Did ya catch the article in July AJN called "I'm No Angel" written by Margaret C. Belchers MSN, RN, CCRN ? Alot of follow-up opinions in this October issue as well. If you read it....what's your opinion?
She sure gets bashed for the article in follow-ups. I agree with her totally. I smile and cringe when I get called an angel. Sorry folks. I'd take solid, reality-based praise like "You are so competent" or "You are so smart" or "I trust my family member in your hands because you are so knowledgeable" over being an "angel" any day of the week. It is such an outdated notion. So Florence Nightengale-ish. We've come along way baby. It takes away from what we really are doing as nurses and what we are capable of, and how much responsibility we carry. Nice yes, caring yes, compassionate yes....but here on earth as a fellow HUMAN BEINGS....not magical angels. YUCK. EEK. SAPPY. This to me is not bad to feel this way. It is not a gruff, old, burnt-out nurse attitude. To me it is enriching thought and a foundation for a more pleasing and rewarding career platform for the future. We all need to work towards eliminating the Doctor=God and Nurse=Angel mentality built in to this profession. It is a dysfunctional illness that only serves to make us loosen our grasp on reality and to minimize our true worth. It makes for poor doc/nurse relationships. Our patients see us as pillow-fluffing angels of the past...as if the docs are in the hall 24/7 handling every ticking moment. And we, as nurses are OK with that? Feel good and valued about that? Public education....long overdue. But to get the right message out, we have to LIVE the part. EDUCATED NURSE. NOT ANGEL. I am a good nurse and that is what is necessary to do a good job. (Besides, wings and halos tend to get all tangled up in privacy curtains) Tell me i'm thoughtful, sweet, caring...just don't put me on the Angel pedestal.
Thanks for this hour of your life. I will step off of my soapbox now.
i've found that the people who get all wrapped up in the job and their patients usually don't have much of a life outside of work....their job is their home. their home life is pathetic. personally, i have a rewarding life outside of work, and i don't need to live through my job.
i don't think that all people who get wrapped up in their jobs and pt's are pathetic and not all people who do have a pathetic home life either. sometimes all people do is work, work, work and it's hard not to get wrapped up in that. i think your statement posted above was a little harsh.
I'd take solid, reality-based praise like "You are so competent" or "You are so smart" or "I trust my family member in your hands because you are so knowledgeable" over being an "angel" any day of the week. It is such an outdated notion.
Would pts know if their nurse was competent, smart or trustworthy? If they arent in the medical field - they wouldnt know that the nurse was supposed to take their bp every 2hrs, etc, etc. I dont think most of my patients know what competent means. I worked in the ER. Patients and their families saw who was really doing the WORK..I was often told that "you sure do work hard", "you hadnt stopped running all night", "Im sorry to bother you, I know you're busy, but...." If all they can come up with is "Angel" - I know what they really mean.
I am a mlae nurse and I get Honey and sweety all the time. I also get Big Guy. Tiny, Big Boy, and many others. I never take offense. I also as I mentioned call Pt's by little terms of endearment and they do not complain.
Terms of endearment are not the issue at all. It is the unreasonable expectations that come along with nurses being viewed as "angels" - that we "answer a higher calling", should always be selfless and subservient, that we get so much joy and fullfillment out of helping and serving that we do not need to be paid competitive wages, we don't need days off, vacations, or sick time, we should always put others before ourselves and be happy for the priviledge. Hogwash. Nursing is a career - pure and simple. Nurses get sick, have bad days, need to take breaks, deserve respect, just like everyone else. We are not superhuman and most of us are not trying to reach some higher level of spirituality by being dutiful self-sacrificing little servants - we go to work to get paid just like any other professionals. It just so happens that what we get paid to do improves/saves the lives of others.
I am just sick to death of people looking down on nurses for expecting to be well-paid and for looking out for themselves - especially when those people are other nurses.
Terms of endearment are not the issue at all. It is the unreasonable expectations that come along with nurses being viewed as "angels" - that we "answer a higher calling", should always be selfless and subservient, that we get so much joy and fullfillment out of helping and serving that we do not need to be paid competitive wages, we don't need days off, vacations, or sick time, we should always put others before ourselves and be happy for the priviledge. Hogwash. Nursing is a career - pure and simple. Nurses get sick, have bad days, need to take breaks, deserve respect, just like everyone else. We are not superhuman and most of us are not trying to reach some higher level of spirituality by being dutiful self-sacrificing little servants - we go to work to get paid just like any other professionals. It just so happens that what we get paid to do improves/saves the lives of others.
I am just sick to death of people looking down on nurses for expecting to be well-paid and for looking out for themselves - especially when those people are other nurses.
You are soooo AWESOME! ^5! Wished all the nurses I worked with had the same attitude. You know, 21st century professionals. It annoys me to work with the ones who get so much reward from not taking breaks.. ...so enriching for the selfless types, improves nurse-esteem. They simply glow. Of course they like to let EVERYONE know they haven't taken breaks or eaten or peed. Even when you have offered to help them or cover for them so they could take one...These type never ask for help when they are drowning either.....martyrdom and sainthood. Nooo breaks I was to busy giving, and giving, and....How many docs with the "god complex" can you stomach? It works the same with the "Angel complex". Neither are truly compassionate or effective caregivers because the underlying agenda is all about them. I am a bad nurse in the eyes of these folks. I expect to eat pee and sit a few each shift. I do say NO. I stand up for myself. I don't OVERcare. I am caring and kind, but your drama is not my main concern. Your healthcare is.
Terms of endearment are not the issue at all. It is the unreasonable expectations that come along with nurses being viewed as "angels" - that we "answer a higher calling", should always be selfless and subservient, that we get so much joy and fullfillment out of helping and serving that we do not need to be paid competitive wages, we don't need days off, vacations, or sick time, we should always put others before ourselves and be happy for the priviledge. Hogwash. Nursing is a career - pure and simple. Nurses get sick, have bad days, need to take breaks, deserve respect, just like everyone else. We are not superhuman and most of us are not trying to reach some higher level of spirituality by being dutiful self-sacrificing little servants - we go to work to get paid just like any other professionals. It just so happens that what we get paid to do improves/saves the lives of others.
I am just sick to death of people looking down on nurses for expecting to be well-paid and for looking out for themselves - especially when those people are other nurses."
Another high five at ya! Good post. The image of nurses as "Angels of Mercy" answering a higher call has got to go. When patients refer to me as an "angel" or my peers as angels (which is rare indeed) but happens, I usually say "no just human beings doing our job, thank you."
There are some people who use angel as Renee said as a term of endearment and that doesn't bother me. "Be an angel and hand me my glasses...". Terms of endearment like sweetie, honey, dear are common in some circles. Mattsmom, I hear them too, but not as often as the ladies I'm sure. I hate to say I use them too. I call my patients "sweetie" or "love", sorry don't mean to offend or degrade anyone. I usually call males "my good friend". (After of course we've bonded.)
Well if you honestly think that when a Pt calls you Angel they mean you are literally an Angel and don't need want or deserve, all of the things that a career or a profession involve then I would say HOGWASH!
I will go and find and read the article since I have not done so. But the people that are Pts in most facilities and especially those that would be kind enough to use the word Angel aa a descriptor I assure you do not believe you are a Heavenly entity. They are simply most likely religious in their own beliefs and are conveying a simple term of gratitiude.
As for a calling or being meant to be a nurse I am, I was, and I believe. If you think that makes me religious or psycho or whatever then you are making vast generaliztions about a certain group. I feel that because of the situations in my life I was lead to a certain understanding of medical situations and then saw an opportunity to go into a career that would have good long-term stability and possibly give me a chance to atone for some of my previous behaviours by helping other and being selfless rather than selfish, greedy or self centered.
I find it difficult to beleive that anyone in todays society believes that nursing is not a profession and that nurses are simply deitys that have no life or any concerns outside their chosen profession. I personally feel that most of the people of the USA understand all too well how much work nurses do and that we are not just little hand holders or spreader of joy.
CCU NRS, the problem with people thinking we are "called" to nursing is that they look at us as nuns or priests who don't deserve proper compensation or working conditions. That we'll put up with anything because we are answering a "higher call".
Quite a number of nurses themselves think of nursing as a calling. I think for whatever reason I myself am drawn to nursing and feel that it is what I'm meant to do right now. But I don't think we need to go around promoting ourselves as answering a "calling".
This thread is soo great. I want to respond to weebizit about the acct. who gave her a death look after telling her that , instead of becoming an acct. she wished she'd been a nurse. How funny was the way she responded to you, after you said "that it's just a job".....does that acct. know what it means to clean an incontinet pt. or to decide wether to use a spacula or spoon to collect a stool
speci???
To the male nurse that uses and recieves charming little "nick-names" NO WAY!! I don't give or recieve. I reintroduce myself if someone that does remember who I am and I don't call ( especially older geri pt) sweetie, honey or such.
After reading the article I am actually a little offended. I do think my work is Noble. I would likely feel my work was noble if I were a garbage man, if you have no self esteem then it is your place to figure out what is wrong with you not blame your profession. I also do not put myself last as she mentioned I too feel it is ridiculus for people to not empty their blader or not take their lunch break because they are doing their job, if they are doing their job well (as I do) they can take the time to take care of these basic human needs without feeling they are neglecting their Pt's. I feel the authorof the aritcle was attempting to rise Nursing to a level of professionalism which is deserved but she in my opinion chose a poor comparison. I do not personally believe that people today feel that Dotor = God and Nurse= Angel. I feel those days may have had a time in the early 20th century but since the computer age has hit everyone with a modem can and does research everything they have any interest in. I also feel that degrading and criticizing an entire group of the profession that do feel called is again vast generaliztion just like any other generalization.
I am frankly very proud of my profession, I also feel that I was lead to it by some things in my life that made it a path I saw as chosen. Does this mean I am consumed with my profession? NO! I work 12 hour shifts, I do my work and I take my time off. I do not worry about a Pt after they are out of my care. I do however ocassionally feel closer to some Pts and check up on their progress on my return to work. I am also a very caring person, not only to my Pts and their families, but to my family and to my friends and loved ones.
This article while possibly well meaning was offensive to me personally.
You are soooo AWESOME! ^5! Wished all the nurses I worked with had the same attitude. You know, 21st century professionals. It annoys me to work with the ones who get so much reward from not taking breaks.. ...so enriching for the selfless types, improves nurse-esteem. They simply glow. Of course they like to let EVERYONE know they haven't taken breaks or eaten or peed. Even when you have offered to help them or cover for them so they could take one...These type never ask for help when they are drowning either.....martyrdom and sainthood. Nooo breaks I was to busy giving, and giving, and....How many docs with the "god complex" can you stomach? It works the same with the "Angel complex". Neither are truly compassionate or effective caregivers because the underlying agenda is all about them. I am a bad nurse in the eyes of these folks. I expect to eat pee and sit a few each shift. I do say NO. I stand up for myself. I don't OVERcare. I am caring and kind, but your drama is not my main concern. Your healthcare is.
I think what you are referring to here are enablers or door mats I do not see them as Angels and I dont think their Pt's do either. I think these nurses are the same in their personal lives and are usually married to abusive spouses who usually don't work and they get their entire fulfilment of their lives by doing a job and it is their only personna.
I don't like the self sacrificing saintly heroine kind of stereotype either (and believe me, it exists!), but I do know people who call me an angel are just trying to be nice and I take it that way. I am also just a person doing a job I love.
sharann, BSN, RN
1,758 Posts
I came in to work on call today and saw that the entire ER crew dressed up all in white(white in ER?) and wore halos and wings on their backs