Do your non-nursing people know what nurses do?

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

Hello Everyone!!!! Well I am just wondering if anyone could share their thoughts or experiences on this subject. I'll share mine..

My cousin, he's a sophmore and pre-med, really thinks nurses do only what CNA's do and that doctors do what nurses actually do. He thinks doctors iniciate IV's, change fluids and what not, place foley caths, and stuff like that.. A friend of mine thinks we hug, change diapers, and wait on doctors.. Now another friend of mine argued a basic really dumb fact about a disease, she's a receptionists at an insurance company, and said, "well how would you know anything about it-you're just studying to be a nurse!" Yeah as a nurse you don't have to know anything about diabetes?!?!?!? I think its so frustrating you hear stuff like this all the time and I notice it more and more on TV and I guess just in general.

So whats everyone elses thoughts?

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I agree...nurses do a lot more than change diapers and offer hugs.. a lot of times we do that while starting IVs, giving medications, placing foley caths, changing wound vac dressings and other dressings, we are a counselor for our patients, a teacher for them, a physical therapist, and most importantly an advocate. We carry a huge responsibility on our shoulders besides 'giving hugs' :)

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Nurses sure get paid a lot to just give hugs!

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.
Nurses sure get paid a lot to just give hugs!

I would be a terrible nurse if that's what it was about - I don't think the ridiculous hug pay rate would be enough to convince me to change diapers and hug all day.

Of course, that's technically my

description as a stay at home mom, and I do for free, so maybe I would do it. :)

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I haven't heard a whole lot of comment about things like that for nurses (possibly cause I am still a student) but I do run into that a lot about nursing school. If someone has never been to nursing school they just think its easy and you can fly through it. Maybe it is the same concept. There are some days that I would love to just give hugs all day so my legs could get a break and I wouldn't need to worry about my next test score!

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Specializes in Radiation Oncology.

Blame the media....I mean seriously, have ya'll watched any of the popular medical dramas. I cringe watching Grey's Anatomy. You see the docs starting IV's, adjusting IV drip rates, injections, wound care, and other nursing duties. I think I almost lost my sanity when they showed the docs actually helping a patient into a wheelchair and then proceeding to wheel the patient down to CT, AND then proceeding to run the CT machine!!! hahaha!

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Yeah, I believe nurses don't get enough respect for what we have to do. If it were so easy everyone would be doing it. That's why nursing school is so hard, only the strong survive and never give up.:nurse:

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I defiantly agree people that are not nursing students or in the nursing field already, don't know how important nurses are. I must admit that before I started pursing a career in nursing I didn't know much about it either. I was surprised to find out everything they are able to do and how much responsibility they have. I really don't think they get the respect that they should, but that doesn't change my career decision.

I start nursing school this fall and I am SUPER excited! When I told some of my family members the great news they looked at me like I was crazy and then they said that they didn't know you had to be accepted and that it didn't make sense to them. I then tried explaining how competitive it is to get in and how hard nursing school is they still didn't seem to get it. My cousin is a medical assistant and she went on to say that medical assistants do pretty much the same things as nurses. That's when i just decided to stop explaining they clearly were not gonna get it.. I'm just glad for allnurses everyone seems to get what your going through here :)

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I thought for a long time that all nurses did was the hug thing...until I had post-partum depression in the hospital and those nurse were my strength. When I saw what nurses actually do I realized I wanted to be one. I talked them UP on a hospital rating phone survey...and I brought them a bag of candy. I felt that anyone which could put up with crazy me for five days deserved chocolate at least.

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
Blame the media....I mean seriously, have ya'll watched any of the popular medical dramas. I cringe watching Grey's Anatomy. You see the docs starting IV's, adjusting IV drip rates, injections, wound care, and other nursing duties. I think I almost lost my sanity when they showed the docs actually helping a patient into a wheelchair and then proceeding to wheel the patient down to CT, AND then proceeding to run the CT machine!!! hahaha!

I know!!!! One time I was watching Scrubs and they have the doctors doing all that stuff and then there was one episode where a nurse gets upset because she thinks her doctor friend looks down on her for not going to college (now I know there are some diploma schools but not in my state anymore) and then tells her she will feel better if she attends a course (a course meaning 1) to be a nurse practioner!!! lmao But most of the TV shows are like that, so I totally agree!

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
Yeah, I believe nurses don't get enough respect for what we have to do. If it were so easy everyone would be doing it. That's why nursing school is so hard, only the strong survive and never give up.:nurse:

I don't mind that its hard, its just frustrating when the general public has a pretty big misconception of the nurses role is in health-care. I guess it surprises me sometimes because I don't actually encounter that much because so many of my family members work in health-care and during the school year all I see is my nursing family and my real one lol

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
I defiantly agree people that are not nursing students or in the nursing field already, don't know how important nurses are. I must admit that before I started pursing a career in nursing I didn't know much about it either. I was surprised to find out everything they are able to do and how much responsibility they have. I really don't think they get the respect that they should, but that doesn't change my career decision.

I start nursing school this fall and I am SUPER excited! When I told some of my family members the great news they looked at me like I was crazy and then they said that they didn't know you had to be accepted and that it didn't make sense to them. I then tried explaining how competitive it is to get in and how hard nursing school is they still didn't seem to get it. My cousin is a medical assistant and she went on to say that medical assistants do pretty much the same things as nurses. That's when i just decided to stop explaining they clearly were not gonna get it.. I'm just glad for allnurses everyone seems to get what your going through here :)

I would never change my career hahaha not when I'm about to graduate! Congratulations though on getting accepted, thats such an exciting time. Its just stuff like that, when you said about the MA which brings up another annoyance which is that people think every woman in healthcare is a nurse. Example my friend took her son to the doc's and she says "oh the nurse came in to weigh and measure him and was so rough, why are nurses such *******?" Really, now I'm sure there are some RN's at offices but I highly, highly doubt this was an RN. My cousin, works as an unlicensed NA and when I got accepted she said, "Oh welcome to my world of nursing!"

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