bursting your bubble about nursing

Dear John/Jane Q. Public:

I am about to burst your bubble about nursing. You know the profession that is most admired, comes up number one in those polls? Those angels of mercy, Mother Teresa types? The ones that soothe your fevered brow?

Guess what? Nursing is a job. Thats all it is. The difference between your job and my job is that there are sick people at my job. My job is no different than your job. I punch the clock in and out. I do whats necessary to the best of my ability.

Here's the thing: I did not have a "calling" to this job. Mostly I went for this job because of its flexibility, security and variety. I didn't have a deep yearning to help people. Thats just a nice side part.

I do this job to help support my family. If I won the lottery, would I keep doing the job? Hell no. I would be out of there in a heartbeat. I'll let you in on a secret, Mr./Mrs. Public, this is just a job to me. I didn't set out to help humanity. I am not Florence Nightengale. A lot of the time, the job sucks.

I can just hear some people saying: You obviously never should have become a nurse. Blah blah blah. People have this distorted image of nursing as these people who have a need to sacrifice themselves for others. We are these angels of mercy put on earth to serve humanity. Makes me laugh. We do the job, cash the check, go home to the family and try to forget about the job. So don't put your ridiculous expectations on us and then be disappointed that we are just people doing a job.

Sincerely,

madness the nurse