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Building and Managing
a Career in Nursing
 Other Books Available from
Sigma Theta Tau International
The Adventurous Years: Leaders in Action 1973-1999,
Henderson, 1998.
As We See Ourselves: Jewish Women in Nursing, Benson, 2001.
Cadet Nurse Stories: The Call for and Response of Women
During World War II, Perry and Robinson, 2001.
Collaboration for the Promotion of Nursing, Briggs, Merk and
Mitchell, 2003.
The Communication of Caring in Nursing, Knowlden, 1998.
Creating Responsive Solutions to Healthcare Change,
McCullough, 2001.
Gerontological Nursing Issues for the 21st Century, Gueldner and
Poon, 1999.
The HeART of Nursing: Expressions of Creative Art in Nursing,
Wendler, 2002.
Immigrant Women and Their Health: An Olive Paper, Ibrahim
Meleis, Lipson, Muecke and Smith, 1998.
The Language of Nursing Theory and Metatheory, King and
Fawcett, 1997.
Making a Difference: Stories from the Point of Care,
Hudacek, 2000.
The Neuman Systems Model and Nursing Education: Teaching
Strategies and Outcomes, Lowry, 1998.
Nurses’ Moral Practice: Investing and Discounting Self,
Kelly, 2000.
Nursing and Philanthropy: An Energizing Metaphor for the
21st Century, McBride, 2000.
The Roy Adaptation Model-Based Research: 25 Years of
Contributions to Nursing Science, Boston Based Adaptation
Research in Nursing Society, 1999.
Stories of Family Caregiving: Reconsideration of Theory,
Literature, and Life, Poirier and Ayres, 2002.
Virginia Avenel Henderson: Signature for Nursing, Hermann, 1997.

Call toll-free 1.888.634.7575 (U.S and Canada) or

800.634.7575.1 (International), or visit our Web site at
www.nursing.society.org/publications for more information.
Building and Managing
a Career in Nursing

Strategies for Advancing

Your Career
Terry W. Miller, RN, PhD
With 13 contributors

A Joint Publication of
The Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International
And
NurseWeek Publishing, Inc.
Sigma Theta Tau International
Publishing Director: Jeff Burnham
Book Acquisitions Editor: Fay L. Bower, DNSc, FAAN
Graphic Designer: Jason Reuss
Proofreader: Linda Canter

NurseWeek Publishing, Inc.

Copyright © 2003 by Sigma Theta Tau International

All rights reserved. This book is protected by copyright. No part of it may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

Composition by Graphic World
Printing and Binding by Edwards Brothers
Cover art by Getty Images, Inc.

Sigma Theta Tau International

550 West North Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Visit the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International Web site
at www.nursingsociety.org for more information on our books and other publications.

ISBN: 1-930538-08-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Building and managing a career in nursing : strategies for advancing

your career / Terry W. Miller.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-930538-08-1
1. Nursing—Vocational guidance—United States. 2. Career development.
[DNLM: 1. Nursing. 2. Career Mobility. WY 16 B932 2003] I. Miller,
Terry W. II. Sigma Theta Tau International.
RT82.B796 2003
610.73'06'9—dc21 2003007008

03 04 05 / 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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 About the Author

Terry W. Miller, RN, PhD

Terry W. Miller earned two bachelor’s degrees, one in nursing and another
in zoology and chemistry, from the University of Oklahoma and a master
of science degree in nursing and PhD from the University of Texas, Austin.
He currently is the dean and professor of nursing at Pacific Lutheran Uni-
versity and prior to that held the position of associate dean of the College
of Applied Sciences and Arts and professor of nursing at San Jose State
University. Dr. Miller was awarded Professor Emeritus status by President
Robert L. Caret in 1999, only one year after assuming the position of dean
for Pacific Lutheran University School of Nursing.
 About the Contributors

Fay L. Bower, RN, DNSc, FAAN

Fay L. Bower has over 50 years of experience in nursing, with 35 years in
nursing education. She earned a bachelor of science degree from San Jose
State College and a master of science in nursing and a doctor of nursing
science from the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Bower’s
career has included a variety of positions. She has been a faculty member,
chair, coordinator of graduate programs, dean, vice president of academic
affairs, and director of institutional research and planning before becom-
ing the president of Clarkson College in Omaha, Nebraska. After retire-
ment, she returned to academia in 2000 as chair of the Department of
Nursing at Holy Names College in Oakland, California. She has written
several books and many articles and is currently the book acquisitions ed-
itor for Sigma Theta Tau International.

Marcia E. Canton, RN, PhD

Marcia E. Canton received a bachelor of science degree from Long Island
University; a master’s degree from the University of California, San Fran-
cisco; and a master’s and a PhD from Stanford University. She is currently
the president of Canton Associates, a consulting firm that assists managers
in improving their management skills in the areas of cultural diversity and
program evaluation. Dr. Canton was associated with San Jose State Univer-
sity as a full professor and associate dean for the College of Applied Arts and
Sciences. She now is an adjunct faculty member at Holy Names College.

Edith Jenkins-Weinrub
Edith Jenkins-Weinrub began her nursing career as an LVN. She then re-
ceived her bachelor of science degree from the University of Texas at Ar-

vi
lington, her master of science degree from California State University
Dominguez Hills, and her EdD from Nova Southeastern University. She
has taught at the University of Phoenix in the nursing program and in the
human service program. She also was director of nursing for ambulatory
care for the San Mateo County Medical Center. Currently she is program
administrator at the Bay Area Consortium for Quality Healthcare, Inc. over-
seeing the HIV/AIDS program and is an assistant professor of nursing in the
Department of Nursing at Holy Names College in Oakland, California.

Patsy Maloney, MA, MSN, PhD

Patsy Maloney is the director of continuing nursing education and associ-
ate professor of nursing at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washing-
ton. She received a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the
University of Maryland; master of arts and master of nursing degrees from
Catholic University of America; and an EdD degree from the University of
Southern California in higher, adult and professional education. Dr. Mal-
oney is certified in nursing staff development and continuing education, as
well as in advanced nursing administration.

Cynthia S. McCullough, RN, MSN

Cyndi McCullough earned a bachelor of science degree from Slippery Rock
University and a master’s degree in nursing from Clarkson College. She has
over 20 years of experience in healthcare as a staff nurse and manager. She
also has experience in patient-focused care, clinical and operations reengi-
neering, and self-directed work teams. Currently, Cyndi is employed as a se-
nior nurse consultant with HDR, Inc. in Omaha, Nebraska, which is an
architectural/engineering firm specializing in the design of healthcare facili-
ties. Cyndi has also written several articles and has been editor of a book.

Wendell Oderkirk, RN, PhD

Wendell Oderkirk is associate professor of nursing at New Mexico State
University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He has earned a bachelor of
science degree in nursing, a bachelor's degree in Spanish, a master of
science degree in urban education and another in nursing and a PhD in psy-
chological and cultural studies. Dr. Oderkirk has written articles and a book
and is currently working with a National Institute of Cancer grant focusing
on colon-rectal cancer screening of persons on the U.S./Mexican border.

vii
 Barbara L. Pille, RN, MBA
Barbara Pille received a diploma in nursing from Creighton St. Joseph
School of Nursing, a bachelor of science and a master’s degree in business
administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Currently, Barb
is the vice president of nursing and clinical services for Quality Living,
Inc. in Omaha, a head injury rehabilitation center. Barb’s career has in-
cluded a variety of positions including chief nursing officer at Clarkson
Hospital, cardiology product line manager and risk manager for an insur-
ance company.

Pamela Reiter, RN
Pamela A. Reiter earned a bachelor of arts in nursing from Augustana Col-
lege in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and a bachelor of science in anesthesia
from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota. Cur-
rently, Pam is a nurse anesthetist at the University of Nebraska Medical
Center in Omaha, Nebraska. She has also held staff nurse positions in
medical/surgical and intensive care settings and access services.

Michelle T. Renaud, RN, PhD

Michelle T. Renaud is the division chief for the accelerated BSN program
at Duke University School of Nursing in North Carolina. She earned a
bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Connecticut,
a master of science degree in nursing from the University of Colorado and
a doctoral degree from the University of Washington. Dr. Renaud has had
a long and varied nursing career including 24 years of military nursing ex-
perience in the Army Nurse Corps.

Mae E. Timmons, RN, EdD

Mae Timmons received a bachelor of science degree in nursing from St.
Louis University School of Nursing, a master’s degree in nursing from the
University of California in Los Angeles and an EdD from the University
of San Francisco. Currently, Dr. Timmons is an associate professor in the
graduate nursing program at Clarkson College in Omaha, Nebraska. Dr.
Timmons’ experience includes working in one of the first intensive care
units in Dallas, Texas; teaching in various educational institutions; and

viii
serving as director of a graduate program for several years. Dr. Timmons
was instrumental in designing and developing the majority of online
courses in the education option of the graduate program at Clarkson Col-
lege in Omaha, Nebraska.

Michaela N. Tolo, RN
Michaela Tolo received a diploma in nursing from Clarkson Hospital
School of Nursing. Currently, she is the clinical services coordinator for
access services for Nebraska Health System. Michaela has been em-
ployed by the same health system for the past 26 years. She has held a
variety of positions as a nurse in gastrointestinal, renal and gynecologic
areas and in outpatient and admitting services. Michaela was instrumen-
tal in developing and implementing the pre-admission screening pro-
gram for the health system and is currently developing a centralized
scheduling program.

Arthur Wallace, RN, MSN, CEN

Arthur Wallace was awarded a bachelor of science degree in nursing from
the University of Maryland and a master of science degree in nursing from
the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. He is cur-
rently the deputy executive director/director, clinical operations, TRI-
CARE Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii. Art was selected as the first male White
House nurse supporting Presidents Bush and Clinton. His experience in-
cludes burn and trauma nursing, chief nursing officer and chief executive
officer in various hospitals in the U.S. and abroad.

Robinetta Wheeler, RN, PhD

Robinetta Wheeler received a bachelor of science in nursing from New York
University; a master of science in nursing degree from San Jose State Col-
lege; and a PhD in sociology from the University of California, San Fran-
cisco. Dr. Wheeler’s experiences include clinical, management, education,
research and entrepreneurial assignments. In addition to being associate pro-
fessor of nursing and director of NEXUS, a distance education teleconfer-
encing program, at Holy Names College, she is employed at Stanford
Medical Center and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.

ix
 Foreword

D r. Terry Miller has presented a distinctive approach to building and

managing a career. The content of the book is based on research in
nursing and areas supportive to nursing. Miller’s objective was to incor-
porate what good research exists outside nursing, while recognizing how
the profession is distinguishable from as well as analogous to other pro-
fessions. Using a research-based approach to career development, Miller
worked with 13 expert contributors who could offer information from dif-
ferent perspectives. It impressed me that he successfully carried research
from his dissertation to this publication. As the former dean of nursing in
the university where his doctorate was awarded, it is my wish that all dis-
sertations could be so relevant.
For the individual looking for a more satisfying career path in nurs-
ing or for the individual seeking a first career, Building and Managing a
Career in Nursing will provide valuable information. The variables sig-
nificant to career management and development are explored by the
book’s contributors. A broad range of topics is included, from informa-
tion about development of a career to planning for retirement and the
stages in-between.
To exemplify their message and support their theoretical discussions,
the contributors use stories. In addition to information on how to search
and interview for a position, the reader is given details on how to choose
a position. I found the anecdotes and stories compelling.
One typically considers a career choice to be a lifetime decision. We
know from studies that many individuals change careers as many as 10
times. Choosing a career is an overwhelming responsibility. This is true
for the nurse who has not yet selected a specific professional track as well

x
as the nurse who wishes to redirect his or her career. More literature is
needed to help individuals search for a career. Very little addresses the
career concept from beginning to end, including career changes and
career reclamation. Building and Managing a Career in Nursing, written
by experienced professionals, provides that information.
Billye J. Brown, RN, EdD, FAAN
Past President of Sigma Theta Tau International, 1989-1991
Retired Dean and Professor Emeritus
The University of Texas, Austin

xi
 Introduction

T his book presents a unique approach to creating and managing careers

in nursing. The authors discuss careers from five perspectives: discov-
ering a career, developing a career, changing a career, reclaiming a career
and using tools for career decision-making. Each area is explored from a
theoretical perspective, with some chapters providing real examples of how
nurses have managed their careers. The final part of the book presents
strategies used by successful nurses as they search, match, choose and build
support for their careers. Mentoring, as well as taking personal responsibil-
ity, is addressed as an important aspect of career development. The models
and discussions are based in grounded research and real-life examples.
This book can help anyone considering nursing as a career, as the authors
provide a comprehensive exploration of career management every nurse
should know about.

xii
 Contents

Contributors vi

Foreword x

Introduction xii

Unit I Discovering a Career

Chapter 1 Work Versus Career 3
Chapter 2 Overview of the Career Creation Process 19
Chapter 3 Shape and Direction 41
Chapter 4 Stages of Careers 63
Chapter 5 Change at the Personal Level 81
Chapter 6 Career Opportunities 99

Unit II Developing a Career

Chapter 7 The Humanistic Career Pathway 113
Chapter 8 The Opportunistic Career Pathway 123
Chapter 9 Achieving Balance 131
Chapter 10 Marketplace, Culture, Politics and Timing 145

Unit III Changing a Career

Chapter 11 Experiencing Career Discontent 161
Chapter 12 Personal Values and Identity: Basis for
Career Change 171

xiii
Chapter 13 Crossing Borders: International Careers in Nursing 187
Chapter 14 Assessing Readiness for Job/Career Change 203
Chapter 15 A New Mission with New Career Goals 215
Chapter 16 How to Transition: Moving From Where You
Were to Where You Want to Be 233

Unit IV Reclaiming a Career

Chapter 17 The Stalled/Delayed Career 251
Chapter 18 The Impaired Career 271
Chapter 19 Overcoming Damage and Building New Credibility 287

Unit V Useful Tools for Career Decision-Making

Chapter 20 Searching: Where and How to Locate Employment 305
Chapter 21 Matching: Locating the Right Position 321
Chapter 22 Choosing: Interviewing and Developing
Resumes/CVs 333
Chapter 23 Building Support and Establishing Networks:
Referrals and References 365
Chapter 24 Mentoring 379

Index 397

xiv
 Unit I
Discovering a Career
 Chapter 1

Work Versus Career

by Terry W. Miller

Specialized training alone is not enough. It may get you that first job;
but if it is all you have to offer an employer, it may also bury you in
that first job (Henry Ford II).

INTRODUCTION
Career choice and development affect all aspects of adult life. Work is
directly linked to individual and family status, as well as to survival in
society (Perlmutter-Bloch & Richmond, 1997). In Western society, work
is a major source of status, identity and gratification (Yost & Corbishley,
1987). Finding meaning in work is critical if a person is to avoid stagna-
tion and boredom (Berquist, Greenberg, & Klaum, 1993). Yet many peo-
ple do not enjoy their work and do not understand how others find real
enjoyment and personal fulfillment in what they do for an income. Many
factors, such as not having a career-orientation to one’s work, contribute
to this failure.
Outdated myths and erroneous assumptions limit possibilities and re-
strict the potential of some people entering the workforce. If people ap-
proach work as a series of tasks merely to be done to the satisfaction of
others in a supervisory capacity over them, work can be grueling, monot-
onous and unfulfilling. It is important to choose work that fits personal val-
ues and to understand how a real career is something far more than a
particular job or series of jobs. If nothing else, a career offers more psy-
chological control over the work environment. This chapter provides a

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 3

career orientation for the person considering the profession of nursing as
life’s work.

WHAT IS A CAREER?
Career is often defined in terms of advancement, professional status
and occupational stability. For example, career can be defined as a course
of professional life or employment, which affords the individual opportu-
nities for personal advancement, progress or achievement (Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1996; Webster’s, 1995). Career can also be defined in less
restrictive terms as an evolving sequence of work experience over time
(Arthur, Hall, & Lawrence, 1989) or a pattern of work-related experiences
that spans the course of a person’s life (Greenhaus, Callahan, & Godshalk,
2000).
There are many types of careers, with some being far more demand-
ing of the individual in terms of educational preparation, level of respon-
sibility, challenge and expected level of commitment. Some careers are
highly structured and place-bound, while others may require periodic re-
locations and progressive levels of independence and accountability. Pro-
fessional careers often involve job transitions, returning to school and
some relocation.
Having a career is more analogous to a journey than a person’s state
of employment. Yet having a career is more than a series of jobs with an
increase in pay and benefits over time. Understanding the values most
commonly reflected in American culture helps explain the social signifi-
cance of having or not having a career in the United States. Kohl (2000)
and Althen (1998) identify values held by most Americans. These values
include individualism and privacy, equality, informality, future orientation,
change and progress, and time. These values also include achievement, ac-
tion, work and materialism. The last four, if not all of the values listed, can
be correlated with how a career is defined.
Having a career and being career-oriented imply changes in the work
situation and status over time are to be natural and positive. Having a work
orientation that demands personal action and being oriented to the future,
as well as the present, also fit with having a career perspective of one’s
work. Kohl (2000) claims Americans do not believe in the power of fate or

4 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

luck and have a responsibility to pursue a better life. Change in one’s work
status, leading to development, improvement and progress is perceived as
more important than stability, continuity and tradition. Finally, many
Americans pride themselves in having climbed the “ladder of success” and
believe the future should and will be better than the present. Regardless of
whether there is acceptance of what Kohl and others identify as core
American values, these values inherently support having a career orienta-
tion over not having one.
Americans frequently ask each other, “What do you do for a living?”
or ask children what they want to be when they grow up. Such personal
questions indicate how much Western society values others because of
what they do for income. Although having a career is usually viewed as a
positive attribute in American culture, some people become physically and
emotionally entangled in a lifelong pursuit of achievement. Some of the
literature suggests work is occupying a larger part of most people’s time,
and that the average workweek has increased significantly for people in
managerial and professional fields.
The term work/life balance has appeared in recent career development
literature (Hansen, 1996). In the 1990s, Silicon Valley newspapers such as
the San Jose Mercury News documented how successful people were leav-
ing the area at young ages and relocating to more remote areas. Pursuit of
a less-hectic lifestyle was often cited as the reason. Yet lifestyle, more than
workload, may be the real culprit that exhausts people, dissolves families
and creates career discontent. Pacing oneself through work, and ultimately
a career path, is important in order to achieve a desirable balance between
career goals and personal life goals.
Another potential downside of being career-oriented occurs when a
person pursues a career with little regard for others or in ways that place
personal success and advancement over what is attributable to the work of
others. Ironically, this form of careerism limits the person’s potential for
professional growth and advancement in several ways. Successful people
who have careers understand the need to support others in their careers, as
well as receive support for their own career aspirations. It is unhealthy to
make work the only goal, and it is destructive to make a career so impor-
tant it discounts or devalues others and their contributions.

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 5

Career Myths
Harris-Tuck, Price and Robertson (2000) address several myths of the
“American dream” that have important implications for understanding
what a career offers a person in today’s society. These myths include:
1. Good workers don’t get fired. However, periodic restructuring of
organizations and downsizing now cause many good workers to
lose their jobs. This trend, which began in the 1980s, is not likely
to end soon. In an article in Fortune (October 25, 2000), it was re-
ported that “American businesses have cut back on everything,
which means they’ve slashed perks and fired lots of workers.”
2. Good-paying jobs are available without a college education. How-
ever, a college education is not only essential for most careers, it
is becoming increasingly important. Few individuals are able to
gain entry to a more desirable career field without a college edu-
cation, and several professional fields require graduate degrees for
entry. Even if a person is able to start a career path without a col-
lege education, the potential for career advancement becomes
minimal without the expected degree. Fourteen million seven hun-
dred ninety-one thousand students attended college in the United
States in 2002, with 564,933 earning an associate degree,
1,237,875 earning a baccalaureate degree, 457,056 earning a mas-
ter’s degree, 44,808 earning a doctorate and 80,057 earning a pro-
fessional degree (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2002).
3. A college degree guarantees a good job. However, a college de-
gree is only a piece of a much larger picture – timing, references,
presentation, research and other factors are critical as well. The
percentage of U.S. citizens earning college degrees at every level
continues to increase at a faster rate than job openings. A college
degree is only one criterion of several that prospective employers
expect of applicants.
4. The best jobs are in large corporations. However, it is often more
difficult for a large corporation to offer the best jobs or to ensure
the best work environment because an expansive bureaucracy
makes it difficult to address issues in a more timely manner, and
the distance between top-level administration and lower-level
workers can be quite a leap. Each year Fortune has a list of the

6 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

 “100 Best Companies to Work For.” Companies are recognized
for coming up with creative ways to keep employees satisfied,
and for offering generous severance and compassion when they
had to make cuts. Seven of the top 100 companies for 2002 have
less than 1,000 employees and 24 percent of them less than 2,000
employees (http://www.fortune.com/fortune/bestcompanies).
5. Go to work for a good company and move up the career ladder.
However, moving up a career ladder assumes people get promoted
because of their time in the organization. In reality, very few do,
and they are at risk in an increasingly competitive, global econ-
omy. Increasingly, responsibility for career advancement and em-
ployability has shifted from the employer to the employee.
6. Find the hot industry and you’ll always be in demand. However, a
“hot industry” can cool just as quickly as it heated up. By the time
this cooling begins, the media may just be starting to identify the
industry as “hot.” One only has to compare the “hot” job market
for computer engineers, software specialists and systems analysts
in the 1980s and 1990s to the present job market. It takes more
than job market to assure employment, because no employee is of-
ten better than a poor performing one. Nursing is projected to be
one of the “hottest industries” throughout this decade and into the
next one, but a poor performing nurse will not be successful and
will find it difficult to remain employed.
The previous decade marks several shifts in how people define their work
and plan their careers. “Economic and cultural changes in society, techno-
logical and organizational changes in the workplace, and changes in
business operations—management processes and customer orientations—
are creating frustration for many workers” (Lankard, 1993). Despite any
gloomy economic picture, many people are still successful while obtain-
ing, losing and changing jobs (Schlossberg, 1997).
Critical thinking about the future and work supports the process of
careful, formal planning of a career. Thinking about adult career devel-
opment as a transition process of moving in, through and out of the
workforce is also helpful (Schlossberg, 1997). Much of the literature
regarding careers in professional fields includes information about how
a person should make a conscious effort to develop a career and to

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 7

plan for it before committing to some course of action (Fouad, 1994).
Discussions during the preparation of a major report by the Committee
on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) of the National
Academy of Sciences (NAS); National Academy of Engineering (NAE);
and Institute of Medicine (IOM) indicated the need for a guide designed
specifically to help students plan their educational and professional
careers.

CAREER PLANNING
The literature and research indicate career planning and professional
development are essential for people entering their chosen vocations, stay-
ing in their vocations and defining themselves as successful in their work
(Brown & Brooks, 1996). Career planning, development and decision-
making have been correlated with job satisfaction, productivity and occu-
pational retention for over four decades (Bowen & Hall, 1977; Moore,
1979; Keaveney & Jackson, 1979). Yet many people choose a job with lit-
tle consideration for its career implications. Instead, they choose what is
easiest or most expedient or because of the existing job market. Although
these convenience factors certainly count, a more long-term perspective
coupled with a heightened awareness of one’s values regarding work
would be more beneficial. For the purpose of this book career planning is
defined as an individual process in which a person plans, manages and in-
fluences the direction of work life in order to attain long-range personal
and professional goals.
Career planning includes an educational plan that will prepare, sus-
tain and hopefully help the individual prosper along a chosen career
path. It is a deliberate process that takes time and research, as well as
direction and commitment. Unfortunately, much of the literature on
career planning and related topics is anecdotal or commercially oriented,
with little empirical evidence to back the claims or approaches. Yet, ex-
pecting work to be fulfilling over a lifetime when educational and work
choices are left to chance is irresponsible and needlessly risky. Labor ex-
perts claim most individuals will work over 70,000 hours in a lifetime in
work outside the home (40 hours per week times 48 weeks in a year
times 35 years). This is an incredible amount of time to be devoted to
something that is not fulfilling.

8 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

Benefits of Career Planning
Career planning is beneficial in several ways. Bolles (2003) describes
the advantages of career planning as: (1) being in charge of the career
rather than someone else controlling those decisions, (2) improved job sat-
isfaction and effectiveness, and (3) not being underemployed and frus-
trated because of being in the wrong job. When the potential for being laid
off is considered, the value of career planning becomes evident.
Major well-established employers may change their locations or take
production or services out of the country, file bankruptcy, or even rede-
fine their missions. For example, Boeing, the largest producer of com-
mercial aircraft in the world, moved its headquarters to Illinois in 2002
and laid off over 32,000 workers in the state of Washington in less than
six months.
During the past decade, many workers have been laid-off, creating a
market for books and articles to assist “dislocated workers” (Harper, 1994;
Kirkwood, 1994). Today, workforce councils in many states offer retrain-
ing grants to qualified individuals who have been laid off, to enable them
to be more employable in a competitive labor market.
Case (1997) has written that “Self-confidence is key in the job
search and the career development process” (p. 23). It would be difficult
to have self-confidence or a realistic perception of one’s career potential
without a plan to guide one’s career decision-making. It is not uncom-
mon to ask job applicants where they would like to be in one to five
years. Stumbling over this question is not going to create the best im-
pression and could mean the loss of a great opportunity. Employers of-
ten view the ability to articulate a career vision during a job interview as
a positive attribute. A clearly expressed vision indicates the job seeker
has thought about the future and understands the value of goal-setting
and long-term thinking.
The benefits of career planning become even more evident when a job
applicant is asked other important questions during an interview. Without
adequate preparation, it would be very difficult to articulate career goals,
describe strengths, identify limitations or weaknesses in a positive manner,
list major accomplishments and job-related skills, or adequately address
contributions in other work settings. How to interview for a position is dis-
cussed in Chapter 22.

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 9

CAREER DISCONTENT AND FAILURE
Career discontent is characterized as dissatisfaction with work and the
career it represents. It is a rejection of the present career path and is due to
a refusal or an inability to internalize the value of the career as fulfilling.
The expectations for the career being pursued do not match the person’s
expectations. Whether or not an individual’s personal values fit the values
promulgated by a particular career or job is the major determinant of
career discontent.
Whereas people may define their work in terms of the future, planning
and investing carefully, entering the right career, and sustaining any career
over a lifetime are major challenges. These challenges are some of the rea-
sons a successful career is so valuable and desired by so many.
In the early stages of career development, it is difficult to realistically
determine the degree of congruence between personal values and a career
course for several reasons. Naiveté, immaturity, being misled, being reac-
tive and/or being directed by others may make it impossible to determine
congruence. And when values are not self-defined, it is likely the values
will be defined by the work setting. As the person gains experience and
matures, the lack of self-defined values becomes apparent, so actions must
be taken to get in touch with personal values.
When an individual does not identify personal values before embark-
ing upon a career, conflicts arise through a socialization process. Social-
ization into a career role or job can be described as a sequential set of
phases or “chain of events,” like the ones listed below:
1. Transition from anticipatory to specific expectations of the role, as
defined by the societal group of work peers;
2. Attachment to significant others in the social system milieu or
work setting;
3. Recognition of congruency and incongruence in role expectations;
and
4. Adaptation, internalization or integration of role values and stan-
dards (adapted from Hinshaw, 1977; Miller, 1991).
When people are unable or refuse to complete these four steps, they
fail to fulfill the career role in the sociological sense and often experience
career discontent. The following quote illustrates career discontent:
While learning the ropes, I was wild-eyed. I’d think, we’ll get to clean
up the environment. Then occasionally I would happen to ask the

10 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

 question, at our work group meetings, “Is the environment getting
any cleaner?” and they would kinda go, “Ha!” So while we’re sup-
posed to be cleaning up the environment, we were taking papers from
box A, processing them and putting them in box B. It was getting to
me, and I began to realize that it was more political than I could han-
dle. I consider myself pretty streetwise, but if you’re really going in
there and want to make a difference, the people who are appointed at
the top for all the regions, the people with the final say, the bottom
line, are politically appointed.…There was one particular gentleman
who was in the cubicle next to me whose great quote was, “Well, I
used to be a radical and I used to have youthful idealism, but you get
old and your values change.” And he was the person who coalesced
everything. I decided that I’m not going to become like that gentle-
man (Excerpt from field notes 6/26/90).
People perceive career discontent in several ways. These perceptions
can be summarized in three ways:
• A dislike of significant others in the social system milieu or work
settings associated with the career
• A dislike of work expectations associated with the career
• A recognition of the incongruence between work expectations and
personal values
Career discontent is likely to be a major source of stress for the indi-
vidual and the family. Because of the educational and/or experiential re-
quirements of having a career, it is believed that changing careers is
difficult and thus should be avoided. On the other hand, the alternative of
remaining in a career that is stressful is equally unsuitable. If changing the
circumstances does not alleviate the career discontent, a move to the next
stage, quitting the job or career path, is inevitable.
Lack of information is a major factor contributing to career discontent.
Unfortunately, many people base their decisions on very limited informa-
tion or exposure to what is available to them. They make choices without
doing any “homework.” The career possibilities are greater today than ever
before in human history. However, if people do not pursue sources that can
accurately inform them and help them make intelligent career decisions,
they are less likely to find a good job, much less the right career, and
often end up discontented.

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 11

 Some people approach work without being prepared for the job or the
career they really want. They expect the employer to hire them because they
claim they can do the work, yet they do not have the required educational
preparation, ability or successful track record to support their claim. Their
approach to securing desirable work is analogous to poor-performing
students who apply to a highly selective educational program. Applicants
who are most likely to be admitted demonstrate that they have the ability
to perform at the required level. They show the people who make the
admission selections how well they have met the admission criteria.
People involved in hiring wisely employ only those who can demon-
strate they are the most prepared, most motivated and best qualified. They
carefully consider an applicant’s documented history, references and per-
sonal presentation to determine if the applicant has the potential for mak-
ing a worthwhile contribution. Proper education and skill on the part of the
job seeker is critical for career success, but finding work that the job seeker
values is just as critical.
Some people mistakenly believe that they have to do little to keep a
desirable job or position once they have a job. To complicate the situation,
they often have several jobs. Peters (1994) predicted the career of
tomorrow would consist of a dozen jobs, and that workers would move on
and off payrolls of large and small companies in two or three industries
over the course of their lifetimes. Recently, the U.S. Department of
Labor has claimed that the average employee will change jobs seven
times in a lifetime (Conway-Welch, 2001). A longitudinal study of almost
10,000 young men and women who have been periodically surveyed from
1979 through 2000 indicates that late baby boomers average over 9 jobs
from ages 18 to 36 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003). Sometimes,
this moving around from job to job and bouncing back and forth between
jobs creates stress and ends in job discontent.
Today’s workplace is different from that of the recent past. Global
competition, cultural diversity demanding cultural competency, new tech-
nologies and new management processes require a higher level of critical
thinking, problem-solving and communication skills. Work is increasingly
being parceled into specific projects with designated timelines. Work may
be done by regular employees, outsourced to independent contractors or
completed by temporary employees (Harris-Tuck, Price, & Robertson,

12 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

2000). Career-oriented people who plan for career transitions understand
that as jobs change to match changes in the workplace, so must their career
goals. Those people who do not understand the changing workplace and
its effect on jobs and careers are candidates for discontent and sometimes
failure.
It is difficult to have a career orientation if decisions related to em-
ployment are unplanned or based solely on pay. It is important to under-
stand how a new job is going to shape career development and the
potential for future employment. People who are career oriented treat their
need to make money more as a long-term investment strategy than an
immediate solution to one’s budget needs. Jobs that offer good benefits,
such as educational and advancement opportunities, are more likely to
provide much higher earnings in the long run than jobs that have a higher
salary at entry. A career-oriented person may actually take a salary cut on
purpose to gain knowledge or experience that will better support a long-
range career goal.

Attitude and Motivation

Leeds (1991) points out that if people go into situations expecting to
fail, they probably will. How people approach situations reveals their atti-
tudes toward work. Blaming others or taking on the role of victim, in most
work situations, is highly destructive for a career. Most people are hired or
employed to help solve problems, create or make products, and provide
services. In addition, the person with a negative attitude or victim mental-
ity poses a problem for others in the workplace. The person who becomes
known as a problem is not likely to advance. Certainly, many people are
victims of some form of discrimination, violent behavior, crime or tragic
event. Yet, people with positive attitudes do not let the experience of being
victimized define their life and work. A positive, solution-oriented attitude
is important for the career-oriented individual.

NURSING AS A CAREER OR AS A JOB

Nursing offers a wide variety of career opportunities at both the gen-
eralist and specialist levels. However, some nurses view their positions as
merely a job. These nurses are often referred to as “refrigerator nurses,”
because the motivation to be a nurse is little more than earning a living to

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 13

pay for things. The characterization is not intended to be derogatory; in-
stead it is to call attention to one of the major contributors to career fail-
ure in a wonderful profession. Nurses who have real careers tend to highly
value their work and certainly enjoy what they do more than those who are
merely working for a paycheck.
Throughout the Western world and increasingly in Eastern countries,
work is a major source of status, identity and gratification. In American
culture, life work is linked to the individual and family status, as well as
to their socioeconomic survival. Although nursing’s contribution to any
society is crucial, the work of nurses can be under-valued. Hudacek (2000)
has asked nurses to “say what you do” in a way that demonstrates how
nursing makes a significant difference. She has concluded that nurses’
work is important, rewarding and arduous. She also has described how
nursing requires emotional strength, is diverse and is constantly changing,
with caring at the core.
Nursing is truly special. Nurses’ career choices affect all aspects of
their lives. Most people enter nursing to make a difference in the lives of
others. But nursing is also demanding and exacting—some of the reasons
it is not boring or monotonous. Nursing requires skill and accountability—
some of the reasons for a considerable investment in performance-based
education. Not everyone can be a nurse, and it has nothing to do with
“fainting at the sight of blood.” Nursing is a remarkable profession fraught
with challenges and permutations. It is a profession that truly makes a dif-
ference in the lives of others, as well as in the lives of those who enter and
pursue a nursing career.
Unfortunately, much of the public does not understand what the mod-
ern nurse does. Many people attempt to define nursing and its status in so-
ciety based on misinformation, anecdotal evidence, personal stereotypes
or even misidentification. Because there are so many nurses and because
they occupy so many diverse positions in today’s healthcare industry,
everyone knows or is related to a nurse. This plethora of nurses makes it
important for the career seeker to determine whether the nurse is a real
professional role model. Successful nurses are far more than kind, caring
people with good intentions.
Most people define nurses by the license they hold, with registered
nurses being the most common. However, the 2.5 million registered nurses

14 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

in the United States vary greatly in terms of educational preparation, cre-
dentials, practice setting, level of accountability and responsibility, degree
of autonomy, and income. Nurses can also be categorized according to
their primary roles as practitioners, educators, administrators and/or re-
searchers. In other words, nurses comprise a large, diversified group with
well-defined professional roles both inside and outside hospital settings.

Advantages of a Nursing Career

The professional opportunities in nursing are varied and numerous,
because the job opportunities are worldwide, ongoing and increasing.
There are the standard positions of staff nurse, nurse educator and nurse
administrator that most people associate with hospitals, nursing homes,
nursing schools and other healthcare agencies. Although the majority of
nurses in the United States and Canada work in hospitals, clinics, home
health and extended care settings, thousands of nurses work in other di-
verse settings. These include K-12 schools, colleges, universities, the pub-
lic health services, nonprofit agencies such as Red Cross, and unique jobs
that offer major career opportunities for nurses throughout the United
States and many other countries. The International Council of Nurses’
(ICN) Web site offers an excellent way to learn about the international
scope and career opportunities of nursing (www.icn.ch/).
The United States Army Nurse Corps is over a century old and has
over 3,380 active duty nurses, as well as another 10,000 nurses in the army
reserves (Caruana, 2002).
Baccalaureate and higher degree nurses are commissioned as officers
and are afforded multiple opportunities for advanced training, higher edu-
cation and overseas assignments. Nurses are also commissioned as officers
in the United States Navy and the United States Air Force and afforded
similar career opportunities.
Other nursing opportunities include occupational health nursing;
camp nursing; private-duty nursing; flight nurses; and advanced practice
nursing, such as family nurse practitioners (FNPs), clinical nurse special-
ists (CNSs), certified nurse midwives (CNMs) and certified nurse anes-
thetists (CNAs). Some nurses choose to see different regions of the
country as contract or traveling nurses. They accept an assignment for a
designated time period, usually six months to one year, and often may

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 15

choose to stay or leave the position at the end of the contract period. Some
nurses work for publishing firms, law firms and architectural firms. Nurse
entrepreneurs have established their own consulting firms, businesses or
product lines (Norwood, 2003). In some form or another they all “nurse.”

CONCLUSION
People who have a socially recognized career and who value the
career themselves are more likely to experience satisfaction in both their
work and personal lives. Understanding the importance of career develop-
ment and successfully managing a career promote the development of self,
including self-esteem and the sense of self-efficacy (Heise, 1990).

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18 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

 Chapter 2

Overview of the Career Creation Process

by Terry W. Miller

It has to do with really looking at what you want. I think there are
people in this world just going along . . . just doing what they are
doing. They don’t really think about it. If they’re earning a comfort-
able living, I guess it’s okay with them, and they just do it. They don’t
think about growth or challenge. There are people in this world who
aren’t interested in growing in their lifetime. That’s not for me (Ex-
cerpt from field notes 6/27/90).

INTRODUCTION
Career planning is a personal, lifelong process that gives shape and di-
rection to work. It can greatly enhance a person’s life, earnings and over-
all status in society. Yet, its greatest benefit comes in the form of personal
fulfillment and knowing that informed decisions about the future have
been made. The purpose of this chapter is to present a framework for the
process of identifying and pursuing a career. Identifying a career and
committing to it can be a scary proposition when it is considered as life-
work. However, while needs and expectations change over time, all of us
need some degree of stability and consistency.
The beginnings of career development theory, at least in the United
States, can be traced back to Frank Parsons (1909). Early career theorists
and counselors were linear positivists who treated career changers or
people who did not know what they wanted to do for their life’s work

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 19

until well into adulthood as career failures. Basically, these career theorists
believed people had a structural orientation and possessed relatively un-
changing characteristics. These characteristics were usually described as
the person’s interests, talents and/or intelligence. They defined career as a
vertical, lifelong commitment to a particular job. They also predominantly
studied male populations and generalized their findings to female popula-
tions (Schulenberg, Vondracek, & Crouter, 1984). Fortunately, this ap-
proach to career counseling has been abandoned by all but a few.
Considerable work has been accomplished in human development that
strongly indicates people can and do change significantly over time. It is
no surprise that many later career theorists have discredited the static na-
ture of Parsons’ trait theory, as well as personality-based models. Some
discredit because they believe the sociocultural context is constantly
changing, which causes the vocational/career development context to also
change (sociological or anthropological perspectives). Others discredit be-
cause they believe individuals do change as they grow older, regardless of
their sociocultural context (psychological perspective).
Several common themes do emerge from a current overview of career
theories. The impact of sociocultural change on career development alone
has been recognized and studied since the 1980s. Many theorists since the
1980s assume that people make career decisions from a whole lifetime
of experiences, as opposed to an isolated moment or single experience
(Super, 1990; Osiprow & Fitzgerald, 1996; Vondracek & Lerner, 1982;
Vondracek, Lerner, & Schulenberg, 1983; Hall, 1990). Also, it is assumed
that many people have strong expectations of the work that occupies at
least half of their waking lives. Many theorists espouse to the need for
skills specific to job selection, acquisition and retention (Arthur, Claman,
& DeFillipi, 1995; Greenhaus, Callahan, & Godshalk, 2000). They also
recognize that many people may not be in a position to make informed
career choices. Several causes of this lack of readiness have been pro-
posed to include immaturity, environmental constraints and personality
flaws (Miller, 1991).
Creating a career is a process of discovering and developing a work
life that produces growth and becomes a recognizable part of an individ-
ual’s identity. Some careers tend to be very regimented and require years

20 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

of preparation before the individual can function as a professional in
practice. Some careers tend to follow a “vertical” model where advance-
ment is based on years in the career rather than on the ability to meet a
particular set of outcomes or accomplishments. Other careers offer many
choices and the ability to make lateral, as well as vertical, career moves
without much difficulty.
Careers like nursing allow for location practically anywhere, while
others can be very place-bound because there are only certain places
where a person can do the work or find employment. A few careers, such
as military careers, require periodic relocation. And there are careers that
involve considerable short-term travel, while others limit the ability to
travel at all. The number and variation of career opportunities can be over-
whelming to anyone, so it really helps to have a strategy for identifying
career goals and taking action to meet them.
Creating a career requires decision-making that builds on the advice
of others, but ultimately rests with the career seeker. A helpful tool for
making career decisions consists of five concepts—fun, future, focus, flex-
ibility and feasibility. Fun in this context refers to the ability to enjoy what
is being accomplished during work and not what can be acquired because
of work (e.g., salary). Job discontent, if not career discontent, will be in-
evitable if the majority of the time at work cannot be enjoyed or any fun
enjoyed occurs outside the work setting. However, beginning a new career
or beginning a new job can be stressful because the “fun” may not be ev-
ident for an extended period of time.
Most people enjoy playing games but may struggle while they learn
the rules. It is important to recognize that, at first, there may be little fun
with career planning, but once one is oriented to the process, it becomes
fun. After all, the career creation process is a plan for a major part of one’s
life, so what is selected is a way of “making a living” and hopefully pro-
vides personal fulfillment. The time invested in the development of a
career strategy will prove valuable throughout life. It may even help avoid
considerable grief, because it is important to be informed when making
decisions about the future.
It helps to have a vision of tomorrow’s opportunities when creating a
career. Some career choices become obsolete because of advances in

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 21

technology, loss of market for the skills associated with the career, redefi-
nition or relocation to places having less expensive workforces. Other
career choices are saturated with people who want the benefits associated
with them without a clear understanding of what success in the career
choice requires. Work and how work is done changes with time.
The new employee contract guarantees you nothing but the opportunity
to remain employed—provided your skills are current and in demand.
This stark reality translates into the need for constant self-renewal;
continuous learning; and deliberate, lifelong networking (Sukiennik,
Bendat, & Raufman, 2001, p.269).
Understanding the implications of a career decision in terms of the future
demands a consideration of both the actual and potential developments in
the career field. This understanding also supports the need for getting a
higher level, more transferable education and skill set.
Although having an awareness of trends and future possibilities is im-
portant, career creation also requires focus on the present. Focus provides
a sense of purpose and direction for establishing meaningful goals. Focus
takes discipline and a commitment to a direction but does not imply career
inflexibility. Focus means actions for creating a career are deliberate and
purposeful, as opposed to haphazard and randomly determined by envi-
ronmental circumstances.
Some career seekers waste considerable time and energy predicting an
unlikely career future because they do not take the necessary steps to make
that future feasible. During times of personal transition and uncertainty,
focus provides the structure to cope by keeping the individual “on task.”
Successful people in careers such as nursing demonstrate the ability to
stay focused, while retaining a high degree of flexibility in a work setting.
Harris-Tuck, Price and Robertson (2000) claim a flexible career plan
is time-limited, framed by a person’s core focus, continually shifting and
evolving. Instead of searching for a perfect, lifelong job, search for the
best job, matching interests for the next four to five years. Flexible career
planners think of themselves as businesses with business plans. Flexible
career planning includes alternative work options and may include con-
tract employment for a time-limited period, as opposed to an ongoing job
in one organization.

22 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

 Feasibility is a difficult concept to realize when making career deci-
sions, because it requires a realistic self-assessment, as well as validation
by others. Feasibility is often defined in terms of time, money and support
from others, but personal ability is more critical. Some people are very un-
realistic about their abilities and limitations, especially when they have
little exposure to successful role models who can objectively and appropri-
ately validate their potential for success in a given area. Every informed
career decision demands a personal assessment at the time of the decision.
Thus, an ongoing personal assessment is a major part of career decision-
making.

DOING A REALISTIC SELF-ASSESSMENT

Self-awareness is a critical first step for any feasible career strategy.
Knowing strengths and limitations, as well as likes and dislikes, creates
better decision-making and helps avoid needless mistakes. To develop
self-awareness, it is important to realistically assess competencies and
values. Competencies are the knowledge, skills or abilities that enable
good performance in a given role. Certainly, there are competencies that
may be missing, but most can be learned with the right education and ex-
periences. However, some competencies require special aptitudes or re-
quire a level of mastery that exceeds the average person’s ability.
Fortunately, there are many ways to assess aptitude for developing a skill
set, if openness to evaluation from others in an educational context is
provided.
Part of an honest self-assessment includes identifying the factors that
really motivate and the factors that discourage. Often, people are unduly
influenced by media representations of an occupation, failing to recog-
nize the absurdity of the media portrayal. For example, television pro-
grams and popular literature often present nursing as nothing more than
a subservient occupation for the benefit of medicine. This portrayal dis-
regards the power and influence that nurses hold throughout the health-
care system, in schools and universities, as well as in communities and
organizations, including private businesses. For example, several nurses
have served in the United States House of Representatives, and many
others are chief executive officers of hospitals and even large healthcare

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 23

systems. Nurses are commissioned as officers in the United States Armed
Services, and a few have held the rank of general.
It is important to listen closely to those with firsthand experience who
have been successful in an occupation rather than those who have not
succeeded or not advanced in an occupation. These are the people who
can describe what a particular occupation has to offer and what will be re-
quired to succeed in it. Every person’s career is different, and some oc-
cupations, such as nursing, have so many dimensions and possibilities
that it is impossible to obtain a complete picture by interviewing a few
individuals. Nurses who hold many different types of positions should be
interviewed.
Most people are intrigued by some occupations and disinterested in
others, regardless of their real experience with, or knowledge of, these oc-
cupations. Interests often reveal passions and are key for personal motiva-
tion. Personal hobbies, extracurricular activities and how free time is spent
are strong indicators of what really interests a person. It is important to
discover in a self-assessment what creates real interest and what it will
take to be open to new ways of thinking about self. Possibly the most pop-
ular book for this endeavor is What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard
Bolles (2003).
There also are several tools that can help people learn more about
themselves. Two of the most common instruments that are fun to com-
plete and quite informative are the Strong Interest Inventory (SII) and the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Other frequently used measures to
aid in career exploration are the Self Directed Search (SDS) and the
Kuder Occupational Interest Survey (KOIS). All of these instruments
have been developed or revised to be gender neutral or “sex fair”
(Farmer, 1995).
The Strong Interest Inventory compares the test taker’s interests with
the interests of those who are successful in a large number of occupational
fields. This inventory provides a profile on four scales: (1) work style, (2)
learning environment, (3) leadership style and (4) risk-taking/adventure.
This profile can help the test taker learn more about how s/he likes to
work, learn, play or live. These scales can also show the test taker how to
organize the current job so it is a better match with interests and desires or

24 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

how life might be better structured. The test taker might also discover the
preferred style is at odds with the current work environment, which might
mean staying in the same career field but moving into a different role or
area that is a better fit.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) offers another approach to
understanding likes and dislikes. It is one of the most-used indicators of
adult personality patterns. The results of the test can be used to guide
decisions regarding careers, as well as to provide an understanding and ap-
preciation of individual differences in interpersonal relationships. More
specifically, it is a self-report personality inventory designed to give peo-
ple information about their psychological type preferences. MBTI results
indicate the respondent’s likely preferences on four dimensions:
• Extraversion (E) OR Introversion (I)
• Sensing (S) OR Intuition (N)
• Thinking (T) OR Feeling (F)
• Judging (J) OR Perceiving (P)
Results of the MBTI are generally reported with letters representing
each of the preferences as indicated above. Though many factors combine
to influence an individual’s behaviors, values and attitudes, the four-letter-
type descriptions summarize underlying patterns and behaviors common
to most people of that type. The MBTI is a widely used instrument for
career exploration, development and counseling, as well as self-under-
standing. Both the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Strong Interest
Inventory should be administered and interpreted by a qualified practi-
tioner. The best way to locate a qualified practitioner is to contact the hu-
man resources department at the site of employment, a career counselor,
or college and university counseling centers.
A comprehensive self-assessment also includes an evaluation of edu-
cation and experience. It is an attempt to examine a person’s skills, per-
sonal attributes and abilities in the context of personal interests, and
potential career values. Often, a comprehensive self-assessment reveals an
overall attitude about work and the career potential for the person doing it,
as well as what motivates the person to take action. Once the factors that
motivate are identified, it is easier to develop a career strategy that will
reach the desired future.

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 25

DISCOVERING CAREER INTERESTS AND NEW CAREER OP-
TIONS
Once career seekers complete a self-assessment, it is time to start fo-
cusing on career interests and exploring career options. Again, there are
numerous books and professional counselors, as well as several computer-
based tools available for accomplishing the task. Career exploration entails
gathering information about career fields and occupations to determine
what matches personal interests, builds on abilities and fits values. To have
an effective career strategy, it is important to find information about dif-
ferent careers in more than one way. Some sources of valuable informa-
tion are listed below:
• Want ads and career sections of newspapers
• Job titles and descriptions posted at employment agencies
• Position listings in human resource departments of organizations,
agencies and businesses
• Position announcements in professional journals
• Career fairs and career centers at schools, colleges and universities
• People who will take a few minutes to answer questions about what
they do
Periodically searching these sources, as identified, is valuable even if
the career focus is already known or a career is well underway. Specifi-
cally, four methods are useful for career exploration. They are:
• The library reference search
• Computer search
• Personal interview and discussion
• Experiential learning
Many people do not realize the wealth of information about careers avail-
able at the local library. Some useful publications are the Dictionary of
Occupational Titles, Occupational Outlook Handbook and National Asso-
ciation of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Salary Survey. There is more
than anyone can access, much less read, in several days. Reference librar-
ians are excellent starting points and can save a person considerable time
and frustration.
Access to any online Internet service provider (ISP) enables anyone to
explore multiple career options and job opportunities, as well as to become

26 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

exposed to literally thousands of career-related topics and resources. The
home page for America Online (AOL) has a careers and work section fea-
turing Monster.com. This Web site has career-related subsections identi-
fied as: salary and benefits, career finder, improve yourself, research a
company, start up a business, professional training, chats and boards, and
explore your profession. Using a search engine, such as Google.com, and
typing in career exploration provides over one-half million Web sites,
including career centers at highly respected universities and organizations.
Nursing can be located under the listing of healthcare.
To complement any library and computer research on a career, such
as nursing, it is useful to gather information from professionals in the
chosen field of interest. The insight gained through the perspectives of
others provides a much better understanding of the work and if it will be
a good fit. The contacts made during the process may help in the future
when advancing through the personal career creation process. Again, it is
important to focus on people who have been successful in their careers to
learn what has helped them succeed and accomplish their career goals.
Most people enjoy discussing their work when someone is genuinely in-
terested in listening.
Experiential learning offers people a working exposure to some as-
pect of a career. For example, participating in cooperative education,
working as a volunteer for an organization, and performing internships or
some form of related employment in which the person associates with
others working in an area of interest are valuable ways to gather infor-
mation and gain insight into an occupation and potential career choice.
Yet, this method takes the most time and should not be the only method
used to map out a career pathway. Organizations and agencies, as well as
the people who work in them, vary greatly. Unfortunately, a negative ex-
perience in one organization or setting with a few unhappy people could
create a premature conclusion about an occupation or career line.
The result of the self-assessment and career exploration should lead
to decisions about the future. Career decision-making that is strategic
comes from an integration of a self-assessment and career exploration—
it culminates in a career focus. This is the time to identify career goals
and objectives. Career goals are broad statements of intent and provide

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 27

direction for the career. Career objectives are specific and determine
what actions must be taken to stay focused and heading in the right di-
rection. In other words, career goals are for the long-term and more
global; whereas career objectives are measurable and achievable in a
given time frame. Meeting realistic, achievable objectives on the way to
achieving career goals creates a sense of accomplishment along a life-
long career path.

LEARNING ABOUT A CAREER

Learning how to do something that is complex and challenging re-
quires commitment and focus. For example, most nursing careers begin
with several years of higher education and the successful completion of
the registered nurse licensure examination before entry into professional
practice is achieved. Yet, the challenge for meeting the entry to practice re-
quirements is what makes nursing such a valuable career option. Occupa-
tions that have few or minimal requirements are open to anyone at
anytime. This is why these jobs tend to be low paying and offer few op-
portunities for advancement and professional growth. Occupations that re-
quire a distinctive skill set, demand real expertise and meet high standards
before entry protect their members by making them far more valuable to
society and potential employers. These requirements also greatly enhance
an individual’s ability to create a sustainable position.
Too often people determine whether or not something is feasible for
the wrong reasons. It is important to understand that a real career is an in-
vestment. For instance, the more invested, the greater is the potential for
significantly greater rewards, higher lifelong earnings, more professional
recognition and greater personal fulfillment. Investment in terms of a
career is more about education, time commitment and focus than money.
Although practically everyone must plan his or her finances carefully,
there are many ways to finance an education if there is commitment when
gratification is not immediate.
Often, excessive amounts of money are spent in an effort to minimize
the educational requirements of a profession. This can be a grievous mis-
take, because the quality of the education may be diminished. Another
mistake that often occurs is when a position is accepted based solely on
the salary. Short-cutting education and professional development and

28 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

accepting salary over other considerations can result in short-lived rewards
and long-term dissatisfaction.

CREATING A CAREER IN NURSING

Career is something you go after. You go into it anticipating that you
are going to do this for your working life, and you seek it out. I’ve
changed, and I have gotten deeper into a career and found something
lacking and saw something adjacent and more promising. That is
nursing (Excerpt from field notes 6/26/90).
Creating a nursing career is the process of discovering and developing
a career pathway that produces growth and becomes a recognizable part of
the nurse’s identity. Career creation in nursing requires more than earning
a degree, being licensed and working in a nursing role. Editorials and
essays in nursing literature have identified career planning and develop-
ment as essential at entry to the profession, as well as throughout the time
in the profession (Haylock, 2003; Katz, Carter, Bishop, & Kravits, 2001;
Case, 1996; Heydman & Madsen, 1989; Morrison & Zebelman, 1982;
Robinson-Smith, 1984; Hefferin & Kleinknecht, 1986).
Some nursing programs provide a career course for undergraduates,
and clinical ladders are available in some healthcare agencies. Yet, too of-
ten people enter nursing without realizing their potential to create a suc-
cessful career that extends well beyond any employment setting or
particular job. A review of the growing number of successful nurse entre-
preneurs highlights some of the possibilities.
Although it is important to assess one’s progress in nursing, or any field
of interest in relationship to others, one or two delays or some variation
from the “norm” is not unusual. In other words, the career paths of others
should not be intimidating but should be a way to learn from others. Being
strategic and focused pays off because so many people treat career planning
more as a luxury than a necessity for professional advancement.
The process of career creation has properties, and understanding these
properties can help when considering a nursing career. These career prop-
erties include:
• Shape and direction
• A course with several stages

Building and Managing a Career in Nursing 29

 • Change in identity
• Variation in approach

SHAPE AND DIRECTION

The first property of the career creation process is that it has shape and
direction. The shape and direction of the career process is driven by the
way the individual responds to certain conditions. At least 10 conditions
influence the way people pursue a nursing career. These conditions include
education, practice, support, finances, time, role models, exposure, avail-
ability, convenience and motivation. For nursing, these conditions are de-
scribed as follows:
1. Education that leads to the registered nurse (RN) licensing ex-
amination and to safe entry into the practice of nursing varies
because there is more than one educational pathway to qualify
for the National Certification Licensing Examination (NCLEX).
These educational pathways include the following:
a. Associate degree in nursing (ADN) program. This is a
three-year program when the required prerequisite course-
work is included.
b. Baccalaureate degree in nursing (BSN) program. This is a
four-year program when the required prerequisite course-
work is included.
c. Diploma program. This is a three-year, hospital-based pro-
gram, including summers. There are few of these programs
remaining in the U.S.
d. Entry-level graduate degree in nursing (MSN) program.
There has been an increasing number of these programs in
the U.S. over the past few years. They usually require, at
entry, a baccalaureate or higher degree in a field outside of
nursing and some prerequisite coursework. The student ac-
quires eligibility to complete the NCLEX at some desig-
nated time during the program.
2. Practice is the actual experience of providing nursing services to
clients/patients. Clients/patients may be individuals, families or
even a whole community.

30 Building and Managing a Career in Nursing

Other documents randomly have
different content
sa dénomination a été appliquée aux personnes novices et peu
habiles. Dans le Roman de la Rose, la vieille dit à Belaccueil:
Si n’en savez quartier ne aulne,
Car vous avez le bec trop jaune.

Les Allemands se servent d’une pareille métaphore; ils appellent

un niais, Gelbschnabel, jaune-bec.
Dans l’ancienne Université de Paris, les étudiants nouveaux venus
et les régents qui débutaient recevaient le nom de béjaunes, et ils
étaient soumis à payer un droit de bien-venue nommé aussi le
béjaune, dont l’intendance était déférée, dans les écoles de
théologie, à un individu qui prenait le titre d’abbé des béjaunes. Ce
fonctionnaire devait monter sur un âne, à la fête des Innocents,
parcourir la ville escorté de ses subordonnés, et faire sur eux
certaines aspersions. On rapporte qu’il fut condamné en 1476, par
arrêt de la Faculté, à une amende de huit sols, pour avoir mal rempli
son office. On délivrait des lettres de béjaune aux clercs de la
Bazoche, en attestation du service qu’ils avaient fait chez les
maîtres-procureurs, lorsqu’ils voulaient eux-mêmes le devenir.

BÉLÎTRE.—C’est un bélître.
C’est un misérable, un homme vil. Ce mot, qu’on croit formé du
latin balatro, qui signifie gueux, coquin, parasite, s’employait
autrefois pour mendiant, dans une acception qui n’avait rien de
reprochable. Les pèlerins de la confrérie de Saint-Jacques, à
Pontoise, avaient pris le titre de Bélistres, et les quatre ordres
mendiants s’appelaient les quatre ordres de Bélistres. Montaigne a
donné un féminin au mot bélître dans cette phrase remarquable
(Essais, liv. III, chap. 10): «Desdaignons cette faim de renommée et
d’honneur, basse et bélistresse, qui nous le fait coquiner de toute
sorte de gens par des moyens abjects et à quelque prix que ce soit.
C’est déshonneur d’estre ainsi honoré.»

BELLE.—Il l’a échappé belle.

 Il a évité heureusement un danger ou un malheur. On s’étonne
de l’usage qui veut qu’on écrive ici au masculin le participe échappé,
qu’il faudrait écrire, dit-on, au féminin, parce qu’il se trouve précédé
d’un régime de ce genre indiqué par le mot belle. Cependant cet
usage ne viole pas la loi de l’accord, car le régime qu’on croit du
féminin est du masculin, et le mot belle qu’on suppose adjectif de ce
régime n’est l’est point. Il l’a échappé belle doit s’analyser ainsi: il l’a
(le malheur) échappé belle, c’est-à-dire d’une belle manière ou
bellement. Si le résultat de l’analyse était: il l’a (la chose) échappée
belle, c’est-à-dire étant belle, la locution mentirait à la pensée, elle
présenterait un sens différent de celui qu’elle a, à moins qu’elle ne
fût entendue ironiquement. Mais ce n’est point de cette façon qu’il
convient de l’entendre. Le mot belle ne se rapporte donc pas au
régime du participe; il fait partie de l’adverbe bellement, dont la
terminaison ment, qui, comme on sait, signifie manière, a été
ellipsée, et sa fonction est de modifier le verbe. Les auteurs de la
langue romane usaient ordinairement de la même ellipse, lorsqu’ils
avaient à mettre des adverbes terminés en ment à la suite l’un de
l’autre; ils n’en écrivaient qu’un seul dans son entier, le premier ou le
dernier, à leur choix. Ils disaient, par exemple: Il l’a échappé
bellement et heureuse, ou Il l’a échappé belle et heureusement; et
notre expression n’est sans doute qu’un démembrement de la leur.
Le grammairien Bescher pensait qu’elle pouvait être un
démembrement de cette autre: Il l’a échappé bel et bien, l’adverbe
bel ayant été confondu par l’orthographe avec l’adjectif belle, à
cause de la ressemblance de prononciation.
Quoi qu’il en soit, on n’est pas fondé à penser que la règle de
l’accord du participe ait pu être méconnue dans la locution Il l’a
échappé belle, qui est née précisément à une époque où tout
participe s’accordait, qu’il fût suivi ou précédé de son complément
direct.
Les belles ne sont pas pour les beaux.
Les hommes les plus beaux ne sont pas les plus heureux en
amour. Les mères et les maris les redoutent et les observent; les
femmes tendres croient qu’ils s’aiment trop; les fières ne leur
trouvent point assez de soumission; celles qui craignent la
médisance les jugent dangereux pour leur réputation. Ils coûtent
trop cher à celles qui paient; ils ne donnent rien à celles qui se font
payer: d’ailleurs ils n’ont point ces craintes obligeantes d’être quittés
qui flattent tant la vanité féminine; au contraire, ils menacent de
quitter eux-mêmes, et ils reçoivent les faveurs comme des tributs
mérités.
Fastus inest pulchris sequiturque superbia formam.

Ce ne sont pas les plus belles qui font les grandes passions.
La raison de cette observation proverbiale est très bien
développée dans le passage suivant de Montesquieu (Essai sur le
goût): «Il y a quelquefois dans les personnes ou dans les choses un
charme invisible, une grâce naturelle qu’on n’a pu définir, et qu’on a
été forcé d’appeler le je ne sais quoi. Il me semble que c’est un effet
naturellement fondé sur la surprise. Nous sommes touchés de ce
qu’une personne nous plaît plus qu’elle ne nous a paru d’abord
devoir nous plaire, et nous sommes agréablement surpris de ce
qu’elle a su vaincre des défauts que les yeux nous montrent et que
le cœur ne croit plus. Voilà pourquoi les femmes laides ont très
souvent des grâces et qu’il est rare que les belles en aient; car une
belle personne fait ordinairement le contraire de ce que nous avions
attendu; elle parvient à nous paraître moins aimable; après nous
avoir surpris en bien, elle nous surprend en mal; mais l’impression
du bien est ancienne, et celle du mal est nouvelle. Aussi les belles
personnes font-elles rarement les grandes passions, presque
toujours réservées à celles qui ont des grâces, c’est-à-dire des
agréments que nous n’attendions pas et que nous n’avions pas sujet
d’attendre.»

BÉNÉDICITÉ.—Être du quatorzième bénédicité.

C’est être simple et idiot; mauvaise allusion à ces paroles,
Benedicite omnes bestiæ et pecora domino, qui forment le
quatorzième verset du cantique chanté par les trois jeunes Israélites,
Misach, Sydrac et Abdenago, dans la fournaise où Nabuchodonosor
les avait fait jeter pour les punir d’avoir refusé de se prosterner
devant sa statue qu’il avait exposée aux adorations de ses sujets,
dans la campagne de Dura près de Babylone.

BÉNÉFICE.—Bénéfice à l’indigne est maléfice.

Si l’on avait, dit le comte de Maistre, des observations morales
comme on a des observations météorologiques, on verrait que les
envahissements de l’orgueil, les violations de la foi jurée, ou les
biens mal acquis sont autant d’anathèmes dont l’accomplissement
est inévitable sur les individus et sur les familles.
Le prophète Jérémie (ch. XXXI, v. 29.) a exprimé la même
pensée dans ces paroles passées en proverbe chez les Hébreux:
Patres comederunt uvam acerbam et dentes filiorum obstrepuerunt.
Les pères ont mangé le verjus, et les dents de leurs fils en ont été
agacées.
Saint Grégoire de Nazianze appelle le gain illicite les arrhes du
malheur, dans un beau vers grec traduit ainsi en latin:
Infortunii arrha certa quæstus est malus.

Les Romains disaient dans le même sens: Aurum habere

Tolosanum, avoir de l’or de Toulouse; proverbe dont nous nous
servons également, et dont voici l’origine: Il y avait autrefois à
Toulouse, dans un temple qui est devenu, dit-on, l’église de Saint-
Sernin, un trésor de cent mille livres pesant d’or, et de cent mille
livres pesant d’argent, suivant les écrivains qui ont le moins exagéré
dans le calcul de cette richesse. Ce trésor n’avait point de garde,
parce que la croyance générale était qu’il porterait malheur à ceux
qui l’enlèveraient. Le consul Servilius Cépion, étant entré dans la
ville, qui s’était donnée aux Romains pour échapper à la domination
des Cimbres, se moqua d’un pareil préjugé, et, n’écoutant que son
avarice, il ordonna de piller le temple. Ensuite, il fit partir le butin
pour Marseille, d’où on devait le transporter à Rome; mais il envoya
secrètement des assassins qui égorgèrent les conducteurs, et il se
l’appropria par ce nouveau crime. L’année suivante, sa folle témérité
perdit l’armée et causa un des plus épouvantables désastres qu’aient
jamais essuyés les Romains. Il fut destitué de son commandement,
dépouillé de ses biens et exilé du sénat. Tous les spoliateurs eurent
également un sort misérable, qui fut regardé comme un châtiment
infligé par les dieux; et de là vint l’adage de l’or de Toulouse, usité
dans les Gaules pour signifier que les larcins n’attirent sur leurs
auteurs que des calamités.
B. Thomas à Villanova (de Villeneuve) rapporte un proverbe
semblable, souvent cité dans les écrits des Pères de l’Église: De
Jericho sibi aliquid reservare, se réserver quelque chose du butin de
Jéricho. Ce qui est fondé sur la punition d’Achan, lapidé, avec toute
sa famille, par ordre de Josué, pour s’être emparé d’un manteau
d’écarlate, de deux cents sicles d’argent et d’une règle d’or, à la prise
de Jéricho.
On ne peut avoir en même temps femme et bénéfice.
Il y avait autrefois des bénéfices que, durant certains mois, les
collecteurs, patrons laïques, étaient obligés de conférer aux gradués
de l’Université. Mais ces gradués ne pouvaient y être nommés
lorsqu’ils étaient mariés. De là ce proverbe, dont le sens est qu’on ne
peut cumuler deux avantages.
Les chevaux courent les bénéfices et les ânes les attrapent.
On n’accorde pas toujours les places ou les grâces à ceux qui les
méritent.
Ce proverbe fut originairement, dit-on, un mot de Louis XII. Ce
roi voulut désigner sous le nom d’ânes, par une espèce de
calembourg, certains seigneurs ignorants qui couraient à franc-étrier
pour aller solliciter quelque bénéfice vacant, et qui l’obtenaient
d’ordinaire, parce qu’ils arrivaient les premiers, grâce à leurs
chevaux.
Les Espagnols disent dans le même sens: Le plus mauvais
pourceau mange le meilleur gland.

BÉNITIER.—Pisser au bénitier.
C’est braver le respect humain, faire quelque grande sottise et
même quelque action criminelle d’une manière éclatante, pour faire
parler de soi.
A faux titre insolents et sans fruit hasardeux
Pissent au bénestier, afin qu’on parle d’eux. (Regnier.)

Les Grecs avaient une expression non moins énergique: ἑν

πυθἰου κἑϚαι (In Pythii templo cacare). Cette expression, par laquelle
ils indiquaient quelque chose d’impie et de dangereux, était venue,
dit Érasme, de ce que le tyran Pisistrate avait défendu de faire des
ordures contre le temple d’Apollon Pythien, et avait impitoyablement
puni de mort un étranger en contravention à la défense.
S’agiter comme un diable au fond d’un bénitier.
Cette comparaison proverbiale est fondée sur l’ancienne coutume
d’exorciser les possédés et les sorciers en les plongeant la tête la
première dans une cuve remplie d’eau bénite. Une vieille chronique,
dans laquelle il est parlé de ces immersions singulières, offre une
peinture curieuse du dépit du démon ainsi condamné au baptême, et
des moyens dont il usait pour s’y soustraire. En voici un passage
propre à égayer les lecteurs: Coactus dæmon per posteriora egredi
talem dedit crepitum ut omne dolium a compage suâ solveretur. «Le
diable, forcé de s’évader par les voies inférieures, fit entendre une
détonation si forte, que les douves de la cuve volèrent dispersées de
côté et d’autre.»

BERCEAU.—
Ce qu’on apprend au berceau
Dure jusqu’au tombeau.

Ce proverbe, qui fait sentir toute l’importance de la première

éducation, en rappelant que les impressions et les leçons reçues
dans l’enfance sont ineffaçables, s’exprimait autrefois de cette
manière: Ce qui s’apprend au ber dure jusqu’au ver.
Les Espagnols disent: Lo que en la leche se mama en la mortaja
se derrama. Ce qu’on suce avec le lait au suaire se répand.

BERLOQUE.—Battre la berloque.
 La berloque ou breloque est une batterie de tambour par laquelle
on annonce aux soldats le moment de nettoyer la caserne ou d’aller
aux distributions. Comme cette batterie semble être sans règle et
sans suite, on a dit proverbialement, Battre la berloque ou la
breloque, dans le sens de divaguer, déraisonner.

BERTHE.—Au temps où Berthe filait.

C’est-à-dire au bon vieux temps. En ce temps-là le fuseau et la
quenouille formaient le symbole de la mère de famille, et les femmes
du premier rang s’occupaient à filer comme les humbles ménagères.
Tanaquil, épouse de Tarquin l’ancien, était devenue célèbre chez les
Romains par son zèle dans l’accomplissement de ce soin
domestique. Chez les Francs, il en fut de même de Berthe, épouse
de Pépin et mère de Charlemagne.
Dans le palais comme sous la chaumière,
Pour revêtir le pauvre et l’orphelin,
Berthe filait et le chanvre et le lin:
On la nomma Berthe la filandière.

Ces vers sont extraits d’un épisode du chant IX du poëme de

Charlemagne par Millevoye, qui a emprunté cet épisode d’Adenès,
trouvère du douzième siècle, auteur du roman en vers de Berthe au
grand pied, dont M. Paulin Paris a donné une excellente édition.
Les Provençaux disent: Au temps où Marthe filait. Ce qui place le
bon vieux temps à l’origine du christianisme; car il s’agit ici de cette
Marthe qui, suivant une tradition populaire, ayant été chassée de
Jérusalem et exposée sur un vaisseau sans voiles et sans avirons,
avec son frère Lazare, sa sœur Marie Magdelène et quelques
disciples du Sauveur, aborda miraculeusement sur les côtes de
Provence, où elle prêcha la foi et sanctifia par une pénitence
exemplaire, dans la grotte nommée Sainte-Baume, la fin d’une vie
dont elle avait passé la première moitié au milieu des plaisirs, dans
son château de Béthanie.—L’expression des Provençaux n’est pas
toujours employée dans le même sens que la nôtre; on s’en sert
souvent pour rappeler un temps d’opulence, de prospérité, de
vigueur, dont on a joui, pour marquer et pour regretter les honneurs
passés.
Je dirai pour les lecteurs qui aiment les étymologies des noms
propres, que celui de Berthe, en francique ou en théotisque, signifie
brillante, splendide, et que celui de Marthe, en hébreu, signifie
maîtresse.

BÊTE.—Prendre du poil de la bête.

C’est chercher le remède dans la chose même qui a causé le mal,
comme font les buveurs qui dissipent le malaise que leur a laissé
l’ivresse de la veille par l’ivresse du lendemain.
Cette expression est fondée sur la croyance populaire que le poil
de certains animaux, appliqué sur la morsure qu’ils ont faite, en
opère la guérison. Del can che morde il pelo sana, dit le proverbe
italien: Du chien qui mordit le poil guérit.
Pline rapporte (liv. XXIX, ch. 5) qu’à Rome on croyait guérir ou
préserver de l’hydrophobie un homme mordu par un chien, en
faisant entrer dans la plaie de la cendre des poils de la queue de cet
animal.
Porter sa bête dans sa figure.
Expression fondée sur l’opinion de quelques physionomistes qui
enseignent qu’il existe des rapports frappants de ressemblance entre
la tête de certains animaux et celle de certains hommes. Le
napolitain J.-B. Porta, qui le premier a donné des développements à
cette opinion, dans son Traité de la physionomie, soutenait que la
figure du divin Platon, telle qu’elle est représentée sur des médailles
antiques, a son parfait analogue dans un chien braque. Le peintre
Lebrun, séduit par le système de Porta, chercha à l’accréditer, et il
composa une collection de dessins comparés qui offrent les
analogies les plus curieuses; il y joignit même un texte qui s’est
perdu, et auquel son élève Nivelon a tâché de suppléer par des
interprétations. Les idées de Lebrun, répandues dans le monde, y
occupèrent tant les esprits, qu’il ne fut plus question que d’elles. On
ne pouvait paraître dans un cercle sans se soumettre à l’inspection
des curieux et s’entendre demander: Quelle bête portez-vous dans
votre figure? Et c’est alors que naquit cette expression suffisamment
expliquée par ce qu’on vient de lire.
La ressemblance que Lebrun prétendait trouver au physique
entre les hommes et les animaux, Diderot a prétendu la trouver au
moral. Il a dit, en parlant de la variété de la raison humaine, qu’elle
correspond seule à toute la diversité de l’instinct des animaux. «De
là vient, ajoute-t-il, que, sous la forme bipède de l’homme, il n’y a
aucune bête innocente ou malfaisante dans l’air, au fond des forêts,
dans les eaux, que vous ne puissiez reconnaître. Il y a l’homme-loup,
l’homme-tigre, l’homme-renard, l’homme-pourceau, l’homme-
mouton (et celui-ci est le plus commun), l’homme-anguille, l’homme-
serpent, l’homme-brochet, l’homme-corbeau, etc. Rien de plus rare
qu’un homme qui soit homme de toute pièce. Aucun de nous qui ne
tienne un peu de son analogue animal.»
Morte la bête, mort le venin.
Un ennemi mort n’est plus en état de nuire.
Le duc d’Orléans régent fit de ce proverbe une application qui
prouve qu’il avait fort peu d’affection pour le cardinal Dubois dont il
subissait si complètement l’influence. A la mort de ce ministre, qui
l’avait forcé de rompre ses liaisons avec le comte de Nocé, le chef
des roués, il écrivit au favori disgracié: «Reviens, mon cher Nocé.
Morte la bête, mort le venin. Je t’attends ce soir à souper.»
Au temps où les bêtes parlaient.
Rabelais prétend qu’il n’y a que trois jours, et l’on peut, si l’on
veut, abréger encore l’intervalle.
Cette expression, dont on se sert pour faire une facile épigramme
ou pour signifier le temps jadis, n’est point venue, comme on
pourrait le croire, des fictions de l’apologue qui attribue à tous les
animaux la faculté de parler. Elle est fondée sur une observation
philosophique d’un très grand sens, et elle désigne proprement
l’époque primitive où les hommes, vivant dans les bois, ignoraient
l’art sublime de fixer la parole par le moyen des signes, n’avaient par
conséquent qu’une intelligence bornée peu différente de l’instinct
des bêtes, n’étaient en un mot que des bêtes parlantes.
 BIEN.—Bien perdu, bien connu.
On ne connaît le véritable prix des choses que lorsqu’on ne les
possède plus. Ce proverbe est tiré des deux vers suivants de Plaute
(Comédie des Captifs, acte I, scène 2):
.......... Nostra intelligimus bona,
Cum quæ in potestate habuimus, ea amisimus.

C’est après avoir perdu les biens dont nous jouissions que nous
sentons ce qu’ils valent.
Il ne faut attendre son bien que de soi-même.
Le quatrain suivant, de je ne sais quel auteur, explique très bien
ce proverbe:
Je ne puis me plaindre de rien,
Chacun prend part à ma disgrâce;
Tout le monde me veut du bien,
Et j’attends toujours qu’on m’en fasse.

Il ne faut pas délibérer pour faire le bien.

Parce qu’en délibérant on perd souvent l’occasion de faire le
bien: Deliberando sæpe boni perit occasio.
Ce proverbe n’est pas d’une vérité absolue. Il est besoin
quelquefois de délibérer pour faire le bien, car le bien peut être suivi
du mal.—Le père Jouvency a dit dans une scène qu’il a ajoutée au
Phormion de Térence: Benefacta male collocata malefacta existimo.
Je pense que les bienfaits mal placés sont de mauvaises actions.
Bien vient à mieux, et mieux à mal.
On dit aussi: Le bouton devient rose, et la rose gratte-cul.
Il a dans les choses de ce monde une progression ascendante et
une progression descendante auxquelles les vertus mêmes sont
soumises. Semblables aux anges que le patriarche aperçut en songe,
elles ont une échelle double par laquelle elles montent d’un côté
jusqu’au ciel et redescendent de l’autre sur la terre.
Le bien lui vient en dormant.
Se dit d’une personne qui devient riche sans rien faire.
 On prétend que ce proverbe fut inventé par Louis XI qui, ayant
trouvé un prêtre endormi dans un confessional, dit aux seigneurs de
sa suite: «Afin que cet ecclésiastique puisse un jour se vanter que le
bien lui est venu en dormant, je lui donne le premier bénéfice
vacant.» Mais ce proverbe était en usage chez les anciens; il se
trouve dans les apophthegmes de Plutarque et dans la phrase
suivante de la dernière Verrine de Cicéron: Non idem mihi licet quod
iis qui nobili genere nati sunt, quibus omnia populi romani beneficia
dormientibus deferuntur. Je n’ai pas le même privilége que ces
nobles, à qui toutes les faveurs du peuple romain viennent en
dormant. C’est une allusion aux pêcheurs dont les nasses restant la
nuit dans la rivière, se remplissent de poissons pendant qu’ils
dorment.
Élien (liv. II, chap. 10) rapporte que Timothée eut un bonheur si
rare dans tous les siéges qu’il entreprit, qu’on imagina de le peindre
endormi, ayant à la main un filet où la fortune poussait les villes. On
ne sait si c’est la flatterie ou l’envie qui avait suggéré l’idée de ce
tableau.
On trouve plutôt le mal que le bien.
On cherche le bien sans le trouver, disait Démocrite; on trouve le
mal sans le chercher.
Il faut faire le bien pour lui-même.
C’est une maxime de Confucius, passée en proverbe, pour
signifier que le bien ne doit pas être fait en vue de quelque
récompense, mais qu’il doit être une œuvre désintéressée et toute
du cœur.

BIENFAIT.—Rien ne vieillit plus vite qu’un bienfait.

Rien ne s’oublie plus vite qu’un bienfait. Je ne sais si c’est
Isocrate ou Aristote qui a dit le premier le mot suivant, attribué à
l’un et à l’autre: «On n’a jamais vu de bienfait parvenir à l’extrême
vieillesse.»—Le poëte Stésichore a fait sur le même sujet un beau
vers dont voici la traduction:
Le bienfait disparaît avec le bienfaiteur.
 Un bienfait n’est jamais perdu.
Un bienfait porte intérêt dans un cœur reconnaissant, et si celui
qui l’a reçu l’oublie, Dieu s’en souvient et en tient compte à son
auteur. Voici un apologue très original qui semble avoir été fait
exprès pour graver ce proverbe dans la mémoire.
Dieu dit un jour à ses saints de se tenir prêts à fêter l’arrivée
d’un nouvel élu avec tous les honneurs du cérémonial observé dans
la cour céleste à l’égard d’un petit nombre de rois admis à l’éternelle
béatitude; et les saints se hâtèrent de courir à l’entrée du Paradis,
afin de recevoir de leur mieux un hôte si important et si rare. Ils
pensaient que ce devait être un grand monarque qui venait
d’expirer; mais, au lieu du personnage qu’ils attendaient, ils ne
virent arriver qu’un pied, un pied en chair et en os, détaché du corps
dont il avait fait partie. Il était surmonté d’une riche couronne, et il
s’avançait fièrement au milieu d’eux en passant entre leurs jambes.
Saisis d’étonnement à la vue de ce phénomène, ils s’en demandaient
l’un à l’autre l’explication, et personne ne pouvait la donner. En ce
moment apparut au-dessus de leurs têtes l’archange Gabriel qui
s’envolait à tire-d’aile vers notre globe. Ils l’interrogèrent, et il leur
repondit: Le pied couronné que vous voyez est celui d’un roi. Ce roi,
allant un jour à la chasse, aperçut un chameau qui était attaché à un
arbre et qui s’efforçait d’allonger le cou vers un baquet plein d’eau
placé hors de sa portée. Le prince compatit à la peine de l’animal et
rapprocha de lui le baquet avec le pied, afin qu’il pût s’y désaltérer.
C’est pour cette bonne action, la seule qu’il ait faite dans sa vie, que
son pied est venu à Dieu, tandis que le reste de son corps est allé au
diable. Le Très-Haut m’envoie publier cette nouvelle sur la terre,
pour que les hommes se souviennent qu’un bienfait n’est jamais
perdu.
On s’attache par ses bienfaits.
C’est une bonté de la nature, dit Chamfort; il est juste que la
récompense de bien faire soit d’aimer.

BIGOT.
 Lorsque Rollon reçut de Charles-le-Simple l’investiture de la
Normandie dont il fut le premier duc, on lui représenta que, dans
cette cérémonie, il devait rendre hommage au roi son suzerain en lui
baisant les pieds. Le fier Danois répondit qu’il ne baiserait jamais les
pieds de qui que ce fût. Pour ne pas rompre le traité, on consentit
qu’un de ses officiers s’acquittât en son nom de ce devoir; mais
celui-ci prit le pied de Charles pour le porter à sa bouche, et le leva
si haut, que le prince fut jeté à la renverse. D’anciens auteurs
rapportent que Rollon, en protestant qu’il ne baiserait pas les pieds
du roi, s’écria dans sa langue: Nese by Goth! non par Dieu! et que
de là vient le nom de bigot, qu’on appliqua d’abord aux Normands
qui juraient souvent de la sorte, et ensuite aux dévots outrés et
superstitieux ainsi qu’aux faux dévots.

BILLET.—Billet à La Châtre.
Le marquis de La Châtre était depuis quelques jours l’amant
heureux de Ninon de Lenclos, lorsqu’il reçut l’ordre de se rendre à
l’armée. Une séparation, en pareil cas, est une chose bien cruelle. La
Châtre ne put penser à la sienne qu’avec une extrême terreur, car il
pressentait le tort que devait lui faire l’absence auprès d’une belle
habituée à regarder l’amour comme une sensation et non comme un
sentiment. Pour se rassurer l’esprit, il chercha une garantie contre
l’inconstance de sa maîtresse. Il exigea d’elle qu’elle s’engageât par
écrit à lui rester fidèle... Ninon eut beau lui représenter
l’extravagance d’un pareil acte; obligée de céder pour se soustraire à
d’incessantes importunités, elle lui signa un fameux billet où elle
fesait de tous les serments celui qu’elle était le moins en état de
tenir, le serment de n’en jamais aimer d’autre que lui. Mais elle ne se
crut pas liée un seul instant par un engagement si téméraire; et
dans le moment même où elle manquait à la foi jurée de la manière
la moins équivoque, elle s’écria plusieurs fois: Ah! le bon billet qu’a
La Châtre! Saillie plaisante qui est devenue proverbe, pour signifier
une assurance peu solide sur laquelle il ne faut pas compter.

BISCORNU.—Raisonnement biscornu.
 C’est un mauvais dilemme, et par extension, un raisonnement
faux, baroque.—On sait que le dilemme est une espèce de
syllogisme composé de deux propositions contraires entre lesquelles
il n’y a point de milieu, et dont on laisse le choix à un adversaire,
pour tirer contre lui de celle qu’il choisira une conséquence sans
réplique. Il faut donc rigoureusement que ce syllogisme ne soit pas
susceptible d’être rétorqué par la personne à qui on l’oppose, car en
établissant ainsi le pour et le contre il n’aurait aucune valeur. Or,
comme dans l’ancienne école on nommait argument cornu, à cause
de sa force, un bon dilemme qui ne donnait absolument raison qu’à
l’un des deux argumentateurs, on nomma aussi argument ou
raisonnement biscornu, c’est-à-dire doublement cornu, un mauvais
dilemme qui pouvait tour à tour servir d’arme à l’un et à l’autre. On
peut voir un exemple curieux de cette manière d’argumenter
également favorable à l’attaque et à la défense dans l’article
consacré au proverbe, De mauvais corbeau mauvais œuf.

BISCUIT.—S’embarquer sans biscuit.

Tenter une entreprise sans avoir pris les précautions qu’elle
exige. Métaphore empruntée des marins, qui ne s’embarquent
jamais qu’après s’être munis de la quantité de biscuit dont ils ont
besoin pour la traversée.

BISQUE.—Prendre bien sa bisque.

Certains étymologistes pensent que cette locution signifie se
mettre en mesure, et qu’elle fait allusion à la bisque, ou pique de
Biscaye, que les régiments d’infanterie employaient pour tenir contre
la cavalerie, et que les colonels de ces régiments portaient encore du
temps de Charles IX, lorsqu’ils marchaient à leur tête. Mais Prendre
bien sa bisque se dit généralement dans le sens de profiter
habilement de quelque avantage, et c’est une métaphore prise du
jeu de paume, où l’on appelle bisque un avantage de quinze points
qu’un joueur reçoit d’un autre, et qu’il compte en tel endroit de la
partie qu’il veut.
Donner quinze et bisque à quelqu’un.
 C’est avoir sur quelqu’un une si grande supériorité, qu’elle
permet de lui faire un double avantage.

BISSESTRE.—Porter bissestre.
Bissestre ou bissêtre se dit pour malheur, comme dans ces vers
de Molière (l’Étourdi, acte V, sc. 7):
Il va nous faire encor quelque nouveau bissêtre.

C’est une altération de bissexte, qui s’est employé dans le même

sens, parce que le bissexte, ou le jour qu’on ajoute au mois de
février dans les années bissextiles, était autrefois réputé
malheureux, par une superstition que nos aïeux avaient reçue des
Romains. Voici l’origine de ce mot.
Lorsque le calendrier fut réformé à Rome, quarante-six ans avant
l’ère chrétienne, par les soins de Jules César, alors souverain pontife,
on calcula que l’année était composée de trois cent soixante-cinq
jours, plus six heures, et l’on décida que ces heures annuellement
répétées ne seraient employées qu’après qu’elles auraient formé un
jour entier. Or, le quantième assigné à ce jour, qui devait revenir tous
les quatre ans, fut le 24 février, que l’on compta double en ce cas; et
comme le 24 février était appelé, chez les Romains, sextus ante
calendas martii, le sixième avant les calendes de mars, il joignit à
cette dénomination celle de bis-sextus, deux fois sixième ou
bissexte.

BLANC.—Il n’est pas blanc.

C’est-à-dire, il est dans une situation fâcheuse, embarrassante,
dangereuse.
Les Latins disaient, d’après les Grecs: Quem fortuna nigrum
pinxerit hunc non universum ævum candidum reddere poterit. Celui
que la fortune a peint en noir ne sera jamais blanc. Ce proverbe, qui,
suivant Erasme, est une allusion à la coutume de marquer les
suffrages par des pierres noires et par des pierres blanches, a
probablement donné lieu à notre dicton.
 Les Turcs se servent d’une expression analogue. Ils disent, dans
un sens de louange: Avoir un visage blanc, et dans un sens de
reproche: Avoir un visage noir. Le dervis qui consacra la nouvelle
milice des janissaires (yenni cheri ou nouveaux soldats), leur donna
sa bénédiction en ces termes: «Puisse votre valeur être toujours
brillante, votre épée tranchante et votre bras victorieux! puisse votre
lance être toujours suspendue sur la tête de vos ennemis, et,
quelque part que vous alliez, puissiez-vous en revenir avec un visage
blanc!»

BLANQUE.—Hasard à la blanque.
La blanque était une espèce de jeu de hasard en forme de loterie
qui avait été importé d’Italie, où on l’appelait bianca (blanche), sous-
entendant carta, parce que les billets blancs, qui ne fesaient gagner
personne, sortaient de l’urne en nombre beaucoup plus considérable
que les billets noirs ou écrits qui apportaient quelque lot. De là
l’expression, Hasard à la blanque, pour signifier à tout hasard, qu’il
en arrive ce qu’il pourra. De là aussi, cette autre expression, Trouver
blanque, c’est-à-dire, ne trouver rien, être déçu dans son attente.
Est-il un financier noble depuis un mois
Qui n’ait son dîner sûr chez madame Guerbois?
Et que de vieux barons pour le leur trouvent blanque!
(Boursault, les Mots à la mode, sc. 8.)

Blanque a été employé encore populairement, dans une

acception adverbiale qui équivaut à inutilement, sans effet, sans
succès. Il fera cela blanque. Si vous y comptez...blanque. Et c’est
probablement cette espèce d’adverbe qui se trouve altéré dans la
locution Faire chou blanc, dont le peuple se sert en parlant, au
propre, d’une arme à feu qui rate, et, au figuré, d’une entreprise qui
avorte. Le mot chou est une onomatopée du bruit de la détente ou
de l’amorce, et le mot blanc, pour blanque, exprime que ce bruit est
en pure perte.

BLOIS.—Toutes les femmes de Blois sont rousses et acariâtres.

 Un voyageur anglais, passant à Blois, écrivit sur son album que
toutes les femmes de cette ville étaient rousses et acariâtres; et sur
quoi avait-il ainsi condamné tout le sexe blaisois? il n’avait vu que la
maîtresse de son auberge. De là ce dicton dont on se sert en
plaisantant pour réfuter une personne qui veut conclure du
particulier au général, et imputer à tous des défauts ou des vices qui
n’appartiennent qu’à un individu ou à très peu d’individus.
Il y a des gens qui révoquent en doute cette anecdote, et qui
veulent trouver quelque rapport entre ce dicton et le vieux sobriquet
de Chèvres de Blois, appliqué aux dames de cette ville. (Voy. ce
sobriquet.)

BŒUF.—Promener comme le bœuf gras.

Cette comparaison s’applique à une demoiselle que ses parents
conduisent affublée de toutes les parures de la mode aux
promenades, aux spectacles et aux bals, dans l’espoir qu’elle y
trouvera des épouseurs.
La promenade du bœuf gras, semblable à la procession du bœuf
Apis en Égypte, reproduit une cérémonie du culte astronomique qui
était en usage chez les Gaulois, comme le prouvent les célèbres bas-
reliefs trouvés en 1711 au-dessous du chœur de Notre-Dame de
Paris, dans lesquels le taureau Kymrique, est figuré revêtu d’un
ornement en forme d’étole qui représente le zodiaque, et surmonté
de trois grues qui sont le symbole de la lune.

BOHÈME.—Vivre comme un Bohème.

Se dit d’un homme qui est toujours errant, qui n’a ni feu ni lieu.
On dit aussi: C’est une maison de Bohème, en parlant d’une maison
où il n’y a ni ordre ni règle.
Ces façons de parler font allusion à ces aventuriers basanés qui
courent les pays en exerçant la chiromancie, et qui ressemblent trait
pour trait aux ambubaies d’Horace. Le nom de Bohèmes ou de
Bohémiens leur a été donné parce que les premiers qui parurent en
Europe étaient porteurs de passeports que Sigismond, roi de
Bohème, leur fit délivrer, en 1417, pour débarrasser d’eux son
É
royaume. Ils étaient, dit-on, originaires de l’Égypte, d’où les
Mameluks les avaient chassés, et c’est à cause de cela qu’ils ont été
également appelés Égyptiens.
Le nom de Bohèmes peut être dérivé aussi du vieux mot français
boem, auquel certains glossateurs attribuent la signification de
voleur; et certains autres celle d’ensorceleur.—Les Bohèmes ou
Gougots ont toujours été accusés de vol et de sortilége.

BOIRE.—Boire à la santé de quelqu’un.

Cette expression, en usage dans toute l’Europe, n’a pas besoin
d’être expliquée. La coutume d’où elle est venue, ou la philotésie,
remonte à la plus haute antiquité. Les Égyptiens, les Assyriens, les
Hébreux et les Perses se plaisaient à l’observer. Chez les Grecs et
chez les Romains, c’était une cérémonie consacrée par la religion,
par l’amitié, par la reconnaissance, par l’estime, par l’admiration,
etc., en l’honneur des dieux, des personnes chéries, des magistrats,
des hommes célèbres et des événements glorieux; à Rome, elle
commençait ordinairement par l’invocation de Jupiter Sospitator, et
de la déesse Hygie, pour laquelle on vidait des coupes appelées
Pocula salutoria ou Pocula bonæ salutis. Les grâces et les muses
étaient aussi honorées d’un culte particulier: on saluait les premières
par trois rasades, et les dernières par neuf, ce qui donna lieu au
proverbe, Aut ter aut novies bibendum, il faut boire trois fois ou neuf
fois, que le poëte Ausonne a développé dans ce distique:
Ter bibe vel toties ternos; sic mystica lex est,
Vel tria potanti vel ter tria multiplicanti.

Ensuite venait le tour des convives. Celui qui voulait en saluer un

autre lui disait avant de boire: Propino tibi salutem! ou Benè te! ou
Dii tibi adsint! Il ajoutait quelquefois: Benè me! et cette formule était
la plus raisonnable.
Le vin ne tourne à ma santé
Qu’autant que je le bois moi-même. (Parny.)
 Propino tibi est une expression qui signifie proprement, je bois à
toi le premier: on entendait par là que la personne à l’intention de
laquelle on vidait sa coupe usât de réciprocité, et, dans certains cas,
on lui transmettait cette coupe, après en avoir goûté la liqueur, afin
qu’elle l’achevât.
Quand on portait la santé d’une maîtresse, la galanterie exigeait
qu’on bût autant de cyathes qu’il y avait de lettres à son nom,
témoin ce vers de Martial:
Omnis ab infuso numeretur amica Falerno.

Que le nom de chaque amie soit épelé en rasades de Falerne.

Les cyathes étaient versés dans un vase de grandeur à les

contenir pour être avalés d’un seul coup.
Les anciens Danois employaient dans leurs festins solennels
diverses coupes dont chacune était affectée à un usage spécial et
était nommée conformément à cet usage. Ils avaient la coupe des
dieux, qu’ils prenaient pour demander des grâces au Ciel ou pour
souhaiter un règne heureux à un prince; la coupe consacrée à Brag,
dieu de l’éloquence et de la poésie, ou le Bragarbott, qu’ils
réservaient toujours pour la bonne bouche, et la coupe de mémoire,
dont ils ne se servaient qu’aux funérailles des rois. L’héritier de la
couronne restait assis sur un banc, en face du trône, jusqu’à ce
qu’on lui eût présenté cette coupe de mémoire, et, après l’avoir bue,
il montait sur le trône. C’était une espèce de sacre par la boisson.
Les premiers chrétiens, dans leurs agapes, exprimaient, en
buvant, des vœux pour la santé du corps et pour le bonheur de la
vie future; ce qui dégénéra en grands abus plusieurs siècles après.
On but alors en l’honneur de la Sainte-Trinité et de tous les
bienheureux du paradis (voyez Boire aux anges, page 60); et cette
coutume devint une telle source d’ivrognerie, que divers conciles la
condamnèrent, et que Charlemagne la prohiba par un article de ses
Capitulaires.
Cet empereur défendit en outre à ses soldats de boire à la santé
les uns des autres, parce qu’il en résultait des querelles et des
combats entre les buveurs et ceux qui ne voulaient pas leur faire
raison.
Dans le temps des Vaudois, les inquisiteurs éprouvaient la foi
d’un chrétien suspect en lui ordonnant de boire à saint Martin, parce
que saint Martin était le patron des buveurs, et peut-être aussi parce
qu’il s’était montré le protecteur de certains hérétiques de son
époque, en leur ménageant la clémence de l’empereur Maxime qui
voulait les sacrifier au zèle sanguinaire de quelques évêques.
Des historiens dignes de foi rapportent que les Écossais
n’élisaient jamais un évêque avant de s’assurer qu’il était bon
buveur, ce qu’ils fesaient en lui présentant le verre de saint Magnus,
qu’il devait vider d’un trait. L’accomplissement de cette condition,
assez difficile à remplir vu la grande capacité du verre, était regardé
comme un présage certain que l’épiscopat serait heureux.
Les moines, au moyen âge, fêtaient les anniversaires des
personnes qui leur avaient laissé quelque legs, en mettant à sec de
grandes bouteilles, appelées pocula charitatis, dans une assemblée
gastronomique appelée charitas vini ou consolatio vini. On assure
qu’ils portaient la santé du testateur décédé, en s’écriant: Vive le
mort! Les Flamands instituèrent un grand nombre de ces charités qui
servirent à enrichir les monastères. C’était une croyance
superstitieuse que les morts étaient réjouis par ces pieuses orgies:
Plenius inde recreantur mortui, dit une charte de l’abbaye de
Kedlinbourg en Allemagne. Voilà sans doute la raison qui engagea un
chanoine d’Auxerre nommé Bouteille à fonder, en 1270, un obit en
vertu duquel on devait étendre un drap mortuaire sur le pavé du
chœur de l’église, avec quatre grandes bouteilles de vin placées aux
quatre coins de ce drap, et une cinquième au beau milieu, pour le
profit des chantres qui assisteraient au service.
Quelques partisans de ces cérémonies d’ivrognes cherchèrent
dans le temps à les autoriser par des passages tirés de l’Écriture
sainte; mais il faut reconnaître que la discipline ecclésiastique ne
cessa point de s’opposer à de pareils abus.
Puisque le vin est tiré, il faut le boire.
 C’est-à-dire, puisque l’affaire est engagée, il faut la poursuivre, il
faut en courir les risques. Proverbe originairement employé comme
une formule de défi entre des convives qui se piquaient de boire
d’autant, ou à qui mieux mieux, et qui entendaient par là que ceux
qu’ils provoquaient leur fissent raison eux-mêmes, au lieu de se faire
suppléer par des champions bachiques buvant en sous-ordre; car il
était quelquefois permis dans les anciennes orgies, comme dans les
anciens duels, de recourir à des combattants substitués.
Cette guerre d’ivrognes, à laquelle se plaisaient beaucoup nos
bons aïeux, a été décrite avec des particularités curieuses par
quelques érudits de la fin du moyen âge qui en font remonter
l’origine aux temps les plus reculés. Suivant eux, il n’y a pas eu de
grand peuple qui n’ait fait éclater pour elle un vif et durable
enthousiasme, depuis l’époque où le patriarche Noé trouva l’heureux
secret de multiplier les raisins et d’en exprimer le jus. Les Hébreux,
les Babyloniens, les Grecs et les Romains la regardèrent toujours
comme une affaire importante et glorieuse. Mais il faut croire qu’elle
fut en plus grand honneur chez les Perses, si l’on en juge par le trait
de Cyrus-le-Jeune, qui prétendait fonder sur les succès qu’il y avait
obtenus des titres suffisants pour être nommé roi à la place de son
frère Artaxerxès-Mnémon, qu’il taxait d’être mauvais buveur. Il se
croyait plus recommandable par ce singulier avantage que par tout
autre, à l’exemple de Darius Ier qui, en mourant, avait ordonné de
graver sur son tombeau: J’ai pu boire beaucoup de vin et le bien
porter. Tant il est vrai que la vanité humaine s’attache moins à une
vertu commune qu’à un vice extraordinaire!
Cyrus-le-Jeune eût obtenu ce qu’il désirait chez les Scythes, qui,
au rapport d’Aristote, élisaient pour roi celui qui buvait le mieux.
Plus d’un roi électif, en Pologne, a dû en partie sa nomination au
courage qu’il a montré, le verre à la main, en faisant raison aux
palatins qui ont toujours passé pour d’intrépides buveurs: témoin le
dicton, Boire comme un Polonais.
Boire tanquam sponsus.—Boire comme un fiancé.
Cette expression proverbiale, qui signifie boire largement, se
trouve dans le cinquième chapitre de Gargantua. Fleury de Bellingen
la fait venir des noces de Cana, où la provision de vin fut épuisée;
sur quoi l’abbé Tuet fait la remarque suivante: «Le texte sacré dit
bien qu’à ces noces le vin manqua, mais non pas que l’on y but
beaucoup, encore moins que l’époux donna l’exemple de
l’intempérance. J’aimerais mieux tirer le proverbe des amants de
Pénélope, qui passaient le temps à boire, à danser, etc. Horace
appelle sponsos Penelopes les personnes livrées à la débauche.»
Aucune de ces explications ne me paraît admissible; en voici une
nouvelle que je propose. Autrefois, en France, on était dans l’usage
de boire le vin des fiançailles. Le fiancé, dans cette circonstance,
devait souvent vider son verre pour faire raison aux convives qui lui
portaient des santés; et de là vint qu’on dit, Boire tanquam sponsus
et Boire comme un fiancé.
D. Martenne cite un Missel de Paris, du quinzième siècle, où il est
dit: «Quand les époux, au sortir de la messe, arrivent à la porte de
leur maison, ils y trouvent le pain et le vin. Le prêtre bénit le pain et
le présente à l’époux et à l’épouse pour qu’ils y mordent; le prêtre
bénit aussi le vin et leur en donne à boire; ensuite il les introduit lui-
même dans la maison conjugale.»
Aujourd’hui encore, dans la Brie, on offre aux époux qui
reviennent de l’église une soupière de vin chaud et sucré.
En Angleterre, on fesait boire autrefois aux nouveaux mariés du
vin sucré dans des coupes qu’on gardait à la sacristie parmi les
vases sacrés, et on leur donnait à manger des oublies ou des
gaufres qu’ils trempaient dans leur vin. De vieux Missels attestent
cette coutume, qui fut observée aux noces de la reine Marie et de
Philippe II.
Selden (uxor hebraica) a signalé parmi les rites de l’église
grecque une semblable coutume, qu’il regarde comme un reste de la
confarréation des anciens.
Stiernhook (De jure suevorum et gothorum, p. 163, édition de
1572) rapporte une scène charmante qui avait lieu aux fiançailles
chez les Suèves et les Goths. «Le fiancé entrant dans la maison où
devait se faire la cérémonie, prenait la coupe dite maritale, et après
avoir écouté quelques paroles du paranymphe sur son changement
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