[CCU NRS]

Originally Posted by mattsmom81

I think a lot of this angel crap is still sexual stereotying rearing its ugly head personally.

Male nurses don't get called honey, sweetie or angel in my experience.

But then I've always been the kind of woman who most appreciated comments about my intelligence vs my other attributes...not all among us think this way do they.

I am a male nurse and I get Honey and sweety all the time. I also get Big Guy. Tiny, Big Boy, and many others. I never take offense. I also as I mentioned call Pt's by little terms of endearment and they do not complain.

[SharonH, RN]

I read the original article and I agree with every word. While it's true that there are some who have heeded a "calling" to nursing, there are many of us who have not. When there is talk of a "calling", it has a religious connotation to me and that gives me the creeps. And I think that for those of us who do not, if we do not feel this "calling", there is a sort of judgment made that we are in nursing for the wrong reasons, that we don't belong and that we cannot possibly be good nurses. There is a lot more to nursing than holding hands, giving hugs and "caring".


The responses that she received to her article are a prime example of nursing being its own worst enemy. We want to be recognized for our professional skill and education but we don't want to give up the hearts and hugs image either. I recognize that being called an "angel" is meant to be a compliment but it is also a reflection of the belief that little is required to be a nurse other than to care and hold hands while physicians and pretty much everyone else get the credit for giving all of the meaningful, skilled technical care and for saving lives and making the differences. I don't appreciate that at all.

[Trauma-tizedRN]

Originally Posted by CCU NRS

I am a mlae nurse and I get Honey and sweety all the time. I also get Big Guy. Tiny, Big Boy, and many others. I never take offense. I also as I mentioned call Pt's by little terms of endearment and they do not complain.

I am not referring to pet names we get called. Not the issue at all. What I am referring to, as previously stated, the general belief that still exists in the public that Docs are gods and Nurses are angels and are selflessly there due to a "calling".

[rnmi2004]

While I respect the right of nurses to form whatever opinion about the word "Angel" that they choose, I honestly can not imagine that the average patient would tell a nurse that "You're an angel" with the negative meaning that some people here are ascribing to it.

[cheerfuldoer]

Originally Posted by CCU NRS

perhaps it is being taken too literally. Maybe the people that are using Angel
are using it to mean a caring entity that is devoting time to them. I am no Angel either but would never complain about being called one. I also don't complain when people tell me they appreciate me or thank me for handing them something or any of the thousands of things I do daily. Some people are just courteous and some people just feel very blessed to be recieving adequate to above average care. Some people just use words like Angel as a compliment.


Then again I call Pt's bubba, sweety, sir, Maam etc. so I guess they can call me whatever they want.

forget the flames for using sweety and bubba I really don't care what you think as long as the Pt doesn't mind

You sound like my kind of nurse.

Being called "angel" is rather nice compared to a lot of other negatives I've been called during my growing up years and well into my adult years. There are some adults (patients and visitors of patients, too) who call me worse things, so being called "angel" truly doesn't bother me. Heck, I've had old elderly patients (male and female) refer to me as "sweetie, sweetie pie, sweetheart, angel, dollface, honey...." It feels good to be complimented since I was never complimented as a child or much as an adult either.

Different strokes for different folks....and THAT is totally OKAY!!!

[Trauma-tizedRN]

Originally Posted by rnmi2004

While I respect the right of nurses to form whatever opinion about the word "Angel" that they choose, I honestly can not imagine that the average patient would tell a nurse that "You're an angel" with the negative meaning that some people here are ascribing to it.

It's not a beef about a WORD.....it's a beef about a LARGER CONCEPT. Not about sweetie, angel or hun, nor do I assume that if I get called angel...as in thanks angel as an example, that they are referring to the ISSUE we are discussing in THIS thread.

[sharann]

I came in to work on call today and saw that the entire ER crew dressed up all in white(white in ER?) and wore halos and wings on their backs

[SoulShine75]

NeuroICURN~

I've found that the people who get all wrapped up in the job and their patients usually don't have much of a life outside of work....their job IS their home. Their home life is pathetic. Personally, I have a rewarding life outside of work, and I don't need to live through my job.


I don't think that all people who get wrapped up in their jobs and pt's are pathetic and not all people who do have a pathetic home life either. Sometimes all people do is work, work, work and it's hard not to get wrapped up in that. I think your statement posted above was a little harsh.

Soulshine

[RN92]

I'd take solid, reality-based praise like "You are so competent" or "You are so smart" or "I trust my family member in your hands because you are so knowledgeable" over being an "angel" any day of the week. It is such an outdated notion.

Would pts know if their nurse was competent, smart or trustworthy? If they arent in the medical field - they wouldnt know that the nurse was supposed to take their bp every 2hrs, etc, etc. I dont think most of my patients know what competent means. I worked in the ER. Patients and their families saw who was really doing the WORK..I was often told that "you sure do work hard", "you hadnt stopped running all night", "Im sorry to bother you, I know you're busy, but...." If all they can come up with is "Angel" - I know what they really mean.

[RN4NICU]

Originally Posted by CCU NRS

I am a mlae nurse and I get Honey and sweety all the time. I also get Big Guy. Tiny, Big Boy, and many others. I never take offense. I also as I mentioned call Pt's by little terms of endearment and they do not complain.

Terms of endearment are not the issue at all. It is the unreasonable expectations that come along with nurses being viewed as "angels" - that we "answer a higher calling", should always be selfless and subservient, that we get so much joy and fullfillment out of helping and serving that we do not need to be paid competitive wages, we don't need days off, vacations, or sick time, we should always put others before ourselves and be happy for the priviledge. Hogwash. Nursing is a career - pure and simple. Nurses get sick, have bad days, need to take breaks, deserve respect, just like everyone else. We are not superhuman and most of us are not trying to reach some higher level of spirituality by being dutiful self-sacrificing little servants - we go to work to get paid just like any other professionals. It just so happens that what we get paid to do improves/saves the lives of others.

I am just sick to death of people looking down on nurses for expecting to be well-paid and for looking out for themselves - especially when those people are other nurses.