Nurses Deserve More Respect! - page 4
Hello All, Does anyone else feel like there is a stigma that comes along with nursing? Like, do you ever feel like people are judging you based on your career choice? Do you feel like nursing... Read More
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Oct 20, '10I get this all the time from family and acquaintances. When I tell them I'm going back to school to become an RN I get this "...Oh." response. And then of course, "Why not a nurse practitioner?" One time someone said "But it's...dirty."
I don't know why ppl feel like they can say these things. I think the perception that people have of nursing varies greatly based on their culture and social status. I haven't seen much respect for nursing as a profession and that's truly a shame. It doesn't deter me from the profession at all though, just makes me mad when I hear ignorant comments. In the end, you should do what you really want to do. You're going to be the nurse, not them. You will be living your life - not them.
Last edit by digitiminimi on Oct 20, '10 -
Oct 20, '10It's always challenging to convey to outsiders what we (nurses) do in terms that are meaningful to them. There is still a widespread belief that nurses are "helpers" to the physician, obediently and selflessly following orders. What most people (even some nurses) fail to recognize is that nursing is an independent and autonomous profession. It is a knowledge-based profession with its own body of science, research, and practice standards.
Nurses develop their own plan of care for patients-just as physicians do. We use critical thinking skills, initiate life-saving measures, and conduct comprehensive, precise evaluations and monitoring. We teach, counsel, coach, nurture and support. We are healthcare experts in our own right. Nurses possess a great body of healthcare knowledge and experience-even right out of nursing school.
A question I find most remarkable and annoying is, "you're so intelligent. Why didn't you become a doctor?" It's as if intelligent people become doctors and less intelligent people become nurses. When I was recently asked that question-for the first times in years- I gave the questioner my standard answer: "It is precisely because I am so intelligent that I chose nursing. Nursing and Medicine are two entirely different career paths. One is not an elevated version of the other. Don't ever underestimate the amount of intelligence, science, and the skill needed to be a great nurse. We make it look easy because we are so good at what we do"
So the next time someone asks you what you do, consider responding, "I save lives and improve health. I'm a nurse what do you do?"
Excerpt taken from Donna Cardillo R.N., MA
www.nurse.com -
Oct 20, '10Thanks everyone for the awesome replies! I feel much more encouraged now
Yes, my family is full of engineers, doctors, lawyers, and professors. I've been told that the "least" I could do is become a prof. And yes, they'd be willing to pay for (most) of med school. But that doesn't change the fact that I really want to be a nurse and deal directly with people. The people, not the puzzle.
I feel like I'll be much more prepared the next time someone asks me why I didn't go to med school. Thanks all for your help!
Love, -NR -
Oct 21, '10Quote from natasharostovaThe only people that I have heard bash nursing as a profession, is other nurses.Hello All,
Does anyone else feel like there is a stigma that comes along with nursing? Like, do you ever feel like people are judging you based on your career choice? Do you feel like nursing isn't as well respected in society as it should be?
My parents and a lot of my friends are being pretty critical of my decision to become a nurse. I can't even count the number of time I've been asked, "But wouldn't you rather be a doctor? Why not try for med school instead?"
Just wondering if anyone else has experience with this sort of thing. How do you handle it?
Love, -NR :heartbeat
I have heard people complain over a PARTICULAR nurse, but not the nursing profession.
The Gallop Poll also publishes the most respected professions every year...Nursing has always ranked as the NUMBER ONE profession, every year, with the exception of 9/11.
Yes, people have asked me why I don't go med school...I tell them the truth: I suck at Chemistry and 10 years is too long. -
Oct 21, '10Quote from linearthinkerAmen!FWIW I am a nurse who is more interested in the puzzle. I probably would have liked being a physician, but I'm not interested in an 80 hour work week, so I opted out of medicine.
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Oct 21, '10I don't know any happy physicians, and I can only think of one still married to his/her first spouse and whose children don't hate him/her for serials absences. I have the utmost respect for their education and knowledge, but hells no, I don't want that life. Not as a student, and certainly not for a career. Not worth it by a long shot.
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Oct 21, '10Quote from MassEDThe nurses definitely have a puzzle to solve but I hear you thinking about the person ("because I'm with the patient longer") and you seem to be interested in hearing more of the person's story. For many of us, that's why we prefer nursing. It is about solving the puzzle for the sake of the person...not solving the puzzle for the sake of the puzzle.I actually view every patient as a puzzle and try to put together the pieces, independent (and usually much earlier than a doc), because I'm with the patient longer and oftentimes see the lab and diagnostic results first).
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Oct 22, '10Quote from natasharostovaThere's a lot to be said for giving thought to the kind of LIFE you want to have.Thanks everyone for the awesome replies! I feel much more encouraged now
Yes, my family is full of engineers, doctors, lawyers, and professors. I've been told that the "least" I could do is become a prof. And yes, they'd be willing to pay for (most) of med school. But that doesn't change the fact that I really want to be a nurse and deal directly with people. The people, not the puzzle.
I feel like I'll be much more prepared the next time someone asks me why I didn't go to med school. Thanks all for your help!
Love, -NR
I thought you would appreciate this article I just read at Huffington Post on 'slowing down':
Elizabeth Killingsworth: Slowing Down -
Oct 22, '10I can totally relate. My family is very similar.
I grew up thinking my aunt was a nurse (was told so by her and various family members). When I decided to go to university to become a RN, the aunt responded by saying, "Why would you go to school to clean up poop?" Hmmm... Got me thinking and I started asking questions. Turned out she was (is) a care aid in LTC. Aside from being bitter and hating her job, she also never even finished high school, but considered herself a nurse. No wonder my family couldn't understand why I would go to school for this career!
Over the years, my family has learned more about what a nurse does, but I highly suspect they still don't really understand.
My own take on it is to do your best, have respect for yourself and your own profession and otherwise let them think what they want. -
Oct 22, '10My husbands aunt had a competition thing with her sisters (my husbands mother) family. My MIL was a nurse. She had 2 sons, both of whom married nurses. Her sister married a doctor and they had 4 kids, all of whom became doctors. When I met her for the first time, she told me no one in *my* family would ever consider nursing It is either medicine or law for us. Seriously, what would miss manners say, lol? I just said "Wow, that is really great. You must be so proud." She was a fuknut.
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Oct 22, '10Interestingly, I've only gotten "why would you want to be a nurse?" from nurses, and one mild acquaintance who was in-between chemo tx with a poor prognosis.
Everyone else in my life has been incredibly supportive and proud of me, particularly those who know how hard I've worked to get here. Especially to my program which, in my intake, accepted less than 15% of applicants.
In my family, nurses are highly respected and recognized for the hard work they do. -
Oct 23, '10Well, I went to med school way back in '74, quit after 2 yrs and then became a nurse about 30 yrs later. My folks never comment on my zigzag career path because nursing is career change #5. Looking back over my life, I think to myself . . . "dude, you were pretty confused!!"
