Anti-intellectual & hyper-sensitive. WHY?

[mclennan]

I got in trouble at my job yesterday. I was training in a new case manager. After some time observing me make calls and document, she tried it on her own. She's smart, a great nurse and did a good job on her first call. But her documentation was atrocious. She charted the narrative with absolutely no punctuation, tons of mostly lower-case abbreviations (most of which are disallowed at our company per policy), all in one long block of run-on text, riddled with misspellings (our EMR doesn't have spell-check).

I know our doctors and auditors well, and KNOW they would raise a huge fuss over a note like that. Our bosses' boss will bring up notes that are poorly written and make examples of them at staff meetings. They don't demand perfection - but documentation has to be readable and reasonably error-free. I was a tactful and gentle as I could possibly be, with a smile, praising her call and complete content of the note, but said, "can I show you how the bosses want it to look?"

She said sure, and I cleaned it up & corrected the grammar & punctuation. I kept saying "I know it seems picky they've outlawed abbreviations like this, but it's policy," and "these charts are read by insurance company auditors, doctors and accreditation agencies and I'd rather you not have to deal with them asking you to clarify your notes, it can be a real pain!" I tried to be as lighthearted and kind as I could, because I could FEEL how defensive & stiff she'd gotten. I made sure to praise and praise and praise everything else she did, and assure her it didn't have to be perfect, just within policy.

Sure enough, she ran crying to the supervisor, who said she accused me of "criticizing" her writing and that I "demanded" "perfect" punctuation and grammar & that I was "condescending" to her and "belittled" her "abilities." OF COURSE she pulled the "English is my 2nd language" card - never mind she's been in the States 27 years and speaks crystal clear, articulate and accent-free English. She's been a nurse for 12 years. She has already complained that she's "not good with computers" and came from a small SNF where it was all paper charting. I tried to be mindful of this. I was as tactful and gentle as I could POSSIBLY be. I was all smiles and praise, and tiptoed around her obviously awful writing skills and visible discomfort with the EMR.

Luckily, there was a co-worker in the same office during all this, who jumped to my defense. He had my back, and explained I'd gone out of my way to make this nurse comfortable and that my criticism was kind & constructive. Thank god. Once my boss heard our side of the story she surmised this new nurse was probably nervous and hyper-sensitive, and took things the wrong way.

Just to put the icing on the cake, I overheard her talking on her phone as she walked down a hallway (I was in the hallway above in the atrium & could hear every word). "This ***** nurse who trained me in was a grammar nazi who tried to force me to write like a professor!"

*sigh*

I see so much of this brand of hyper-sensitive, anti-intellectual whining in nursing. I see it here on AN (see: LPN/ADNs bashing people with more education, etc. etc.), I see it out in the field and on the floor, at SNFs.....everywhere. WHY? Whatever happened to being okay with crawling before walking? Whatever happened to pride?

[PMFB-RN, RN]

And yes, there is a palpable anti-intellectual vibe here on AN. It is the biggest disappointment about this site and it's membership, and you would have to be stolid not to notice it. It is practically a capitol crime to tout education in these forums.

*** In my opinion the anti-intellectual vibe you percieve here on AN is actually a defence reaction to the elitist attitude held by certain members. I can't remember any posts that criticized anyone for WANTING to further their education, or criticized anyone for encouraging othersto pursue further education. I do see defensive reaction to suggestions that nurses who don't hold BSNs are less than competent, or that they are holding the "profession" back, or when the lack of a BSN is misconstrued as being anti education.

In my practice this attitude seems particularly ironic. In my roll as full time rapid response and resourse nurse one of my constant duties is to explain basic nursing concepts, answer basic and advanced nursing practice questions, and teach basic and advanced nursing skills to BSN and MSN prepared RNs.

I am absolutly not anti educaton. I do reject the commonly held view that the traditional college / university based education is the only education that matters. An ADN prepared RN can devote a lot fo time and effort to becomeing highly educated in nursing practice but unless they have BSN behind their name they remain uneducated in the view of some people.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

I think that if that is her reaction to your extremely kind way of trying to teach her then she should be left to flounder on her own and sink or swim. She burned you once so you know what to expect the next time. This is the grown up working world and people need to appreciate the time and effort people put into their training or manage it on their own.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

When it gets down to it, what do you all want in exchange for all your added edu? I mean seriously?! IF you want to change your practice and become an NP, well that's great, but that's a different job all together. Some of you are looking for what? I don't know. You won't climb some ladder and suddenly be bestowed a seat at the round table just because you have a BSN or MSN, LOL. Look. I have a couple degrees. It's a piece of paper that shows you dropped some cash folks. You guys are not in the corporate world. You won't climb any real ladder because nursing ladders are made of toothpicks. There is nothing at the top people. A nursing degree is only good for a nursing job. You won't make it in the outside world with that. So get off your high horse, have a seat and please, please throw down this shot of reality I'm giving you. Make believe will get you nowhere except make you a freak'in basketcase to work with!

My second degree is an ADN. While I was taking my nursing prerequisite courses, I was approached on two separate occasions about having my writing/research published. Big deal, right. I guess for some of you. Not a big deal to me.

[mclennan, BSN, RN]

Still don't see why the Op is so upset. I'm the type who loves to help people but don't give a flip if they don't want me to help them. Many times, people want to figure the thing out themselves. And ya know what, they often do! They also will tend to run right up over you and succeed. And there you are sitting by yourself looking at your beautiful narratives, wondering if you should wallpaper your bedroom with them, or would that be too much awesomeness that you wouldn't be able to sleep?[/quote']

I have to "give a flip" - it's my JOB to train her!

I never bragged about my notes or narrative, they're average and meet company policy. Wow. Why the nastiness?

[stephanie.]

Thats what kids who were raised in the "Everyone makes the team, gets a trophy, and is the winner" mentality. They are never taught to work hard and learn from their mistakes. Why should they have to? Instead they cry and whine as to why life isnt fair. No one seems to have pride- there is a sense of satisfaction that comes from being self sufficient and a hard worker and the younger generations wont seem to ever know it.

[Kaci82]

*** In my opinion the anti-intellectual vibe you percieve here on AN is actually a defence reaction to the elitist attitude held by certain members. I can't remember any posts that criticized anyone for WANTING to further their education, or criticized anyone for encouraging othersto pursue further education. I do see defensive reaction to suggestions that nurses who don't hold BSNs are less than competent, or that they are holding the "profession" back, or when the lack of a BSN is misconstrued as being anti education.

In my practice this attitude seems particularly ironic. In my roll as full time rapid response and resourse nurse one of my constant duties is to explain basic nursing concepts, answer basic and advanced nursing practice questions, and teach basic and advanced nursing skills to BSN and MSN prepared RNs.

I am absolutly not anti educaton. I do reject the commonly held view that the traditional college / university based education is the only education that matters. An ADN prepared RN can devote a lot fo time and effort to becomeing highly educated in nursing practice but unless they have BSN behind their name they remain uneducated in the view of some people.

This might be one of the threads some posters are referring to:

https://allnurses.com/registered-nurses-diploma/sick-bsn-pedestal-807039.html#post7111178

[nursel56]

*** . .I am absolutly not anti educaton. I do reject the commonly held view that the traditional college / university based education is the only education that matters. An ADN prepared RN can devote a lot fo time and effort to becomeing highly educated in nursing practice but unless they have BSN behind their name they remain uneducated in the view of some people.

Right. Regardless of whether some perceive not buying into the nursing education discussion as framed by one side (as "either/or") for 47 years as equivalent to being "anti-intellectual" the fact remains that the proponents of the mandatory BSN have institutionalized their view, and have put millions of dollars and engaged in lots of influence-peddling to advance it. Therefore the ADN/diploma nurses who objects will always be on the defense, whether any one post or any one thread can be traced to it's actual roots or not.

Those who feel that isolated threads that look like sour grapes from a bunch of intellectually lazy nurses without BSNs have nothing to worry about there, because they are not organized or funded and thus have no power.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

The OP of the thread was talking about her orientee's response to the situation and the hypersensitivity of this person in this situation and a general statement about this type of hypersensitivity that sems so prevalent in the workplace today and NOT a discussion about the attributes or lack thereof of advance education within nursing

You may start another thread to discuss this but this thread is about the OP's experience at work.

Let's stick to the topic.

[monkeybug]

When I was in school for my LPN we had a LOT of foreign students who liked to play the "no speak English" card. Hey, it worked for them! One woman out and out failed vital signs- pulse, temp, respiration, BP... I guess it's okay because she was foreign. Had a whole row of foreign students who sat behind me and some other folks- they made it a habit of stealing stuff out of our bags, lecture packets, highlighters and the like. They also cheated off each others tests- claiming that in their country they share and help each other out. Got so bad that later when I had my RN and went back to that school as an adjunct instructor I learned that they had to split the whole class up into separate rooms to stop the cheating. If an instructor would fail them on a skill, or even have them removed from the program for poor performance- hooo boy, the dean of the program would be flooded with students in her office demanding the students be readmitted at once, or they'd plead cultural intolerance!

Now, I'm not making generalizations, and I have worked with some very competent, kind, and awesome foreign nurses. But I worked with one for many years that played the "foreign" card all too often, and got away with it. She would insult and condescend, and when called on it, profess that she really didn't understand what she was saying. She would demand gifts from families, thoroughly disparage other nurses to patients and doctors, and talk horribly about coworkers behind their backs. And brush it all off as "cultural differences." If you ever complained to the manager, you would be told that "well, that's just how she is." It really, really burned me up. And I burned her up because I wouldn't play by her rules. I felt absolutely comfortable telling her she could only speak to me if it involved patient care, that otherwise I didn't want to hear her poison.

[monkeybug]

When it gets down to it, what do you all want in exchange for all your added edu? I mean seriously?! IF you want to change your practice and become an NP, well that's great, but that's a different job all together. Some of you are looking for what? I don't know. You won't climb some ladder and suddenly be bestowed a seat at the round table just because you have a BSN or MSN, LOL. Look. I have a couple degrees. It's a piece of paper that shows you dropped some cash folks. You guys are not in the corporate world. You won't climb any real ladder because nursing ladders are made of toothpicks. There is nothing at the top people. A nursing degree is only good for a nursing job. You won't make it in the outside world with that. So get off your high horse, have a seat and please, please throw down this shot of reality I'm giving you. Make believe will get you nowhere except make you a freak'in basketcase to work with!

My second degree is an ADN. While I was taking my nursing prerequisite courses, I was approached on two separate occasions about having my writing/research published. Big deal, right. I guess for some of you. Not a big deal to me.

Excuse me, I did not obtain my BSN and JD just by "dropping some cash." Perhaps you assume that most BSNs attend for-profit colleges? All the courses I passed, I passed because I studied and worked, not because I paid for a grade or a diploma. Not only do I value my degrees, but I value learning for the sake of learning. I'm just as confused by BSNs who don't read as I am by ADNs who have no desire to further their education. What happened to improving yourself as a human being? And you have a bachelor's in something else. You have a well-rounded education. This is not the case for many nurses, and many of them have no desire to grow and learn, and that confuses and concerns me.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

There is a degree of anti-intellectualism in nursing. I've experienced it firsthand. And it doesn't help us as a profession. I also believe the OP as far as the woman's reaction to criticism. We've had several orientees like this- and they never last long,lol.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

I'm just wondering who the chucklehead is who hired a nurse who struggles to write in English and is "not good with computers" to be a case manager? Fail.