Ask a hundred nurses if they chose their profession because a family member was a nurse, and many would say yes. I had three aunts who were nurses, and that family legacy certainly impacted my career choice.
But in the 21st century, should we encourage our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and other young people to become nurses? Is the guidance to choose nursing a viable and respectable career good advice? You’ll get various answers if you ask that same one hundred nurses.
Setting an Example
Young people often look to their elders for guidance about entering the working world. Knowing what you want to do with your life when you’re a teenager is difficult, but everyone keeps asking anyway.
Observing someone who loves what they do can be a significant motivator. And if that person instead spends most of their time complaining miserably about their work, you might start looking elsewhere.
Most people have a mixed relationship with their work. There are good days, bad days, and days somewhere in the middle, and how we present the gist of what we do to the young people in our lives can strongly color their perceptions.
Exerting too much pressure on young people’s decision-making process will usually backfire. Still, if they can quietly observe our behavior and attitudes about work, they’ll eventually come to their conclusions.
What About Family Legacy?
Family legacy is not small, and there are multigenerational nursing families whose pride and group identity cannot be overstated.
My three aunts seeded a family legacy by showing pride in being nurses. With one of my cousins and myself following in their footsteps, we currently have a two-generation legacy. As my great-niece sets her sights on nursing school, we may see a new generation picking up the mantle.
Family legacy is powerful, and the multigenerational tradition of many family members choosing the same career path can be a strong statement of solidarity and identity.
What Can We Say About Nursing?
If a young person asks questions about a pending career choice, what can we tell them about nursing? We need to be truthful, not sugarcoat reality, and paint a realistic picture of what it’s like.
If we talk to young people about nursing, there are plenty of negatives we can share:
- Bullying in nursing is not a fictional construct; our profession has been plagued by the scourge of so-called “lateral violence” for as long as there have been nurses.
- Many negative things can be said about the American healthcare system, and nurses are impacted daily by staffing ratios, budget cuts, and unhappy patients.
- Workplace violence is real, and nurses can find themselves on the receiving end of verbal abuse, threats, and physical assault. Reports show that violence against nurses has hit an all-time high.
However, we can also tell them how the American public perceives nurses as the most trustworthy and honest professionals year after year in the Gallup poll.
We can also tell young people about our pride in being nurses. We can share stories of patients we loved and cared for and whose gratitude warmed our hearts. There are stories of camaraderie, teamwork, and a sense that what we do holds meaning and can directly change the lives of our patients and their families.
A wonderful aspect of our profession is the ability to specialize in emergency nursing, trauma, intensive care, cardiology, hospice, or any other area. Many nurses hold multiple certifications, and changing specialties several times in a career isn’t uncommon.
Another aspect of nursing we can communicate is that it offers one of the most significant varieties of choice. Many nurses work in hospitals, of course. Still, we also work in the pharmaceutical or medical device industries, do research, specialize in informatics, or find satisfying work in schools, clinics, or specialty physician practices. Being a nurse doesn’t have to be associated with hospitals; in fact, plenty of nursing careers involve no patient contact whatsoever.
We can also show young people that many nurses become business owners and entrepreneurs. Some nurses work as writers, podcasters, coaches, consultants, keynote speakers, educators, and trainers. There’s no end to what nurses can do when serving as their bosses—it just takes curiosity and motivation to succeed.
Nursing Isn’t Going Anywhere
Our profession isn’t going anywhere, and robots aren’t taking away our jobs. Nursing shortages mean that nurses are always needed, and we’ll consistently remain relevant.
Is nursing glamorous? Not really. Are we the highest-paid professionals? Certainly not. Are there problems with our profession? Without a doubt. But we are trusted, respected, admired, and relied upon, which will likely remain the same.
Can we advise a young person to become a nurse? We can do so by painting a realistic picture of the good, the bad, and the ugly and encouraging young people to enter the profession with eyes wide open.
Being a nurse is something to be proud of, and if a young person in search of a career feels the call, we can guide them in the direction that works for them and welcome them to the profession if they choose to join us on this fascinating journey.
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