What draws non-nurses to AN.com?

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 23, 2013

Well, I'm not a nurse, but I'm in nursing school and work as a nurse's aide. I imagine that many of the other non-nursing posters are in the same boat.

WannabeNurse(: · Jul 23, 2013

I'm a pre-pre-nursing student but don't really give advice, just ask questions and read around a bit. I can see how it'd be annoying when nurses want a fellow nurse's advice and get people like me who are just looking around here, not experienced.

dansamy · Jul 23, 2013

Yes, I was blissfully unaware that the OP only wanted a nurses response and didn't want anyone else to say "I hope it turns out well". What a horrid mistake I made. From now on, I will make sure to not comfort anyone until I'm a nurse.
I find it interesting that the nurse who posted that thread didn't seem to care that I responded, it's just a select few that had an issue.

I didn't read the thread that you're referencing. I'm making general observations. If a nurse has a nursing situation & is asking for other nurses' perspectives, that's what she's seeking. She doesn't need/want non-nursing input because it's not relevant.

Non-nurses aren't necessarily unwelcome. They just don't have the perspective of a nurse regarding nursing situations.

linzjane88 · Jul 23, 2013

I love this thread!

If I were wanting advice on how to get my child to sleep through the night and posted on a parenting forum I would be pretty annoyed if someone responded with "I don't have kids but....."

It's not an insult, it's just fact. You don't have the information I want. Plain and simple. If I wanted an opinion of someone who has no clue how nursing really works I'd ask my husband :roflmao:

dominique.l.weaver · Jul 23, 2013

They are probably interested in nursing.

Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM · Jul 23, 2013

Just saw a thread from a fairly distressed RN who fears losing her first nursing job. The very first response was from someone who stated "while I am not a nurse, I think ...."
It made me stop and think - I wonder what draws non-nurse, non-medical people here? And to give advice? I can't imagine being interested enough in an engineering forum, for example, to hang out on it, let alone offer advice in an area in which I have no experience or training.
Don't get me wrong, I have no issue with anyone posting on any forum. I just find it curious. Perhaps my worldview is too limited and I need to expand my Internet browsing beyond AN.com?

I personally believe that nurses, in general, have got very snobbish about their profession and that there is a fine line between that and being proud and protective.

I come from a large medical family. I was very familiar with the profession before I became a nurse and my attitudes toward my job are no different now than I AM a nurse. Some of us have worked in other professions before working in the healthcare profession and if you have never had a career in doing something else, it's really difficult to understand that the healthcare profession is simply another business entity with different parameters. Some things don't change no matter where you work.

If you have been heavily involved the care of a particular illness or condition of a family member, I can assure you, that without any medical training, you know the ins and outs of that almost as well as any nurse. I for one was "taught" how to change a colostomy bag by a parent of a child that I took care of in the PICU. Obviously, I had been taught this as a NICU nurse, but this parent had changed her daughter's out over and over again and when I came in to change the bag the parent stated that she preferred to do it and said, "No offense, but most of the nurses just make a mess" and while it would be hard to describe here...her way was far better than what I had been taught, yet she had no formal medical training. You never know where your learning will come from and you have to be open to it.

The Board of Nursing in my state has two members that are not healthcare professionals....this is to give the general public a voice in how the nursing profession is managed.

I think it's horrible of how people who are not nurses, especially students, are treated on this board. It's a public message board so who cares if they want to join the conversation or not. When they present an idea, instead of kindly explaining a different view or how it is incorrect, you can always predict that someone will post something along the lines of, "We don't need you commenting when you aren't even a nurse."

When a newer nurse will post an opinion, someone with more experience, letters after their name or degrees will always pounce on them, as if experience equaled competence, which we all know, does not.

The bottom line is AN goes on an honor system...I can claim that I have any level of experience, certifications or degrees that I want...it's not like anyone does a background check to make sure I really do.

I just think that on AN we need to treat each other the way we would want to be treated and treat non-nurses with the same respect that we would give anyone else we encounter in life. There are too many on the message board whose only purpose seems to be to bash others and criticize and when others read this board that are not nurses, it reflects our profession in a poor light.

wooh, BSN, RN · Jul 23, 2013

Can we just agree to disagree? I really want no part of this, I told a poster that I hoped her circumstances turned out well and that, to an outsider, I thought she did the right thing. I see now that people had an issue with that. That's fine. There are always issues, everywhere we go and in everything we do. I am not going to see your perspective and you're not going to see mine and that's okay.

Our entire workday is dominated by making sure that non-nurses don't get their feelings hurt. Then we get home, want to vent a little, and our entire thread gets turned into making sure that non-nurses don't get their feelings hurt.

roser13, ASN, RN · Jul 23, 2013

I can see lawyers being drawn to some of the posts, especially if the poster is describing a patient incident and giving too much information.

That's why you can no longer see the thread. After the first "non-nursing" response, nurses started chiming in and telling OP that she posted way too many identifying details and advised her to either strictly edit or remove her post. It's been removed.

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Jul 23, 2013

I think snobbish is a strong word.

i think that people come to this forum for a variety of reasons. You will see various opinions from around the world and back again.

And as much as it makes a number of people cringe, daily we all hear "but it said on the internet..." So protective perhaps.

The interesting part of message boards is that one can hone in on one question/answer and either respond positively or negatively to same.

There are non-nurses who come to feel out how nurses act--as some sort of strange control thing when they become patients.

Or have their perception of care not be ideal, and then come to point out how all nurses generally haven't a clue, believe themselves to be something they are not, and if you don't advocate for yourself, the self-proclaimed wonder of the nursing world is not going to advoacte for you!!

Most will start an inflammatory set of statements, then "use" it to point out that nurses are just this side of nuts.

We are all human. We make errors. Our intent is to not do so. Most could care less if you "speak the language", and NO, most are not of the expectation that patients are in some passive/aggressive "I want to be a 'good' patient".

In a mountain of subjective information, like anything, take away only what you can use. If a doctor is not going to explain things properly to you, then I would perhaps plan on an alternate doctor who will. Part of a nurse's goal is to teach patients to be functional outside of the hospital. (or in some cases, teach parents to have their kids functional outside of the hosptial--so by all means, it is awesome when a parent has their way of making things work at home).

For students, there is a great deal of positive information here. And what is not answered here, then there's a whole lot of references at one's school that can give sound information on choice of career.

For patients, there's a whole lot of references inside of the hospital that can help. Nurses generally will be the first to give you as much patient education as you need to successfully function. If you don't feel as if you are being advocated for, or educated well, then speak up. Most nurses will attempt to help you with that, even if other disciplines need to be involved. Most have some great ideas to help you. Most are forward with those ideas. But like anything, there are different ways of presenting this infomation. If it isn't "clicking" for you, then ask your next nurse.

Most nurses don't go into this because there's some unresolved "I hate people" issues. Or that we desire human suffering. Or that we want to see patients not function for the rest of their lives. Good intention, sometimes less than ideal presentation, but thankfully, there's a whole group of us that have our individual strengths.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 23, 2013

While allnurses is a site for nursing professionals...it is NOT an exclusive club AND it is open to the public. Many members come here because they are drawn to the profession, many are here to find out if they want to be in this profession. Many are here to learn how to get into this profession or how to become registered, immigrate, seek support during your prerequisites, during school, for homework, ask questions, seek advice...whatever.

While allnurses is anonymous......Allnurses is public and when you post in a public forum you need to expect public opinion....posting here is just as if you used a loud speaker at the mall....you will get answers ad some of them may NOT be what you wanted and people will respond that you didn't ask to respond. The double edge sword of social media....don't put it out there.... if you don't want to hear answers....FROM EVERY ONE.

We do not exclude people from forums or posts/threads....if they obey the rules....they are welcome.

Sure....some people have an axe to grind....some people have an agenda....some people are curious and just want to "eavesdrop" on a profession that people are curious about. AND because people can't look away from a train wreck or have to rubberneck past an accident scene....they come here for the inside scoop, blood, guts, and gore.

I enjoy hearing both sides of the story and hearing the perception of someone non medical....I think it can help us improve our demeanor at the bedside knowing how some behaviors are perceived by the general public.....so that we can become better professionals.

Sometime we need reminding how our behavior can reflect negatively unconsciously...to that patient lying in thta bed with nothing better to do than watch the staff.

Just because someone isn't a nurse doesn't mean they don't have an opinion.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Jul 23, 2013

I agree jadelpn...snobbish IS a strong word...

Perhaps...protective... :yes:

I also disagree that nursing is "just another business entity"...a TON of the issues that are affecting the meat of what we do is because it is looked as a "business" in a negative fashion, to the point we a have a surplus nurses who cannot transition, pressure to not advocate properly, and have feelings of stripped empowerment and advocacy.

One thing I think that happens is that it IS looked at as "just another business" and the quality of what we do...the "business" of maximizing mortality is not the same as as accounting, computers, education, a building, etc...people are people, HOWEVER, we encounter people in their MOST intimate position. They are not a number, a report, etc. and I do not treat anyone in their profession as "just another business," and I don't expect others to do the same for nursing.

Some of those who enter with the attitude if "just another business" enter in higher positions and

can be the catalysts for the changes and struggles that we encounter, yet have NO RESPECT for our profession because they have not gone through the trenches, and that is unfortunate.

All I ask when you enter the realm of OUR "business" is to respect the history. Talk to the historians, and for the historians, to guide "generations" to be better.

Ok...climbing off the soapbox. :)

As far as posting on AN, a NURSING realm, I am sure a TON of people post to elicit a response from NURSES, however, we have nursing fans, nursing critics, and unusual um, "stalkers" ...it doesn't elicit a good or bad from me, and I don't necessarily think people on here are generally negative, or snobbish, but mostly supportive about the profession and making sure one is "enlightened" about nursing...it's an interesting quality mixed with our base of human quality that makes it very interesting to read on a mostly anonymous site.

We have to also be reminded on how we "listen" to the words that we read.

LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN · Jul 23, 2013

Snobbish is NOT a strong word, it conveys exactly some of the opinions on here. It's ridiculous. I hope I am never that jaded, bossy, demeaning, and critical of ANYONE else in this profession, be it patients, my cohorts, or other nurses once I am nursing. I stand up for the underdog and many of you are attacking someone who doesn't deserve it at all, so you should check yourselves and look in the mirror and ask what in the world is so special about you that you snub your nose at any other person in the medical community. You have the same bodily functions as everyone else, and that CNA or nursing student you are putting down today may be wiping your :poop: up in the future. Think about your words. Good grief.