Posters that are not nurses

[Cattitude]

i'm going to keep this nice and polite i promise mods!:)

i'm just hoping that one of the smart student/new nurse posters can answer this.

i know that we have quite a few people on here that do not have the title nurse, either rn/lpn. we have some great, intelligent students,new nurses,cna's, techs, etc. most of them add a lot of interesting elements and variety to the posts and i enjoy reading them.

however, i really want to know something. i have noticed this with several other posters(not the above ones) on several occasions. why on earth would someone that is not a nurse think they could ever tell a nurse how to do their job? or think that limited clinical experience is enough to say they know what a nurse does?

i mean, i would never think of say, jumping in a thread telling ob nurses how they should do something or how they could do it better. i've never done ob (not counting school)

i guess this is just frustrating as it seems people think it's so easy to do this job! it's not, it has hard times, fun times, sad,break your heart in two times. but it's not a job that you can learn how to do in a few semesters of school. it takes years. fortunately, i think that most of our students here know that and respect that.

so, what's the thought on the ones that don't know? is it their egos? overconfidence?

i'm really interested in replies.

[blueyesue]

It's sort of like people without kids telling you how to raise yours. I gave my sister occasional opinions on raising her kid, and even said to myself "I'll never do that" But ended up doing it when I had my child. LOL. Rarely is a novice view better than a professional. We students are just that: students. I guess we are all still learning when it comes down to it though. :)

[leslie :-D]

i'm reminded of when i was a spanking new nurse and was starting my first job in an inpt hospice facility.

there was another new grad who was starting with me.

this new grad talked as if she was the know-it-all of hospice nsg.

she would actually patronize experienced nurses on how and what they were doing wrong, and proceeded to tell how she would do it.

i was horrified and embarassed.

this facility had never hired new grads before and although this nurse ended up leaving, they never hired new grads again.

i have to think it was because of how precocious this one nurse was.

and so, i have met many people such as the new grad i spoke of....know-it-alls.

it's easy for them to speak their mind, but when it comes to receiving any sort of constructive feedback....well, it's not pretty.

i think you'll find these people in all walks of life; not just nurses.

leslie

[smkiya, BSN, RN]

When I worked in finance/asset mgmt we hired outside sources to review operations in various facets (employee development, biz development, etc.). Many times the companies hired as consultants were not in our specific business area, but offered some very innovative ideas. These ideas may never have been thought of or considered because we were caught up in the day to day. Sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to create very innovative solutions.

I know there are people in nursing from various backgrounds, (engineers, accountants, teachers, lawyers, scientists, etc.), that offer their talents and ideas and apply them to nursing. I once had a new employee suggest I do something a new way, and guess what... it was much more efficient than the way I was doing it before. When I am having trouble solving a particular problem, I call a friend and many times they suggest something I otherwise wouldn't have thought of.

I think the problem is not in the suggestion (which very well could be ingenious), but in the method in which it is transmitted.

[htrn]

I know that some posters may not be nurses, and I agree with the OPs concerns. On the other hand, there are posters that are mothers of nursing students that post and I enjoy being able to support her children by providing her MHO.

[Cattitude]

i think the problem is not in the suggestion (which very well could be ingenious), but in the method in which it is transmitted.

yes that is part of the problem as well. i also think that some of it may be this.. this has been repeated so many times on this site already, it's ad nauseum. a lot of times the venting here is taken aout of context. i think sometimes we either scare or horrify the students/newbie nurses.

[color=#483d8b]

[color=#483d8b]i don't know if we're viewed as these "angels" (thinking of a recent thread) or what but at the end of a shift, we are human like everyone else. heck, during the shift we're human;) . and yes, we are allowed to have emotions as a result of the job we do. if people want compassion and joy well that means sometimes there's going to be frustration and anger too. but we don't show the negative stuff to our pt's.

[color=#483d8b]we darn sure do more than wipe butts, play on the computer,sit at the nurse's station., and wipe brows

[color=#483d8b]

[color=#483d8b]i'm all for fresh ideas from any newbie, i really am, but for the most part, i really do think it's an experience that needs to be experienced.

[Cattitude]

I know that some posters may not be nurses, and I agree with the OPs concerns. On the other hand, there are posters that are mothers of nursing students that post and I enjoy being able to support her children by providing her MHO.

Oh she seems like a great lady and I posted to her as well. I am not referring to that kind of poster, more to the very obvious "bashing" type of posts. The ones where posters kind of say that nurses are wrong,wrong,wrong for doing such and such and they should do this and that. Of course they have such a vast wealth of knowledge being that they either a) never worked as a nurse or b) have about 2 days of nursing exp.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

There are times when I feel like my experience is being judged by students.

I distinctly remember when I was in school we newbies would always say "can you believe she recapped a needle?", "I can't believe what she just said about that patient behind her back?", "She is sloppy"...."I'm never going to be a nurse like those nurses there, they are so unprofessional"....and the best yet "I'm never going to make a med error".

I guess what goes around comes around. New nurses and students have such high ideals and standards, and many are extremely harsh in their judgements.

I don't let a few of them bother me because I know where they are coming from, and I know with experience what goes around comes around.

Then and only then will they understand.

In the meantime it's a great big world here at Allnurses with all kinds of people and experiences and opinions. I don't let the negative ones, or the ones that bother me in particular get to me too much. After a moment's irritation I'm over it. :)

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

I basically agree, but remember you never know where your next best idea is going to stem from. Not that anyone can DO the job, but sometimes a fresh persepctive is a good thing. You dont have to take it all, you dont have to take any of it, maybe it just inspires you to think about a way of going about something in a different way.

[blueyesue]

I guess you could chalk it up to the fact that students are in the process of learning, and some have yet to learn when, how, and why to keep quiet.

[Cattitude]

in the meantime it's a great big world here at allnurses with all kinds of people and experiences and opinions. i don't let the negative ones, or the ones that bother me in particular get to me too much. after a moment's irritation i'm over it. :)

i know, i know. i swear i'm getting better each and every day with improving my patience. when i read your post, i took a deep breath and let it go;)

[arizonanurse]

I've been wanting to address this issue for a long time, but I was afraid I'd get flamed at by all the "posters that are not nurses" :) So thank you to the OP.

I remember a recent thread where a non-nurse commented on how incompassionate we were because we were venting about demanding family members. This is what I use this site for - to vent. I am human. I am not an angel, I am not a hero, I do not have infinite patience (I wish I did, but I don't). I treat my patients wonderfully, even the demanding ones. Of course I don't speak my mind to the annoying patient or family - but that means I have to speak it somewhere, and this site is where I do it. But I confess there have been many times when I've deleted a response before I posted it, because I know many non-nurses read these forums. And although they may be the most incredible people on the planet, they can't relate like another nurse can. So the gripes get taken out of context, and people think we're a bunch of gossips who just hang out at the nurses station and get annoyed when a poor suffering old lady asks for pain meds.

I don't want these forums to become exclusive, and I appreciate the fact that we have all different types of input. But I wish everyone would understand that when nurses get home after a long, demanding shift, they may say/post things that do not reflect the wonderful care they gave to all their patients that day. Nursing is stressful, and everyone needs a way to decompress. I remember reading these forums as a student nurse, and thinking to myself, "I can't believe he/she is talking about a patient that way...I will NEVER do that." Famous last words...