Held to a higher standard

Nurses Relations

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Hello everyone,

Did anyone notice that once you became a nurse you somehow always are held to a higher standard than any other person? With all this ebola crap it's just making it more and more apparent. Please share your thoughts

... A coworker of mine commented and said that's not particularly newsworthy, drinkers often have peptic ulcers. Then someone on Facebook threatened to complain to the hospital over my coworkers comment because "nurses should be caring and compassionate." Frustrating

How is that different from this very website? How many times does someone post their view on a topic, only to be told off by someone that they shouldn't be a nurse, that they are supposed to be caring and compassionate, that they'd hate to have Suzie as their nurse since Suzie is obviously so lacking in qualifications to do so. Meaning, that they didn't smoosh warm fuzzies and rainbows all over the place when it just wasn't warranted.

Being a nurse means if you have an opinion that doesn't include blanket acceptance of all things contrary....you should be ashamed of yourself, and probably turning over your ID badge.

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

You mean being held to the standard of absolute perfection while being expected to empathize, sympathize, and swallow any type of rude, degrading, anti-social, or "out-right" unlawful behavior by the patients or families? Yea, I've noticed that.

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Specializes in Cardiac.
How is that different from this very website?

YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!!!! That's why I don't post much on here anymore

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YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!!!! That's why I don't post much on here anymore

Oh, I post all the time. Have just learned to shrug at the "how do you call yourself a nurse" comments when I've said something decidedly NOT covered in warm rainbow smooshies :)

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

I have never really believed this considering the amount of distrust, disrespect, and even abuse directed at nurses by people from all walks of life.

The criticism on social media this week about professionals who volunteer to provide medical care for Ebola patients just made me cringe. And these people are saints.

The gallup poll yearly ethics survey consists of 1031 random phone calls to people all over the U.S. over the age of 18. Not a valid sample size for a country of 318,000,000 and calling during the day eliminates a lot of people who work during the day. It is not really a random sample and the confidence interval does not apply.

The public, even my neighbors and friends have no clue about what I do at work. They watch too much House and Grays anatomy.

Agree with BTDT. I don't want the title.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I believe that many people in the general population have poor knowledge on what nurses really are, and what nursing really is.

As described by other posters, we are often seen as "angels of mercy", we are to always be "caring, compassionate". We are selfless, modest, demure... You probably get what I am saying. If a nurse acts in any way other than this perfect ideal then they are automatically seen as unworthy of the profession.

Or we are viewed as doctors servants, professional butt wipers, barley educated, ect...

I try to educate those around me that nurses are highly educated, professional, and very human. I can explain what we do... But most outside of the medical field really don't understand.

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Lots of physicians (and attorneys) do eventually lose their licenses for using drugs. However, for better or worse, it is well known within the various professions that nursing does a much better job of policing our own than either medicine or law. Many of us in nursing are proud of that, but I suppose there is a negative aspect, as well.

Are we policing ourselves... or persecuting ourselves?

Medicine and law professionals know the difference.

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

I have a friend who was a rockstar top notch RN at a Level one open heart unit. Never an issue with care or anything else.

I would trust him over any other nurse in that institution. Best coworker a girl could have.

Random testing pos UDS for cannnabis. His career almost destroyed by the BON. It was ridiculous.

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I have a friend who was a rockstar top notch RN at a Level one open heart unit. Never an issue with care or anything else.

I would trust him over any other nurse in that institution. Best coworker a girl could have.

Random testing pos UDS for cannnabis. His career almost destroyed by the BON. It was ridiculous.

I'm not a cannabis user, but it seems to me that with the legalization of cannabis (even for occasional off-piste use) in a couple of States--with all other 48 soon to follow--the SBON's better get with the times and adjust.

Some of the most competent, professional, and scientifically brilliant people I know use this crap a couple of times a year. And these are people that are (very) highly regarded in the scientific and academic community at large.

Do I think any provider or nurse should show up to work stoned? Of course not. But the times are changing.

Either implement a uniform testing protocol for all nurses and providers, and or revamp the system so that the professional expectation going in is that anyone in health care is barred from using Cannabis at any time, any place. Ever.

TPTB could also outlaw the use of ETOH as well, but ETOH is not detectable after its short metabolism--unlike Cannabis which can stick around for a while.

What a flipping mess.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

We are held to a higher standard for good reason....however, we are not the martyrs that some might expect.

As for facebook, if you use it wisely, facebook can be very effective. Facebook connects me to friends worldwide. Work is not a topic I discuss on FB, so there are no issues.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
We are held to a higher standard for good reason....however, we are not the martyrs that some might expect.

As for facebook, if you use it wisely, facebook can be very effective. Facebook connects me to friends worldwide. Work is not a topic I discuss on FB, so there are no issues.

THIS.

I also never took stock in the "nurses are supposed to be..." statement; by the time that was even uttered, and whenever I see that in print (there are fellow AN posters that use this, some nurses as well), I've checked out of the conversation.

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I guess the hammer has to fall on someone and it seems nurses are the ones. Who got blamed first for the Ebola transmission to themselves??? A nurse, was it due to her de-robing incorrectly with the isolation garb, or was she given the proper garb to begin with? It seems we are always the scapegoat, kind of like being the red-haired step child---they get blamed for everything. I think we are held to a higher standard for healthcare due to the fact that we are the ones the patients see the most. And we are the ones who are notifying the MD if there are issues!!! No, I don't want to be held to a higher standard for other things, like if someone bad mouths me, I most likely will bad mouth them back. That may not be very professional behavior, but I will not be stepped on by anyone!!! Sometimes no matter how "sweet and nurturing" we are, we need to take a step out of that role to voice our concerns and show that we have backbone!!

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