Nursing - is it really THAT attractive?

A whole lot of people are asking about the working condition/hours/undergraduate curriculum (and so on and so forth) of nursing in the forums. I have always wondered - why is there so much interest in the society in becoming a nurse? Granted, salaries for nurses are among the highest if you look at the admission grades, but then is it really such an attractive package? If so, are those who aimed at pursuing the nursing profession suitable to do it?


I personally think that being a nurse, or for that matter a doctor, is a job that is in fact not really well paid for the necessary work. The price-performance ratio might as well be better for nurses but basically there is too much risk to bear for that particular salary. If I were for the salary, the medical industry would be down on the bottom of the list in applying for jobs.

For that mere 20k/month salary, one has to deal with infectious blood, urine, faeces, cerebrospinal fluid or even semen -- and then, as much as I hate to say it, unreasonable patients represent a significant portion of daily work in a hospital environment, be it in public or in private sector -- if you are lucky, you get scolded, if you are unlucky, you could be (unreasonably) complained, harassed or even beaten. Contracting HIV during procedures such as suction and blood taking is not something unheard of in the industry.

And here goes the shift work. Most nurses need to work shifts - be it in the operating theatre or wards - some may be exempted from shift work because of work location (outpatient department, day ward, etc.) but these places are often staffed by nurses with morbidities such as psychiatric illness or autoimmune diseases. Shift work imposes a lot of stress on the physical, psychological and social well-being of an individual.

If I were them, I probably wouldn't choose this subject as a career - there are a lot of career choices in which, if one is willing to work in such hazardous environment, in such irregular hours I think they are going to success and excel wherever they work.