Only lower class girls become nurses

[upsidelow]

I am a nurse, definitely from a working class background for which I am proud. I had it said to me that it's the poor or thick girls that become nurses. To be fair the person who said it did not know that I am a nurse but still...Is that what people think? That you don't need to be clever to be a nurse! I studied for three years, I also have post graduate qualifications too. My job is demanding and requires a lot of time and attention. I am not thick! Apparently bright girls being teachers...

Surely as a nurse, with a well deserved degree, you know they’re talking shit? And who on earth says that to someone anyway?

I think, actually, there’s more white middle class women going into nursing than there was before it was a degree - I am good friends with a Band 7 nurse. She’s middle class. The other 2 nurses I know are more upper middle with wealthy husbands!

Same goes for the midwives I know. All middle class white women

I hope you told that person you are a nurse, for the satisfaction of watching them squirm!

I have heard that too - utter rubbish. My friend is a nurse and if you see some of the equipment she has to assemble… no stupid person could do that! Nurses are literally life savers. You need a brain!

It used to be a trad middle class way for a girl to find a doctor to marry

What a load of rubbish! (Not you, op, the stuff that was said). People from every walk of life become nurses, it's a vocation.
Ignore them, they obviously have a bee in their bonnet about something. (Perhaps they wanted to be a nurse, but didn't get accepted onto the degree course!)

My friend is literally the daughter of a Lord and is a nurse but to be fair after being a Practice nurse for years she does now work in a posh Boarding school.
When she said she wanted to be a nurse at her (very fancy school) the Teachers were a bit shocked apparently and suggested she become a Doctor instead but she just always wanted to be a nurse and to be honest probably wasn't academic enough to study Medicine anyway.
I think now you need to go to Uni to be a Nurse it may become more MC

Well then that person is an ignorant twat and has no idea what nurses do.

But it’s no different from people thinking that we are too stupid to be doctors or that pharmacists are failed doctors or any of the other beliefs that get trotted out. 🙄

Nursing is hard work, ward word is hard, exhausting and challenging, which is why a lot of nurses I know leave for specialist jobs after two years because they think it’s easier..

Exactly. This happened in my family though wouldn't have called them working class by any means. Look at call the midwife they were mostly middle class girls especially the earlier series.

I always thought historically it was a young middle class or nuns job, possibly opened up more to working class in the 70s/80s when more women stayed in the world of work and now is for academics from any class.

My only thoughts of nurses is that they wanted to Nurse rather than being a Doctor - they are two entirely different but overlapping careers.

Apparently bright girls being teachers...

Ridiculous! I teach great maths lessons but would not trust my maths enough to work out doses of medicine that could potentially kill someone.

"Well then that person is an ignorant twat and has no idea what nurses do. "

This seems like an accurate summing up.

My mother was a nurse and certainly wasn't thick.

Maybe some wanted to do medicine but didn't get the grades so settled for nursing. Which certainly does not mean they are thick.

I’m a nurse and believe me, some of the calculations I have to do hurt my head. Usually if it’s a drug we haven’t given before or an infusion that has to be given at a certain rate. Because if we get it wrong it could be catastrophic.

Settled for nursing? That's a bit rude, nurses aren't a poor second class to Doctors, we are a profession in our own right and the two aren't comparable, they're two different jobs..

i have never heard that
particularly now nurses need degrees
perhaps years ago.
but now they can prove their intellect

I have heard this too, about thirty years ago,
in another country.
😳

My friend’s a nurse. She has a degree in modern languages, her undergrad nursing degree and a Master’s.

also used to be a very popular career in ireland

Oh I know Op! I've had that! Some people are so stupid ! If only they knew what our job entailed ! I am working class and not stupid !

Nurses are a godsend , I literally think they are angels and this is from someone who just got out of hospital.

just edited to also say Thank you to all of you who are nurses. It’s a tough demanding job and it’s so needed. I appreciate you all.

i wanted to be a nurse, an srn, but i didnt have enough olevels you used to have to have 5 o levels and i didnt want to be an sen, who needed 2 o levels
that changed anyway.

Well they don’t earn as much as doctors. Therefore it’s best seen as team, working together. Nurses don’t have the sane training but it’s a profession. Clearly not one for thick people but it’s not the same as a doctor. No idea about class. Mostly seems caring people to me who are ok with a unionized profession. Some people aren’t so find something else to do that’s medical.

The UK is class obsessed to our serious detriment. I grew up very middle class...the only option for me was to do a job sitting at a desk. Anything else was common or for the lower classes. I actually desperately wanted to be a chef but I didn't ever give it serious consideration as an academic subject at uni was the only path available to me..afteral my father had spent a fortune on my education. As it turned out, I never have had a career, just shitty admin job earning shit money, but hey I was dressed nicely and sitting at a desk.

I didn’t mean to suggest it’s a second class profession. I really don’t see it that way. It is a different job. I do wonder if when some girls express an interest in nursing as a career in school they are encouraged to try for medical school instead.

No they are not….why would they be?