From: siho@manny.megatek.uucp (Si Ho)
Subject: Re: Well-paid profession
Reply-To: megatek!siho@uunet.uu.net
Organization: Megatek Corporation, San Diego, California
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 19:58:16 GMT

In article <l95gtmINNcjm@aludra.usc.edu> hho@aludra.usc.edu (** N.T.K.C.D. ***) writes:
>>In Vietnamese society, medical, i.e. doctor, and engineering are respectable
>>professions.  Nursing, on the other hand, is not.  As a result, many of us
>>once we set foot to the new land, study enigeering and medicine.  Of course
>>there are other reasons that we choose to do that too.  Having been in the
>>US for 15 years, I have never met a Vietnamese man who is a nurse.  I did
>>not know that a registered nurse can make a lot of money.  A friend told
>>me that the starting salary for a nurse is around 40K.  It's not uncommon
>>for a RN (registered nurse) to make low six digit salary.  So, perhaps
>>it's time for us to change our attitude about this profession ?
>
>Who said ENgr is well respected?? heheh
>Yes, Nurse do make lots of money, unfortunately, VN think of nurse
>as 'Y Ta' la`ng' in VN, so they don't get the respect they deserve.
>Both Dental Hygience and Nurse (BSN) make more than their 
>friend in BS engineering. Remember these are not Dental assistant
>and 2 year or 6 month nurse program.. THey are Bachelor degrees.
>
>Unfortunately, nursing is a very very tought profession. I do think
>that it is much tougher to get a RN than surviving Mcat and go to
>medical school.. THe hard part is the work, not the brain..
>
>The ladder Nurse -> MD is a hard one, but in dentistry,
>getting a BS in Dental Hygience and then DDS will cut back 1.5 years
>and less stress than getting BS bio then DDS...
>
>Oh well, I am still an Engr hehehe :-))
>H.
>


	From what I know, a RN with Bachelor degrees (BAN or BSN) would
	start out around upper 30K or lower 40K depending on the local
	market.  However, with overtimes, bonus and holidays, one could
	earn MUCH MUCH MUCH more (I'm talking about permanent staffs here.)

	A RN would make much more as a registry nurse (just like computer
	consultant -- not permanent staff.)  They could make up to $200.00
	an hour.  I know some just works one week a month and lives in 
	beautiful houses,  drives expensive cars.

	There is almost always works for a nurse.  Once a nurse got certified
	(got CRN which is not that easy to get) he/she ALWAYS get jobs and
	with big bucks, too.
 
	And there's Traveler Registry nurses.  These are nurses who would
	be sent to different hospitals in different places for some
	temp. works (from a week to 3 or 6 months) with all living expends
	paid for.  They makes big $$$ and got to travel places.  This 
	program is good for singles or older nurses whose spouses are retired.

	Just like Hung said, the works are VERY HARD and VERY stressful.
	They have to deal with patents, doctors, lawyers and within themselves.
	Patents always give them a hard time since patents often think that
	they don't get enough attentions, cares for....  Many doctors also
	give nurses hard times for not following their *against-hospital-
	policy* orders or just for none-good reason at all at times.  Many
	doctors believe that nurses are there for them to order around.
	Even though, nurses are covered by the hospital, they have always 
	to watch their back for those lawyers who have nothing else to do
	except waiting for some body to make a mistake and them to court.
	This is why nurses have to follow hospital policy line by line which
	means they have to refuse to follow doctor orders.  And last but
	not least is the conflicts within themselves especially in this
	bad economy.  Spouse of many of them got laid-off and they need to
	make extra $$$ in overtime works.  These create fighting for those
	extra works between themselves.....  It is a mess sometimes. 

	How do I know about those?  Well, my fiancee is a nurse.  She got
	her BAN from Loma Linda (San Bernadino, Calif.)  She works 12-hour-a-
	day shift  (6pm to 6am) 3 nights a week including very other weekend.  
	Most of the night, she doesn't have enough times for any break.
	On a very slow night, she has about 10-15 minutes break and that is it.
	Oh yeah, she works at Labor & Delievery (L&D) department.  She says
	that even it is one of the busiest department in any hospital, it is
	the most rewarding, and the least stressful one.  She tells me
	that just seeing the happy/loving look on the mother face as the
	mother holds her newborn for the first time would make her day.
	And this was the reason why she chose nursing over dentistry.
	
	I didn't really have a high respect for nursing until I met my fiancee
	and had a chance to really know inside stories.  But, still I
	wouldn't encourage my daughter to go into this profession because of
	the hard & stressful works.  My fiancee told me herself that she
	wouldn't enter nursing if she knew that she wouldn't work at L&D.
	(She had done couple summers as an intern at L&D when she was doing
	pre-med works at UC Irvine) 

	
	-Si~ 
	"YACE" (Yet Another Computer Engineer)


	p.s: Actually, I like her working schedule because it gives her more
	free times and it fits very well with my flexible working hours.  :-))



-- 
Me^'n,		"I look at thing from one point of view.............Mine."
Si~ Ho^`,
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