Ever notice this about allnurses?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

It regulary happens that someone posts a question or brings up a topic, and is immediately told "This has been discussed before. Do a search."

Then-

When someone does a search and posts in the threads they find, someone will tell them "Did you notice how old this thread is?"

:uhoh3:

I'll be honest, I would NEVER tell someone to go "look it up"...probably just about every topic has been discussed at one time or the other, and if everyone just researched old threads...it would be a pretty dead board.

There are new people joining the site every day, and some are not familiar with message boards. Not something that makes you feel welcome!

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Hopefully I can answer some of these concerns:

1. The old threads are useful especially if the topic is still current. It can be a way of getting up to date with a topic and/or adding your personal opinion to it. I do not think it is useful to bring up old "situational topics" which were heated in the beginning and to which the OP hasn't returned. Sometimes it is better to start a fresh thread if there is a new situation.

2. As to saying "look it up" - I don't view it as necessarily rude but rather necessary in some circumstances, especially if it is a topic that has been rehashed such as ADN versus BSN, prof , etc.

3. It is perfectly acceptable to ask questions about why something is done one way or the other. If you would like a personal response, please either PM one of the admins/mods or post the thread in the Admin Help Section.

Hope this helps to clarify these concerns.

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I have to agree. Personally, I joined AllNurses to feel part of a group....and I love reading all threads. I would never tell someone to go do a search. It's more fun to have some interaction and support.

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I figure,even if a thread has 300 post a new voice can bring a new spin to it.

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I'll be honest, I would NEVER tell someone to go "look it up"...probably just about every topic has been discussed at one time or the other, and if everyone just researched old threads...it would be a pretty dead board.

There are new people joining the site every day, and some are not familiar with message boards. Not something that makes you feel welcome!

Excellent point. A new poster may be new to the site, but they may also be a very experienced nurse. Someone with fresh ideas and experiences to share. I want to hear what they have to say.

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Posting a thread brings up new approaches and ideas. I would never say do a search....

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

I don't like the "do a search" answer because I've literally spent hours searching for a thread that had a tidbit of important information that I was looking for.

It's frustrating, especially to newbies.

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Yes, I have noticed it. Whenever I'm told that, I respond that although the topic has been discussed before, I wasn't part of the discussion, and I wish to be now. We don't do that in real life- refuse to answer someone's question because "I've talked about that before"!

But ya can't do a search in real life ...

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
It regulary happens that someone posts a question or brings up a topic, and is immediately told "This has been discussed before. Do a search."

Then-

When someone does a search and posts in the threads they find, someone will tell them "Did you notice how old this thread is?"

:uhoh3:

Yes, and i think it's pretty dismissive.:nono:

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Specializes in cardiac/critical care/ informatics.

but there are some questions that can be answered in all of the old threads. For example What kind of stethoscope should I get. How many times has that been asked? or One of my fav Am I too old to go in to nursing? Having said that I wouldn't tell someone to do a search. But sometimes I would like to. JMHO

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Specializes in Public Health, DEI.
but there are some questions that can be answered in all of the old threads. For example What kind of stethoscope should I get. How many times has that been asked? or One of my fav Am I too old to go in to nursing? Having said that I wouldn't tell someone to do a search. But sometimes I would like to. JMHO

What difference does it make how many times its been asked before? Lots of the answers in previous threads come from people who aren't even around anymore. Maybe the poster is looking for feedback from people with who she is more familiar. Or maybe there are new products available on the market and an old thread wouldn't include them.

Plus, there's "suggesting" someone search for something because it is possible they'll find something really helpful that may not come up in a current thread and then there's "telling" someone to do a search because discussing it again would be "beating a dead horse". I'm not saying you would ever say that to someone, but sad to say, I've seen others do it.

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Staff discussed this issue back in '98 and determined that it isn't a problem.

:chair:

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