. Fortunately, it seems to be stronger than I am and I am going to refrain from reading the downers and look for those like yourself that are happy with their choice.

BioRN · Nov 22, 2002

First, let me say am not going into nursing for the money, but just on financial terms according to Nursing Spectrum magazine I can make up to $56.00/hour. Is this publication for real? Are nurses making this much? I personally would like to make $25.00/hour and work 3-12 hours shifts a week or part-time. I want to make a difference. I want to actually see the faces of the people I help. I am an older nursing student and I have spent most of my life hating what I do. Maybe I will hate nursing, but if I make half of the hourly pay listed in Nursing Spectrum adds, I will be fine. All of those who are RN in the U.S. let me know if Nursing Spectrum is lying.

Youda · Nov 22, 2002

The thread asked the question 'why do so many people discourage nursing students?'

To answer that question, you only need to read the problems encounted daily that are discussed at allnurses. Nursing is a very demanding profession. Demanding physically, psychologically, morally, ethically and spiritually. If anyone tells you differently, they are lying.

That doesn't mean the choice to go into nursing is "wrong" or that the positives do not outweigh the negatives. In my opinion, it takes the best people in the world to be a nurse. The ability to think critically, solve problems, do heavy physical work at times, do complex technical procedures, comfort and support another human being, etc., . . . requires a person with exceptional inherent abilities and talents. The "Joy of Nursing" is intangible, such as the satisfaction and exhilaration of a successful Code, the knowledge that YOU caught a problem before it became critical, the satisfaction of knowing that it was your skills that made it possible for a patient to walk out the hospital doors instead of wheeled out the dock door to the morgue, and the humbling when a patient tells you very sincerely 'thank you' for being there.

The choice of a nursing career can't be only a comparison with other professions using tangible data such as benefits, wages, hours of work, etc. If you use only those parameters, nursing will come up short every time. But, it isn't just about those tangibles, is it !?!

You don't have to justify to others your choice to go into nursing, or any other decision you make in your life. When you do encounter the discouragement of others, just say that you have already weighed the pros and cons, and that's why you chose to be a nurse.

studentOH · Nov 22, 2002

Still a student here, and I've had a mix of comments. SO's mother forbade her children from becoming nurses (she was an air force RN...vietnam vet). My own mother has been pushing it since I first mentioned it because "I know this LPN that makes almost 18/hour" which is wealth in my hometown .

I've had mixed responses from the nurses, and I take every single one of them into consideration. I politely dismiss the ones who don't know what they're talking about--but when you're a leftwing overly political unreligious vegan who loves to listen to Marilyn Manson all day you get used to unwanted comments .

Follow your heart and pity the person that tries to stand in you're way--if they were happy with their lives they wouldn't dream of telling you what to do with yours!

Brian