who don't really know what nursing is really about yet they make stupid remarks about nurses as if they are true!
Ok, so I had lunch with a group of friends yesterday. My friend (who is also in nursing school) and I were talking about how demanding nursing program is because we were the only people who can understand each other at that table.
Then all of sudden this other friend barged in and said,
"Yeah, and after you graduate, you will be working UNDER so-and-so!! (who was also with us)"
I get when some people who don't know any better say that nurses work for doctors, even though this statement still makes me mad.
But this so-and-so is a CHILD COUNSELOR for crying out loud! She is not even PhD and still an intern, not to mention still not licensed!
What makes me even more mad is that the child counselor/intern friend was just smiling as if she's agreeing to what this nonsense my other friend was talking about!
I hate when some people think nurses are at the bottom of the ladder and everyone, including pharmacists, social workers, psychologists, etc, is above nurses.
I should've told him something but I didn't want to sound angry and frustrated. I'm actually regretting that I didn't tell him the right thing. Although my other friend said what he said was actually not true, i dont think he understood...I know that nursing is not the most glamorous job but I really wish people just SHUT UP when they dont know sh#$%. I'm just upset and had to vent this somewhere...
I agree with the overall statement you're saying, but when you say things like this:
But this so-and-so is a CHILD COUNSELOR for crying out loud! She is not even PhD and still an intern, not to mention still not licensed!
you're just reinforcing some better-than/worse-than social hierarchy that's getting us nowhere (same as nurses--including ones on this board--who say things like "just" an ADN nurse or "just" an LPN or CNA). Everyone's work is important and we all work to serve the patient, even if our job duties are a little or a lot different.
I just don't get the outrage. A misinformed friend made a statement that was inaccurate. You could have vented, made the friend either feel bad, or mad.
Probably not changed anybody's perception.
I know who I am and what I do. How I feel about both of those things does not balance on what someone else thinks.
I guess each of us has a different sensitivity on our outrage-o-meter.
Mine wouldn't have even blipped over what the OP described.
I just don't get the outrage. A misinformed friend made a statement that was inaccurate. You could have vented, made the friend either feel bad, or mad.
Probably not changed anybody's perception.
I know who I am and what I do. How I feel about both of those things does not balance on what someone else thinks.
I guess each of us has a different sensitivity on our outrage-o-meter.
Mine wouldn't have even blipped over what the OP described.
Excellent, 100% correct. Inferiority starts with yourself. If you are confident and aware of your value as a professional, such comments should roll off your back. I would also conjecture that the "child counselor" was smiling in embarrassment.
You are going to need to let comments like this just roll off because it's just the beginning. Or you could just laugh at people when they make such silly observations.
Yep, nursing school is tough. But I'm guessing training for child counseling is challenging, too. But they are apples and oranges. This hierarchy cr@p sounds pretty junior high to me.
Here's something else to consider, as I think about the "but you'll be working UNDER So and So" line: You're always working under someone, unless you own the company. In a large medical group or hospital, you don't think the doctors aren't working for the BIG doctor, or the CEO, do you? Nope, they work for The Man :)
And another thing: once you become a nurse, I assure you you won't become immune to the whole misunderstanding of other people's jobs....show me a floor nurse who has a complete grasp on what the Nurse Manager does, and I'll show you a very VERY unusual floor nurse (probably one who WAS a nurse manager!). It's easy from that perspective to think that Nurse Managers "don't do anything but sit in their offices all day". The more worked heaped on the staff, the more they think management "isn't doing anything".
I'm in management. And I do a sh&&load of work every day (including patient care). But I'm pretty sure my staff doesn't really 'get it', because they don't DO it.
Have you ever noticed that the person with least common sense, no "book-smarts," a 5th grade education, and not enough sense to get out of the rain, . . . .
Are usually VERY happy and clueless about all the stuff we worry about? I'm thinking about dumbing down myself! The less you know- the less your responsible for. No more shows about 1 more thing that could end the earth in 5 seconds on Nat Geo for me, no I'm just reading the comics out of the paper from now on, and "Southpark" comes on the same time as the 10 O'clock News.
I'm gawn akt lak i ain't got no learnin'!(Cue Dueling Banjo Music)
I understand the frustration and I agree w/ a lot of the comments on here that no one really understands exactly what nurses do and how hard it can be except other nurses. However, the same could be said for doctors, pharmacists, counselors, etc. We all have different and unique roles that can be challenging but also rewarding. W/o each other, we are not complete. We are all part of a team that needs every single member, from CNA to doctor all the way to CEO. Nurses definitely do not fit on the highest part of the "hierarchy" of medicine but I will say from my experience I have found that many of the people "above" nurses (doctors, pharmacists, PT, etc) frequently come to us w/ questions and concerns b/c we really do know the pts the best simply b/c we spend the most time w/ them. It can be frustrating to feel disrespected by society or by other medical colleagues but at the end of the day I just try to remember the pts I have helped, the smiles I have inspired, and the lives I have touched. And that's what makes it all worth it. I know at the end of my life, whenever that may be, those are the things that will matter, not how much money or power I had throughout my life.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
who don't really know what nursing is really about yet they make stupid remarks about nurses as if they are true!
Ok, so I had lunch with a group of friends yesterday. My friend (who is also in nursing school) and I were talking about how demanding nursing program is because we were the only people who can understand each other at that table.
Then all of sudden this other friend barged in and said,
"Yeah, and after you graduate, you will be working UNDER so-and-so!! (who was also with us)"
I get when some people who don't know any better say that nurses work for doctors, even though this statement still makes me mad.
But this so-and-so is a CHILD COUNSELOR for crying out loud! She is not even PhD and still an intern, not to mention still not licensed!
What makes me even more mad is that the child counselor/intern friend was just smiling as if she's agreeing to what this nonsense my other friend was talking about!
I hate when some people think nurses are at the bottom of the ladder and everyone, including pharmacists, social workers, psychologists, etc, is above nurses.
I should've told him something but I didn't want to sound angry and frustrated. I'm actually regretting that I didn't tell him the right thing. Although my other friend said what he said was actually not true, i dont think he understood...I know that nursing is not the most glamorous job but I really wish people just SHUT UP when they dont know sh#$%. I'm just upset and had to vent this somewhere...
Just tell them....She may be "above me" but when she drops dead she'll NEED ME! Then we'll see who's more important that whom.
No one can make you feel inferior without your permission" Eleanor Roosevelt
(Cue Dueling Banjo Music)
Then we'll see who's more important that whom.
angelalala
53 Posts
I agree with the overall statement you're saying, but when you say things like this:
you're just reinforcing some better-than/worse-than social hierarchy that's getting us nowhere (same as nurses--including ones on this board--who say things like "just" an ADN nurse or "just" an LPN or CNA). Everyone's work is important and we all work to serve the patient, even if our job duties are a little or a lot different.