Are nurses professional?

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Are nurses professional?

i need our fellow nurses' opinion and what do you think our image in public?Do they think we r professional or just a doctor's assistance?

Happy nurses day:lol2:

Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.

In the broad sense of the term, yes, we are professionals. However, I believe there are a lot of distinctions that can be made within that broad definition.

There are the nurses who continue to develop their knowledge and skills throughout their careers. They see themselves as the voice of the patient. They DO NOT blindly follow a Physician's orders. If something seems off or wrong, they question it. They see themselves as a partner with the Physician and other disciplines to provide healing and wellness for the patient. They will go the extra mile. They try to understand the pt's story in as much depth as possible. These nurses build collaberation and teamwork within their team and other disciplines.

To me there is no question that the above describes a professional.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
...here we go again! There might have been a "two-year program" but did you include all the pre-req credits? No! There is no such thing as a two-year program, there is a two-year clinical, okay... but no one can be a registered nurse in 2 years, as in 24 months.

*** To the OP - Of course we are. True that all nurses don't act as professionals, but this is true of all the other professions as well. I am sure we have all seen some very non-professional behavior from doctors. I certainly have.

To the person who wrote the above. While I am sure what you say is correct in your area, it's not everyplace. I went to a community college program that took two years for an ADN RN. When I say 2 years I mean four, 4 month semesters, fall, spring, fall, spring. Because I was already an LPN (challenged the LPN NCLEX based on army medic experience) I got through in only two 4 month semesters.

I can name over a dozen community colleges where the ADN-RN program is designed to be done in 2 years.

IMO if an ADN program takes much longer than two years I would feel cheated and look into a BSN program.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

Regardless of the above, we should all behave professionally, whether an LPN, RN, NP, etc.

*** Absolutely. Well said.

We have all worked hard for our licenses and to maintain them thru CEUs and certifications for specialties.

*** Well, not trying argue here, but........... I didn't work very hard to get my license and keeping it is pretty easy. I DO work very hard in an ICU now though.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
I don't know what the general public thinks but when my sister first starting working as an RN, one of her good friends got irritated that she was making considerably more than her "just for wiping asses".

*** Too bad that person can't observe an RN recovering a post op CABG while he is administering blood products, titrating 7 or 8 vaso-active drips and constantly preforming assessments.

One thing I find very frustrating is that, other than other nurses, hardly anyone understands what we do and how involved it is.

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:nono: At this time I do not believe nurses are professional. The education is sadly lacking these days. I am outraged to have seen an instructor with a masters hanging a blood transfusion with D5/.45NS and then proceed to ask what cardiac enzymes were. Nurses are of poor quality these days.:trout:
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:nono: At this time I do not believe nurses are professional. The education is sadly lacking these days. I am outraged to have seen an instructor with a masters hanging a blood transfusion with D5/.45NS and then proceed to ask what cardiac enzymes were. Nurses are of poor quality these days.:trout:

I don't believe that it is appropriate to judge an entire profession on the basis of one individual. I doubt that inadequate education is the reason for this instructor's clinical incompetence. I would have known that these actions were inappropriate by the third year of my BSN program. How such an individual was able to "slip through the cracks" is worrisome, but there are a few of those in every profession.

The better question is what did you do to handle this situation? Did you act professionally and first discuss this with the instructor? Did you find out why the nurse did not seem to know such basic information? It certainly is not an excuse, but perhaps the instructor does not have experience in whatever area of nursing in which she is serving as an instructor. This is a common problem in nursing schools because there are not enough instructors and sometimes they are asked to take on assignments in which they are not familar. That is not an excuse, but I'm just trying to point out that there is always another side to a story. If the answer you received wasn't satisfying, did you act as concerned professional and take this problem through the proper channels? If so, I would hope that this instructor is being remediated and/or is no longer acting as an instructor on your unit.

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Specializes in Occ health, Med/surg, ER.
We have all worked hard for our licenses and to maintain them thru CEUs and certifications for specialties.

*** Well, not trying argue here, but........... I didn't work very hard to get my license and keeping it is pretty easy. I DO work very hard in an ICU now though.

Wow, where did you go to school?? LOL.:lol2:

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Specializes in Trauma ICU,ER,ACLS/BLS instructor.
Do you mean doctor's assistant? Not to be harsh, but part of being professional is using proper grammar.

And we wonder why nurses leave nursing.

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absolutely not ,nurses no matter what education they have are more like technicians because they carry out orders and anyone that cleans up poop is not a professional...and let me address independant nursing interventions while we are....they are a joke anyone can do them even retarded children they don't count and usually don't help anyway; they just make nurses feel like they are working independantly.

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But you still clean up poop so your not a professional:)

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
...you are missing the point. Yes, a person can get their BSN over 4 years or more...maybe even a little less if able to take classes year round. An ADN is 4 semesters= 2 years AFTER pre-reqs are satisfied. It may take more than 2 years, yes. Add on the credits for pre-reqs, which have to be completed before validation to clinicals which in a sense is the first 2 years of a BSN, then you have more than a "two year degree".

*** Interesting that you assume that the way it is where you went to to school is the way it is everywhere. Yes of course an associates degree RN program can be, and is by many, many people, completed in two years. At my school (and at all 16 public community college RN programs in my state) it is 4 semesters. It is 21 months start to finish with a summer "off" inbetween (usually used to complete a summer internship or preceptorship in a hospital's ER, ICU, med-surg, PICU or other unit), though not required.

Our schools have no pre-reqs other than high school chemistry, CNA, background check, and immunizations. Some of the school have waiting lists and many people use their time of the waiting list to complete non nursing classes. Lots of people get on the waiting list while still in high school and thus graduate as 19 or 20 year old RNs.

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Specializes in ED/ICU/TELEMETRY/LTC.

Me:

1 year prerequisites.

1 Year (12 months) LPN school

3 years (working as LPN) prerequisites.

1 year (12 months) LPN/RN bridge.

_________________________________

6 years = ADN

A new name for ADN nurses?

I don't care what you call me.

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