Nurse vs. Not

While there are times that a nice, juicy swear word comes in handy---and I admit, there are a couple that I've been known to toss in to end an argument!---I think that in general, being unable (or unwilling) to express oneself without using profanity denotes intellectual laziness.

Sometimes, though, frequent cussing is just a mark of immaturity. Case in point: my oldest daughter, who used to be PROUD of her potty mouth, has now learned how to make her points without lacing her speech with obscene terms that would've made her grandmother blush. She now has young children, and suddenly we're hearing things like "Sorry about Eli, he's being a real beep-n-snap" and "That just about scared the ess out of me!" But then, she's grown up a little and doesn't like the way those words sound coming out of the precious mouths of her babies.

Oh, and, it's harder to spread apple butter.

My granny taught me to say "sugar foot" . . . .

We had a CNA who cussed up a storm and her fav word was the "F" word ... peppered in between just about every other word. She was an awesome CNA - except for her language. Trying to get her to understand that it was not professional to speak like that, especially around patients, was hard.

steph

This is the internet. We all have the capability to read and participate in a broad cross section of boards about a myriad of topics. It's unrealistic to assume that nurses would be the only ones who read or post on this board. I've looked at boards for professions that I am not in just out of general interest and I'm sure I'm not the only one. If you want a nurses only section, that's your prerogative. But I can't imagine anyone wanting to tie their internet discourse to their professional license. IMO that is highly unadvisable - but that's just me.

I've had a diverse career path to date and when reading this board, I do see common ground. Sometimes I post about it.

And for what it's worth that retail manager may have useful advice for the floor nurse who comes here beating his/her head against the wall because of something her manager or a patient says. Retail managers may not stick tubes in people for a living but they do deal with problem customers and district managers who may or may not have a clue - so they have an idea what it's like. And remember there are certain things being an employee of a corporation or other big institution is the same whether you're a nurse or in any other profession. Believe it or not, minus the body fluids and the invasive procedures, there is common ground.

Being so narrow minded that you want to believe that something that happens everyday across a broad section of humanity is happening to you and only you just because you're a nurse can't be helpful. Isolationism is not conducive to success in today's world and that applies no matter what profession you're in or what license you hold. I see rn's here who can't even imagine that a cna or a lpn could possibly know what they do. Now if that's not narrow focus I don't know what is. Open your mind and broaden your outlook and you'll probably be able to come here and post happy things instead of coming here only to vent about being a nurse (which can't feel good).

I'm not a nurse and that is my opinion.

I'll add another, related point ...

I've noticed lately that a lot of the students -- and even people just taking pre-reqs "hoping" to go to nursing school these days -- and expressing strong opinions without identifying their lack of familiarity with the issues. They give the impression that they are nurses when if fact, they have never worked as a nurse or even as a nursing assistant.

The trend concerns me because people who read their posts don't know that these people have no experience in nursing -- or even in health care. They mistakenly believe that these posters know what they are talking about.

I WELCOME students here and nursing assistants, etc. I belive they can and should be welcome in any thread. However, when they are giving advice to nurses and other students, they should identify their level of experience with the subject matter. Perhaps the "years of experience" listed under our names should say, "years of nursing experience." Or there could be categories that a person would have to check off as they register (RN, LPN, nursing student, pre-req student, other, etc.) Yes, some people would lie. But most would probably tell the truth.

llg