Are nurse's all that and a bag of chips?

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I have been a RN for 11 years now, have seen much as many of you have. One thing that continues to irk me are nurses that think because they are a nurse are somehow a cross between Florence Nightingale and Jesus--and act like it. You know, "super nurse syndrome"

I was at my local gym and saw the a T shirt that said:

I sacrificed my life, so I could save your life. I am a nurse.

Really? You sacrificed your life to be a nurse? WOW, I never realized that going to nursing school and getting a job involved life sacrifice.( like so many 100.000's people that go to college to get jobs).

GET OVER IT ALREADY, your a nurse, your not mother Theresa, you don't walk on water and you DID NOT sacrifice your life to become a nurse.

Nursing school and how hard it is, another thing that people want to whine/brag about I get tired of hearing about. Really? I'll bet becoming a chemical engineer is very hard, I'll be learning computer coding is very hard, in fact I'll bet most any college degree--they just don't hand them out for showing up. You have to work for them and earn them---just like nursing school.

What I am saying is being a nurse does not somehow set you apart from the rest of the world, or make you a better person---just because your a nurse.

Doing your job, being courteous to patients AND coworkers AND people in general is what we and everyone else on the planet should be doing----we are all members of the human family.

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Self-important people are obnoxious. I see this behavior with all types, though- not just nurses. I do find it embarrassing when it involves nurses, because I imagine some people will assume I feel the same way.

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I was at my local gym and saw the a T shirt that said:

I sacrificed my life, so I could save your life. I am a nurse.

:facepalm:

Yeah, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that particular Tshirt. How ridiculous.

When it comes to education I personally don't think that a nursing degree qualifies as one of the more difficult ones. Of course it's all relative and different people find different things challenging depending on their individual strengths and weaknesses.

As far as the job itself, I do believe that it is a rather demanding profession.

I think that the mix of shift work (which is common in healthcare even if not everyone does it), inadequate staffing levels, the very real possibility that a human being gets seriously harmed or even dies if you make a mistake and the frequent and close contact with human suffering, the various emotional manifestations of loss (of function, ability, health) and death sets healthcare work apart from many other professions. So yes, I think that it can be a hard job.

If I'd venture a guess, I'd say that the rate of burnout and compassion fatigue is significantly lower among for example librarians and botanists (but what would I know, I'm neither).

So yes, I think that nursing has its challenges but you certainly don't have to sacrifice your life in order to be a nurse. I find that kind of martyrdom attitude rather off-putting.

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Specializes in ER.

Those shirts are really based off of the medic or firefighter shirts that I saw popping up a lot. I saw them popping up on Facebook and only weeks later the nurses ones popped up. Apparently they even have a CNA version now.

To be fair, nursing has made a culture where we are supposed to be motherly, sacrificial, etc. It's built into the culture. Heck, potential nursing school applicants will cry over why it is unfair that so and so is doing better or got into school and they don't have the culture of self-sacrifice.

I hate it.

Another thing I hate is when nurses act like it's okay for nurses not to get a break. That the nurse shouldn't get a break because their patient is sick. It's some unforgivable sin to utilize the lunch break (forget about the 15 minute breaks). If a nurse makes 26 an hour and doesn't take a lunch but has it deducted, they lose close to 2,000 a year.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Dialysis, Hospice.
I was at my local gym and saw the a T shirt that said:

I sacrificed my life, so I could save your life. I am a nurse.

????

What does this even mean? I have been an RN for 26 years and taken care of hundreds of patients, but I have never remotely "sacrificed my life" for anyone. This sounds beyond self-important and yeah, it sounds like someone thinks they're Jesus. To literally sacrifice one's life means to die, right?

Very, very weird.

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A shirt like that is a sign of insecurity- like you have the need to shout "I matter". People who know their worth don't need that.

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Lol this is how I always feel when my mom would tell people I was in nursing school. She can find a way to slip in that I'm in nursing school to the person working the register at the grocery store. It always makes me cringe. I eventually had to say mom I know you're proud of me but if you could not brag about me to strangers, especially when I'm standing right there...that would be superb. [emoji106]🏻

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

To answer the question in the title:

Yes, we are all that and a bag of chips! :cheeky:

For what we have to know and what we have to soon order to facilitate in a plan of care, yes...

But not for "sacrificing lives". :no:

I clock out, I have a fulfilling life outside of my employer. :yes:

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.
Those shirts are really based off of the medic or firefighter shirts that I saw popping up a lot.

Don't worry, we make fun of those people too. Those shirts are for the tryhards in life. I would rather most people not know I am a nurse. Its not because I am ashamed, but I hate hearing all about how hard it must be, whats the worst thing you have seen blah blah blah.

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Specializes in Pedi.

I do not now, nor have I ever in the fourteen years since I first entered nursing school, understand people who say that they have no life because of nursing. I left work promptly at 5:30pm today. I turned my phone off when I left. I am watching a baseball game and about to head out to play hockey. My life is much more than nursing and I have not given up any of it because of nursing.

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Specializes in ED, psych.

I think you see this with anyone who has a martyr complex. Part of a "look at me! Look how important I am, how hardworking I am, blah blah blah!' Not just nurses; pick a profession, a hobby, heck, a health diagnosis and if the individual has a hero/martyr complex, you'll be certain to hear ALL about it.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

I really want some potato chips now.

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