I had one friend in college who was going to be a scientist of some sort, chemistry I think. She pushed really hard until year 3 or so and then fell in love and decided to drop out, and then went to a 2 year school years later to become a nurse. So much potential immediately wasted. I can’t pretend to know her exact motivations, but it always made me sad.
And hey, ton of respect for nurses, but anyone from the rural America knows that it’s a thankless job that they are taken advantage of, and it’s specifically because it’s a “fallback” career that is “acceptable” for women with families.
I think that’s what makes me sad. Fuck gender stereotypes, go be a scientist if that’s your dream, don’t fall into what everyone expects that you’ll do.
Not all nurses, but travel nurses make bank. It was absurd during Covid, when nurses who worked for specific facilities saw their patients dying on the regular, were working longer hours, and still came home with the same pay they received before it all started.
Meanwhile, a coworker coming in from an agency to “help out” got paid tons more, even though they lacked the knowledge that comes from having worked in the same place with the same patients for years. Then those running the facilities were all shocked Pikachu face when their own employees burnt out and they had to bring on even more of the expensive travel nurses.
I had one friend in college who was going to be a scientist of some sort, chemistry I think. She pushed really hard until year 3 or so and then fell in love and decided to drop out, and then went to a 2 year school years later to become a nurse. So much potential immediately wasted. I can’t pretend to know her exact motivations, but it always made me sad.
And hey, ton of respect for nurses, but anyone from the rural America knows that it’s a thankless job that they are taken advantage of, and it’s specifically because it’s a “fallback” career that is “acceptable” for women with families.
I think that’s what makes me sad. Fuck gender stereotypes, go be a scientist if that’s your dream, don’t fall into what everyone expects that you’ll do.
Nurses make a lot more money. Before she retired, my mom was making over 100k working under 40 hours a week, in suburban midwest
Not all nurses, but travel nurses make bank. It was absurd during Covid, when nurses who worked for specific facilities saw their patients dying on the regular, were working longer hours, and still came home with the same pay they received before it all started.
Meanwhile, a coworker coming in from an agency to “help out” got paid tons more, even though they lacked the knowledge that comes from having worked in the same place with the same patients for years. Then those running the facilities were all shocked Pikachu face when their own employees burnt out and they had to bring on even more of the expensive travel nurses.