Why Is It That Everyone Thinks They're A Good Nurse?

[Ruby Vee]

i don't get it. people write about the horrible mistakes they've made that got them fired from work or suspended, and then they'll go on to say that they know they're a good nurse anyway because they try so hard. maybe the evidence shows that they're not a good nurse yet . . . but if they keep trying hard they will be some day?

or the nurse who writes that she's on her fourth job since graduation 16 months ago, and she hasn't found her "nitch" yet . . . and someone tells her to hold her head up because they know she's a great nurse. really? how could you possibly know that -- especially with the evidence provided that the poster has been through three jobs and is failing her fourth?

then there are the special nurses who know they're great nurses despite their many problems at work because they have a calling. or because they're compassionate. sorry -- that's not all it takes to be a great -- or even an adequate nurse.

what ever happened to striving to be a good nurse but knowing you're not there yet? knowing you need a bit more experience to be a great nurse but you're trying hard? how come everyone these days is a good nurse the moment they graduate?

[Katalina]

It feels like when they say,"I'm a good nurse". What they mean is I'm a good person or I'm trying hard. Also it does seem like people usually think nursing is about being caring and compassionate. Nothing else. All the good nurses I've ever known were extremely smart, no nonsense types. They could see through bs a mile away. A little stern at times.( I was 17 and working as a CNA) Those ladies taught me so much about nursing and just about life in general. They're the reason I decided to be a nurse. I hope one day I can call myself a "good nurse". And have it be true, of course!

[sharpeimom]

i can't tell you the day of which month in which i became a "good" nurse, but i do remember where i was. my very first job

out of school was on an ortho floor and the words loathe, hate, and detest don't come close to describing how i felt about my

new profession. i was given far too short an orientation period, had to rotate all three shifts within a two week pay period,

and was the new nurse hired in from outside and not the one who worked elsewhere on campus they all had hoped would transfer

in.

the bright spots of that job were the lpn who helped me make the transition from green student to brand new nurse. good

nurse? no, but one who became proficient in many many more nursing skills. thank you, anne. the other good thing was meeting

and dating that gorgous young south american surgeon.

when i became a good nurse, i think, was after i became a psych nurse. it all just seemed to fall right into place somehow.

not because it was any easier, because it wasn't. just completely different. i had a heckuva lot to learn in psych too, but it seemed

to come with effort and not labored over endlessly as i'd had to do in orthopedics.

[tyloo]

another thought to ponder for us nurses... as "nurses week" approches.

on that thought gitano......

maybe hospitals can get coffee mugs at work that says, "great nurse...or at least i think so." that way it pertains to the whole entire nursing staff! :rotfl:

[Dixielee, BSN, RN]

I think I am a good nurse in my present position, but I was just barely competent for the first few years after I became an RN! I have changed specialties over the years and done a number of things, but I am always apprehensive and learning in the beginning of each new venture. I had been an critical care nurse at a major teaching hospital and did PRN in a very busy ED for about 20 years when I decided to try home health. I had done some basic orientation but had never done a home visit alone or with another nurse when the director asked me to go to a patient's home to check on them. It was not an official visit, but the patient had not answered her phone when the primary nurse called her to set up the appointment. I went, but I was terrified!! I had been a preceptor, ACLS instructor, nursing clinical instructor and I was terrified in this new role.

I adjusted quickly and did home health for the next 5 years and loved it. I remarried and moved and the only job available in my new area was ED. Once again I was terrified! I had certainly not lost any of my knowledge, my assessment skills, my integrity, but I had been away from the hospital while new technology and processes moved along. I had to relearn a lot in a hurry.

Now, after 38 years in nursing, I am very comfortable in my role as a staff nurse, preceptor, teacher and leader, but I am not complacent. Things can go wrong very quickly even IF you are paying close attention. When you are dealing with human beings, nothing ever goes completely by the book.

My advice to the new nurses who think they are a good nurse is to be very very careful and do not go down the path of complacency. Keep your eyes and ears open, plan to learn something new every day for the rest of your life and never, ever think you have all the answers. Most days I'm still not sure what the questions really are!

[caliotter3]

Good in relation to? Most every nurse would be good compared to one nurse but not as good compared to another. Part of being a member of the human race.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

I'm not a nurse yet myself, but to be honest some of the threads here where real nurses talk about day to day stuff, the intimidating stack of meds I will have to know, plus discussions about patient and doctor interaction, lateral violence, hospital red tape, etc., I'm actually worried sometimes that I won't be good enough to do what you folks do. Time will tell and I'm going to give it 110% anyways but some days I can see how much work I really have ahead of me. Some days I'm frightened.

I've often thought that a good healthy fear of what lies ahead will make the difference in someone succeeding...over someone who blows in with a "I just KNOW I am/going to be/ a great nurse".

I hoped to HELL I was going to be a good nurse, dare I think maybe even a great nurse. I don't know that I've achieved the latter, but I'm pretty comfortable I've made it to the former. But I do remember that hoping, wondering, worrying period when I just didn't know...and I wish to hell there were more students today who ALSO hope/worry/wonder, rather than just declaring outright that they're darn sure they ARE good--or even great.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

I'm a good nurse. But, I am not a perfect one. I try to improve on my weaknesses and utilize my strong points. I think as nurses we have to always be willing to self assess, adapt and learn.

[Vespertinas]

Tailing off of what Katalina said, I think when people assure themselves that they're a "good nurse" they're just extending the concept of "I'm a good person". To maintain a healthy self-concept, our egos MUST rationalize that we are good people, regardless of whether our thoughts and actions actually coincide with that determination. I suppose our careers can play such a defining role in our lives that if we failed to believe that we were "good" at that profession, that failure would encroach on the balance of our frail egos.

That's why my husband had to get out of stocks. It became more than a job and his successes and failures were eating him alive. He couldn't separate his concept of himself as a good, achieving, deserving person from his performance in the market.

[tewdles, RN]

I can honestly say that in more than 30 years of nursing I have been both good and bad at my jobs. It is difficult to start a new nursing position and be "good" at what you are doing, because we often don't know what "good" looks or feels like yet in that position...you know, the age old adage that it takes 6 months before you don't feel dangerous and 12 months to feel comfortable with most scenarios in your specialty.

I know that I spent 6 months trying to be a home care nurse (in the past 5 years) and discovered that I was not a "good" home care nurse...because I did not enjoy it, was not motivated by the care, and saw no future for myself in the specialty. So while I could competently complete the skills and tasks, and provide caring and competent care for the patients, I was nothing more than a competent home care nurse...I was not "good" at it. I went back to a specialty that I am good at, and enjoy.

There have been times that I believe I have been a great nurse. Not because I convinced myself, but because I have received acknowledgement, accolades (sp?) from peers, patients, or other professionals, or awards for my efforts. It is impossible to be good at something if you cannot successfully execute the duties or tasks of that something.

I never was an advocate of praising my children for failure. I praised them for not giving up, for pursuing things worth pursuing and practicing until they got it right. I remind(ed) them that falling down is a part of life and everybody does it. The hard part is getting up again and again and taking the next step, even if it means you may fall again.

[nurse2many]

another thought to ponder for us nurses... as "nurses week" approches.

lol!!!!!!!:yelclap:

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

On some days I'm a good nurse just because I showed up.

[redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN]

Well, this is a place for support, so if someone else says they're sure that person is a good nurse, they're probably just trying to be supportive. That said, I feel like some instructors are doing serious disservice to some of these students by passing them in clinicals when they can see that they are not competent, and possibly even dangerous. One student was asked to simply tell the nurse how many mL of 2mg/mL dilaudid to give if the order is for 0.5 mg, and he said to give 4mL!!!! Thank God we were on hospice rotation, and thank God he failed on tests or they'd probably have passed him anyway. We had another student who everyone agreed was incompetent and unsafe in clinicals, but got B's on her tests. She graduated and got a job at the hospital where we went to school. She didn't last 8 months. I am sure the teachers told her she had things she needed to work on, but they really should have failed her by first semester. She wasted all that money and time and she probably won't even stay in nursing. Maybe there's a place for people like her, who knows.