Are nurses white collar or blue collar?

[Anonymous]

I've been a nurse for 15 years.

I come from Ivy league educated parents and went to nursing school at Hopkins after first getting a degree in biology from a liberal arts college.
My nursing classmates at Hopkins also all had bachelors degrees from places like Smith and Williams and Cornell and had parents who were doctors and lawyers, etc.
Many of us were dating med students or guys who worked in finance or similar.

Then I started working as an RN at Hopkins and other hospitals in the DC/Baltimore area and many of my co-workers had associates degrees from community
colleges and were married to cops and construction workers.

It's a funny mix of people that pursue nursing. I'd say it definitely leans towards to blue collar end of things. And I love this about nursing. People who go into
it are from all walks of life but tend to be really good people who aren't choosing a career based upon the money or prestige.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a lot of nurses are married to cops, another white collar/blue collar hybrid.

My circle of friends find that firefighters and police officers seem to marry teachers and nurses. I'm an rn, dh is an officer. BFF is a teacher, her dh is a ff. We know lots of couples like this

[Anonymous]

As a brand-new RN (BSN), I'd suggest this classification is evolving as we speak. The *newest* grads working in hospitals are going to have a Bachelor's of Science and often another degree (Masters) soon thereafter. Even when they work at the bedside instead of in a windowless office playing "manager." My personal observation here in DC is that the veteran nurses (10-30 years experience) are much more likely to have an associate's degree or even a diploma degree.

And to the PPs musing about manual labor: in 2017 the people doing the lifting, toileting, ambulating, repositioning, pushing, pee cleaning, poop wiping, vomit mopping, restocking, transporting to the MRI …. those people are almost never RNs, at least in a hospital. They're patient techs, transport tech, housekeeping, etc. Given the high acuity of the patient who actually gets hospitalized these days, much more specialized knowledge is needed to just keep them alive. Will i help a patient to the bathroom if I'm in her room and she suddenly has to go while I'm trying to figure out what's going on in her lungs? Yes, sure. But overwhelmingly it's the tech who will respond to that call bell now, not an RN

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the classification of "nurse." Aides, LPNs (Licensed Practical Nurses) generally only require an associate's degree. I consider those jobs blue collar. Registered nurses with a BA/BS or higher are white collar.

Aides aren't licensed at all. LPN's don't have degrees. They earn a vocational diploma and take the national exam. RN's have an associate degree or a bsn. Either degree takes the exact same rn national exam

[Anonymous]

Blue

[Anonymous]

I'm a nurse and I've always considered myself blue collar when I worked in the hospital. Now that i got my MBA And currently work in a corporate setting I think I lost that status. Also nurse anesthesiologist, nurse administrators, nurse entrepreneurs, nurse lawyers and nurse consultants are probably more white collar so it will depend on the speciality too.

[Anonymous]

Nurses and teachers are pink collar.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink-collar_worker

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am an RN that works as a Case Manager. I do only desk/ telephone work. Am I blue collar?

I was going to ask the same question. I haven't worn scrubs or done any skills in years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am an RN that works as a Case Manager. I do only desk/ telephone work. Am I blue collar?

I was going to ask the same question. I haven't worn scrubs or done any skills in years.

And I work from home!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nurses and teachers are pink collar.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink-collar_worker

This article is a joke. The jobs listed are typically held by women, which is why it's 'pink'. It lists housekeepers are pink collar, where most people recognize this as blue collar job.

Pink collar, blue collar, white collar... who cares as long as it's honorable work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the classification of "nurse." Aides, LPNs (Licensed Practical Nurses) generally only require an associate's degree. I consider those jobs blue collar. Registered nurses with a BA/BS or higher are white collar.

Not true at all. Aides are usually certifications.training programs that are often <3 months, LPN programs can be 9 months-1 year long and RNs come in a variety of degrees including Associates and Bachelors. Both associates and bachelors educated nurses take the same licensing exam and have the same staff RN jobs (although the bachelor's degreed nurses can move into management positions).

-I am an RN at INOVA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nurses and teachers are pink collar.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink-collar_worker

This article is a joke. The jobs listed are typically held by women, which is why it's 'pink'. It lists housekeepers are pink collar, where most people recognize this as blue collar job.

Pink collar, blue collar, white collar... who cares as long as it's honorable work.

Not sure what your point is. Nobody said anything about work not being honorable. Pink collar is a sociological term denoting occupations that were historically primarily filled by women.

[Anonymous]

I'm Jewish and it seems Jewish nurses are very rare. Lots of Jewish women are teachers and social workers, but not nurses. I think it has a blue collar "stigma" in our community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been a nurse for 15 years.

I come from Ivy league educated parents and went to nursing school at Hopkins after first getting a degree in biology from a liberal arts college.
My nursing classmates at Hopkins also all had bachelors degrees from places like Smith and Williams and Cornell and had parents who were doctors and lawyers, etc.
Many of us were dating med students or guys who worked in finance or similar.

Then I started working as an RN at Hopkins and other hospitals in the DC/Baltimore area and many of my co-workers had associates degrees from community
colleges and were married to cops and construction workers.

It's a funny mix of people that pursue nursing. I'd say it definitely leans towards to blue collar end of things. And I love this about nursing. People who go into
it are from all walks of life but tend to be really good people who aren't choosing a career based upon the money or prestige.

Having gone to an elite LAC, I can't think of many of my peers who went into nursing. Lots went onto law school, academia, high school teaching, med school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nurses and teachers are pink collar.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink-collar_worker

This article is a joke. The jobs listed are typically held by women, which is why it's 'pink'. It lists housekeepers are pink collar, where most people recognize this as blue collar job.

Pink collar, blue collar, white collar... who cares as long as it's honorable work.

Not sure what your point is. Nobody said anything about work not being honorable. Pink collar is a sociological term denoting occupations that were historically primarily filled by women.

Lots of people, especially here on DCUM, equate blue collar to bad. There is a stigma to working a blue collar job which I why I added the 'honorable' part.