I am a new LPN (almost RN), and my first (and current) job as a nurse is as a private duty nurse for a medically intensive peds patient. However, I constantly feel like I have to "justify" my position by telling people how medically intensive the pt. is (listing all the diagnoses), or I feel I have to say that this is temporary until I get my RN and move on to bigger and better things. There seems to be this culture (at least where I am) about home health nursing that it isn't "real" nursing, and I have somehow gotten caught up in it (as evidenced by my need to justify it to people who ask what I do). Whenever I tell someone I'm a nurse, they say "what hospital do you work at?" When I tell them I'm a PDN, they say "so you have just one patient?" or "oh." What, do I have to work in a big hospital with 6 acute patients on a med-surg floor to be considered a real nurse?
I know that what I do is valuable, I know that I am a darn good nurse to my patient, and I know that I make a positive difference in many people's lives by doing what I do, so why do I feel like I have to justify it?? Does anyone else experience this? Thanks for sharing any thoughts on this.
