The Problem with Nursing

suanna · Apr 18, 2010

I can't help but agree with much of what you posted. I wish I didn't. I'm looking at nursing fro 25+ years in the practice. There were a few points I could argue about, but on a whole, I think you hit the nail on the head.

Nursey103, ADN, RN · Apr 18, 2010

Let's see...

#1: I think there is whining in every profession, not just nursing.

#2: I think we've been labeled a "caring profession" because we treat the patient as a whole (RT for respiratory, rad techs focus on getting their tests done, etc.) Nobody said only nurses care & everyone else doesn't. That's ridiculous.

#3: I've never thought that nurses who wear balloons & teddy bears on their scrubs are dumb or don't have brains. That's also ridiculous. Why do you care?

#4: I admit, that NANDA is pretty out there but NANDA's are supposed to be evidence-based. Like I said, we treat the patient's responses to their illnesses, not their diseases.

#5: You're basing your whole theory on your school?? My school isn't like that & they actually do a good job of promoting men in nursing. Men are physicians & women are nurses.....really? Who still thinks that way? There are ~15 men out of 60 students in my class alone. Again, you shouldn't base everything on your personal experience.

#6: And again, you're only talking about a few people. My nursing instructors are super intelligent & I look up to them...I don't think you should generalize all nursing instructors. Also, there are bad apples in EVERY profession!!!

I think you need to worry about yourself & your nursing education. If you see "bad" RN's out there, just tell yourself you're not going to be that type of nurse & move on. If you truly want to change the way people look at nurses, then do something about it & start with yourself.

A lot of people I know really look up to nurses....they don't see them as not respected....maybe that's just you?

smartnurse1982 · Apr 18, 2010

Don't know if I've ever posted before today (been a member for a while), but a post in another thread prompted me to respond to it and to post this. I've spent the last few years preparing for a career change into nursing and am in my first semester as a BSN student, and I'm irritated. I am NOT bashing nursing as a profession, but I am dismayed at the constant whining and complaining as well as the lack of any trace of intellectual curiosity that I have found in my short time around the profession among many BUT NOT ALL nurses. The #1 complaint among nurses that I have seen is a lack of respect by other health care professionals. You want to know why there is a lack of respect? Read on. In my short time, I've been around amazing nurses (bright, dedicated and excellent in what they do), but there are far too many that should be doing some else. Here's why nursing gets less respect than it should...
1) Constant whining. Nursing school is too hard, floor nursing is too hard, etc. News flash: most professions are really hard. Nursing isn't special in that regard. Medicine is brutal. IT, my former career, is cut throat. School teachers often have a miserable jobs. Cops work bad shifts and put their lives on the line. The list goes on an on. People that whine about nursing would whine no matter what career they are in.
Yeah,but everyone else gets compensated well,hence the constant whining. We continue t get screwed in the salary dept.
2) The nursing culture. The claim of nursing being a "caring profession" (as if med techs, rad techs, RT's, etc. aren't caring), yet there is constant bashing of "bad" patients that are "noncompliant." In addition, many nurses go out of their way to humiliate students and new grads, talk about each other behind their backs, call physicians and other providers incompetent, and are in general rude, sour and bitter. Yet nursing is supposed to be the "caring" profession.
You do know being noncompliant can result in death? We care enough to get frustated.
3) The nursing culture part II: Running around the hospital with balloons, teddy bears, flowers, whatever on your scrubs says to your colleagues, "I don't have a brain."
????. As I recall from my school days, teachers had parties all the time. Was that unprofessional?
4) Nursing education. Learning to "diagnose" a patient with "Ineffective coping mechanisms related to disturbed transpersonal energy field" sounds like a bunch of hooey to a lot of people. Why? Because it is. It too screams, "I don't have a brain." Thankfully such stuff is only in the textbooks and not in the real world.
Too baffled to answer that
5) Feminization. I have heard ad nauseum that traditionally, physicians are men, nurses are women and that accounts for much of the disrespect. I actually agree. Ironically, many more women now are entering all health fields traditionally dominated by men (pharmacy, medicine, etc.) but there's barely been an uptick in the number of men going into nursing. Why? See #3 above for starters. Here's some other reasons. The local Sigma Theta Tau chapter at my school has brown and pink for their colors. The local CC has a teddy bear wearing an 1800's nursing hat and a big heart on its (her) chest (that'll make males race to apply to the program). Which, BTW, also screams, "I don't have a brain."
How so? I see more and more men in nursing school. Barely an uptick of men in nursing is a good thing,to me antway.
6) Lack of intellectual curiosi
ty/knowledge. See #3 and #5 as well. One of my instructors this semester (who is a licensed pediatric nurse practitioner) could not answer a question as to what a lesion is. A nurse during my clinical last week did not know the difference between a H2 antagonist and a proton pump inhibitor, yet has been nursing for 20 years. My clinical instructor (with an MSN) "corrected" me and explained that myasthenia gravis is an intestinal disorder. I'm guessing they are like the students I had in my science prereqs that hated science and were just glad to get them done so they could apply to nursing school - never mind the fact that the sciences are the foundation of all modern health care practice. Would you go to a doctor that hated or was bad at science? What about a respiratory or physical therapist? Do everyone a favor - if you hate or are bad at science, spare your future patients and find another career.
20 years ago? So she is supposed to remember that far back? Go compare a nursing book from 20 years ago to One now
In short, t
here's got to be a change in nursing culture for the profession to be respected.

You say you are in school. A bit of advice...if you plan on staying in nursing,you would have to change your way of thinking. No one knows everything.

kcochrane · Apr 18, 2010

I've been in other professions including the military and the corporate world. The points you made could be made in any profession...not just nursing. I see some of what you mentioned above, but for the most part, I've worked with some great nurses in the last 5 years. I do see some differences, depending on the facility.

Don't take this wrong, but if you see things as horrible as you state, maybe nursing isn't the field for you????

I forgot to add that just like doctors, you cannot know everything about nursing. You focus in on the unit and it's specialty.

what2donow · Apr 18, 2010

You are so right on. I'm guessing you will catch a lot of flack (which I will assume you realized by your capitalizing and bolding of "but not all" in your post), but you are right. Nursing needs people like you. While I could say more, I will say that I have always felt the same about the teddy bear scrub tops. Unless you work with children and need to use your uniform as a way to get down on their level and make yourself less threatening, they make you look like a moron. I vowed in school never to wear those silly prints, and I never have.

Good luck in the career. Hope you don't burn out too soon.

Baloney Amputation, BSN, LPN, RN · Apr 18, 2010

RainnRN · Apr 18, 2010

LOL!!

kcochrane · Apr 18, 2010

You are so right on. I'm guessing you will catch a lot of flack (which I will assume you realized by your capitalizing and bolding of "but not all" in your post), but you are right. Nursing needs people like you. While I could say more, I will say that I have always felt the same about the teddy bear scrub tops. Unless you work with children and need to use your uniform as a way to get down on their level and make yourself less threatening, they make you look like a moron. I vowed in school never to wear those silly prints, and I never have.
Good luck in the career. Hope you don't burn out too soon.

I think my issue is with the "many". I think there are a few bad apples out there that this poster has come across and has used them to stereotype all nurses.

I work with some great nurses that have to deal with silly policies, unending paperwork, continued short staffing and unrealistic families. I see them take care of their patients with a smile. Give baths because the PCT is missing in action or "forgot". I see ones that see beyond what is being presented to them and advocate for their patient. They continue to smile, come in to work each day and try to make a difference. This is the majority. So along the way we whine a bit. So what? So we wear silly prints to brighten up out days..so what?

You have spent a small part of you life dealing with nurses. You will see the real life of a nurse when you graduate. Please come back and let us know if you are of the same opinion.

APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP · Apr 18, 2010

Succinct observation of the profession of nursing in general.

I think that a majority of those of us who have been in nursing for several decades can understand what you are getting at in your post.

NightNurseRN · Apr 18, 2010

first semester of school eh? no more needs to be said.

sarjasy · Apr 18, 2010

Let's see...
#1: I think there is whining in every profession, not just nursing.

That's a cop out. I've been working professionally for 13 years, some of which has been in health care. I've never seen anything like it.

. #2: I think we've been labeled a "caring profession" because we treat the patient as a whole (RT for respiratory, rad techs focus on getting their tests done, etc.) Nobody said only nurses care & everyone else doesn't. That's ridiculous.

That is not true historically. Nursing has prided itself on caring in the emotional sense of the word, thus the emphasis on the five domains, which nursing claims sets it apart from other health care professions.

#3: I've never thought that nurses who wear balloons & teddy bears on their scrubs are dumb or don't have brains. That's also ridiculous. Why do you care?

You might not, but you need to ask around a little bit. I never said that EVERYONE thinks its ridiculous. Obviously, not everyone thinks it's ridiculous or companies wouldn't be able to sell those things.

Why do I care? Because I'm entering the profession and care about the profession.

#5: You're basing your whole theory on your school??

No. The "teddy bear" logo that I mentioned is not my school. I am basing it on many schools out there.

#6: And again, you're only talking about a few people. My nursing instructors are super intelligent & I look up to them...I don't think you should generalize all nursing instructors.

Wrong. I am a member of many forums and people from all over the country have said their nursing school experience has been very similar. In fact, several people have thought I was a student at the school they graduated from because when I describe my experience, it sounds EXACTLY like theirs!

I think you need to worry about yourself & your nursing education. If you see "bad" RN's out there, just tell yourself you're not going to be that type of nurse & move on.

Very good advice.

If you truly want to change the way people look at nurses, then do something about it & start with yourself.

Which is exactly why I posted tonight.

A lot of people I know really look up to nurses....

Including me. Unfortunately, many don't. I'd like to see that changed.