Why I am going to be a nurse

Having spent soooo much time in hospitals, I have had the opportunity to experience many vareties of nursing. There are those who take pride in their work, treating patients with compassion and care, beheiving as true professionals. They are in the minority I am sorry to say. At the risk of appearing politically incorrect, I have to mention the beheivior of the majority of individuals in a particular cultural group that have migrated to the U. S. because nursing in their country pays only $300.00 a week. They picked nursing as their work because of the money, rather than a desire to help people. Unfortunately, their approach toward nursing is to take control of their patients, treating us patients as if we were difficult children that needed to be controled and disciplined. They tend to put their own needs, like shopping and bill paying on the internet way ahead of the needs of their patients. If they are confronted their first response is to give orders like "GO TO YOU ROOM' as if one were a bad child. They also rarely admiit to their actions and use each other to support their stories. There are a very rare exceptions to this situation, but not many. What they can't control, they discipline. Having experienced this time and time again and having spoken to others including nurses with the same experience, I feel secure in my description here.


Their treatment is infuriating. After years of doing nothing but tuffing it out, I now go directly to nursing management and have my nursing assingment changed. Unfortunately many others just sit and take their lumps. I hope my approach to nursing is just the opposite. I am doing it because I want a purpose to my life, and helping those who face the challenges I have faced only seems fair.



The best nursing care I received was at NIH in Bethesda and the various university hospitals to whom I owe my very survival. I have never felt as safe as when I was in their care. The cultural problem that I mentioned is like the proverbial elephant in the living room that few people feel comfortable mentioning for fear of reprisal. Heck, I have nothing to lose here. I only hope that some change is made even if the change is by baby steps. Obviously, hospital patients are in a uniquely vulnerable and helpless condition. They seek and deserve our help.