Rude nursing comments

xiaoqi · Aug 19, 2003

maybe one day we have to let them know we not only do bed pan, bed makings, give medications. But we do more further than that. otherwise y the doctors need nurses, ask them to run the ward. and ask the patient to deal with themself with the things we do for them. alot os patients or relatives are not thankful.

allnurses Guide · Aug 19, 2003

When I go in a room and am asked "are you my doctor?", I say, "no, I'm your nurse and proud of it."

What gets me are the people who think every female in the hospital must be a nurse. We get surveys back from people who say "the registration nurse" did this, but the nurse in the room did that. I don't really want to wear a cap, but I do miss having

something other than a tiny name badge that sets us apart. All our name badges look alike, all our scrubs looks alike (although housekeeping has only one type of print smock they wear).

healingtouchRN · Aug 19, 2003

I hate the comment "just a nurse", as I have heard it from nurses, patients, family members, doctors, administration.....I would like to once have the opportunity to remind them WHO it is who is there @ night when they need pain meds, have EKG changes, who badgers the MD's to take the pt to the cath lab, or come in when they CODE!!! Who comforts the dying & their survivors....this is the tip of the iceburg. But if they still choose to be ignorant, I guess they will learn in do time, or maybe not. Some people never learn.

However, I did have a client from my private practice come see me in my CCU job as I helped take care of his grandma. He said to me "I could do your job"....this is a 6'6" young man, who farms for a living. He said "all that death, & illness, you must be really strong & really smart"....He is a WISE man for his years! :kiss

almostrecruited · Aug 19, 2003

Stevielynn having "SAHM wanna be" by her pic got me thinking. Nurses and SAHM's (stay at home moms) are sort of in the same boat. Both seem to be underappreciated, stereotyped, and disrespected by so many in society. I have had the privledge of not having to work & be home with my kids for the past 7 years. I have gotten so many rude comments like "Oh God I'd go crazy being at home with kids all day long with nothing to do!" " Aren't you bored??" "You are too smart to be just a housewife" BLAH BLAH BLAH My favorites are the I'd go crazy being home with my kids all day" and the boredom comment. My usual response is a smile followed by" Well, I'd go crazy worrying about my kids being taken care of by someone else while I'm at work all day" I've encountered a few people (most were other women) that had the attitude that SAHMs should be taking on several extra responsibilities, or filling up all their spare time with extra work (volunteering at schools , etc) in order to "really contribute to society" Since when is being a fulltime parent, raising your own kids, and taking care of your own home, not contributing to society? Sorry, a little off topic, but it just got me thinking... Especially now since I am facing having to work, and continuing my education. I am excited about nursing school next year, but I will also miss being that full time parent. It's also getting difficult to brush off the comments I am getting "Oh that's great you are finally doing something" GRRRR! It is also nice to see that someone (especially a nurse, which is what I desire to become) respects my current job title (SAHM), and wants to have a job like mine :)

Trauma Columnist · Aug 19, 2003

Golly - what rude people.

Rapheal · Aug 19, 2003

Originally posted by azgirl
A dear friend, 66 years old, recently said she did not know why I went to school for four years to get a two year degree because her neice just took one class while in high school and is a nurse.

I too have heard this type of reply. I have had dome people ask me what I do and when I tell them I am an RN they tell me how their neice, or grandaughter took this up in high school and is a nurse too.

My neice used to tell everyone she was in nursing school but she was really in a vocational program to be a CNA. She was dropped from the program because she was "abusive" to patients.

Too bad the public does not know the true role of nursing. If they knew that we were responsible for addressing their labs, questioning unsafe med orders and other things perhaps they would be less inclined to throw hissy fits when they are brought a flavor of soda that they don't like or other such nonsense.

colleen10 · Aug 19, 2003

I just wanted to add that I am starting my first semester of nursing clinicals this evening and have started reading my "Nursing Fundamentals" Book.

In the first chapter which discusses the history of nursing, nursing orgs. and education, etc. there are a whole two pages of pictures of nurses with various patients - children, laboring mothers, elderly, etc. There are about 6 total. Under each picture is a negative quote such as "How can handle all the death and disease and watching an elderly patient die, I would never do that" and then there is a nurse response in quotes "When you see the joy in a patients eyes from doing the smallest task that means so much to them or when you comfort a patient and their family in the last hours of their life, then you will know how." This isn't word for word as I don't have the book right in front of me but it's the jist.

I just thought it was good that this was in the book as it seems so many people receive negative comments when told that you are in nursing school or are a nurse.

8ntth · Aug 19, 2003

The rude comments can hurt! As nurses I think we are more sensitive than the general population so we're more upset at the rude comments. I really think all professions have rude - crude remarks made about them, but out of either jealousy or ignorance. Do we respond in the same way when we know why the comment is made? Instead of getting angry it's an oppurtunity for providing education.

It reminds me of something I heard a long time ago. "What do you say if someone calls you a refridgerator?" "Well, I laugh, I'm not a refridgerator"

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Aug 19, 2003

Whether or not someone is a nurse, respect needs to go all around.

At a nursing home i worked at as a housekeeper, for the first 3 months, i had a CNA who referred to me as "the maid", "oh housekeepergirl!!! Ha HA HA", "hey mop queen", etc. with the pathetic bullcrap like that. I tried one time to reason with HER by saying "My name might not be stamped on my nametag in large letters, but it says -------, and here i also wrote it on this index card in large letters for future reference". Another week of the belittle namecalling ensued, so i went to the DON, which was the next step up and told her what was going on and how it was making my job something i wasn't looking foreward to.

The next day she called her in the office, and said "this is wasting my time. I should not have to tell people HOW to respect EVERYONE, but in this case i have to. Judging by your resume, you've done private duty in houses that included cleaning and such, so do you think this gives you the right to treat others like crap? If so, you can get your last check this week, or you can learn to be respectful of everyone, because i am not dealing with any people that let licenses, trainings, and certifications go to their head."

I loved that woman .

But thanks to that incident, i remember what it was like to be considered "doing nothing but sitting on your ***" or as the low woman on the totem pole. No one i work with, or who might work for me will ever have to hear that kind of insult from me.

Correct, Eleanor Rooselvelt once said "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." The key is not to consent.

As for the disrespect from patients, i'll have to take that as it comes.

allnurses Guide · Aug 19, 2003

Almost Recruited . . . thanks for the comments about stay at home moms. I had children to raise them myself and I'm working (under protest) part-time now. I'm very fortunate that my inlaws take care of my son two days a week at their ranch, where he has a great time. Raising children is challenging but it is not boring. If you are bored, then, as I say to my kids in the summer, it is your own fault. The nursing image suffers from the same kind of stereotyping as SAHM's and actually teachers, emergency workers, etc.

Just don't stand for it.

steph

tommycher · Aug 20, 2003

I am an LVN, I work on Telemetry in a hospital. The LVN's here do ALL the same work as RN's, EXCEPT hang blood and be charge. I cannot imagine being unable to start IV's or IVP's. I cannot recall all the other things that were mentioned earlier that LPN's elsewhere are unable to do, but if you cannot take total care of your patients, including IV therapy, is that really nursing? If I had to rely on an RN to do my pt's meds, the RN would have no time for her pt's!! I love being a nurse, and the RN's on my unit tell us LVN's to get our RN because they recognize we do the same job as they do, but do not get the same pay.

almostrecruited · Aug 21, 2003

Raising children is challenging but it is not boring. If you are bored, then, as I say to my kids in the summer, it is your own fault. The nursing image suffers from the same kind of stereotyping as SAHM's and actually teachers, emergency workers, etc.

Just don't stand for it.

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Stevielynn,

AMEN to that. I've never been bored being a SAHM, or parent. I don't have time to get bored. I'm too busy doing my job, taking care of my kids, and the rest of my responsibilities. That's why I find it obnoxiously rude when other women ask me if I am bored sitting at home all day doing NOTHING LOL! The rudeness and arrogance of others is present in all "careers" I see I'll be facing a new kind of stereotyping when I become a nurse. That's okay, I'm a seasoned pro at ignoring, and sometimes correcting shallow, arrogant people. Good luck to you stevie, in becoming a SAHM.