Do you tell?

Nurses General Nursing

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Just a quick show of hands... How many of you disclose that you are a nurse when you are either at the doctors office, taking your child/loved one to a medical professional etc...?

Do you notice that some nurses will become nervous around you almost as though they think you are "grading" them if they know?

Do YOU get nervous taking care of medical proffesionals?

Do you use medical terminology when discussing your own medical problems to your provider?

When you are being given medical adivice do you nod politely and let them fininsh or interupt to say "yes I know, I'm a nurse"?

Just wondering.;)

Steph

It's interesting to read the many replies. I'm one of the few that do not disclose that I am an RN (unless I am asked). I purposefully do not tell people what I do for a living because I prefer to be treated like any other patient. I don't want anyone assuming I am an expert in everything, just because I am an RN. I don't want special treatment. If I have questions, I will ask.Disguised as a civilian, I like to notice, too, how many ancillary staff in clinics don't wear name tags...you have no idea who is talking to you (I am speaking of the staff who get you settled in the exam rooms).

Like many of you, I also get nervous when caring for another RN or MD. But I try to treat everyone with the same respect, no matter their background. ;-)

I used to always let people know that I was a nurse. However, I have found that I don't always get the teaching other patients do because it's assumed that I already know. So now if I tell someone I'm a nurse I always make some joke about how I've forgotten everything not related to cancer. (If chemo don't fix it - I don't get it! :D ) Not always true - but it gets the message across.

I am on the flip side from most of you on the caring for nurses issue. I actually like it! Recently one of our interns became a patient - the funny thing was that he had really shown his rear a few weeks before ...:( Poor guy may never be the same. I really had a good time with him though, and he has a whole new respect for nurses. The next nurse he works with should thank me ;)

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

List me in the NO column.

No I don't. It's easier now since I don't have the health insurance with the hospital anymore. It's pretty hard to conceal when the Hospital Logo is on the card and the name there is XXXXX XXXXX RN.

My doctor knows, but I see no reason to tell anyone else. It's kind of nice just listening to some of the stuff the "educators" pass out.

Of course if it's really off the wall, I guess I pull on the supernurse suit and fill them in. Not usually. If I'm in the hospital, it's usually better to just watch.

Specializes in Leadership/Critical Care/Surgery/Seniors.

I don't usually mention it either when I am with a family member. They usually figure it out in short order though, just by the kinds of questions that a health educated person asks. By the time they figure it out, they will have formulated opinions of me without being influence by preconceived ideas of "the nurse in the family".

Like most of you, my doctor knows I am a nurse. Sure does help with the office visits and such. Plus, I don't take my kids in for every little sniffle. That way when one of the boys are truly ill and need to be seen I usually don't have any trouble getting an appointment. My in-laws are elderly and their doctor knows I am a nurse. I see him almost every day at the hospital, so if I need something for them I can just ask. I hate taking care of patients who have family members who are nurses and let you know it with an attitude. Some of them are real jerks, but some of them are sweet as sugar. The jerky ones put me on the defensive real quick. I had one granddaughter one time jumping my case about stuff over her Grandma and wanting to know every little detail. Then, she ended the sentence with "I am a registered nurse." So my response was, "so, if you are a nurse you know that I can't release any information to you about your Grandma. You will have to ask her yourself." Boy, did that pi** her off, but I thought hey you want to play here, it is MY playground and we will play by my rules. All she would had to do is ask me nicely about stuff, and I would have gladly answer her questions. My Mom has always said "You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar."

My MD knows I am a nurse as he is staff at my hospital, but I dont routinely tell people that I am, unless Ifeel I need to.

I work the unit so like nilepoc, I feel I have little knowledge of general ailments. So I let them explain things to me.

I also dont mind having a nurse as a patient. I always ask what type of nurse she is. Just so I know what her knowledge base is.

We had a man on our floor with an MI, it was known his wife is an RN. So everyone kept passing that back and forth in report "shes a nurse so be careful"........careful of what????

Anyway I went and talked to her come to find out she worked in telephone triage in a pediatric office and had done so her whole career, and knew little about adult care. So, she was upset that no one was telling her anything.

They were assuming she knew what was happening.

It is so nice to hear that other nurses can respect the fact that just because youwent to school for awhile does not mean that yuo are required to know everythinng about all kinds of nursing.

I posted this thread because my infant son was born critcally ill and was in the IICU for 5 months. As soon as the staff found out that I had a nursing background, I was treated differently. It made me very self conscious about asking questions.

I felt that they ASSUMED i knew what they were explaing to me when the fact of the matter was, I had absolutely NO PEDIATRIC experience at all other than my own two other kids. ( and even w/ them I call the consulting nurse for relately simple things).

I finally had to make it very clear that I was MOM first and I wanted to be spoken to as if I had no medical knowledge at all. It was hard for my husband also, they would give lab and procedure results in front of him, I would be able to understand , but he would end up having to ask me later... "so what does that mean?"

We now are experts as far as my sons conditions, but not because of any book knowlegde or training...we HAD to learn. I still have know idea what a normal BP for an infant would be!!:)

I thank nurses and respect those who know of my background but so not assume I know what they are talking about. So usually I do not tell unless they are making an error in treatment or in the explaination then I might mention it.;)

Thanks for the responses to this thread!

Steph:D

I don't tell when I take my kids into the ED (which, by the way, seems to be happening with embarrassing frequency lately - broken limbs, wasp bites to the eye, they are pretty accident-prone at the moment!) I find that when I am the anxious mother, all my nursing knowledge seems to go west. Also I have never worked in paeds before, so like Steph, know nothing about vital signs etc. I find I get more information geared towards my current (ie stressed to the max, anxious mother, NOT RN) level of knowledge if the ED staff don't know what I do for a living.

I guess it depends on the situation. I neither have kids nor have I taken an ill relative to the doc as some of the other posters here have done. In those cases, if I feel it will help the doc ....they can use medical jargon, explain w/less detail (as long as I can follow) or helps get better care I would do it. When in school...vet visits for my dogs were never the same. When he found out I was a nursing student he explained things more and let me in to see my pets' slide under microscope, etc. Very interesting to say the least.

As a patient admitted to the hospital, I would not. I would prefer to be treated as a patient like any other person. That would also enable me to see how they (nurse or doc) treat others, but also not make them nervous. I would not hide it though, if asked I would tell.

Yes, I usually tell them. I believe it helps the provider to know what your professional background is, so they can teach, question, etc., to that level. Most folks seem to be more comfortable, once they know, kind of like "you are one of our family." I try to be a little extra nice to folks if I am the patient, because I know what it is like to receive kindness instead of complaints. I will politely speak up and make suggestions, if it seems something is being overlooked. I recently was hospitalized, and am proud to report that the RN's and LPN's, and students who took care of me on a medical floor were, for the most part, conscientious, caring, and thorough, AND-enthusiastic about their jobs.

As in all things, if you tell people what your profession is, use your good judgement. Let them do their job, and remember that not everyone does everything exactly the same way. As long as things are done in a timely and correct manner (measured by end result, use of sterile technique, etc.) that is what matters most. If they don't do things correctly, gently remind them, as you would want someone to remind you. Remember-we are the patient/family in this scenario, not their nursing instructors!

Specializes in Renal; NICU.

If I am the patient I will usually tell so that I am not patronized when I ask questions. I find it to be best that I have had the same internist and GYN for 12 years for now I have less trouble getting what I need.

When my brother had bypass surgery, I was able to explain some of the things the nurses and dr's said after the fact. But when I was in the unit, and the family said I was a nurse, I quickly qualified that with, "but I don't do BIG people (NICU nurse)". I didnt want them to feel at all nervous and change the way they took care of him...and I wanted ALL the explanations they had.

Also, one of the previous nurses said she treats people differently when she knows they are medical. That's really not the nurse that I want to have, or be. It should be the same for everyone.

Everyone in the unit gets so nervous when we get a baby of a doctor, nurse, LAWYER! But I dont, for I know I give the same good care to the poor migrant worker's newborn that I would anyone else. In fact, I'd rather take care of the migrant worker for they appreciate it so much more than most of the medical or rich who think they deserve better...and they don't. It makes me sick to watch the a**-kissing that takes place.

Sorry for the tangent.

__________________________

Dbscandy

Boy, I heard that! I once took care (in the ER) of the surgeon that founded our hospital. He was known to be sort of a curmudgeon, but an excellent surgeon, and folks wanted to know if I wasn't nervous taking care of him. Nope! Like you, I try to take care of everyone the same way I would take care of a family member-that way I have no worries or regrets. Of course, some folks are easier to imagine as family members than others... (-::p

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