Ever notice this about allnurses?

Nurses General Nursing

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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:

Specializes in NICU.

Yep, I've noticed the same thing! lol

That's why I think it's important to quickly explain why you're starting a new thread on a topic that's been talked about before or why you're digging up an old thread.

Just a quick explanation ...... "I know this has been discussed before, but ......." or "I know this is an old thread, but ......"

If that happened, then you'd probably very rarely hear "do a search" and "this thread is so old!"

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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

I agree, it can be soooo tiresome to rehash certain things, and I guess I spend too much time here because I see things like am I too old to be a nurse? or should I do LPN or RN? or what's the best state to live in if you're a nurse? etc. over and over and over, spinning 'round 'round like a record baby....

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Something that kind of irritated me was, I was doing a search for a particular member recently, I noticed that there are numerous names that haven't posted in years are still listed in the members list. I guess they could possibly be just reading the posts and not responding, but it took forever to find the member I was looking for.

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Specializes in NICU.

Also, I see people post on old threads and ask questions of the OP, which hasn't posted in X number of years. So then people just inform them that it's an old thread and most likely the OP isn't going to be seeing that.

I agree with mercy though in that there's a difference between "suggesting" and "telling". The way you word it and the way it comes across has a big impact.

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The best way to handle this is -don't read it if its a subject you've gotten tired of.

There are lots of threads you can read rather than that one.

If you feel you must tell a possible newbie about the search option, then do it nicely and move on.

Problem solved.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

Well, and i've also noticed, in some people's opinion, if you haven't posted in a couple of months, and haven't posted to a thread in months or years, it's assumed that you're never posting again as well. Nevermind that you might still be reading something old, yet haven't posted anything recent on it.

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Specializes in NICU.
Well, and i've also noticed, in some people's opinion, if you haven't posted in a couple of months, and haven't posted to a thread in months or years, it's assumed that you're never posting again as well. Nevermind that you might still be reading something old, yet haven't posted anything recent on it.

I know what you mean. I mean when people respond to a thread that is from years ago and the OP had only made a handful of posts and hasn't posted in years. Maybe they still look around here, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on a response.

But yeah, I love when people make responses to/about people that haven't posted on a certain thread when it's clear they still frequent the site!

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I agree, it can be soooo tiresome to rehash certain things, and I guess I spend too much time here because I see things like am I too old to be a nurse? or should I do LPN or RN? or what's the best state to live in if you're a nurse? etc. over and over and over, spinning 'round 'round like a record baby....

Don't forget "ADN or BSN?"

"Anyone going to school online"?

and that all time classic-

"Help! I just took the NCLEX and I'm freaking out!"

Ad nauseum.

I hardly ever read those threads anymore.

When I post in an old thread, however, I'm regularly told "Didn't you see the date on this thread?":uhoh3:

Threads are not like milk- they don't expire, lol.

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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?"

Sometimes Its a little annoying we have to repeat ourself to same question. Sometimes I wish people would do a search and find the information before posting the thread.:lol2:

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Specializes in L/D, and now Occupational Health.

I am pretty new here and even I have gotten tired of seeing some of the same things over and over, but ya know what I do, I just don't read them. There are plenty of other threads out there of interest, and if you feel so inclined, post in the thread with a link to the older thread, I know being new I would appreciate that, but not being told to "do a search".

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Specializes in ICU, ER, Hemodialysis.
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:

Well, if you are talking about other members telling one to "do a search." I agree. If you do not have anything to add then it would be more appropriate to just move on to another post than to tell someone to "do a search." Unless, of course, one is honestly trying to help the poster.

However, if staff advises someone to "do a search" it is because part of our job is to keep the board running smooth. I've seen plenty of times when in one forum that I see three different members posting the same question in three separate threads. This clutters up the board, fragments, and tends to have questions going unanswered because members are tired of answering the same question.

Now about old threads! Go ahead and restart the thread if there is something to be added. However, if someone revives a thread that is three years old to ask the OP a question, well then this will surely get a "did you see how old the thread is" response.

All this being stated, anytime you feel like you need to, you can contact the moderators for that forum (listed at the bottom of the forum) or you can post in the admin forum, where only you and the admin can see the post.

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Specializes in Jack of all trades, and still learning.
I much prefer to see an old thread "revived" and discussion on the topic picked up and carried on there, to have new threads on the same topic/question started by each new person that finds us, esp. with the "dead horse" topics :) like ADN vs. BSN, whether or not to buy professional liability insurance, etc.

Think about it this way

  1. the format of all nurses is such that only the recent posts come up first...if the repeated topic is five pages back, you don't know its old
  2. similar topics may be listed at the bottom of the page...but you only see that after it is posted
  3. not everyone is familiar with the site
  4. the site is a relatively new format and some of us are still trying to get used to it.
  5. what is new to someone is not new to someone else

So maybe we should be a bit understanding. If you think the topic is old, ignore it :idea:

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