Editor's
Note
Wear
it well
Nursing
is one profession that never goes out of fashion
Joellen Koerner,
Ph.D., MSN, RN
Midwest Edition Editor
April
16 , 2001
Spring
has arrived! We are all taking inventory of our wardrobes
as we joyfully put away the dark and heavy clothes that
sheltered us through this endless winter. Hemlines rise
and fall, colors come and go, but some basics are always
in style. The old favorites are chosen again and again over
a newer, more fashionable purchase. Why? Comfort, connection
to a memory made while wearing it, practicality, preference.
Multiple factors influence our relationship to the clothes
we wear, which tell the world a bit about who we are.
So,
too, it is with professional roles and career choices that
face society today. Many new and exciting areas of study
confound college students, who might delay declaring a major
until late in their junior year. So how does nursing, a
timeless profession, fare in the face of such competition?
This
month, you will see the results of a Gallup poll that placed
nurses first in public perception of ethics and honesty.
People love and trust nurses. They look to us in a health
crisis. But that same public ranks nursing 137th in desirability
as a career choice. Why the gap?
Several
old-fashioned myths hang in the closet of nursing, such
as the rural vs. urban nursing debate. I have lived my entire
life on the flat Dakota prairies, where I can look one way
and see the pulsing throb of Minneapolis and the urban opportunities
it affords.
Simultaneously,
I can look down the small main street of Freeman, population
1,000. This, my hometown, is serviced by the rural hospital
that launched my career.
An outworn
idea is that being a specialist nurse in a tertiary setting
is somehow superior to the generalist career of a rural
nurse. As we become more aware of the role differentiation
within and among settings, a new conversation emerges. Some
believe that the generalist role is so difficult that students
should gain their first clinical experiences in specialized
acute care environments and move to the more complex generalist
settings after graduation.
The
exciting truth is that both roles are vital and challenging.
When nurses within different settings collaborate, as our
medical colleagues have modeled for so long, professional
partnerships will better serve patients everywhere.
How
many other "tried-and-true" ideas do we hold and
pass to others as the opportunities and limits of the field?
Consider: Where else can a generic educational core prepare
you for clinical practice, research, education, regulation,
administration, policy and entrepreneurial activities?
Nurses
never have to decide "once and for all." We continue
to decide "in addition to" throughout our careers
while providing service vital to the health and well-being
of a society that loves and trusts us. What a radical thought—the
timeless tradition of nursing is one of the best fits at
a time when young people will experience five to six careers
in one lifetime.
So,
look at the ideas and attitudes you wear about nursing.
Watch how you dress, talk about and represent the profession.
As you move widely and share your gifts, you will be a magnet
that attracts others to join and enrich the "tribe."
By force
of numbers and enthusiasm, nursing will move up on that
Gallup poll until public trust and career preference will
be back in style at No.1!
