I had a pt in the ED and the SO was a nurse but did not tell me that at first ,no big deal, and SO is asking me oh what are you hanging? Is it D5 or NS? I said LR knowing that the SO apparently was trying to hint that he/she was in the med field. Then con't asking q's which is fine then finally the SO said oh so&so's a nurse. I thought to myself no **** he/she's only been dropping not so suttle hints.
Okay that's fine if you are in the med field but do you have to make it a point to be known to me? I really don't care if you are or not your family member will be getting the same tx that the rest of my pt's do. Do you think that by saying you are a nurse or anybody in the med field that you will get better care than other pt's. Do you announce that you are a nurse to med staff when a family member is being tx for something? I don't.
It's really not that big of a deal but it just sort of annoys me because I'll do my job just the same not matter if your joe blow off the street or the hosp CEO.
I tend to volunteer that I am a nurse when things are being explained too simplistically or not at all--like it would be to difficult to explain in layman's terms.
:yeahthat:That's a perfect explanation of what I do, too.
it depends on the situation, I know I will get a more thorough explanation if I tell them that I'm a nurse. I've been a patient and was let out of the hospital sooner because the doc knew I would know what warning signs to look out for post surgery etc. and also my husband was let go sooner for the same reason.
If it isn't necessary to tell someone, for example if I was a visitor or the patient wasn't family, I would keep it to myself unless I felt I needed to question something that wasn't being done right.
In life in general, I am proud to be a nurse, although at the same time I don't think the general public understands what we do, what we have to know, and how much responsibility we have. Here the attitude is that nursing = big bucks, and people fail to see the short staffing, short shifting and number of OT hours we put in.
i think it depends on the situation and the nurse that would be taking care of me in the hospital. Some nurses you know right off the back are going to take good care of you regardless and its fun to chat about the different areas we work in. I usually do not announce i am a RN at doctors visits unless the dr. recognizes me.
I had a pt in the ED and the SO was a nurse but did not tell me that at first ,no big deal, and SO is asking me oh what are you hanging? Is it D5 or NS? I said LR knowing that the SO apparently was trying to hint that he/she was in the med field. Then con't asking q's which is fine then finally the SO said oh so&so's a nurse. I thought to myself no **** he/she's only been dropping not so suttle hints.
Okay that's fine if you are in the med field but do you have to make it a point to be known to me? I really don't care if you are or not your family member will be getting the same tx that the rest of my pt's do. Do you think that by saying you are a nurse or anybody in the med field that you will get better care than other pt's. Do you announce that you are a nurse to med staff when a family member is being tx for something? I don't.
It's really not that big of a deal but it just sort of annoys me because I'll do my job just the same not matter if your joe blow off the street or the hosp CEO.
Sorry just wanted to get that out.
No Kidding! I make it a point to not mention to anyone what I do - unless I'm asked. It is Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo aggravating! I once had this woman, who was a friend of the patient - who was a home health nurse and actually stood OVER me while I was starting an IV... pulling up his shirt, getting into my field - I could feel her breath on my face! How intrusive is that??!?!?! I couldn't believe the audacity... some people!
I wear a charm on my necklace with the RN symbol. I dont know how long I will wear it for. I paid 19.99 for it off ebay and in turn took off my diamond/ saphire pendant.
I know--some day soon I will put my good jewels back on, right now with me being a relativly new grad (dec 07) I still have that I love being a nurse feeling!!! I was going to get an RN lic plate and my best friend (also an RN) begged me not too....said enough already, I carry the RN bag, drink out of the RN coffee cup and wear the RN necklace....
So Ya, Iam proud to be a nurse...but back to the orginal post--only once since graduation did I have a child at an out of city hospital, and I did tell them I was a nurse, because I asked the RN why she was only programming the IV pump to put in 200 at a time. She said it was thier little type of alarm system so they would check on the pt every 2 hours. I said, "oh that is a good idea" and then she asked if I was a nurse since I asked about the pumps programing.
I almost shouldnt have though, becuase at that time I was a concerned mother and I think they the nursing staff felt they did not need to check on him as much since a nurse was in the room.
when I had my second child, it was in the hospital I worked and I wasn't checked on (c-section too!) - I had to ask to have stool softeners and Tylenol.... I checked my own incision.... they took care of my son (had low blood sugar) but neglected me. I think they didn't want to look in on me because I was a nurse... which was sad. I didn't report it because I knew that it wasn't meant as a negative - the nurses were great with my son and they were great when I had my first child (before I was a nurse!).
I don't like to annouce that I'm a nurse only because I don't want to be treated differently from anyone else. Sorry, but I feel like I'm one of those nurse-slash-family-members that is trying to throw their weight around. With that said, I'm planning on having weight loss surgery and my hospital has a dedicated unit for it. The unit happens to be right around the corner from the ICU I work in. And I know a ton of residents who are in their anesthesia rotation this month and i'm sure it will come out one way or another. But I don't want to be treated differently just because I'm a nurse.
you will. You work there and you should have some professional courtesy offered to you.... it is expected.
My dog had pancreatitis in March - normal treatment NPO and IV fluids.
Since the vet knew I was a nurse and we were discussing treatment, he let me take him home and do the care there - he was NPO for about 48 hours and had ice chips hourly, and was on Flagyl that I was allowed to give with about 1tbsp of wet dog food.
The emergency vet visit, bill, and labwork and new food switching to was almost 600$. Cant imagine what it would have been if I had to leave him there for IV fluids..
That was a time when the nurse card worked quite well..
But back to the OP:
I try to disclose it sometimes, but othertimes I'll let it slide. However, it usually comes out when they ask 'what do you do?'. I usually let it come out b/c I get annoyed that they arent listening to me at times, and then miraculously, they end up listening after they know im a nurse..
but there are two types of RN patients/visitors = nice and noninvasive ones who keep their mouths shut OR the ones that think they know everything about YOUR job (even though they're not in your specialty). :banghead:
you will. You work there and you should have some professional courtesy offered to you.... it is expected.
Yeah thats probably true. I'm not too concerned about preferential treatment because I work there. I'm worried about being nude in front of the residents that know me. I don't want to be a jerk and say no residents because it is a teaching hospital. Then again, I'll be under general anesthesia, I probably won't care who I'm showing my nakedness to.
Yeah thats probably true. I'm not too concerned about preferential treatment because I work there. I'm worried about being nude in front of the residents that know me. I don't want to be a jerk and say no residents because it is a teaching hospital. Then again, I'll be under general anesthesia, I probably won't care who I'm showing my nakedness to.
OH!!! Yeah, I get that.... though you wouldn't be viewed as a jerk... just because it's a teaching hospital, they can get their experience on another non-staff patient... I wouldn't care two licks about that - they'll respect that decision if you don't want them in on it.
When I had my second son (by C-section), I asked that the guys get out of the room while they prepped, foley'd, and draped me... since I knew all of them.... big *ss pregnant woman on that skinny table... nuh uh... no good to see!
Yes I do because I don't want to be treated like the other family members, I want to know as much information as possible about my loved one and it seems that the only way I can get a straight answer sometimes is if I tell the medical professional that I am a nurse. I don't beat around the bush, I just tell them in a straightforward manner "oh I'm a nurse you can tell me about it'. I am not there to "test" anyone or trip anyone up I just want to help my loved one and the best way for me to do that is to get as much info as available to me. Of course that only works half the time, the other half of the time the nurse or whoever is either defensive about it or nonchalant as they are intent on proving to me that they don't care if I'm a nurse or not.
Both my personal physician and my gynecologist know I'm an RN and when they talk to me it is on that level and much appreciated.
Yes I do because I don't want to be treated like the other family members, I want to know as much information as possible about my loved one and it seems that the only way I can get a straight answer sometimes is if I tell the medical professional that I am a nurse. I don't beat around the bush, I just tell them in a straightforward manner "oh I'm a nurse you can tell me about it'. I am not there to "test" anyone or trip anyone up I just want to help my loved one and the best way for me to do that is to get as much info as available to me. Of course that only works half the time, the other half of the time the nurse or whoever is either defensive about it or nonchalant as they are intent on proving to me that they don't care if I'm a nurse or not.
Both my personal physician and my gynecologist know I'm an RN and when they talk to me it is on that level and much appreciated.
I think it all boils down to tone of voice by the visitor or family member that is the nurse - it's how you (or anyone) comes across to the primary nurse. The intent will come across - if you're rude, demanding, or hostile, it won't matter that you're a nurse and that will actually drive us nurses mad. If the demeanor is kind, caring, understanding and accepting - that makes the world of difference to me and I'll bend over backwards for that warm blanket when I'm done with my code.
I'm in school for my RN so being an LPN I Felt so anxious to tell my fellow nrsg students that I was a nurse. I never do cuz I don't wanna seem like a show off. only if the topic of work or nursing comes up then obviously I have to mention it. when I do everyone gasps like oooh awwwe a nurse is in the midst. sure I love the attention but get cocky. when my mom was in the hospital the nurses caught on to the fact that I was a nurse or my blabbermouth mom told em whichever occured first lol but really I keep my info hush hush
:banghead:
RNfromMN, BSN, RN
294 Posts
:yeahthat:That's a perfect explanation of what I do, too.