Are nurses really that important?

allnurses Guide · Jul 6, 2009

"plumping pillows, pushing pills and pleasing physicians"

I think part of your problem may be that you are in a teaching hospital. My experience was that the interns and all were so intent of pleasing their attending and feeling overwhelmed, that the nurses weren't even on their radar. They also pick up whatever attitude their great and mighty leader has . If there was anything new and significant you would have called right? :idea:

Personally, I wouldn't let them define my perception of nursing. They literally don't know what you do for the patients or for them. Just answer the patients who ask: "Nursing is a honorable and scientific profession of its own, very different from medicine. I'm happy to be able to spend the shift with you, instead of just a few minutes a day." After all, we are supposed to educate them:lol2:

I'm quite happy in my community not-for-profit hospital, where the docs I work with are very respectful and team players. Well, most of them.

silentRN · Jul 6, 2009

Thank u for ur encouragement

86toronado, BSN, RN · Jul 7, 2009

I think part of your problem may be that you are in a teaching hospital. My experience was that the interns and all were so intent of pleasing their attending and feeling overwhelmed, that the nurses weren't even on their radar. They also pick up whatever attitude their great and mighty leader has...
I'm quite happy in my community not-for-profit hospital, where the docs I work with are very respectful and team players. Well, most of them.

That's exactly what I was going to say!

BookwormRN · Jul 7, 2009

Yes, Nurses are really that important. Do we always FEEL important and appreciated by those in the medical profession? No. However, I learned a long time ago (before I became a nurse) that it is what I think that matters. I KNOW that I am the eyes and ears for the physician. I KNOW that I am the link between the patient and the physician/family/social services/radiology/PT/OT/Lab/Speech/Pharmacy/Pastoral Care/CNA. I KNOW that I coordinate the care of my Patients and I am responsible for them.

Yes, this Nurse is REALLY that important! and so is every nurse out there! When we start to believe it, others will believe it, too. Look the MDs in the eyes-ask questions; offer information about their patients; be PROACTIVE, not reactive. It really does work.

Good luck in the ICU...I hope you find the respect you deserve.

"I'm quite happy in my community not-for-profit hospital, where the docs I work with are very respectful and team players. Well, most of them. "

Oh, and Ditto this!

Be_Moore · Jul 7, 2009

I'm in a teaching facility, and I feel exactly opposite about the above replies. The intern/resident teams are very apt to asking questions about how the patient has done over night. They are also typically open to suggestions and many of them walk around almost afraid to step on toes because they only stay for 30 days at a time...as such they don't know if you've been a nurse 2 months or for longer than they've been alive. I love working in a teaching facility, I hope to never go back to a non-teaching.

allnurses Guide · Jul 7, 2009

I'm in a teaching facility, and I feel exactly opposite about the above replies. The intern/resident teams are very apt to asking questions about how the patient has done over night. They are also typically open to suggestions and many of them walk around almost afraid to step on toes because they only stay for 30 days at a time...as such they don't know if you've been a nurse 2 months or for longer than they've been alive. I love working in a teaching facility, I hope to never go back to a non-teaching.

You've got a good place! wish all of them were like that. :up:

PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN · Jul 7, 2009

I have had physicians and family members come to me and literally thank me for saving the patients'/family members lives.

ME. Not the doc, but little ol' me.

I'd trust a good, smart, caring nurses ANY DAY.

love-d-OR · Jul 7, 2009

I have to go with Be More with the experience at teaching hospitals. Our residents 85% of the time write for whatever we ask for and sometimes will even ask us what they should order or do next. Last week an intern asked me why I felt my a-line was unreliable. I went on to talk about the square wave test and my poor wave form. Turns out he had no clue of what I was referring to, so he asked me to explain! Anyway, as the OP noted earlier, that might be the case for most ICU nurses (Be More, I noticed you are in the ICU too), which brings me to the statement that the intern made " Oh no, I trust you after all you ICU nurses know everything" Good luck in the ICU, however, I must warn you that changing units might not necessarily give you greater job satisfaction

Murse7 · Jul 7, 2009

I'm applying to nursing school but I've been an ER tech for two years. This must depend on where you are working. The nurses at my ER are all wonderful, and are respected by [most] patients and the attendings, residents, interns, and students. It's a major teaching hospital as well, with nursing and medical schools on campus. The students all come up to the nurses and techs for lots of things, not just where to find items, or setting up for some procedure. They'll ask about what the venous blood gas results mean, if we can show them how to start an IV, and just sitting down and chatting when its slow. Residents may ask an experienced nurse what he/she thinks the dose for a med should be. And everyone gets together at various times to relax and hang out outside of work. Nurses ARE important. The docs I work with say it all the time, even when they imply it. Doctors aren't nurses, nurses aren't doctors. If we're opening the fast track area, but there aren't a lot of nurses, the doctor will ask for patients that don't need a lot of or any nursing, recognizing the importance of nursing. Once, a doctor told a patient (after the nurse and tech missed their IV attempts) that he could not place the IV line because he isn't trained to do so, only the nursing staff can.

Trust in yourself and don't get too annoyed by what others say. Not everywhere, even in your own hospital, is like that. ICU should be great, that's where I'd like to end up after school. I'm so excited for ICU that I just applied for tech jobs in the MICU/SICU, haha.

Turtle in scrubs · Jul 7, 2009

Got to say David, I hear you. Two years out of school and I'm conflicted. Love a lot of what I do, but feel less respected in nursing than I did cleaning rooms while in high school (or any of the many jobs I've had). A lot of it for me has to do with management - for which I've never felt so disposable. The doc's area a mixed bag (teaching hosp), with a few awful, most mediocre, and a few really good. When it's good, it's really good, and how I imagined it would be - working as a team. Probably the most respect I get is from patients and families... but that varies greatly too. Can't imagine staying on the floor long - I need a job where there is mutual respect and I feel like I am a productive member of a team. Thankfully nursing has a lot of different avenues and I look forward to checking them out.

I think you may find the working relationship better in the ICU. This seems to be the case at my hospital. Best of luck to you.

SunnyAndrsn · Jul 7, 2009

While I have had days where I feel just like you are describing (and I've had co-workers exclaim "you should be a doctor!" when we are discussing patho-phys. of a pt's condition) by and large I do feel like what I do matters.

-The pt who had serious nausea for a week past her surgery, who couldn't keep food down because the smell made her so sick--It took me several hours of phone calls back and forth to the MD's clinic before I finally got the MD who was covering for her primary, who finally gave me an order for compazine. When she discharged from our TCU, she sought me out and told me "I want you to know, YOU made the difference, thank you."

-The pt who relaxes when I walk in the room and says "oh good, I'm so glad your my nurse today!"

-The pt's family who had their grandmother die after two years with us, who now has another family in our TCU portion...who told us today they feel like we know them so well and we're like family :-)

And yet when I tell ppl--often including other healthcare workers--that I work in a LTC/TCU I get little respect. Few people realize the hard job that we do in our facilities, and even fewer make it more than a few months. Poor pay, high pt load, and "stable" pts (ha!) do not earn us a lot of respect. I always said I never wanted to work in an LTC facility, and I find that I love it.