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...

The grades required are different aren’t they! Probably subjects too. Medicine is hugely competitive. Nursing isn’t. It is obvious why some people don’t want to be doctors. It’s a step too far for most academically. That isn’t to say we don’t respect nurses.

I would imagine that most people who hold that view have no idea about the nursing profession.
People confuse carers with nurses and also the health care assistants. The HCAs on the wards do the majority of the day to day washing and hygiene tasks while the nurses are doing drug rounds and using their clinical skills such as setting up IVs and catheterised patients.

I feel it is this confusion that leads people to believe that nursing is a non skilled job.

I think people are just arseholes when it comes to class and career choice.

I come from a WC background, went to a RG Uni and was top on my course. Ultimately, all of my other female friends have done nursing at Uni, but they all come from different backgrounds, some from the same estate, some that come from a background where they live comfortably.

Class isn’t an indicator for intelligence, believe me, there was a lot of students on my course that were MC and UC, and they had to be spoon-fed throughout the course.

You should be proud of what you achieve!

My DD1 is applying for adult nursing - she's pretty bright (all 7-9s at GCSE and mostly at the upper range of that). We're solidly middle class, she's state educated, and both her parents are Oxbridge graduates.

She's clear she doesn't want to be a doctor, she wants to be a geriatric nurse. She's done tons of work experience and is still sure.

Her school wanted her to apply for Oxbridge, but are supportive of her decision. There are so many pathways within nursing, and we are really looking forward to seeing what she does with it - both expected and unexpected

If it doesn't work out, she can try something else. But yes, we've definitely had plenty of judgment over her decision so far so I'm not surprised you've had this said to you, OP. But I'm so sorry that you've heard that from people - it's a vital and skilled career.. I'm proud of DD1 for wanting to go into it.

Never! Upmost respect for nurses. For what it's worth I know three privately educated nurses.

How ridiculous, I was a nurse for 25 years and I've met people from all walks of life. I hardly think anyone "thick" would pass the degree and you also need maths.
Mind you my ex husband thought nurses were stupid and air hostesses were the height of sophisticated womanhood which shows him up for what he was.

It is a very accessible profession for working class women, that’s true. That’s a good thing. Thick though? I don’t think so, does anyone think nurses are thick? All the nurses I know are slightly above average intelligence or more. You have to pass a degree for a start! I also suspect that some very bright working class girls, who would make perfectly good Dr’s given the opportunity, go into nursing as a compromise because medicine is such an exclusive and excluding profession if you aren’t born into an academic, monied family (you have to be on the right track very young to study medicine. So you need a family that is encouraging and knows how to teach good study skills and guide you in the right subject choices. Keep you away from normal, working class teen life - drinking, sex, doing little educationally. You may need connections so you can get work experience or parents that know a little about the university system and all those little bits of social capital that you miss out on when you aren’t raised middle class).

Sounds like some classist misogeny to me.

Why does society persist in thinking nursing is for "girls"?

Exactly.

@KimberleyClark Dd is a doctor. Nursing was never on her list of options if she didn't get in to medicine. The reason it wasn't on her list is that it is a very different career and it was not what she wanted to do.

Ds's girlfriend is a nurse. She had no interest in becoming a doctor as it is a very different career and it was not what she wanted.

Nurses are professionals. Nursing is a vital role in our healthcare system that deserves respect. It is certainly not an easy option for thick people.

No need to be rude about cabin crew either.

Dear upsidelow it's the person who spoke to you that is ignorant! Nursing has come a long way since I was born - speaking as an occasional patient. I also have a good friend who is a retired nurse and very intelligent. You can hold your head up high!

Also this.

Nursing is highly competitive and very difficult to get in to where I live (Ireland).

Certainly the grades are lower than medicine but that's simply a reflection of demand and the number of places available.

The person who made the comment about nurses is totally arrogant and ignorant imo. Perhaps they also think that retail pharmacists are just shop assistants that are particularly good at reading and counting?

Because medicine might be seen - wrongly in my view - as a more prestigious job than nursing. Especially in some private/very academic schools. But I’m only speculating. If you say it doesn’t happen, anywhere, at all, I take your word for it.

I know it's not true, I've met nurses from many and varied backgrounds, one of them was the daughter of an earl!

Its a vocation for many, background is irrelevant.

I know it is often seen by schools as a way for bright, able working class girls to get a professional career (that can take them around the world, fit in with children, and which has a million different ways to progress). There aren’t the same class barriers as eg investment banking or law.

I don’t think it is a purely working class career though! Just a more egalitarian one.

That’s rubbish. I know plenty of MC nurses, and nurses are all perfectly bright or they couldn’t do the job.

What is true is there aren’t as many MC women nursing as there were in the 50s / 60s / 70s / 80s simply because there are more options for women now, and a lot of girls then who became nurses didn’t really want to be. (The choice used to be nurse/teacher/secretary - so if the person talking to you thinks brighter girls become teachers then clearly they are stuck in the 50s.)

My mum went to a private school and then went to Oxford to study law in the early 80s. After acquiring her degree, she “bottomed out”, according to her own father, by doing a nursing course in Birmingham and becoming an A&E nurse.

Demonstrating, for the purposes of this OP:

1. Yeah, some people are really snobby about nursing.
2. Nobody can assume all nurses are thickos.

A lot of people do think this yes. There’s a lot of stupidity in the general public.

We were definitely told at (selective) secondary school that bright girls become doctors, and those that can't become doctors. Utter rubbish obviously but Dr has more prestige than Nurse. I can't remember where teachers faired, probably somewhere in the middle but I wouldn't assume a teacher was more intelligent than a nurse (or less than a Dr!). It's just different skill sets and personalities

I'm not sure what your point is.

No, a nurse is not the same as a doctor. A doctor is not the same as a nurse. Neither is the same as a radiographer. They are allied health professionals, each of whom have a role to play in the care of patients.

You have to be super clever to be a nurse - as far as I can tell.

The nursing profession has changed massively,,now they are all degree educated so hardly thick even when I did my training in thec 90 s I had to have at least 5 GCSE,s at grade C or above including English and maths or a science and it was a Diploma so we had to do exams and essays
Even the the traditional training had exams and 5 o level entry requirements