I'm in my mid-30s, but I guess scrubs make me look young. I assume this is the reason why I am often asked by my patients, "How long have you been a nurse?"
I am a second-career nurse, and the answer is somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 1/2 years. And I've only been in the ICU setting for 6 months.
So I find myself lying to my pts a lot. 5 years seems a nice round number. I don't want them to doubt my competence as a result of my lack of years of experience.
I'm sure it's a silly hangup. I'm just wondering if other people do the same, or if you don't, do you have a smarty-pants retort if they make a comment about how you haven't been a nurse very long?
P.S. They ask me this during our first meeting, not because I've done something stupid or clumsy to make them think I'm inexperienced. I think it's purely my looks.
Seems like a very far stretch. They have much more to worry about.
I see what you mean, if a complaint was filed in regards to lying about the length of time a nurse was licensed, I would anticipate there would be a disciplinary hearing and the result would be remediation, rather than loss of license.
While I like all the funny comments, I would never lie to a patient about my years of experience (or anything else for that matter)—and I am a new nurse who at times appears uncomfortable with a given procedure. At such times, I will get help from a more experienced nurse. I have no problem telling patients or their families that I am relatively new (and when I was brand-spankin' new, I would tell them that too).
Nevertheless, I think it's okay to start off with funny comments as an icebreaker, just as long as you are truthful in the end. Like a few other posters, I see no good reason to lie about your length of experience. If for some reason a patient or family is uncomfortable with a given nurse, they will likely ask other staff members questions about him or him. What if you tell a patient you've had X number of years of experience and then they ask the next shift or the aide or another healthcare worker about your level of experience? It wouldn't look good to be caught in such a lie, as innocuous as it may seem. It could really destroy a patient's confidence in you—or worse, as other posters have mentioned.
For what it's worth, a patient or a patient's family can be comfortable with a new grad and uncomfortable with the most seasoned nurse. Experience isn't everything! Building rapport, honesty, and courtesy go a long way to put people at ease. In my experience, being honest with patients and families about what I do not know—and that's a lot!—has gone a long way to earn their trust. In such cases, which still happens quite often for me, I will find out the correct answer from a more experienced colleague.
Never lied about it. No reason to, in reality, it shouldn't matter. And if it does, for the pts who like to nit-pick, it helps a nurse to move along to the pts that appreciate ones nursing practice, and may not even ask that question!
Most guys will exaggerate a bit when asked that question, but seriously folks, when asked how long I have been a nurse, the temptation exists to answer, "too many years" or, "not a very long time at all." This is similar to when a patient needs a new IV, is a difficult "stick", and asks, "are you good at this?" If I say, "no" the expression on the patient's face is priceless (almost as good as if I walked in carrying the IV tray while wearing dark glasses, and using a "cane" and a guide dog); if I answer in the affirmative, it probably comes across as arrogant.
More seriously, most patients just want to be assured they are getting the best health care available (even if they do not have the best "healthcare" available). The original question regarding length of time as a nurse is usually valid to some extent, and may also be just a "conversation starter" for the patient.
I usually say "a long time" and that seems to suit people fine. At least they don't ask for clarification. I got my LVN when I was 19 and I look young so when I give people the real answer they look at me like I am crazy or lying. Then they ask my age and it gets more personal than I care for.
Went on to read the rest of the posts in this thread, and I'm surprised at the number who seem to believe deflection of the question is equal to untruthfulness. I honestly would never consider my own response ("long enough to know not to answer that question!") as anything other than one intended to use humor to relax the person who asked it. I suppose if there were ever a SERIOUS concern that I was too new to know what I was doing, well then I'd have no problem saying exactly how long I was a nurse (at whatever point I was asked). Never considered HIDING it, just that if the person was asking to strike up small talk (and that's usually what it is, from what I've seen), it's reasonable to respond in kind--with a small-talk response.
I suppose one could answer "long enough" or "seems like forever" and it's just as truthful or untruthful as the person who is interpretting it wishes it to be. IF someone really wants to know...sure, tell 'em!
There's a difference between being coy, funny, whatever and evasive (for an unethical reason). For me, at my age, I respond much the way I would if someone asked me how old I was: "old enough to know not to answer that question!" :)
I just finished an Accelerated BSN program, so it was tricky when patients asked what year I was in. There's really only one year, but it's jam packed. Then I hit upon the (completely true) phrase, "I graduate in December." Much more reassuring to patients than telling them I just started in January.
I've never considered lying to answer this question. I have been a nurse for 7 1/2 years. When people ask me, I tell them "7 1/2 years." I have been at my current job for nearly 3 years. When I'm asked that I say "three years in April." I don't get what there is to lie about.
I think it's acceptable for an experienced nurse, such as yourself, to deflect the question with coy, funny answers. While experience certainly isn't everything, it usually shows. Therefore, I would imagine that a patient asking you such a question is likely just making small talk because your level of experience is likely evident. That's not the case for someone relatively new like me! My lack of experience can be painfully obvious at times and I don't try to hide it!
However, for a newbie, newish, or relatively inexperienced nurse, the patient or family may be asking about experience level for any number of reasons, including not wanting to be someone's guinea pig. Personally, I think patients have the right to request a different nurse, in most cases, if for some reason they do not feel comfortable with their assigned nurse—whether due to experience level, personality conflict (within reason), etc.
In fact, in my admittedly limited experience, I have seen a few patients prefer newish nurses over experienced ones. Case in point, at one of my jobs, I was trained by a veteran nurse with 20+ years experience. She and a particular patient—I'll call her Gwendolyn (a fictitious name)—just didn't hit it off; Gwendolyn said that the nurse in question had become jaded and lost her compassion. So, I swapped out Gwendolyn with the other nurse for a patient on my set. I was almost brand new then, but Gwendolyn was comfortable with me because I was upfront with her when she asked about my experience, etc. She told me a did a better job on a few of her procedures than some of the veteran nurses, even though I was much, much slower! I think she could see that I cared, and that was all that mattered.
dishes, BSN, RN
3,950 Posts
I see what you mean, if a complaint was filed in regards to lying about the length of time a nurse was licensed, I would anticipate there would be a disciplinary hearing and the result would be remediation, rather than loss of license.