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...
Specializes in Oncology, Med/Surg, Hospice, Case Mgmt..
Wow...maybe you are hanging around with the wrong people, lol. I've been an RN for 16 years now and I never get that. Maybe it's because I live in the South, but I find that most people are very respectful of and admire nurses here. I'm very proud of being a nurse and don't feel like I settled for this profession. I chose to be a nurse and worked very hard to get here. I hope that comes across when I talk to people and I just can't imagine someone saying something like that. If they did, though, I would just laugh it off and think that person has issues probably including some jealousy.
I was a pharm tech once while in nursing school and the pharmacist told me I should become a pharmacist instead. She said You'll be wiping butts and dont let noone tell you otherwise. So ignororant. She loved being a pharmcist and sitting there doing nothing. I do wipe butts and you know what I LOVE being a nurse. I love helping people,I love the excitement of not knowing what will happen in the shift. I wouldnt trade it to sit there all day on a chair for anything!
I was a pharm tech once while in nursing school and the pharmacist told me I should become a pharmacist instead. She said You'll be wiping butts and dont let noone tell you otherwise. So ignororant. She loved being a pharmcist and sitting there doing nothing. I do wipe butts and you know what I LOVE being a nurse. I love helping people,I love the excitement of not knowing what will happen in the shift. I wouldnt trade it to sit there all day on a chair for anything!
I once had a ER nurse tell me the same exact thing. lol
LOL. I do not care what people think...I work for the system as an RN. I have a state license that I hold unblemished. I take pride in what I do and if anyone says that I work for so-and-so, I just smile and tell them I am a resource nurse and am assigned to where the need is greatest within our system, sort of like an airborne nurse
As to being a doctor, I don't mind letting others think the doc is more important. If it makes them feel better and have peace of mind, so be it. I am the nurse, I am the one who gets to go home at the end of the shift and does not have to worry about a beeper going off in the middle of the night while I am busy with my husband or in la-la land. I am the one who calls the doc to remind him/her of labs not covered, meds not ordered, pain not addressed, etc, etc, ad nauseum. I am the one, with my PCT, doing rounds, checking skin, repositioning patients, ensuring they are urinating/eating/whatever.
At the end of the day, I go home feeling that I have left my patients better off than when I found them and that is why I go to work in the first place. Whether it is recognized or not by others is not my problem. At the end of the day, as long as I can hold my head up and say I did my best, let others think what they will. I don't need anyone else's opinion or thoughts to validate who I am or what I do.
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
It's ok that people don't understand what we do. The important thing is that YOU understand what you do, the impact that you are making on a daily basis, and the joy and fulfillment that YOU experience.
JMBnurse
82 Posts
Wow...maybe you are hanging around with the wrong people, lol. I've been an RN for 16 years now and I never get that. Maybe it's because I live in the South, but I find that most people are very respectful of and admire nurses here. I'm very proud of being a nurse and don't feel like I settled for this profession. I chose to be a nurse and worked very hard to get here. I hope that comes across when I talk to people and I just can't imagine someone saying something like that. If they did, though, I would just laugh it off and think that person has issues probably including some jealousy.