Wrong reasons for going into nursing.

[madfowl]

I think I may be picking up a popular theme on this site. For every "whoopee, I got a job", there is a post about somebody being dissapointed about their experiences working. The first year after licensure postings are beginning to get scary.

How has your passion for nursing helped (or harmed) your sink or float fight in the nursing biz?

Whenever I feel insecure, I remind myself that I was born for this, and to cut the fear factor, now. I knew that I wanted to be a nurse since I was a little girl, and cant imagine myself complaining of long shifts or dealing with puke.

Is there a difference on quality of care, (and viewpoints), on nurses who are nurses because of a personal passion? When you read some of these posts, do you get the feeling that some of them would not survive two minutes on your floor, because the right reasons for going into nursing is not there?

Frank honesty is welcomed.

[OutlawNurse86, BSN, RN]

A while back, there was a thread titled "Got no job? Come be an RN", I'm just gonna copy and paste my response from there to here:

I understand where you are coming from, but some of these people may actually end up being pretty good nurses, just gotta give them some time.

Take me for example...

I was pushed into nursing, I DID NOT initially want to be a nurse (please read the rest of this before y'all start commenting), I thought "Male nurse? GAY!", I started going to school for it because I couldn't think of anything else to do that would bring a decent paycheck.

However, as I started my classes, I started learning more and more what nursing was about, I learned a lot of things that corrected my misconceptions, especially when I started working as a CNA at a local hospital. The more I was around it, more I enjoyed it. I even learned "Hey! I like working with people!" (This shocked me because I was [and to some extent still can be] and antisocial hermit). I've known other guys that got into nursing for almost the same reasons and they ended up being some of the best nurses I know. A lot of guys coming in from industry already have good technical skills, some even have the people skills that others (like myself) have to learn.

My point is, yes, you have to get into nursing for the right reasons, but..... sometimes it can take time for a person to find those right reasons. They may be like me: Start off for the check, then learn that they are actually good at helping people and decide to further themselves in a nursing career for the right reasons. You just gotta encourage people and give them time.

FYI: I love being a nurse. A lot of my issues were related to lack of knowledge about the field.

[leslie :-D]

I'm so tired of reading posts by people who think they are so high and mighty for going into nursing for the "right reasons". It's a job. People chose different jobs for many reasons. Would you ever put down a person who decided on a career in mail delivery for going into it for the "wrong reasons"? No. Get over yourself.

i don't give a rat's ass, how my mailperson delivers my mail.

i DO mind how a nurse delivers theirs.

my point being, there's a difference betw nurses who want to do right by their pts, vs those who reek w/the attitude of "whatever...it's only a job".

and this is not ltd to nursing, but in all professions.

attitude will make or break your standard of care.

leslie

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

i don't give a rat's ass, how my mailperson delivers my mail.

i DO mind how a nurse delivers theirs.

You've never had a run-in with a passive aggressive mail carrier then! I'll spare the details, but it involved months of misdelivered mail and complaints to USPS that only seemed to make it worse.

It's important for people to do their job and to do it well, especially when it's someone's life and health on the line...but you can have a good work ethic and high level of competence with a variety of motivations.

[Music in My Heart]

I'm a nurse for the same reason that I was an engineer: To get paid for my time doing something for which I seem to have some aptitude.

There is no passion for my work.

That said, I strive to deliver excellent care, to be compassionate and considerate of my patients and their families, and to be valuable colleague to the other members of our staff. I do this not out of passion or vision or some other lofty ideal but simply because it's the right thing to do and is, after all, what I'm paid to do.

I can think of a number of vocations which I'd choose over nursing but none of those are viable options so I've chosen this field.

I stridently reject the notion that to be a good nurse one must have some passion for or calling to the field. By and large, nursing is a job - nothing more and certainly nothing less.

[Music in My Heart]

there's a difference betw nurses who want to do right by their pts, vs those who reek w/the attitude of "whatever...it's only a job".

Well sure there is. However, one need not have a particular passion for nursing (or anything else) in order to have personal standards which dictate performing one's duties to the best of their ability.

In whatever job I've had, I've always tried to perform my best and to exceed the expectations of my employer and my customer - not due to passion or calling but simply due to the belief that that is how one does their job.

To quote the Bible: "Work as though working for the Lord..."

[Music in My Heart]

Having many times required nursing services I can only say that I've not cared a whit as to *why* the nurse was doing their job, only *how well* they were doing their job.

[jjjoy, LPN]

Short staffing plays a huge role in "quality of care." I would say 90% of all nurses have had at least one shift, in which they really are just surviving. Seen it, been there, done that. There are limitations on care a nurse can provide, specially when overloaded with too many patients! It gets frustrating, people vent, it doesn't mean that they care less.

Nursing, especially getting started in nursing, can be tough because many working situations involve rather restricted resources and manpower (high patient load, regularly running out of day-to-day supplies) in combination with final responsibility for many aspects of patient care.

You want to provide the best nursing care possible but sometimes you run up against obstacles and you have to accept giving just "good enough" nursing care. But what is "enough" really? That can be controversial even among those with experience; a newbie can have real difficulty trying to determine what's "good enough" when "best" is impossible. It can be easy to feel hopeless in the face of not being able to provide the absolute best care possible. This type of newbie reality-shock can most certainly hit those who go into the nursing for the most noble of reasons.

[leslie :-D]

You've never had a run-in with a passive aggressive mail carrier then! I'll spare the details, but it involved months of misdelivered mail and complaints to USPS that only seemed to make it worse.

It's important for people to do their job and to do it well, especially when it's someone's life and health on the line...but you can have a good work ethic and high level of competence with a variety of motivations.

oh my gosh, no i haven't.

our mail carrier is awesome, and would be seeing red if anyone messed with my mail. :)

more importantly, i obviously agree about good work ethics.

all i'm saying, is substandard work ethics are seen in all professions, nsg included.

and i have to ask myself, if these schleppy nurses are those who went into it for any other reason, than a "calling".

i'd be incredulous to find a nurse who feels "called", with a poor work ethic.

leslie

[iPink, BSN, RN]

Not everyone goes into nursing because of "passion". Even though I believe passion should always drive you, not everyone agrees with that mentality. A friend of mine decided to be a CRNA only for the money. "Passion" or "a strong desire to make a difference" were never her motivations for entering the nursing field, instead it was her desire to stop sleeping on the floor of her small apartment or not having money to eat that drove her. She's been a CRNA for several years now and hasn't regretted her decision or reasons for choosing that field.

Like others have said, people have their own personal reasons for their choice in careers.

[mandyc]

The consensus seems to be..."Good Work Ethics, regardless of what reasons a person enters a career, say volumes about a persons ability to do a job well." I agree completely. I wonder however if a person is a GREAT worker but has no patience or compassion how well they would do in nursing or even if they would likely be drawn to it? Any given career, regardless of the reason you entered it should have some sort of interest to you....in order for you to truly "Like/Love" the chosen profession. There is nothing better in the world then truly being excited about going to work(for whatever your reasons are...good paycheck, helping people, education...etc) .....

"Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life.".....Confucious

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

You gotta take the good, bad and the ugly in nursing because it is ALL present on a daily basis. Only you can answer the question of what drives you.

[stephie_love]

I can only think of two "wrong" reasons for going into nursing:

To bag a doctor

To have access to narcotics

WHAT?? You mean I spent 9 months busting my hump in an ABSN program and you are saying I am not going to land Dr. McDreamy???

I am glad to have finally found something I am passionate about - I can't wait to finally work as a nurse! But I have to say, I should probably stop reading this site as much...I know it is meant as a platform on which to vent, but the negativity is starting to scare me...almost to the point where it makes me question whether or not it was the right decision to follow my passion! How wrong is that