IS NURSING a Noble profession?

or is it just one more field where no one appreciates you

There are issues related to nursing which confuses the identity of what a nurse is, and what is neccessary to be a nurse. Resolving those issues would go a long way towards resolving the identity problems for nurses.

Primarily, patients, generally, do not know who in the health care spectrum is "a nurse". Often I have heard medical assistants and nursing assistants and aides called nurses, based on their dress and location in the health care setting. Then there is the issue of LPNs or RNs. And there are many levels of entry to being an RN and many RNs are also advanced practice nurses. In most generally accepted definitions of a profession, there is a prescribed criteria for achieving the professional level. (such as medical school for physicians). Also, most occupations which meet the definition and criteria of a profession are not paid on an hourly basis.

However, putting the issues of whether nursing is, or is not a profession aside, in general, nurses are greatly appreciated.

Ask patients in a hospital whether or not they appreciate the nurses. Ask physicians if they could manage their patients at a hospital without nurses.

Over the course of my life, I have been admitted for several weeks to an intensive care unit. I can promise you, I know, it was the nurse that were there 24 hours a day, and the doctor who I saw for 2 minutes out of those 24 hours. It is easy to understand who was making the difference in my life during those weeks.

i would think that it is a noble profession. i work in the patient relations department of a hospital and patients are tellign me all the time about their wonderful nurses and how much they have helped them. (some bad stuff too cause i work in a complaint department pretty much)

"Noble" isn't exactly the word I would use to describe the nursing profession. It is a stable and lucrative profession, but it also has its pitfalls. It isn't the nurses who're to blame for all the stress happening in the healthcare dept., but the type of working conditions that nurses are subjected to on a daily basis. Face it the healthcare business is highly understaffed.

They're even making it harder for many college student to enter into the program right now.

certainly hope so... im starting my degree in adult nursing in march 08! money aint that gud but you have to look beyond that