Once upon a time, before the women's rights movement, the only careers considered 'proper' for a young woman were those that involved care-taking of some kind, i.e. nursing, teaching, secretarial work, etc. Now that feminism has taken a foothold in the United States, the careers that are open to young women today are endless, and quite a few of them pay better than nursing. And most of them don't involve cleaning someone's poopy butt every few hours.
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Name : Sabie19731, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 22, City : Birmingham, State : AL Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, It's hard is why. My mom's a nurse and she had to work pretty darn hard to get where she is. It's also important to have support, and with the resent Nurses strikes, it doesn't look like people really care for the work they do. It's also stresful. You have to be a person who can put others' needs before your own (sometimes at the cost of your own general well being). The pay is pretty great but not really worth the amount of work involved. And I know this may shound trite but, the math involved is killer-esp. the science. Nursing isn't the kind of job you can b.s, you have to know what you're doing, which means you have to be good at math and science, which America's schools are short changeing our children out of.
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Name : Christine19614, Gender : Female, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 19, City : Hartford, State : CT Country : United States, Occupation : college student, Social class : Lower class, Nursing is actually one of the fastest growing career tracks in the United States and many young people are indeed taking notice.
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Name : John S., Gender : Male, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : 75% white, 25% Asian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 24, City : Lake Charles, State : LA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, It may be the fact that there are so many other rewarding careers out there for women. It also may be that older BURNED OUT nurses are filling them in on the fact that it's a thank-less job, we're not paid what we're worth, we do the job of maid, psychiatrist, wait staff, etc; (you can count on someone every morning asking for a cup of coffee-does it say Howard Johnson's on the sign?)Respiratory therapists are supposed to stay with the patient while they're receiving a treatment, but they expect us to watch the patient. A lot of hospitals have done away with nurses' aides, so the nurse does EVERYTHING. If someone wants fresh drinking water, we're expected to drop everything and fetch it. Patients think they're the only one we have to take care of. Patients are mad at the doctor or insurance company, we get reamed out. Family members want us to take their BPs for them. Hey, I've got 8 other patients to take care of. Management, doctors, patients, families, etc; don't appreciate you. The first place the hospital budget is cut is nursing. Which increases the nurse/patient ratio. It's dangerous. I heard an administrator say, 'Nurses are a dime a dozen'. I wanted to say, 'Here's a dime, hire 12 more to help us!!!!' I also suffered from PTSD because of the stress of working in a hospital. When I was able to quit being a nurse, a long time symptom of stress went away. Young women have also realized that nursing is NOT a glamorous career, and there's no guarantee you'll end up with a hot doctor. I hope this answers your question. I could go on for HOURS about this. I'm not burned out---I'm cremated!
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Name : Dwanny, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 53, City : Springtown, State : TX Country : United States, How long have you been a nurse? Are you burned out yet? I tell young kids who ask me that it's a thank-less job. Your patients are pissed at doctors, administration, their families, insurance companies, etc; we nurses catch the fall out. I've been a nurse 29 1/2 LONG years, and wish I could find something else. I'm not burned out, I'm cremated. In the hospitals I've worked at, the first place they cut the budget is nursing. They think we'll be fine with more patients per nurse. They don't realize that this is a lawsuit in the making. My last hospital job was on a telemetry unit and we had 7 patients apiece, (no nurse's aides) and I was so stressed out, I'd go in the clean utility room and cry. I hated hearing the phone ring because I knew it was the ER with another admission. It took a year for me to get over my anxiety when I heard the phone ring at my next job. PTSD And don't get me started with nursing homes. I don't last at nursing homes because I care. Nurses that don't care and don't do the work stay for years.
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Name : Dwanny, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 53, City : Springtown, State : TX Country : United States, Lots of nurses are coming out of the Phillipines and other areas outside the US. I think U.S. youngsters aren't seeking it for a number of reasons. 1. It aint easy. Lots of hard work, lifting, moving, coming back and repetitive motion injuries. 2. It's not easy subjects to study. Biology, chemistry, hard sciences, if your going to have to study, why not go for the medical degree? 3. It's shift work, and that sucks. Healthcare is a 24 hour a day function. There is day, swing, and graveyard shifts -plus other crews bitch about each the other shift not doing their part. 4. The stresses and shifts make for higher divorce rates, suicides, and general death rates (including murder) than most other professions. 5. But hey, the pay isn't bad, the greater demand has made them a better paid profession than they were in the past.
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Name : Race-B, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 38, City : Seattle, State : WA Country : United States, Occupation : Human Resources, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Well, I know why I'M not seeking to become a nurse: because my mother has been an RN for over 20 years, and I've seen all the crap she has to put up with! Seriously, though, before feminism, women were largely limited to jobs where they would be either in a nurturing capacity (teachers, nurses, etc.), or firmly in the role of gopher for men (secretary, waitress, etc.). Now we have many other options, and female doctors are more largely accepted, so women who are interested in the medical profession can take the leap and make roughly twice as much money, without having to clean a patient's stool-encrusted tush eight times per shift. Sounds like a better deal to me.
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Name : Rina23101, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Catholic, Age : 22, City : na, State : NC Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, I am a new nurse. Been a nurse for about one year. And when i first started out in nursing school, I couldn't wait until the day I graduated and started my job. I knew nursing was for me and I wanted to do nothing else. Now, one year later, i wish I would've changed my major. Nursing is a tough job and the pay is not enough to deal with what goes on. While nursing is rewarding because you get to care for others and help them on the road to recovery, a lot of young people have other options career-wise. In today's litigious society and the ever-growing older and sick population, nursing can be overwhelming at times. Already, there have been times that I've gone into the bathroom and cried because I had everyone of my patients calling me at one time and I had just come onto the floor from shift report. Sometimes it seems impossible to make it through a shift. My guess is that too many young people are not willing to do this job because there are so many higher paying occupations that require less work out there.
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Name : Emerald-Nurse, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 26, City : Anniston, State : AL Country : United States, Occupation : Registered Nurse, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, More and more of my friends are choosing this as a profession. when i tell people i'm back in school pursuing my second bachelor's degree in nursing, they always want to talk my ear off about it! i don't know about where you are, but all of the nursing programs around here (4 or more schools, not to mention community colleges) are ultra competitive. So two thirds of the people in this area who apply to ANY nursing school get rejected. i have a 3.7 gpa, and i got rejected from nursing school. so, that's why i say, we're TRYING to.
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Name : Catherine, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : quaker, Age : 26, City : Greensboro, State : NC Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Please know that you save lives. Hospitals are unbearable places. I have been there lots as a physician and as a patient. The first thing I was taught as a new intern is "Hush and listen to the nurses. They know what is going on with the patients and they care more than anybody else." I have followed that rule for 30+years. As a patient I would far rather have a good nurse than a good anybody else. We don't do a good job corporately of saying this but you save lives, every single day. Please don't give up. We need you (signed, your appreciative patient) Kara H
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Name : KaraH, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Episcopalian, Age : 51, City : Austin, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : teacher, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 
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