I Am Disturbed

[Vito Andolini]

I am very disturbed by those who were so critical of Jelet. For those not familiar with him, he started a thread about why do nurses say it's so hard to be a nurse, don't nurses only check pulses and fix small injuries.

I want to just say that I believe some of the responses are great examples of how we nurses do, in fact, destroy our young. In this case, we might have aborted a pre-born altogether.

Jelet says he's a high school Senior, age 17. This is a kid, folks. He cannot be expected to know much about Nursing, other than, perhaps, what he might have seen on TV or in movies. I wish those who took offense by his naive questions would have been patient and given him the benefit of any doubt. Some derided him without answering him and were completely unhelpful in addition to being derisive, some thought him to be a troll, others criticized his spelling. Funny, some who did that misspelled words like "grammar". :chuckle

This was an opportunity to educate but so many of us here missed it. It was an opportunity to help guide a young person who is trying to figure out which direction to take in life but so many here took offense and missed that precious opportunity. This is so sad.

To Jelet: Please do continue your exploration of careers and please do not be discouraged by some of the responses. Yes, you do need to work on spelling, such as Nursing (not Nurseing). I thought you were just using the shorthand that has developed in today's modern world. It did not occur to me that maybe you don't know correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. By all means, you do need to be able to use proper English, no matter what line of work you enter.

I suggest you get to your Guidance/College Counselor immediately, as your Senior year will really fly by. Discuss your situation with that person. Ask for advice. I'm sure you have been hearing all about SAT & ACT and are aware that you should take these (one or both). There are prep courses for these and you might want to take a course so you will get a better score. Or you can take free practice tests on the SAT and ACT websites, I think, or in your Counselor's office, maybe.

Look into some colleges you are interested in. Visit them. These could be local community college, a big state university, or a smaller, possibly religious private college. Depends what type of experience you are looking for. Again, your Counselor will be an invaluable source of information, as will the internet. Are your parents involved in helping you figure this out? See what they can afford for college. That will help guide your decision of where to attend.

I am interested that you once thought of becoming a CPA. That is a whole lot different than Nursing. How did that come about? Where do you stand on that now? Are there other careers that interest you? Have you taken an aptitude/interest test or 2? These can help guide you to careers that incorporate your interests and abilities. Also, you need to be spending time with people who actually are doing the type of work you want to explore. Spend time with nurses. Spend time with accountants, etc.

Please let us know where you stand, how things are going. I wrote you a long, long treatise on the other thread so will not repeat it here, except to say that you should go on the Specialty and Resources tabs up above. Good luck.

To my colleagues here: Guys, c'mon, let's try to give people the benefit of the doubt and try to help. Cynicism will not win us new nurses and could really hurt a young person who is trying to plan his life. Surely, we who hold lives in our hands, can do better.

[peoplenurse rn]

Well said, Vito Andolini!

[JenRN30, BSN]

Thanks Vito. There are some people who are really rude with their responses on this website. I'm glad someone finally said something about it. I read that post and thought that was pretty mean with all of the remarks and faces. Thanks.

[uscstu4lfe]

nice post!!

[DusktilDawn]

Excellent post Vito. Let's face it, the public in general has no concept of what nurses really do. What's surprising about a 17 year old displaying that same lack of concept.

[TopazLover, BSN, RN]

Vito, That was a very thoughtful response. I had not read the thread and did take time to read a few responses. You have acted as a mentor and "big brother" to some one who sounds like he could use one.

You have shown yourself to be a credit to our profession, one that claims to be caring and supporting of others.

Thank you

[RN1982]

Vito provided that young man some valuable advice. Hopefully, Jelet is undeterred by some of the responses. I know I can be a little "peppery" and if I came off rude, I apologize.

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

The original poster was very correct in the statement. I have noted that many times posts on this site are misread and the writer is "attacked" when what they had said, and what the readers had interpreted it to be very different. I wish that more people would double check what they are writing and what they are reading.

Thank you!

[lpnflorida]

Vito, great response, I have seen many times, responses on many threads are written in haste, with little thought put in to what is the writer trying to convey, or find out more information.

Is this what we taught about being a nurse ? Is it safe to jump to conclusions or are we to use our critical thinking skills. Those are skills which should not be left at the door of our institutions.

My pet peeve. Readers who read the first post then jump to the end to write a response rather than reading entire threads which might have already clarified what the poster was trying to ask , or their clarifications.

We all complain about poor communication. Communication is a two way street as we already know.

Like great sex, its about quality not quantity of response.

[RS0302]

Well I commented on that post, I dont think the comment I made was too critical, but I admit I did get a bit peeved, because I felt like whenever someone tried to explain something to him, he came back with a "well it still cant be that hard" response....but this may have just been me.

I guess like others have said I shouldnt be suprised, because this is how the general public feels about nursing. Even when I try to educate my own family members for example, they give me that "gimme a break its not that hard" no matter how much I try to educate them about what nurses really do.

[chloeysmom]

I never reviewed the original post. I would like to say though, that even some of the best seasoned nurses that I know have BIG TIME spelling problems, and grammar. I do too. That is why the computers we chart on have spellcheck built in.

[RN1982]

How about that troll that was saying our education wasn't that hard and "don't listen to nurses because they will always say it's hard"