Only charting?

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I'm a first year nursing student and to be honest, the majority of what I've seen nurses do is charting and give meds. Is this all I will do?

. Anyway, i stand by the comments I have made. NURSES think they use their brain alot? Than what do doctors do? LOL. Doctors are the ones truly saving peoples lives..

Then (notice the correct spelling?) why are you not in medical school? It's nice that you hold such a high esteem for physicians, but as you are in school to become a nurse, it looks like you don't expect to be able to do much as a nurse practitioner, as you say doctors are the ones truly saving people's lives.

Nurses are just babysitting. Stop acting like nurses analyze every single little thing over every single second of work. Most of the time youre being a waiter, cna or housekeeper :)

I dearly hope that when loved ones of yours are in a hospital they are not assigned a waiter or housekeeper to provide nursing care. It won't go well for them I assure you. The fact that you can't see the difference saddens me, and it's also unfortunate for your loved ones. You won't know who is providing good, competent care and who isn't, as you think everyone who is not a physician is all the same to you.

I wonder what you'd do to know that sometimes, to a physician, you as a nurse practitioner might just as well be a housekeeper? Something tells me you'd be all turned inside out over that, insisting you are better than what they think you are. Doesn't matter really as it's unlikely you'd get to that point anyway, just food for thought.

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Thanks to Esme for editing this troll-y thread. I think you might have missed a few teeeeeny bits, LOL.

{::hugs and smudge::}

As for Lightning, I just can't wait to see how he or she cuts the first semester of nursing clinicals. Oh my stars and garters, I'd pay good money (of which I earn quite a bit in my specialty, thanks) to see me some of that.

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No way! While there are nurses who perform minimum standards of passing meds and documentation, many of us are intervening every day to make a positive impact. One of the things I find most rewarding is finding what care has been missed (it's a lot everywhere) and addressing those things for the patient. Often times, they have been life saving interventions. For example, You prevent a code by telling a doctor you think the patient is septic. The proper workup is done, and it wouldn't have been done had you not assessed and advocated. Practitioners aren't perfect. They miss a lot of stuff! You will be surprised how much. Realistically the patient avoids a code and an icu trip and extended hospitalization. I'm

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Thank you, I think I just had a lousy first clinical experience. There were two nurses that were phenomenal but the others....I had no clue what a fire this would light or else I probably would have kept my mouth shut...:o

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I'm glad you did say something. This is the time to ask your questions to more experienced nurses. It's a good question! Don't let anyone make you feel bad for asking it. You got a lot of different perspectives on your post. You have a lot of nurses that are great and support each other. Obviously from this post we still have a few out there who have bad attitudes and eat their young. Don't let these people get you down. You get to decide what you do as a nurse, no one else! You get to decide what type of nurse you will be. No matter what the staffing is and who you are working with, you still get that chance to make a difference. I'm in my 9th year, and I'm so glad I became a nurse. I'm lucky that I have a job that is challenging but one that I love. Stay with it....we all have a bad day once in a while. I'll bet you're going to do great.

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Sometimes i feel like nurses think they are the ****. Like ooo i just got through nursing school, it was the hardest thing EVER (lmao). And than here they are doing things at work that a regular person could do (fetching water, bed baths, cleaning up). And when a problem arises, its not even in your scope to treat it! Lol. Thats why i said youre like a waiter (a messenger). In my eyes nurses do all the boring work that comes along in health care. Oh i forgot to add, the pay is ****.

Are you in nursing school? If so, do us all a favor and drop out stat. Seriously.

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I am grateful for the times I have had enough spidey sense on a patient to get their assessment in before they started going south.

Perhaps to you, the student, it seems like we are just passing meds, charting, "being waitresses." It won't feel like that when you come on and ED wants to call report, your assignment includes an ICU transfer who probably never should have left, someone had a transfusion reaction a few hours before you got them, the PICC line won't pull, you have q 6 dressing changes needing to be done NOW and family is upset. You will have to do all of that and more, in addition to making sure your charting is all updated. Sadly if you didn't chart it, it never happened.

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Thank you, I think I just had a lousy first clinical experience. There were two nurses that were phenomenal but the others....I had no clue what a fire this would light or else I probably would have kept my mouth shut...:o

I'm glad you did say something! Your questions are perfectly normal and it's important to find out that what you've experienced isn't all that there is to nursing. If you didn't ask you wouldn't have found out all that you did on this thread, it's important to you as a student to know what's ahead and it's important to us as experienced nurses to know how we seem to you. It might not change everything that everyone does but it might make us take a minute to explain something further regarding what's happening if a student seems to be thinking nothing is going on”, you know?

Never let someone who is foolish or arrogant stop you from asking questions. It only enhances your learning experience and points out the foolishness of others who are too arrogant to even ask the questions. Kudos to you for asking!

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Specializes in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.
Yeah i just got done with my first clinical semester and i noticed this to.. Nurses spend a significant amount of time just handing out meds... And documenting... And doing boring ass stuff. However i knew going into nursing school that I didnt want to be a bedside nurse... Youre literally a waiter is how i see it. Ive seen nurses fetching pitchers of water for clients. Smh. For all the knowledge you have... :(

Can I downvote this?

"Fetching" that water is an important opportunity for assessment. For me, it's a good time to catch up on I/Os and it might also clue me in on how a pt who previously was barely tolerating their clrs is now able to consume a normal amount without barfing it back up. It's an opportunity for teaching my DI pts on their water goals if their sodium levels start creeping back up. Any interaction with a pt is a nurse assessing and....AHEM....using the knowledge I have. SMH, indeed.

That's fine you don't want to be a bedside nurse but whatever you do end up finding yourself doing, please make sure you have the background to know what you are talking about when it pertains to all the things nurses do. It might seem mundane to you but you truly haven't starting thinking like a nurse yet and hopefully you eat your words someday soon.

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Can I downvote this?

"Fetching" that water is an important opportunity for assessment. For me, it's a good time to catch up on I/Os and it might also clue me in on how a pt who previously was barely tolerating their clrs is now able to consume a normal amount without barfing it back up. It's an opportunity for teaching my DI pts on their water goals if their sodium levels start creeping back up. Any interaction with a pt is a nurse assessing and....AHEM....using the knowledge I have. SMH, indeed.

That's fine you don't want to be a bedside nurse but whatever you do end up finding yourself doing, please make sure you have the background to know what you are talking about when it pertains to all the things nurses do. It might seem mundane to you but you truly haven't starting thinking like a nurse yet and hopefully you eat your words someday soon.

I am sure they will. Apparently this person wants to be an NP. LOL. Good luck with that attitude.

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Wow that is a very sad way to view nursing. You do not see all they are thinking about and doing. And it's interesting to me you want to be a nurse but think you're above getting water for a patient that is relying on you.

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I agree with both. When I was a student I didn't see all the 'cool stuff'.... what I didn't know was that when that nurse was handing out meds they are assessing the patient....are they swallowing ok, reacting appropriately, any changes to cognition, any swelling, are they speaking in full sentences, are they wincing when they move.....

I didn't notice the nurses assessing skin integrity when they bed bathed, or checking if the body is limp or rigid, noticing a fever....

I didn't see when they wrote their contemporaneous notes they were checking things off, doing their A-Gs over and over in their head looking for signs of deterioration....and if there are signs what have they done, what is next....

I remember when I was a new student thinking vital signs were boring! I promise an exsanguinating pt, a septic pt, an airway obstruction, an arrest....vitals are very important, but by the same token, a good nurse can often catch a decline early.

I remember once when writing my starting progress notes just before meds..... I needed to look at the patient's potassium level.... Not only was it 6.2mmol but the patient had been chartered for KCL PO TDS and given it the past 3 days. The patient also had a cardiac hx and recently started on ACE inhibitors....

Now student nurses.... ask yourself what my boring charting and meds process did for that patient.....

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