Blue or white collar? - Page 7

I'm pretty sure the blue collar bus driver who suddenly finds himself slipping and sliding down an ice covered highway in the middle of winter with a bus load of passengers is going to disagree with you.

When I think of a professional, I think of someone well spoken, mannerly, knowledgeable in his or her duties, hard working and properly groomed. It does not take a college degree to obtain those traits.

I cannot fathom why nurses are being compared to bus drivers! How many times would a bus driver be put in a life and death scenario as you described?
How many times are nurses placed in that scenario? I believe that would depend on what type of environment said nurse was working in. In the 9 years I spent working in outpatient clinics and private practices I never once saw any of the RN's that I worked with in that scenario.

Professionalism is not based on how you groom / present yourself.
Professionalism is education, licensure, credentialing and responsibility.

I am shocked that you view staff nurses to be less able, than you, to apply critical thinking and make decisions!
I have worked on both sides of that fence. It is very often that nurses either get that"gut feeling" that something is wrong, note a trend, or catch something subtle .. that prompts them to call rapid response.
The ONLY reason I don't handle it myself any more is because the hospital has already given me an unmanageable assignment... they know it, too.
That is why we have a rapid response team!!! Certainly not because any of us have lost our skills.

A Harvard educated, top dog criminal defense attorney who cheats on his taxes, back stabs his co-workers and chases his secretary around the desk after hours is no "professional" in my eyes. I don't care what the 15 pieces of paper hanging on his wall say.

You say potato, I say potahto...Here's what Merriam-Webster says:

Definition of PROFESSIONAL

1
a : of, relating to, or characteristic of a profession b : engaged in one of the learned professions c (1) : characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace

2
a : participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs <a professional golfer> b : having a particular profession as a permanent career <a professional soldier> c : engaged in by persons receiving financial return <professional football>

3
: following a line of conduct as though it were a profession <a professional patriot>

I see no mention of degrees, licensures or credentialing.

Truck drivers must have a CDL license. Even those stinky, beer bellied, womanizing ones you see every now and then.

i am shocked that you view staff nurses to be less able, than you, to apply critical thinking and make decisions!

*** well good news. you can put your shock away cause i don't have that opinion and didn't say or imply that.

i have worked on both sides of that fence. it is very often that nurses either get that"gut feeling" that something is wrong, note a trend, or catch something subtle .. that prompts them to call rapid response.

*** yes i am well aware of that. i get those calls all the time. but usually from experienced rns. my point was and is that in my hospital, and in hospitals that use a similar rrt model newer rns may not be developing the skills you have. our staff rns have little in the way of prns, protocols or standing orders that allow them to deal with things. they are not allowed to place an iv or ng or draw labs. about the only thing they can do one their own in apply o2 and get an ekg. i am not saying i think that's the way it should be. just that it's the way it is in one of the hispitals i work and that i am noticing the same trend in some other hospitals.

the only reason i don't handle it myself any more is because the hospital has already given me an unmanageable assignment... they know it, too.

*** that is not the case in my hospital. the nurse may have been given too heavy a patient load but even if not they are required by policy to call rrt whenever a trigger is met.

that is why we have a rapid response team!!! certainly not because any of us have lost our skills.

*** i suspect the real reason you have an rrt team is cause jcaho requires it. i am starting to wonder if you have gotten my post confused with somebody elses. i didn't imply that skilled and experienced nurses are losing skills they have spent year learning and perfecting. rather i am lamenting that newer nurses might not be getting the oppertunities you and i had as newer nurses.