Challenging Reality

[Davey Do]

From: 5 Truths About Nursing Everyone Needs to Know

"Myth: Nurses are assistants to physicians.

Reality: We are actually equal partners in health care, each with a separate and unique yet vital role..."

Assistant: " 1: a person who assists someone : helper also :" 

Equal: "1 : exactly the same in number, amount, degree, rank, or quality an equal share of equal importance."

[Davey Do]

"Myth: Real men don’t go into nursing.

Reality: More and more men are discovering the great opportunities that nursing offers, including satisfying and meaningful work, good salary and many pathways to advancement."

The basis of the myth refers to "A real man is a man with genuine self-confidence and true masculinity. He’s a man who knows his own mind and knows what he’s about in life, and he’s not afraid to stand up for what he believes in".

The Reality does not specifically disqualify the Myth, it merely states that more men are going into nursing. 

A true disqualifier would have been stated, "Studies show that more men 'with genuine self-confidence and true masculinity... who knows his own mind and knows what he’s about in life, and he’s not afraid to stand up for what he believes in' are going into nursing".

[NurseBlaq]

So what's the backstory on this thread?

[Davey Do]

15 hours ago, NurseBlaq said:

So what's the backstory on this thread?

NurseBlaq, virtually speaking: I love you.

It's not only the facts & answers that can be interesting & inspiring, but also the questions. Thank you.

There are a few current threads here on this forum where premises are made without objective facts to back them up; they are merely opinions and perspectives. Making and challenging a premise requires sound factual evidence. Otherwise, anybody tout anything, and present it as being factual.

Those with advanced education and experience can be the biggest culprits. For example, in one thread I stated a premise and another member attempted to attack that premise. This member did not only take to attacking me, this member began singing the virtues of their education and experience, which said a lot to me about the individual.

This member failed to follow the rules of a polite debate with red herrings. My premise was not about me, and was not about who had more experience or education.

That member became persona non grata- they no longer existed to me. I practised loving indifference by ignoring them and by not throwing stones. They no longer need to deal with me nor I with them.

As I stated above, some believe their opinion to be truth, that which is universally true, or in accordance with fact or reality. So I Googled "Nursing Truths", came up with an article by Donna Cardillo, RN, MA, CSP, FAAN, and started this thread.

That's the backstory, NurseBlaq.

There's also the fact that I've been in my Right Brain, doing so much art as of late that, my Left Brain began screaming, "Give me something logical to work on!"

[Davey Do]

6 Hard Truths You’ll Face Once You Become a Nurse

Because nursing is not all unicorns and rainbows.

Sometimes we need to look no further than the title to find a fallacy in logic.

Premise: "...nursing is not all unicorns..." which infers that sometimes nursing is unicorns. 

Unicorn: "a mythical animal...."

Mythical: "fictitious"

Restated premise: "Nursing is sometimes a fictitious mythical animal." 

 

In a certain thread, a member stated a premise that, "There are no..." inferring that such a situation did not exist. I challenged that member's premise with factual evidence that, yes, indeed such a situation did exist.

That member countered with, "Then you found a unicorn", inferring that I had found a situation which doesn't exist.

To which I quoted a DSM definition, stating, "A delusion is a false, fixed belief despite evidence to the contrary".

End of debate.

 

 

 

 

 

[Davey Do]

https://nurseslabs.com/6-hard-truths-youll-face-become-nurse/

This was quite a good article until I read this heading:

Your pay will always be unsatisfactory.

Debatable premise, in that sometimes I felt and believed that I was paid more than I was worth

                                         Two Cases in Point

My medical nurse wife Belinda and I worked at Wrongway Regional Medical Center for a number of years before we were married; she in med/surg and I in psych. 

Belinda was in a program at Wrongway where she made more money, but had less benefits. I made more money, had all the benefits, and worked in a less stressful environment.

 

Then, a some years ago, I checked my paystub on the computer after we were informed that all the Nurses would be getting a raise.

I was shocked when I saw the raise that I had received! It was extraordinary!

I so much thought the raise amount was an error that, for a long time, I kept my pay in my checking account in case I had to pay some back!

I later learned that, no, there was no error. I had received a significant raise!

In fact, I was able to put so much away in savings and other investments that when I was "Fired & Retired", I was financially comfortable!

Counter premise:  Your pay will sometimes be more than you expected!

[NurseBlaq]

? Interesting thread.

I'm guilty of being on both sides of the track at different times. Having said that, I'm just going to sit back and self-reflect.

[Davey Do]

Another heading and false statement:

The management will always be riddled with politics.

The management will always crap on you. 

The first fallacy in the heading and statement is using the word "always". Very few things in life always occur, like death.

                                     Case in Point

There are many examples of administrators with whom I've worked under in my nursing career which would make this premise moot.

So many, in fact, that I'm having a little difficulty picking the best example...

Which one to choose:  The Dragon Lady? Ross? Lindy? Shelly? Margie? All went to bat for me, made my job easier, and assisted me in growing, personally and professionally.

Just because she was the highest ranking administrator, being second to the CEO, I'm going to choose Shelly. Although The Dragon Lady was the hospital's DON...

I first met Shelly in 1996, when she was the Director of the Psych side of the hospital before it became Wrongway, and I was a community Nurse for the area's community mental health clinic, Mixed Nuts.

There was a liaison between the facilities which assisted in meeting the needs and providing a continuity of care with the mental health population. Although I did not work closely with Shelly, we knew who each other was.

Seven years later, I had just been terminated as a NS of Anomaly's Mental Health Clinic, and went to a job fair given by Wrongway. Shelly sat and chatted with me and asked, "Why'd you leave your last position?" My answer: "I was fired".

Shelly more or less hired me on the spot. In later years, Shelly gave me a substantial pay raise when I volunteered to work every weekend, in the days before the weekend option program was implemented.

It would be next to impossible to list every situation that took place, in the 17 years of my employment, where Shelly's actions benefited me in some way. Suffice it to say that we had multiple face to face meetings over the years where she listened to my concerns, acted on them, or at least responded.

Counter Premise: There are some excellent managers out there.

 

 

[Davey Do]

22 minutes ago, NurseBlaq said:

? Interesting thread.

I'm guilty of being on both sides of the track at different times. Having said that, I'm just going to sit back and self-reflect.

Thank you, NurseBlaq.

My deepest desire is that some members share their thoughts, perspectives, and/or experiences. Heck, I'd really enjoy a challenge to the premises that I've put forth.

Sooooo... would you be up for reflecting in the typed word?

[Davey Do]

I am surfing the 'net, looking for so-called "truths" or realities to dispel when I ran across one article titled, "The Truth About Nursing: What Experts Want You to Know" that was quite good.

This good article caused me to appreciate allnurses and its articles even more. In the 10+ years that I've been an allnurses member, I can recall extremely few in which I felt or believed were subpar.

So, in conclusion, that means allnurses writers generally use an approach in presenting information, making premises, that are sound.

Go, team, go!

[NurseBlaq]

38 minutes ago, Davey Do said:

Thank you, NurseBlaq.

My deepest desire is that some members share their thoughts, perspectives, and/or experiences. Heck, I'd really enjoy a challenge to the premises that I've put forth.

Sooooo... would you be up for reflecting in the typed word?

No, but because it's you, here goes.....

IMO there is a difference between helping and doing something for someone. One of my biggest pet peeves is the nurse who does nothing to help others but is always seeking help under the guise of "I don't know how to do such and such. Could you show me so and so?" and so forth and so on. Well, after the entire damn unit has shown you the same exact thing umpteen times how do you not know how to do it? But then again, you have no problem doing all of the allegedly unknown things when the suits are around. It's BS like that nonsense that grinds my gears.

So having been burned by someone like the above description so many times, I've become the show me you can't do it, prove it type of person. Because of that, I'm sometimes called unhelpful or having an attitude. I don't care. What I won't be doing is being used and taken advantage of.

Example: Had a nurse who claimed she couldn't do IVs on Black/Brown people or inmates which we often had from the local prison facilities in the area. Excuse me? We're in the damn ER how you can't do IVs on certain hued people or the criminal population? It's called palpation! Did we not learn this in school? We absolutely did. Apparently, she had been using this excuse for years and getting away with it. So I made a big fuss about nobody better do anything to help her lazy self until she at least tried twice before asking anyone else. How was this allowed for so long?

We were in the middle of an inner-city ghetto and a level I trauma center. If you can't initiate IVs on the predominant population then you shouldn't be in this facility, let alone this unit! I guarantee after I exposed her she miraculously became adept at doing her job for ALL patients, not only those of a certain hue or social status. 

So the myth was: she couldn't start IVs, but only on certain demos

The reality: she was lying and a bigoted *word I can't say due to TOS*

And before the resident needs to be fake offended AN crowd comes in, it's not about race, it's about a certain nurse's discrimination and feigned ignorance of people in certain demographics. It's a shame I need to add this disclaimer but this is the latest climate here on AN.

[Davey Do]

1 hour ago, Davey Do said:

would you be up for reflecting in the typed word?

 

1 hour ago, NurseBlaq said:

No, but because it's you, here goes.....

I appreciate that, NurseBlaq.

As I stated in another thread, "One direction that I would prefer this thread not go is into another bashing thread...

Understanding the reason for the behavior holds more interest to me than merely identifying the behavior."

And I'm not saying that you are bashing, NurseBlaq. Yours is more of a perspective of a behavior of a staff member who feigns ignorance/inability when it is to their advantage.

1 hour ago, NurseBlaq said:

 I've become the show me you can't do it, prove it type of person. 

Good approach! In other words, "Give me empirical factual evidence of your premise", calling them to task. Furthermore, the approach, your premise,  was strengthened through noting the reality of the situation:

1 hour ago, NurseBlaq said:

 Excuse me? We're in the damn ER how you can't do IVs on certain hued people or the criminal population? It's called palpation! Did we not learn this in school? We absolutely did. Apparently, she had been using this excuse for years and getting away with it. 

Another tried and true method you used to manipulate your media was peer pressure:

1 hour ago, NurseBlaq said:

So I made a big fuss about nobody better do anything to help her lazy self until she at least tried twice before asking anyone else.

Which resulted in a desired outcome:

1 hour ago, NurseBlaq said:

after I exposed her she miraculously became adept at doing her job for ALL patients, not only those of a certain hue or social status.

The reality of one was challenged and found to be a myth!

 

 As I previously stated, "Understanding the reason for the behavior holds more interest to me than merely identifying the behavior". So let us now endeavor in an attempt to find the rationale behind the behavior.

1 hour ago, NurseBlaq said:

 she was lying and a bigoted *word I can't say due to TOS*

The basis of all emotions stem from either fear or love. Aside from self love, fear is the primary motivating emotion in this scenario. This Nurse had a fear of a certain population and dealt with that fear through avoidance.

She was not about to confront her fears of her own volition, as many of us are- we require a stimulus from the environment that makes us confront our fears. In this case, that stimulus was you, NurseBlaq!

Carl Jung said something along the lines of, "Embrace your fears, for there your soul will grow". Joseph Campbell believed that the consciousness is changed through illuminating revelations that are a result of dealing with trials & tribulations.

In other words, NurseBlaq, you were integral in this person's soul growth and conscious-changing!

I now have to ask: How does it feel to be one of the self-actualized?