Working My Way Up The Nursing Ladder
Written: Nov 12 '00 (Updated Nov 13 '00)
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Pros: Jobs Available Across The U.S. & Beyond
Cons: Managed Care Limits Direct Patient Care
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| kcfoxy's Full Review: Nursing Profession |
This editorial will be an overview of one nursing professional's journey, spanning 25 years of various health care training. Individual articles on LVN and RN practice will follow, with the specialty fields of Mental Health and Telephone Triage Nurse highlighted.
This story begins in 1976. After cramming a worthless Oriental Philosophy degree in the space of only eight years, my otherwise patient family was pushing me beyond the hedonistic ennui of the 70's, demanding I get a "real job."
Casting about for something of interest, The XYZ Institute of Medical Training entered my life. The medical assistant program lasted 6 weeks;
I was processed through a smattering of medical terminology, lab techniques, EKG and injection practice, CPR, patient scheduling and passing familiarity with medical insurance forms. A month was spent interning in a lovely office with four OB-GYNs. Alas, there was no room at the inn, and I was cast out to seek paying job employment in the hurly burly world of commerce.
The next three years found me working as a lab assistant, (scrubbing out lithium beakers, defrosting 3 manual freezers, general grunt work), and despite my adamant promise never to do typing, working as a personnel clerk in a large local hospital. I was fascinated with the workings of the hospital, and after a brief, stumble in the direction of respiratory therapist, I entered a local junior college to complete the course work for a Vocational Nurse. The program entailed 3 semesters of study.
After a horrible few months, working for a doctor, who swore he was an internist, (and turned out to be a proctologist), I was suddenly in my element working at one of the nicer weight loss clinics in town. I was actually in charge of three per diem RNs, and not only had the fun of patient teaching but whipped up a dizzying number of clever recipes using the small (4 ounces, folks) single servings of high priced diet food. An evening job in a college health facility lead to a more challenging slot as a Nuclear Medicine Clerk.
After repeated admonishments to further my nursing career, I embarked upon 2 semesters of prerequisite science, health, math and general education courses, and three semesters of hands on hospital training. The two year degree is a misnomer, since you must complete the foundation courses first, but at least I received one semester of credit for my VN training at the same facility. After graduating from the associate degree nursing program, I continued on toward my bachelor of science-working full time and attending college full time...something I would never recommend. When I finally finished all this education, I must have slept for a month.
My first job, was a plum, as nurses were not often hired directly into specialty areas without a year or two of general ("med-surg") hospital practice. Two years of Mental Health service, lead to an additional 2 years in a Gero-Psych facility, and then eight years on an acute locked psych ward in a small private hospital. For the past two years I have enjoyed working in the field of Telephone Triage Nurse. (More about that in a separate article).
The Good News
For the 2 1/2 year investment in furthering my education, my salary has effectively doubled. From $4.00 hour as a lab assistant, (1979), to $8.00 hour as an LVN/Nuclear Medicine Clerk (1983), to $20.00 hour as a newly licensed RN (1986), and now $25.00 hour in my current position, nursing, for all its faults, has been good to me financially.
The Bad News
I seem to have come full circle, in the sense that I still have to type!
I could be making about $30.00 hour if I worked in some of the more demanding specialties in our mid-sized Northern California town: ICU, CCU, surgery or ER come to mind. Managed care, whether you call it down-sizing or restructuring, has had a negative impact upon the nursing profession.
The attempts (by non-nursing professionals) to replace both RNs and LVN/LPTs with untrained, or hurriedly trained, (say, a week or two), non-professionals is both cynical and potentially dangerous. Cost cutting is a reality in all institutions, but patient care, dignity and safety must come first!
In Conclusion
Would I do this all again, knowing what I know now? Although writing is my most enjoyable avocation, I never felt I was anywhere skilled enough to make this a self-sustaining career. So, yes, I would most likely be doing the same thing now, but hopefully I would have gone directly into the nursing program rather than spend a total of 14 years on higher education!
My brother-in-law, a tremendous local neurologist, pointed out, I might as well have received my M.D., for the amount of time I spent with chemistry, microbiology, anatomy and physiology, math, et al. My response?
"Well yes, but I lack the ability to function working 36 hours in a life and death (ER) environment with only rudimentary cat naps to sustain me.
Plus I find that I lack the requisite arrogance!"
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Member: Casey Stewart
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