Done with Hospital Nsg. twostepr6@aol.com
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Job Story: Want to be a Hated Male Nurse?....nurse
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I have been an RN for more than 20 years. The stress, misery and abuse I suffered at the hands of administration, physcians and fellow nurses are a crime against humanity.<br />
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Nursing is the only profession that I can think of where the more education, experience and responsibility that you take on actually results in your being paid less than the simple staff nurse makes for putting in his/her normal shift.<br />
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I used to be so depressed and emotionally exhausted that I would actually fantize that some car would run a red light and smash into my car so that I could go to the hospital as a patient and NOT have to work and expose myself to the stress of the unit that night. Is this not the most pathetic thing that you have ever heard?<br />
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Ah, yes. As a nurse, you are told by administration that you are a "professional" and as such, they expect you to complete professional levels of education, hold pofessional licences, complete professional continuing education each year, adhere to professional standards, assume professional responsibilities and represent your facility/employer as a professional. <br />
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Fine and dandy; how about recieving some of the pay and perks of being a "professional"?? No, that is a different story. When you try to stand up for yourself and for your future as a professional, you have no power and no voice. Administration immediately slaps you down and informs you that you are an hourly employee and if you do not like what is handed to you, your job is threatened and you are told that you can "hit the road". <br />
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Does this sound like being a true professional? Hell no!! A nurse is only a "professional" as long as it fits the agenda of the doctors and the administrators.<br />
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I remember a few short years ago when the stock market was flying high, everbody in the country was making big bucks, most all job catagories were giving raises to their workers, employment was nearly zero throughout the country but nurses???? Our facility gave us a 10% CUT in pay and informed us that we were "lucky" because some hospitals were cutting their nurses pay by 15% or more. My fellow nurses would not put up a fight and simply shug their shoulders and say "Well, at least we HAVE a job" Of course you HAVE a job you moron, there isnt any other person with a brain in their heads who would WANT this job!! <br />
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I used to become so depressed about being a nurse. Like many other nurses, I hated it beyond the meaning of the word. I remember thumbing through the yellow pages trying desperately to identify some job, ANY job wherein I could use my nursing education, skills and knowledge in some profession OTHER than actual nursing.<br />
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I searched for more than 10 years to find that niche and finally, I am not even really sure how, I actually DID find something that I thought would get me out of the hospital and into a normal, healthy life.<br />
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At first, I tried to calculate how little I could get by on. Like all other nurses, I had been trained and brainwashed into believing that I had to be an employee to find work. I intially had to get past that mentality and, I admit, it was a tough process for me.<br />
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I figured that if I could only make $500 per week, I could eke out a life for myself. I began my new business and used my nursing skills and knowledge every day and with every client.<br />
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I started out with virtually NO recognition and nobody knew of me or of my service. I found out immediately that there really WAS a demand for what I had to offer. The really wierd thing was that NO other nurse was offering my service!! Once I got the word out there, the telephone calls began to flood in. <br />
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My first (full) year of working on my own, I was shocked that I actually matched what I had made as a nurse working in a hospital with more than 20 years of experience. My secound year, I made $75,000. I am now headed into the beginning of my forth year and believe it or not, I am actually making what the US Dept of Labor lists as the average income of a Internal Medicine and OB/GYN doctor!!<br />
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For the first time in my miserable career as a nurse, I actually FEEL like a professional, am treated as a professional by other professionals and EARN professional pay. <br />
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I am in the process of writing a book on my experiences. My book will give other nurses a step by step guide on how to start their own business and begin a wonderful new life for themselves. A life rich with opportunity that will allow them to still work as a nurse but without all the emotional and physical pathology than comes with the traditional "pigeon hole" positions designed for nurses by doctors and hospital administrators (to line their own pockets and finance their own rich lifestyles).<br />
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My book will not be finished for a few months but anybody interested in hearing about it when it is completed may email me.<br />
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I wish each of my fellow nurses the opportunity to have a quality of life and not have to start over with years of education and retraining to find it. Please do not dispair, the answers truly are out there, if you just know where to look.<br />
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09-30-2003 04:00 AM
I enjoy the work 80% of the time. 
