The piece of paper is just an excuse

I have been noticing a flaw in the job market. Nobody wants to accept responsibility for making a decision. They hide behind company policies. Here is the example.

I know of a woman who is a nurse. She currently holds an unemcumbered nurses license. She is an LPN or LVN depending on where you live. She has valid licenses in three states. She has a bachelors degree in psychology on top of the nursing degree. During her 15 years of experience, she has been a floor nurse, charge nurse, and a case manager. She has every qualification that an RN has...venipuncture, IV's, etc.

With all these qualifications, she still finds resistance in the workforce. She is finding that all of her hard work garners less respect than someone who just received her RN license (through an AA in nursing) who has zero experience. Less money too. A brand new RN that knows absolutely nothing about the real world, who hasn't proven themselves to be honest, reliable, or valuable receives a starting pay of $60K. An LPN as mentioned in this post applying for the same job caps at $50K. Here is the kicker...the position being applied for is an administrative one. There is no on hands patient care. I have reviewed the curriculum of both the RN program and the LPN program from accredited schools and I will tell you, there is no significant difference in the programs when it comes to the administrative duties of the position mentioned here. The differences that did exist were compensated 100 times over by this LPN's experience in the actual position; yet a company would rather hire a new RN so that when a mistake is made they can blame the Nursing Board for having too low standards.

Let's recap for fun. A new RN who just finished her ASSOCIATE'S degree in Nursing warrants more than an LPN whose education consists of and ASSOCIATE'S degree in Nursing, a BACHELOR'S degree in Psychology, and 15 years experience as a nurse/charge nurse/case manager and an established, reliable work history. Remember, C's get degrees. Makes no sense to me.

You can go to school all you want, but the real education starts after you graduate, but that appears to not count for anything. That piece of paper really does carry a lot of weight, but I would not want to rest my organization on it.

Following those industry accepted standards takes the responsibility off the individual and organization. Liability is a scary term in our litigious society. Again, we have brought this on ourselves.

Of the nurses mentioned in this post, I know what one I would want to be working on me. Too bad corporate america has to bash so many to protect itself from the people it provides service to.

Next time you search for a job and get offered less than you are worth, think about what I said. You are a liability and the corporation is trying to protect itself. Then think about how we got this way.

Be good to one another,

Rev. Biggus