We nurses are sometimes our own worst enemies. Far too often, lay people demonstrate misunderstanding and disrespect for nurses. Why shouldn't they, when they learned at least some of it from us?
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In the US, the definition of a nurse is a simple one. A registered nurse is a person who has passed the appropriate NCLEX exam and who holds a valid license in his or her state. The same is true for a licensed practical nurse. That's pretty straight forward, isn't it?
As it turns out, the definitions are a bit too straight forward for some, meaning they don't allow the lay public to discern exactly how nursey a particular practitioner might be. This deficiency has inspired some nurses to take it upon themselves to establish various nursiness scales and encourage others to abide by them when evaluating those who may--or may not--be their peers.
For instance, ICU and ED nurses typically outrank med/surg, OB, and psych nurses. Flight nurses and those who work in neuro or cardiac ORs are usually located somewhere near the top of the heap, while others who give vaccinations at community clinics, educate new diabetics, or work in school health rooms come out near the bottom.
The problem with this kind of thinking is that it fosters division and disrespect among people who ought to be linking arms and presenting a united front when non-nurses demonstrate how poorly much of the general public understands the nursing profession--and who belongs in it.
In an age when medical assistants, nursing assistants, med techs, and even office personnel might wrongfully refer to themselves as nurses, we who genuinely have earned the title should insist on truth in labeling. We need to educate consumers and get after those who exploit their confusion. As nursey as these assistive personnel may appear, they have no right to appropriate the title.
Not much to argue about there. But, along with exclusive limitation, truth in labeling has an inclusive aspect as well. And that is not nearly as popular within our ranks.
The initial showdown takes place between hospital nurses and everyone else. Acute care nurses take pride in what they do, and they should, so long as they don't--even mentally--let their workplaces give them an excuse to snub other nurses.
Among the non-hospital nurses, another dust-up occurs between those who provide patient care and those who don't. Do you work with residents, visit people in their homes, give kids their ADHD meds and inhalers? Okay, you're a notch or two down from the hospital folks, but at least you're still a hands-on nurse.
What if you're a case manager, an insurance reviewer, or an IT person? Sorry, you don't seem very nursey at all.
Advanced practice nurses might as well be animals of a different species, along with those involved in upper management or teaching.
And so it goes.
Why do we treat each other this way? How can we blame the public for having a distorted image of nursing when some of us capitalize on this very misinformation--"Why yes, thank you, I am a real nurse because I work in a flashy specialty that would shine on prime time TV--leaving others to feel they have to present their credentials, point out their roots, or argue the importance of their jobs.
Can we admit that some of our colleagues do jobs that lack panache but matter greatly to their patients, clients and residents. Can we acknowledge as our peers those who keep renewing their licenses even though they now operate at a remove from the bedside--the teachers, the managers, the researchers, the volunteers?
Maybe it's time we give the rest of the world a demonstration in how to respect nurses by insisting that every one of us who has passed the test and kept the license current is just as nursey as the rest.
