Experienced Nurses Only

Nurses General Nursing

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No replies from students please!

Nurses, are you frustrated with trying to read theses forums only to find that most of the posts are from students or nurse wanna-be's looking for medical advice? You can usually tell them by the poor grammer.

Can we have a forum created for experienced nurses only to post?

No flames, let's just be honest here.

Specializes in pure and simple psych.

Yep, Ruby Vee, it seems that any attempt to be exclusive is perceived as hostile to the "outlanders." Yet I understand the frustration when I read a reply that does not communicate until midway through that the poster is not a nurse, but has a friend who is married to an EMT.

Nice that so many are interested in our work, but at times, I would like a conversation a cut above PG13.

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sometimes, we just want to vent to someone who understands (and isn't going to remember our venting when evaluation time comes around) without worrying about teaching students. sometimes we want to be supported, without worrying about having to protect or educate newbies. it's difficult enough to do the job day in and day out without having to teach constantly and watch every thought we express because someone who hasn't the experience to understand where we're coming from might misinterpret it.

i'm not sure that i understand the tendency among some of the inexperienced among us to put down an experienced nurse who is venting. but when your feelings are already rubbed raw by the unreasonable patient/family member/co-worker/manager you're currently venting about, those posts telling us "if you're so burnt out, you should just leave" or "you should never laugh at patients behind their backs" or "nurses are just plain mean" are difficult to read and even more difficult to ignore.

most of us understand the need to educate newbies, whether students, new grads or the experienced nurse with 20 years of er experience who just transferred to the icu. most of us embrace and enjoy the experience. there are times, however, when we don't want to worry about the newbies.

when you see a post from an experienced nurse venting about something you have yet to experience (an irate family member, a rude physician, a clueless manager) please don't assume that the reason you haven't experienced it is due to your superior communication skills. it may be that you just haven't been around long enough or around the right places to encounter that experience. and please think about supporting that nurse who has had such a terrible experience rather than telling her she's wrong to feel the way she does, or that there's something wrong with her that put her in that position.

most newbies (and rightfully so) bristle at the idea of an experienced nurse telling them they're stupid or ignorant when they ask a question about how to do something or express an "aha" moment about something that seems relatively simple after 20 years. those of us who have been around for decades bristle at the idea of someone who hasn't even worked in the profession yet telling us we have bad attitudes, shouldn't be precepting, etc. when we vent.

ruby, i can see your point and certainly understand the need to vent, but

i see lots of supportive comments for venting experienced nurses on the forum already. the student forum isn't exclusive to just students and licensed nurses aren't barred from posting there even when they post in ways that are not supportive of student vents. the vast majority of students on this site don't seem to jump in with "you must be an old school nurse, and i have a better way of doing _____" there are a few to be sure, but they are few enough to ignore, and just like we have a few students with that attitude, we also have nurses on this site with the attitude that "you can't possibly have a clue about anything because you aren't a nurse, and i have been one for 50 fifty years and i know everything about_____". again though the majority of the nurses on this site don't respond to people in that way. rn's can post in the lvn fourm, nurses can post in the student forum, students can post in the pre-nursing forum etc... i guess i don't see why there should be a licensed nurses forum that excludes others that aren't yet a part of that group, when the licensed nurses can post in forums that don't pertain to them specifically. in any case the mods and brian will do what they will, but the op presented this idea in a very offensive manner and i don't like the idea of creating barriers between groups. smacks of elitism a bit.. jmho

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As for why it was offensive to some, The OP has been a member here for all of 7 days and creates a thread that insinuates that all of the grammatical errors on allnurses must be made by students, who by the way are only "wanna-bes" and how tiresome it is to wade through all of our obviously worthless posts. Also has the nerve to try to stipulate who can reply to her thread. Then this person went on to explain that "experienced nurses" were RN's and the forum should be made for "experienced RNs only". Yep offensive to students and LPNs. :nono:

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Specializes in ER.

Even a short time member may be a years long lurker. Even if he/she isn't, we all have a right to an opinion. It's just a question.

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Specializes in ER.

...now that I think about it I thought RunningWithScissors had been around for awhile... is there a long timer with a similar name?

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
...now that I think about it I thought RunningWithScissors had been around for awhile... is there a long timer with a similar name?

It is certainly possible. I know there's a similar screen to mine (without the RN) and also Tweety's. Had to look closely at that one.

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I notice that the posts in the specialty forums tend to be from more experienced nurses. I think it helps students and others who are interested in becoming nurses to be able to participate in discussions about nursing. It gives people a chance to see what kinds of issues are involved and how nurses think. :wink2:

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
i have to say that i'm absolutely amazed at how threatened some folks seem to be by the idea that experienced nurses might want their own forum. as far as i can see, the original poster didn't say anything offensive, but i'm offended by some of the subsequent posts on this thread attacking both the op and anyone who agreed with her. i just don't understand. what is so very threatening about the idea of experienced nurses venting to one another?

the tone of the original post is a bit harsh. it's not a "hey why can't we have an experienced nurses only forum so we can vent and support one another." it's more like a "aren't you tired of students and newbies and want a place of our own." there's a difference and i think this is what people are reacting to, but i can only speak for myself.

the title "nurse wannabe" is a bit offensive to some.

"you can usually tell them by the poor grammer." is a bit offensive. (and ironic since it's mispelled.)

it's not necessarily the idea but how it was presented.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Many times in life its all in how its presented. My sister is the charmer of the land. She can tell people to go climb a tree and they thank her for the suggestion. I on the other hand, am pretty blunt. So...I agree with Tweety that sometimes we have to be very careful about what we are saying...it can sometimes come back to bit us.

BTW has the OP been back???

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Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.

haven't seen her. I guess after being so thoroughly bashed she gave up.

I agree with Ruby. I don't understand how experienced nurses havingone forum is such a big deal and threat to students/students to be/brand new nurses. At the risk of repeating myself, there are times when you want to hear from people who know exactly where you're coming from because they've been there. You don't want to have to back track to explain because someone is so new she doesn't understand what you're talking about, and you certainly don't want sermonettes from idealistic students/new nurses who tell you your attitude is wrong and that you should get out if you feel that way.

And I will point out again that there are forums set aside for students and new nurses, and that a majority of the posters there are in that category.

To be even more blunt, there are times I want to hear from one of my peers, and a student/new grad just isn't a peer. That doesn't mean I don't respect them, it just means that I want to hear from someone who has shared experiences.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ER and ICU!!!.
Many times in life its all in how its presented. My sister is the charmer of the land. She can tell people to go climb a tree and they thank her for the suggestion. I on the other hand, am pretty blunt. So...I agree with Tweety that sometimes we have to be very careful about what we are saying...it can sometimes come back to bit us.

BTW has the OP been back???

Agree with both this and Tweety. Also, where is the OP?? Sounds like someone who likes to start fires but is unwilling to put them out. :madface:

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

Im thinking the OP is someone who HAS been around awhile but logged in under a new name at a friends house or from some other location...

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