Advice from current nurses or students?

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · May 3, 2017

The reputation of nurses "not being smart" has not been true for decades. It is one of the most difficult courses of study that one can take on. Doctors only look down on me one time, then we have a meeting of the minds and set things straight. My experience has been that most realize that we are on the same side, and I am their eyes and ears when they aren't around. Generally speaking, nurses don't perform tests (not lab tests, anyway). They may collect the samples (or not, depending upon the work environment), but they are sent to the lab for analysis. Whether nurses like their jobs is going to vary widely depending upon the amount of time that they have been in the profession, their level in their current organization, and the type of work environment.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · May 3, 2017

I'm curious about how you determined that nurses have a reputation for 'not being very smart'?

This seems very much like a homework assignment- is it?

RNNPICU, BSN, RN · May 3, 2017

I like my job. I have quite a bit of autonomy.

I have never felt looked down on, rather I feel respected and turned to for advice, even by doctors and other LIPs.

Pianoplaya94 · May 3, 2017

I'm curious about how you determined that nurses have a reputation for 'not being very smart'?
This seems very much like a homework assignment- is it?

Honestly, I got it from these forums (although they were very very old threads ).

No, this is 100% not a homework assignment lol. I just have questions about the profession before I apply at the end of the year. I'm just being extremely proactive.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · May 3, 2017

And so you decided to come on here and basically insult all the members of the profession you hope to someday join- to be 'proactive'?

Just think about that for a while, ok?

nursej22, MSN, RN · May 3, 2017

I am not sure what you mean by autonomy. Some constraints are dictated by law, such as prescriptive authority.

Other than my older sister, I have not heard of this reputation of "nurses not being very smart".

As for testing, this varies from setting to setting. My friend who is in occupational health, does all sorts of biophysical testing. Some of my public health coworkers do STD, Hep C and HIV screening.

Zyprexa · May 3, 2017

I also have never heard the "nurses not being smart" thing before. Quite the opposite actually.

Pianoplaya94 · May 3, 2017

And so you decided to come on here and basically insult all the members of the profession you hope to someday join- to be 'proactive'?
Just think about that for a while, ok?

I am sincerely sorry if this question was insulting. That was honestly not my intention nor did I think it was insulting when I asked it. I'm young with little "real world" experience so I was asking what it is like in the work place. I have come across some not so nice perceptions about nurses (from old forums on this website) so wanted so just clear that up. The nurses that I have interacted with have been incredibly smart. And you need very high marks to get into any of the programs. That was my point. Not to insult anyone, but by asking why this perception exists when nurses are very very smart people. But from what people have said on here, that perception does not exist anymore so I apologize if I was offensive.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · May 3, 2017

I have heard a lot of generalizations about nurses, but never have I heard that we had a reputation about "not being smart" It's ironic this post would come the day after a very famous television personality had an entire monologue about how smart nurses are and how they are the ones that noticed his son needed cardiac surgery.

That said I have always had a lot of autonomy in the ER. I can't even begin to tell you what kind of tests we do and how we analyze the results. There are so many components and variances to that question. For example we do blood tests, the lab analyzes them and gives us the result. We know if it's the parameters of being normal or not. Depending on the patients condition we know if it is out of the parameter if that is acceptable for that patient. We know dependent on the situation if it's something we need to alert the doctor on immediately and start interventions. If you want a breakdown on how the blood is analyzed then you want to talk to the folks that work in the lab or a specific type of nurse. Everyone has their areas and jobs. A radiologist is going to be analyzing the CT report. Etc. Etc.

We aren't talking about a profession here that had 2-3 things and an algorithm for. There are literally thousands of variables here. You may be "young and naive" but you states she area bout to graduate with a BS in Health Science. So I feel like you might not be as "naive" as you're portraying yourself to be.

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · May 3, 2017

I'm curious about how you determined that nurses have a reputation for 'not being very smart'?

There was the nursing student that called us babysitters and all we do is get patients water and magazines. Nurses don't save patients, doctors do. Being a staff nurse was beneath her intelligence and go straight to being an NP.

ItsThatJenGirl, CNA · May 3, 2017

I think the OP is/was referring to the "not smart enough to be a doctor" thing, which is something I've heard lots of times. Though obviously, it's untrue.