Tell us about your Allnurses' experience/Journey

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · May 30, 2011

how long were you on here including lurking time?

i was, a long time ago, a community leader (like a moderator and guide) on aol's rn community and also ran a twice-weekly live aol "homework helper" chat for the nursing students community. i met a lot of wonderful people through those communities and sometimes wonder if anyone here was part of them (if so, guess who i was!). aol closed their community leader program years ago and i missed it greatly. i signed on to allnurses about 10 minutes after i stumbled in the door because it's the closest thing i've ever seen to that experience.

what have you gained/got from this site?

a way to give back, i hope; so many people helped me get where i am today, and the profession of nursing needs more good nurses. and although i am sometimes thought hard, i want to tell the truth and help people get over that tired old whine of "nurses eat their young." nobody will chew on you if you are tough.:redpinkhe

did you ever recognize a coworker? did someone recognize you?
have you met anyone live? were they how you imagined them to be?

not yet :)

do you go on it while at work?

yep, but i work for myself and if i waste time it's only myself to blame if the billing falls behind! :eek:

do you think my obsession with allnurses' is bordering on unhealthy? care to diagnose my condition pysch nurses?

not my area of expertise, but any online addiction is unhealthy, keeps you too sedentary, and inherently removes you from more face-to-face human contact. those are the biggest risks i have in my job-- i am at my desk all day, most days, unless i am out with a client-- and i sometimes struggle with them all. i hear there's a program you can load on your computer to block things for specified time, e.g., no email before 1pm, or no instant messaging for three hours at a time, but somehow i haven't gotten it yet. :devil:

Whispera, MSN, RN · May 30, 2011

There's also treatment for online addictions, but it's online...imagine that!

Forever Sunshine, ASN, RN · May 30, 2011

How long were you on here including lurking time? .. 2 1/2 years. I joined in November 2008. I posted right away. No lurking time.
What have you gained/got from this site?- Tons of stories and information about nursing, advice from brilliant nurses when I needed it, space to vent after a difficult night at work, answers to questions that you just can't ask at work and much more.
Did you ever recognize a coworker? Did someone recognize you? I recognized someone who might have been a coworker but I have not confronted or messaged them to ask if it was them. I like to keep things private from work as much as possible.
Have you met anyone live? Were they how you imagined them to be? I would like to meet someone live one day. Its nice to put a face to a username
Do you go on it while at work?- No I don't have time. lol
Do you think my obsession with allnurses' is bordering on unhealthy? Care to diagnose my condition pysch nurses? - No, I frequent www.cruisecritic.com more. I can tell you there's way way way more obsessed forum posters there and I am quickly becoming one of them.

"EDIT: In the few minutes it took me to write this thread – 6 more people registered. It is now 508,771. Cool! Hello & Welcome."

Make that 508,804

Chin up · May 30, 2011

There's also treatment for online addictions, but it's online...imagine that!

Rotflmao!

tokmom, BSN, RN · May 31, 2011

How long were you on here including lurking time?
I think I have been on here a year now. I can't remember how I found it. I'm a message board junkie anyway, so to find one with nurses was natural for me.
What have you gained/got from this site?
Knowledge of how things are done elsewhere and education. There are a lot of smart people here!
Did you ever recognize a coworker? Did someone recognize you?
Nope. I would be shocked. None of them seem like board junkies. I don't tell them about this site. I want it for myself.

Have you met anyone live? Were they how you imagined them to be?

Nope, but it would be cool to do so.

Do you go on it while at work?
No.
Do you think my obsession with allnurses' is bodering on unhealthy? Care to diagnose my condition pysch nurses?
Not if it isn't interfering with your home life.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · May 31, 2011

As of now the headline states: 508,765 Nurses talking about nursing
That's just the registered members - I wonder how much it would be if the unregistered members were included.
I joined the site February 2007 - 8 months before I started my four year nursing program. I was lurking for about 2 months before that. I don't know how I stumbled on this site but I'm glad I did.
This site has really helped me far more than I can express. It not just a venting space but a very valuable educational resource - where else can you find pre-nursing students all the way to retired nurses all sharing their experiences, thoughts, feelings, tips, and knowledge?
Although my post count might make it seem that I haven't participated that much in the past 4+ years - I was really on here on a weekly, if not daily, basis. I mostly used the search function to search up questions to my answers and look at the threads that received the most replies because they were of course, more often, the most heated/controversial/interesting ones: D They are still fun to look up.
And at each phase of my nursing journey - I focused on related forums. When I was a student I frequented the General Nursing Students, when I was preparing for my exam it was the NCLEX Discussion forum, when I was freaking out about job hunting - the Graduate Nurse forum came to my rescue and now that I just started my first job as a New Grad - it's the General Section or First Year Nursing forums that I parked my behind at.
Threads I found to be most beneficial:
Nurses's eating their young
Docs & how to handle them
Nursing No Nos
Things new nurses are not doing that they should
Crazy family members/visitors
Medication errors
These have really helped me deal with similar situations that I came across.
Trust me - I'm not being paid to praise this site. I just love it very mucho. :redbeathe
Now let's end this mushiness here before we all get uncomfortable and weird
Now it's your turn. A few questions to consider:
How long were you on here including lurking time?
What have you gained/got from this site?
Did you ever recognize a coworker? Did someone recognize you?
Have you met anyone live? Were they how you imagined them to be?
Do you go on it while at work?
Do you think my obsession with allnurses' is bodering on unhealthy? Care to diagnose my condition pysch nurses?
EDIT: In the few minutes it took me to write this thread - 6 more people registered. It is now 508,771. Cool! Hello & Welcome.

I have been a part of message boards since I was in JHS in the days of prodigy, I have run a few small ones and helped moderate on a few, so I was very familiar with message boards in general.

I lurked for probably a year before I joined. Anything I googled AN came up.

I feel I went into nursing school with a very good idea of what to expect, I knew about care plans, nursing process, a lot of things, so I feel I was well prepared for Nursing School and I had a good time in school. This site was a tremendous help and avenue to vent with like minded people. I also now love to return the favor and help nursing students and pre-nursing students and help to encourage them and let them know it's not near as scary as it's made out to be.

Not sure if anyone has recognized me, I have talked about this site to so many people and have mentioned my school before that I am sure it would be easy to figure me out. For fellow students anyway. I will be more cautious with where I get a job though. I have met a student from my school from this site, she is a semester behind me and I am pretty sure there is a poster here that got a job at the hospital I am also hoping to have a job at. I Have continued friendships off this site. I will hopefully get to meet one of the staff members next week and I WILL be at the next NTI convention to meet most of the staff and hopefully any AN members that decide to go. I have met many of people in real life that I met initially online from message boards. I am always game to meet up. Crazy I know.

I do not work yet, but I won't go online here from work. Things are way to monitored I wouldn't want them having my username and such for here. Not to mention it scares me to much to do anything "fun" on work computers for Nursing anyway. When I had a desk job years ago and had a ton of downtime I never had a problem.

If you have an addiction I am right there with you. We can talk about it on AN together

P_RN, ADN, RN · May 31, 2011

Brian had another site that I had visited a few times. Then when I looked again it was gone but I found this one. He had posed the question something like are you fed up with Nursing or would you recommend Nursing.......anyway I was having a bad week so of course I said @#$%^&*I(O)P.

A couple of days later in a better frame of mind I came back and have stayed 10 years or so. I was one of the first moderators...maybe the first and wow has it changed. It used to be one page that I could review in just a few minutes. Now it's a cyclopedic treatise every day. And I love it....and you Bossman.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · May 31, 2011

Brian had another site that I had visited a few times. Then when I looked again it was gone but I found this one. He had posed the question something like are you fed up with Nursing or would you recommend Nursing.......anyway I was having a bad week so of course I said @#$%^&*I(O)P.
A couple of days later in a better frame of mind I came back and have stayed 10 years or so. I was one of the first moderators...maybe the first and wow has it changed. It used to be one page that I could review in just a few minutes. Now it's a cyclopedic treatise every day. And I love it....and you Bossman.

I am amazed by the size of this site. It's the largest forum I have ever seen and I have been on a lot of forums.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · May 31, 2011

I was a lurker in the "way-back" days, late '90s and early 2000's. I finally joined in Sept. '02---ironically enough, because I wanted to find out from other nurses how they were coping with the first anniversary of 9/11---and was hooked from the get-go. Became a moderator in the summer of 2005, and with the exception of a couple timeouts due to home and family issues that needed my attention, I've been on staff ever since. :)

I've visited a lot of different nursing sites, but none of them are even close to the quality and the diversity of this one. For me, it's AN for life!

dudette10, MSN, RN · May 31, 2011

I lurked during pre-reqs, joined during nursing school, and I've been participating ever since. I have made one friend here, and she's really great! I was reluctant to befriend anyone here and lose my anonymity, but she was a persistent little ****.

I have learned so much here, and I feel like I have a better understanding of what nursing is about. I'll be around for quite a long time.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · May 31, 2011

I lurked during pre-reqs, joined during nursing school, and I've been participating ever since. I have made one friend here, and she's really great! I was reluctant to befriend anyone here and lose my anonymity, but she was a persistent little ****.
I have learned so much here, and I feel like I have a better understanding of what nursing is about. I'll be around for quite a long time.

Hey!! I resemble that remark!!