Today at work on a busy Neuro ICU unit, a brand new resident sitting in chair was mistaken for a patients nurse. She quickly snapped that she was the doctor and stated that the confused physical therapist get her professionals right. The P.T. then continued to apologize for the mistake and that she didnt mean any offense by it.
Now why would that be offensive? i thought we were all working on the same team, though a brand new Resident with no experince is upset to be compared to a nurse. I find this HIGHLY OFFENSIVE! I work just as hard and feel walked all over with attitudes like this.
If we're ALL working on the same team, then why is it that RN's look down upon cna's, tech's, ma's, etc?????????????????????????? They all work hard too. But are treated with NO respect by the RN's. RN's are the worst offenders of this. So, now you know how it feels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I totally disagree. When I was a CNA, the nurses were great to me.
One of the guys I went to high school with graduated form medical school and became pediatric resident at the hospital where I worked. Throughout high school, we were always in the same "honors" classes , so we were comfortable acquaitances (sorry about the spelling). Anyway, one day we were chatting at the desk and he asked me "Why did you become a nurse, you were so smart?" He didn't say it to offend me but really genuinely was interested in why I choose nursing considering that I excelled academically and felt that I was destined for a more "prestigious" profession. Before I could answer, a nearby nurse overheard the question and he decided to interject his response. I can't remember the exact wording but it was primarily verbalizing how offended he was. However, my answer would have been this in all honesty: "I never choose nursing, I ended up a nurse because I wanted to change majors and with all my science credits, I knew I could still graduate on time if I changed to nursing. I can say for the most part I enjoy my job. It affords me a lifestyle, job security and flexibilty that I would not have gained elsewhere. But there is no prestige to being a nurse and nurses are to blame for that"
I beleive that we will never gain the professional credibilty that we deserve until we hold ourselves to the standards that define a profession those include a (1) single standard and title for a nurse (i.e an LVN and a RN are both nurses in the public eye and yet the education standards are different.) (2) a single educational standard for entry as a nurse (i.e. I am an RN regardless of whether I graduate with a BSN or an ADN) and (3) we control our occupational standards (i.e. the hospital or Board of Nursing defines nursing practice standards, not a professional nursing organization comprised of and representing nurses, remember the BON represents the public not the nurse ) and lastly (4) we stand up and respect one another as professionals and colleagues (i.e. a nurse will run to a manager in a minute with any minor complaint, professions such as police officers, physicians or fireman will protect and defend colleagues from administrative nonsense and would not jeopardize a colleagues livlihood without strong cause, nurses as a whole will not stand up for a colleague)
Oh and by the way, my roommate my freshman year was a nursing major. I remember when she told me she was studying nursing, my first thought was -- Why would you go to college to be a nurse? At that time I had no exposure to nursing, so I can see why the public perception remains
Just my opinion, but I wouldn't be offended by this. Chances are, the resident is tired of the sexist attitudes in the medical field that perpetuate the myth that all females are nurses and all males are doctors. I get just as irritated when my male nurse colleagues are called doctors, its an outdated, misogynistic attitude.
Perhaps -- just perhaps -- she was exasperated that her credentials were not clear and that the PT had to be corrected. If she said anything negative about nurses and why she wouldn't want to be mistaken for one, fine. If not, please don't turn a misinterpretation or miscommunication into an us vs them argument.
Very nice answer. I agree.
If we're ALL working on the same team, then why is it that RN's look down upon cna's, tech's, ma's, etc?????????????????????????? They all work hard too. But are treated with NO respect by the RN's. RN's are the worst offenders of this. So, now you know how it feels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By contrast, this reply was very petty--and in my experience, not true.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
If we're ALL working on the same team, then why is it that RN's look down upon cna's, tech's, ma's, etc?????????????????????????? They all work hard too. But are treated with NO respect by the RN's. RN's are the worst offenders of this. So, now you know how it feels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
well then, I will direct my original advice to you. Take it up with those who are offending you, not us. And don't generalize. You are speaking to a big group here, the majority of which I DOUBT do what you say you are dealing with. Passive-aggressive potshots on an online community won't get you much satisfaction or change. You DO want it to change right? Then do something proactive about it.
just for the record, i am student earning my rn. i recieved a phone call one day from an rn i worked with a few years ago, she said that she heard i was continuing my education and wanted to try and stop me. she said nursing was a thankless, draining, job that will kill me someday and always wanted to see me get out of healthcare, that i had talents to be used elsewhere. i was a bit thrown back, but thanked her for her advice and told her i was continuing along just the same. i think maybe she has just been burnt out by the "system" and by her rough life in general.
i see the comradery outside of the hospital setting, you find out another is a nurse and you (most of the time) can bond quickly share stories etc. you have common ground.
but for some reason inside the workplace the credentials are clearcut and i would say that most people when they get stressed, which is often these days, slip up a little and complain about the (just example here ,do not take offense.) na or the lpn as being substandard, and then you hear the rumbles of "well so and so has their rn, bsn, ms (insert whatever credentials you like here.) so they think they're god".
i do hear it, and hate to see people cut each other up on the inside. i have worked in healthcare for almost 12 years. it has always been the same, no matter where i worked or even what floor i floated to. we are all a functional part of healthcare, we all have our place. yes, there are some that slack, that is reality, but it is also in every other occupation. it is not commiseratewith one credential or another.
nursing is not easy. it is not "easy" money. it takes a strong, intelligent, ethical person to function day after day with such a heavy workload and responsibility. in saying that though, do nurse have bad days? yep. do they always want to be viewed 24 hours a day as a nurse. no, they are people with lives and can't always check their problems at the door. you come into work short staffed with 6 patients, 2 of which that are going bad, getting an admission, who has to have blood or chemo or any type of drip and forget who has to go off the floor for tests,and of course here come the irate family members down the hall searching for you to yell about things that happened when you weren't even here the night before. you can pretty much forget about that bathroom trip you needed to take for yourself...under the extra stress everyone snaps at times, and errors are made. no one has "extra" time but everyone can pick up some slack when they see someone is drowning.
you never know what problems or hardships another person is facing, don't judge. just try to support and fix a situation that needs to be fixed instead of placing blame and arguing wasting more time and energy.
nursing is such a strong profession, everyone needs to stick together, not place blame and try to support each other in and out of clinical settings. administration can be rough, nurses need to hold strong to protect themselves, physically & mentally. burnout doesn't benefit anyone, down the line everyone feels it. including the families of nurses, and of course patients. that is the sole reason for nursing...to care for those that can't or do not know how to care for themselves.
nurses, doctors, teachers, firefighters, police are all insultingly underpaid in my opinion. yes, i said doctors...:behindpc: i am sure i left out a few professions here that are deserving of the same recognition.
am i delusional and think everything is sunny complete with rainbows? absolutely not, like i said, i have been in healthcare for roughly 12 years, i have seen a vast array of tricks and sideways comments that have been made. keep trying to hold your head above water, help where we can and demand it when we need it. most of all keep respect at the top of your list. whether you agree or disagree with goings on, do not slight others it only brings you and your profession down.
i just think that learning we can all stick together and hold strong, change will slowly start to happen. i'm not talking miracles but let's try to move forward, practice change. be the change we want to see. it will slowly come.
one of the guys i went to high school with graduated form medical school and became pediatric resident at the hospital where i worked. throughout high school, we were always in the same "honors" classes , so we were comfortable acquaitances (sorry about the spelling). anyway, one day we were chatting at the desk and he asked me "why did you become a nurse, you were so smart?" he didn't say it to offend me but really genuinely was interested in why i choose nursing considering that i excelled academically and felt that i was destined for a more "prestigious" profession. before i could answer, a nearby nurse overheard the question and he decided to interject his response. i can't remember the exact wording but it was primarily verbalizing how offended he was. however, my answer would have been this in all honesty: "i never choose nursing, i ended up a nurse because i wanted to change majors and with all my science credits, i knew i could still graduate on time if i changed to nursing. i can say for the most part i enjoy my job. it affords me a lifestyle, job security and flexibilty that i would not have gained elsewhere. but there is no prestige to being a nurse and nurses are to blame for that"
i beleive that we will never gain the professional credibilty that we deserve until we hold ourselves to the standards that define a profession those include a (1) single standard and title for a nurse (i.e an lvn and a rn are both nurses in the public eye and yet the education standards are different.) (2) a single educational standard for entry as a nurse (i.e. i am an rn regardless of whether i graduate with a bsn or an adn) and (3) we control our occupational standards (i.e. the hospital or board of nursing defines nursing practice standards, not a professional nursing organization comprised of and representing nurses, remember the bon represents the public not the nurse ) and lastly (4) we stand up and respect one another as professionals and colleagues (i.e. a nurse will run to a manager in a minute with any minor complaint, professions such as police officers, physicians or fireman will protect and defend colleagues from administrative nonsense and would not jeopardize a colleagues livlihood without strong cause, nurses as a whole will not stand up for a colleague)
oh and by the way, my roommate my freshman year was a nursing major. i remember when she told me she was studying nursing, my first thought was -- why would you go to college to be a nurse? at that time i had no exposure to nursing, so i can see why the public perception remains
just for the record, i am student earning my rn. i recieved a phone call one day from an rn i worked with a few years ago, she said that she heard i was continuing my education and wanted to try and stop me. she said nursing was a thankless, draining, job that will kill me someday and always wanted to see me get out of healthcare, that i had talents to be used elsewhere. i was a bit thrown back, but thanked her for her advice and told her i was continuing along just the same. i think maybe she has just been burnt out by the "system" and by her rough life in general.
i see the comradery outside of the hospital setting, you find out another is a nurse and you (most of the time) can bond quickly share stories etc. you have common ground.
but for some reason inside the workplace the credentials are clearcut and i would say that most people when they get stressed, which is often these days, slip up a little and complain about the (just example here ,do not take offense.) na or the lpn as being substandard, and then you hear the rumbles of "well so and so has their rn, bsn, ms (insert whatever credentials you like here.) so they think they're god".
i do hear it, and hate to see people cut each other up on the inside. i have worked in healthcare for almost 12 years. it has always been the same, no matter where i worked or even what floor i floated to. we are all a functional part of healthcare, we all have our place. yes, there are some that slack, that is reality, but it is also in every other occupation. it is not commiseratewith one credential or another.
nursing is not easy. it is not "easy" money. it takes a strong, intelligent, ethical person to function day after day with such a heavy workload and responsibility. in saying that though, do nurse have bad days? yep. do they always want to be viewed 24 hours a day as a nurse. no, they are people with lives and can't always check their problems at the door. you come into work short staffed with 6 patients, 2 of which that are going bad, getting an admission, who has to have blood or chemo or any type of drip and forget who has to go off the floor for tests,and of course here come the irate family members down the hall searching for you to yell about things that happened when you weren't even here the night before. you can pretty much forget about that bathroom trip you needed to take for yourself...under the extra stress everyone snaps at times, and errors are made. no one has "extra" time but everyone can pick up some slack when they see someone is drowning.
you never know what problems or hardships another person is facing, don't judge. just try to support and fix a situation that needs to be fixed instead of placing blame and arguing wasting more time and energy.
nursing is such a strong profession, everyone needs to stick together, not place blame and try to support each other in and out of clinical settings. administration can be rough, nurses need to hold strong to protect themselves, physically & mentally. burnout doesn't benefit anyone, down the line everyone feels it. including the families of nurses, and of course patients. that is the sole reason for nursing...to care for those that can't or do not know how to care for themselves.
nurses, doctors, teachers, firefighters, police are all insultingly underpaid in my opinion. yes, i said doctors...:behindpc: i am sure i left out a few professions here that are deserving of the same recognition.
am i delusional and think everything is sunny complete with rainbows? absolutely not, like i said, i have been in healthcare for roughly 12 years, i have seen a vast array of tricks and sideways comments that have been made. keep trying to hold your head above water, help where we can and demand it when we need it. most of all keep respect at the top of your list. whether you agree or disagree with goings on, do not slight others it only brings you and your profession down.
i just think that learning we can all stick together and hold strong, change will slowly start to happen. i'm not talking miracles but let's try to move forward, practice change. be the change we want to see. it will slowly come.
excellent post mandy...... i am copying this for future reference!
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
If we're ALL working on the same team, then why is it that RN's look down upon cna's, tech's, ma's, etc?????????????????????????? They all work hard too. But are treated with NO respect by the RN's. RN's are the worst offenders of this. So, now you know how it feels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please don't generalize........attitudes like this don't help anyone work together better. :stone
i know tha when you work and study to achieve a certain level you feel like you deserve respect maybe resident was having a bad day
however a lack of respect can be a sign of ignorance..a cna was so upset because a md had asked whom had taken a high bp and when told it was the cna he requested that it be retaken by a rn...who got a b/p close to first
If we're ALL working on the same team, then why is it that RN's look down upon cna's, tech's, ma's, etc?????????????????????????? They all work hard too. But are treated with NO respect by the RN's. RN's are the worst offenders of this. So, now you know how it feels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been a CNA(13 years) and an RN (23 years). I was not treated with disrespect by more than 1 or 2 nurses in 13 years as a CNA. I have been treated with disrespect and downright ugliness by many more CNA's as an RN. I am not the type of nurse who forgets what it was like to be the CNA. I empty bedpans, feed, change beds ets. while still doing all my meds treatments, rounds, assessments etc. Most days I don't take a break because I won't call an aide to put a patient in the bathroom if I am right there or tell a patient someone will be with you soon, I am busy delivering linen for the day. Or my personal favorite that an aide said to me last week as she walked by a room I was struggling to keep a patient from falling in. When I called out to her to help she glanced over her shoulder and said,"Put on the bell and get some help. I am going to lunch." I did not get a lunch or breaks that day.
My point? There are good CNA's (good equals team player and patients first) and there are good LPN's and RN's(again good team players and patients first.)
However when the aides are punching out right at the end of their shift and I will be there for quite some time to come because I had to forgo a lot of my documentation until the shift was over, It does not leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy about these folks. age old conflicts.
Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
I have been my php's patient since 1997, and last Friday was when he actually verified what I was telling him was true. I guess it just shows sometimes it takes several years for something to sink into one's brain, that the patient isn't exaggerating after all. He saw me with a stiff-neck cervical collar on, my left arm in a sling, and me in my electric wheelchair showing my footdrop, and me on 4 litres of oxygen before it hit home. Made me feel good though. I went home with a smile on my face.
I agree with Smiling, be very professional and tell the resident how you feel. We work hard to be dedicated, professional, hard working nurses. I love my profession and would not change it for the world. I respect dr. and all, but they have to respect nurses, as well as others in the healthcare field. Being called a Nurse is not offensive; The resident has to realize that nurses work hard, if people really knew how hard it is to get into nursing school.
I agree with everyones sentiment, but I am a little confused regarding some of the responses. Many people are attacking the doctor but the original post stated that the P.T. said that no offense was intended by calling the doc a nurse. The post didn't say the doc said she was offended by being called a nurse, just that the P.T. should refer to her with proper credintials. Regardless of my profession, I would correct someone if they got my credentials wrong (however, I would probably be nicer about it than it appears this doctor was!)
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Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN
2 Articles; 3,563 Posts
I totally disagree. When I was a CNA, the nurses were great to me.