Back in the '70s

I recently heard some students brag well-nigh how they were going into nursing "for the money." This brought me dorsum to my own ancestry as a new grad back in the '70s. Starting at $10 an 60 minutes, I was 1 of the highest paid nurses in boondocks. My wife and I felt like nosotros'd but striking a lottery, although we quickly adapted to our level of affluence. Some of my contemporaries at the fourth dimension didn't fare as well, taking intendance of eight patients at a time for $3 an hour. That'south about $six,000 a year.

Nosotros worked difficult back then. I know, the conventional wisdom is that it'due south so much harder today (although more than than one recruiter and millennial as well has told me that some new nurses need to acquire how to work). Withal, some new grads with whom I started were and then stressed they couldn't pass meds without sobbing. I was hired into critical intendance with near 25 other new grads. We practiced without a license until nosotros passed or failed boards (if you failed, you were an automated nursing assistant with a reduction in pay until you passed). I'1000 not a delicate creature, but I wanted to weep while taking care of my offset patient. (I didn't because I remembered that I was a "guy" nurse, and we weren't supposed to cry on the job.) My patient had just had a Whipple procedure, and his dressings and ostomy numberless brutal off every time I turned him, putting him manner beyond my skill level.

Ultimately, I would insist that we all piece of work difficult for the money — dorsum and so and now. And as American RNs, we are the highest compensated nurses in the earth. The question remains, is it worth it? As Boulder, Colo., ED nurse Melissa Moffatt, BSN, RN, said, "I hear [that people are entering nursing for the coin] more and more than these days. Of course, in one case they realize what difficult work nursing is, many exit quickly."

"… as American RNs, we are the highest compensated nurses in the earth. The question remains, is it worth it?"

Many nurses in the U.S., including staff at the bedside, earn 6-figure salaries. With the long-predicted shortage well-nigh to explode, the money will but get better. In a hard-hitting study from Nurse.com, Salaries on the Upswing, almanac pay, which had been flat for years and began rising steadily by 1.3%, has now accelerated to two.six% per year. In the grand job-market arena, weighing region, education and experience, the money'southward not bad. But the piece of work is hard — very hard — both physically and emotionally, and therein lies the rub.

Would you do it again?

Some people who become nurses talk about having a vocatione, a sacred calling, as do priests or nuns. I certainly did. Yes, practitioners should look a fair working wage, but that shouldn't exist the sole reason they choose a nursing career. Very few who go into nursing but for the salary stay in it. At least that'south what my many Facebook friends think. Although, equally my married woman reminds me, they're non a homogeneous lot because I don't know them all as friends, actually. There's too many of them.

"Some people who become nurses talk about having a vocatione, a sacred calling, as do priests or nuns."

I asked my Facebook nursing sample if they'd nonetheless be nurses if they could practice it all over again. Then I asked if they feel or have felt accordingly compensated, remembering that at that place'due south always someone richer or poorer. Hither's a sampling of opinions:

Carolyn Smeltzer, EdD, RN, FACHE, FAAN, retired partner in the Wellness Manufacture Informational of PricewaterhouseCoopers: "Money never entered my heed. I went to help people and, Bob, I'k going to one upward y'all. Graduated in 1972 and got $3.l hr. And that included charge nurse and evening add ons! I was thrilled, and I got a car to get to work! Now, I concord that the nursing bacon through my lifetime has been great, but I never expected information technology! Great profession!"

Nancy DiMauro, MA, RN, BC, dean of nursing program at ASA College, New York Academy: "For the money, no. For the keen feeling of helping people with their health bug, yep. As they say, existence a nurse is priceless."

Karen Mascolo, DNP, RN, banana professor of nursing at Kent Land University: "'Nursing ain't for sissies,' and if y'all choose nursing for the budgetary benefits and not because you love the profession or love people, y'all will not stay. Through professional socialization, it becomes a role of your human fabric. Information technology is impossible to divide being a nurse from your very being. It simply isn't and cannot be nearly the money. It truly is a calling — fortunately one that provides a decent living."

Donna Huether, RN, charge nurse, Newton Medical Eye, Ogdensburg, NJ: "Definitely non the money. Information technology has to be in your heart, or you shouldn't exist doing it at all."

L.J. Bellard, BSN, RN: "I knew equally a nurse I would have chore security (technically I can notice a job anywhere), and I would be comfortable, not rich. I was not looking for fame and fortune when I took my oath, holding the lamp. It is true that nurses are not paid what we may be worth, but who is? If I had to choose my profession all once again, I would even so choose nursing without regret."

My Facebook friends basically told me that if you're a nurse, whatever chore or part you're in, you improve dear what you do. The money's OK, but it'south not what compensates you. It's the intangible rewards, similar saving a life.

For career tips, visit our 2017 Career Guide.

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