[Magdalen] health care...

[Jim Guthrie]

>One of the most interesting things about the nursing profession (to me) is
>its astonishing flexibility. One of my friends was a psych nurse, and in
>her early thirties, re-qualified as a surgical nurse.

Part of the impetus for this is that nurses in most of the traditional role on a 
hospital floor, suffer the same economic realities of teachers (and clergy for 
that matter) in that there are all manner of nincompoops out there who have no 
clue as to economic realities.

In many professions, the advances in IT and other technologies has greatly 
increased worker productivity. But a floor nurse can only handle about 30 
patients at best; teachers can only handle about 30 students at best, a clergy 
person struggles even in a small family-zed (<75) persons and there's no way to 
say, successfully double that or triple that through technology. Yet their cost 
of living continues its inexorable march upwards, and the idiot brigade rails 
against them all for being "greedy" or "overpaid" or not deserving of any 
raises.

It is understandable then that nurses can find far more respect by specializing 
I think. And respect for their skills  is a huge piece of job satisfaction.

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie