I know this topic has been severely beaten, but its not dead yet because so many of us are still talking about it. I thought I would share my opinions and I invite everyone to comment, whether you agree with me or not.
I'm working on a BSN degree, which I expect to complete by summer '04. After that I intend to work as an RN for a year and then apply to grad school to do the CRNA program. Yes, I'm one of 'those' people who went ahead and did a nursing degree despite all the MANY negative things I heard about nursing as a career. BUT... I've been working as a volunteer in a local hospital, and from what I have observed, it IS true that physicians and NPs look down on nurses. But, it is also true that a lot of what has happened to the nursing profession is due to the attitudes and behavior of some of the nurses themselves.
First of all, I can tell from talking to some of the nurses at my hospital that they barely made it through nursing school and probably passed the NCLEX by less than a hair. Even as a student, I am shocked at some of the things I've seen some RNs do and at some of the questions they ask...stuff that any first year nursing student should know. If even I, as a nursing student, can observe these things, then surely the doctors also do. And, this is one of the reasons some of them think most nurses are idiots and little more than patient care techs. I've only been a volunteer in this hospital for 6 months and already I can tell the good nurses from the bad ones.
Another thing I've observed is that many nurses complain, complain, complain...about everything and wherever they can find an audience. They complain about the pay, the patients, the doctors, the administration...you name it. I've always wondered why these people got into the profession in the first place. They always use the same cliches...Plumbers make more, landscapers make more, etc. Anyone who really loves nursing will agree that it takes a lot more to be a nurse than it does to be a plumber or a gardener. For one thing, to be a good nurse you have to care more about helping people than about making a buck. In fact, to be really good at any profession you have to care more about your competence and reputation than about making a lot of money. I think a lot of nurses don't understand this.
I've seen some nurses who're so miserable when they come on the floor most times that I wonder why they bother. I've always believed that if you don't like what you're doing then you should find another way to make a living and stop creating more stress for yourself. I'm not yet an RN, and obviously as a volunteer I'm not making ANY money from helping take care of people in the hospital, but its experience that I'll need later and I don't get stressed out by it because I actually like helping people.
Also, some nurses don't take themselves seriously but they expect doctors to respect them anyway. In the old days, nurses used to wear immaculate white uniforms that were ironed, and they also wore clean white shoes. They wore conservative and neatly groomed hair, short cut nails, and they were spotless all around. Nurses were in very much the same supporting role back then but doctors did not look down on them the way they do now. Everyone used to look up to that spotless white uniform as a symbol of health and authority, and nursing used to be one of the most highly respected careers.
But look at what's happened. SCRUBS!!! In the ugliest and most shocking colors and prints, and with a pair of smelly, dirty sneakers to match. Not to mention the outrageous hairstyles and the long, acrylic fingernails to match. Compare the matronly-looking nurse from the 1950s in her glorious white uniform to today's nurse in his/her cheap cotton scrubs. Which one looks more like a circus act? Which one looks more like a healthcare professional? And we're wondering why people don't see nurses as professionals!!! Yes, appearance matters, and to prove it, put a lab coat on any nurse and throw a stethescope around his or her neck and see whether most patients won't assume that she/he is a doctor.
Then there's attitude. I've seen nurses who flat out refuse to go back to school to learn new stuff, always holding on tight only to what they know. They resist change and complain when they have to learn new technology that comes into the hospital. Some of them love to stand around backstabbing each other and gossipping, and they say the nastiest things about other nurses who take their work seriously.
I encourage anyone who's thinking about going into nursing to volunteer a few hours each week in a hospital and watch how the RNs and the LPNs do their stuff, just to get an idea of what to expect from the career. If after doing that you still feel like giving nursing a try, then just do it and stop paying attention to other people who say negative things about nursing. Every career has stress, and very few people you ask (no matter what profession they're in) will ever say they make "enough" money. I don't think nurses will ever be paid "enough" money for what they do, but one thing I've learned is that nursing is absolutely the wrong career choice if you're doing it just for the money.
I think nursing can once again become a respected profession when some of us in the field start to respect ourselves and each other a lot more than we do now.
