Are you ashamed of being a nurse?

Zee_RN, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2000

Why in the world would I be ashamed? How did you come up with this question? Are you a nurse? I'm proud to be a nurse. Do you mean do I feel inferior because I'm not a physician? Nope...I'm as smart as any doctor...I simply didn't chose to invest 10 to 12 years of my life to becoming one. And a GOOD physician has a good deal of respect for a GOOD nurse. I'm baffled as to why you would think a nurse would be ashamed....

pickledpepperRN · Oct 10, 2000

Proud of what we do.

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rncountry · Oct 11, 2000

never ashamed to say I am a nurse, I am proud to say I am a nurse. What is shaming to the profession as a whole is how we attack one another, the politics each unit can have, how nurses can gang up on the new grad, how nurses can treat student nurses, how we have not stood up for one another, how we turn our heads when one nurse behaves rudely and unprofessionally to another nurse feeling it is ok to degrade and be snide when one nurse does not have the knowledge of another, instead of educating. This makes inexperienced nurses afraid to ask questions or to go ahead with a procedure that they are unfamiliar with because they are afraid to appear stupid in front of others. What shames us is for nurse managers to be more concerned with the bottom line instead of patient care, and to in turn demand the impossible from their staffs, to let a physician rage at their staff instead of stepping forward and requesting that disagreements and problems be handled professionally, then going over the physicians head if the request is not met. Shame to the nurse that does not report, or stand up for those that do report unsafe patient practices, abuse or falsification of charting. Never should we be ashamed of being a nurse, only ashamed that we seem to have the inability to take care of each other with the same zeal that we want to take care of our patients.

Mijourney · Oct 12, 2000

Hi posters. As a nurse, I am relieved to see your responses. I know that I posted an unusual question. But, in light of mixed posts on this bb, I could not help but wonder whether some people actually felt so bad about nursing and the practice of it that they were ashamed of being one.

LMCGLUMPHY · Oct 12, 2000

HI EVERYONE. I'M NEW TO THIS BB STUFF, SO BEAR WITH ME. IN RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION "ARE YOU ASHAMED TO BE A NURSE?", I HAVE TO RESPOND WITH "NO, BUT IT IS GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO BE PROUD OF IT. YOU CAN'T BE PROUD OF WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU GO HOME AFTER EVERY SHIFT KNOWING YOU COULD DO BETTER FOR THE PATIENTS IF ONLY THERE WERE ENOUGH NURSES. SHORT STAFFING AND EVEN HIGHLY DANGEROUS NURSE-PATIENT RATIOS ALONG WITH (WHAT SEEMS LIKE DAILY) ADDITIONAL DUTIES PLACED ON NURSES HAS MADE THIS A PROFESSION THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE PROUD OF. I FEEL THAT ADMINISTRATIONS HAVE PUSHED NURSES INTO THESE FEELINGS ABOUT UOR PROFFESSION BY NOT ALLOWING US TO DO A GOOD JOB. MORE AND MORE OFTEN I GO HOME THINKING :THIS IS A JOKE. AND I WORK IN ICU

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JUST ANOTHER...

bunky, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2000

I am proud to be a nurse. I don't always feel good about the job due to short staffing but when people ask me what I do, I am proud to say I am an RN.

Jo_deye_yuh · Nov 12, 2000

I am proud to be a LPN. I am proud to have the opportunity to work beside gifted and talented LPNs, RNs, and Drs. I am ashamed of the identical things that rncountry states above. Best stated in her last sentence, "Never should we be ashamed of being a nurse, only ashamed that we seem to have the inability to take care of each other with the same zeal that we want to take care of our patients." I am ashamed of the healthcare system and the politics.

Happy Nursing!

fergus51 · Nov 12, 2000

RNCOUNTRY,

AMEN!!!! I hope every nurse out there feels the same.

dka · Dec 1, 2000

I am soo proud to be nurse. When ever someone asks me what do u do I say I am a nurse and they always say oh you must be a good person. That is so great to hear

Roberto · May 9, 2001

I feel no pride in being a nurse. I look at it as a job and nothing more. When I leave to go home I leave my job behind me and do the things I like to do. I know I'm in a minority when I say this. I feel no shame in being a nurse but I don't feel as if I'm really making a difference. Yes I have saved peoples lives on some occassions but to me that is part of the job. Don't feel bad for me because I don't.

fiestynurse · May 9, 2001

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