Today I was filling out a survey. Under the occupation section I immediately scanned for "professional"
Boy was I startled to see these first 2 options:
•professional (eg doctor, accountant)
•semi-professional (eg nurse, technician)
ummm what?!?! 😡😡😡 so frustrating to not be viewed as a professional when I have a bachelors degree, a speciality certificate, and 7 years experience not to mention a specialised knowledge and skill set for my PROFESSION of nursing!
I think professional is usually meaning those with above a bachelor's level degree. So if someone is a nurse practitioner with an MSN thenhey would be viewed by many as a professional. A person with a BSN usually not.
I'm not saying nurses are not professionals. I have the highest respect for nurses, but it's still a difference in education level that is what gets nurses the semi-professional category.
This is coming from someone in an emerging profession.
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
When I was an LVN I did not have total responsibility for the Nursing Process, including patient advocacy.
As an RN I do. As a professional I must act in the best interest of my patient. Regarding the Nursing Process ONLY a nurse is the responsible professional.
In many stated the professional responsibilities of all registered nurses are listed or outlined in the Practice Act. Here is mine:
In many states the license is issued as "Licensed Professional Nurse". With regard to responsibility RNs are professionals.
From the Texas Nursing Practice Act:
" Professional nursing†means the performance of an act that requires substantial specialized judgment andskill, the proper performance of which is based on knowledge and application of the principles of biological, physical, and social science as acquired by a completed course in an approved school of professional nursing.
The term does not include acts of medical diagnosis or the prescription of therapeutic or corrective measures.
Professional nursing involves:
(A) the observation, assessment, intervention, evaluation, rehabilitation, care and counsel, or health teachings of a person who is ill, injured, infirm, or experiencing a change in normal health
processes;
(B) the maintenance of health or prevention of illness;
(E) the administration, supervision, and evaluation of nursing practices, policies, and procedures;
(F) the requesting, receiving, signing for, and distribution of prescription drug samples to patients at practices at which an advanced practice registered nurse is authorized to sign prescription drug orders as provided by Subchapter B, Chapter 157;
(G) the performance of an act delegated by a physician under Section 157.0512, 157.054, 157.058, or157.059; and
Probably 10% of nurses I work bedside with have MSNs and the majority of pool nurses also have grad degrees. That day has already come.
So in other words, probably 90% do not. Do you detect a shortfall there? Ready to fill it for the next shift? Assuming that day has already come, of course.
I totally agree with you, especially having been a psychiatric nurse for 28 years with a masters and doctorate. Unfortunately, nurses will never be on equal footing as "professional" with the other mental health disciplines related to educational preparation and first license, which is the main difference. Social workers have a masters as minimum for licensure, psychologists have doctoral minimum for licensure, Prof counselor has masters etc....and this remains our sad reality in the mental health arena.
Nurses are professionals. We keep people alive, maintain confidentiality for our clients, are constantly updating our knowledge (hey, we are REQUIRED to earn Contact Hrs as are teachers, MD's & attys etc). We struggled through those clinical rotations, passed a national exam for goodness sake (like passing a bar exam). We earned our status -Isn't nursing voted most respected profession year after year (sometimes nurses flip to spot # 2 w/ firefighters)?
I believed we are under-valued because we have historically been all female and are still overwhelmingly female. There is a constant need for nurses. We far out number the lawyers. The huge demand is why there are various entry points & why some of traditional nursing roles are now done by techs. WE are 2.8 million strong working professionals in USA.
Titrating pressors is pretty basic math. Not exactly rocket science. An no, those are not fully descriptive of a nurse's responsibilities, but they are a very substantial part of them.
Math is a small part of titration. I understand how the medication is affecting the patient on the cellular level. I also use observational and assessment skills to evaluate the effectiveness of the medication.
Do you think the ordering physician could titrate a drip?
JayHanig
151 Posts
Or technical.