Biggest Misconception about nurses you've heard

Nurses General Nursing

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Mine was when I met a good friend of mine on the bus on the way to clinicals while in school and she was SHOCKED that they allow lowly nursing students to "work with real, live people"

Naw, we just come out of nursing school with nothing but textbook knowledge and yet can mysteriously do skills well....... :lol2:

Probably due partially to the fact that her dad is a physician:uhoh3:

Specializes in Med/Surg.

When I tell people that my identical twin operates a nuclear reactor .... "Oh wow, SHE must be really smart." :uhoh3:

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Specializes in icu/er.

"well i had a 3.88 and 4.0 gpa in my last 2 college degrees so nursing school wont be a big deal for me at all, besides i'm really smart". a few semesters later i'll see that individual and they inform me that nursing school just was'nt a good fit for them and they decided to explore other options at this time.

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Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.
I'm hoping by "someone" you don't mean one of your patients. I get so annoyed when nurses make those comments in the patient's rooms. They already feel vulnerable and embarrassed.

Um? No. It's my job to take care of my patients with care and respect. I'm referring to when your with your family and/or friends and your in a restaurant or movie and someone gets sick and you grimace at the sight of them producing some sort of fluid and then all of your family/friends look at you like your weird because your a Nurse or CNA etc..... Sorry if that came off the wrong way.:D

I am saying that there is a misconception that all Nurses or CNA have strong stomach, which I do have one, and can take fluids with no problem. That's simply untrue because not all do. I do sometimes get a little sick on the stomach when I have to change a bed ridden patients diaper after they've had diarrhea or something fowl for lunch, but even if I am grossed out in the clinical setting or the public/ personal setting I never verbalize how grossed out I feel, that's wrong anywhere you go. I try not to make faces as well, but it is an automatic reaction sometimes. If I do make a face I try to never let the patient or the patients visitors see that. Most of the time I do really well with handling those type of situations.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

That all male nurses are feminine and gay. Even if they're gay, doesn't mean they are feminine...

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i get totally grossed out if someone blows his nose really really hard in a restaurant while i'm eating.:eek:

in fact, mucous in general gets to me.:barf02:

you can douse a room with buckets of blood and diarrhea, one ill-placed loogy can send me retching...

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Encourage a friend to go into a nursing career......REALLY? :lol2:

Must be a "frenemy" :D

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Specializes in ER, cardiac, addictions.
I work in an extremely busy 85+ bed Level IV Neonatal Unit. A friend said to me once: "You must have such a nice job. You can just sit and rock the babies all night.":clown:

Uh....yeah...sure...AFTER I help Dr. A put in a chest tube in Baby B... after I've done heelstick labs. on each of my assigned kids...after I finish up this blood transfusion...after I write down my baby's vital signs every hour b/c he's critical...after I've given my 18th oral med. of the shift...after I've spent an hour talking to a frightened mother and trying to calm her down...after I've signed a narcotic out, found a 2nd nurse to witness and verify it and co-sign my electronic chart; then go back to the Narcotics cart with her, so we can log the drug out and how much was wasted....then wake a sleeping preemie becuase he has to have an Xray....

Oh yeah; I have an easy, breezy, beautiful job!:nurse: :bugeyes:

On one message board I used to frequent, we'd get a lot of new posters who were thinking about going to nursing school. It got to be kind of a joke that almost all of them would say, "I don't have any experience yet, but I want to work either in labor and delivery or pediatrics." Maybe because those were the only areas they had (patient) experience with; maybe because they assumed that both would be upbeat, pleasant, not-too-difficult areas? But I notice that many seemed to rethink that goal, once they got some clinical experience..... ;)

(Speaking for myself, I admire nurses who want to work in either of those areas, OR in the nursery. Thank goodness you're doing it, so I don't have to!) :eek:

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Specializes in Burn, CCU, CTICU, Trauma, SICU, MICU.

"You ONLY work 3 days a week! You can't possibly be tired!"

"You got to work, pass some pills, wipe some bottoms and hold some hands. It's not like your job is HARD."

"The doctor is the one who has to make all the decisions, so it can't be stressful! Just do what you are told!"

"If you were smarter or more driven, you'd be a physician!"

"Of course you are going to get yelled at and hit by people. They are under a lot of stress - that's just part of your job!"

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Specializes in ER, cardiac, addictions.
"You ONLY work 3 days a week! You can't possibly be tired!"

"You got to work, pass some pills, wipe some bottoms and hold some hands. It's not like your job is HARD."

"The doctor is the one who has to make all the decisions, so it can't be stressful! Just do what you are told!"

"If you were smarter or more driven, you'd be a physician!"

"Of course you are going to get yelled at and hit by people. They are under a lot of stress - that's just part of your job!"

And my favorite misconception about night shifters: "It won't hurt you to get up and go to a meeting (or run an errand, listen to my sales pitch, take a couple of calls, wait for a package to be delivered, etc., etc., etc.) in the middle of the day. You can just go back to sleep once it's over, right?"

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

"if you're going to be a nurse, be an r.n. all they do is sit at the desk, drink coffee and tell people what to do." (from my mother, whose officer manager job seemed to consist of exactly that.)

"you're a nurse. can you come next door and give my wife her fertility injection?" (the neighbor who learned how to give his wife her injections, but was sure he could convince someone else to do it for him.)

"i know you have to take care of naked men, but you don't actually look at them, do you?" (from my father-in-law who assumed, incorrectly, that the only member i'd ever seen was my husband's.)

"my mom and dad and stepmom are nurses. they know everything" (the child at 6)

"my mom, dad and stepmom are nurses. they don't know anything!" (the child at 16)

"my mom, dad and stepmom are nurses. i'm never going to do that -- too much yukky stuff." (the child at 18, just before signing up for a pre-nursing minor)

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Specializes in LPN, Peds, Public Health.

I have friends who think just because I'm a nurse that I can diagnose anything... My fave being "Hey, so&so fell off his skateboard, can you come tell me if his arm is broken?" Ummm... unless there is a bone sticking out, then no. I do not have x-ray vision eyes, and seem to have forgotten the goggles at work!!

Or the ones who call you up, describe their child's rash, and think you can diagnose it. Nope sorry, thats why the Dr. gets paid the big bucks.

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Specializes in LPN, Peds, Public Health.

Another misconception I have come across as an LPN :

"Oh, so you're like a nurse's assistant, right?"

Ummm... no. My title is "Licensed Practical NURSE".

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