Is it just me, or are nurses pushy?

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Despite being a nursing student, I've don't have complete confidence in the medical establishment and always question any treatment I receive and, as someone in their right mind, would expect to be asked if I want a treatment. Yet I notice during clinicals that nurses often don't ask or even explain what they're doing. They just sort of barge into a room and start doing procedures and making assumptions about what the patient wants. This is disturbing to me and I think that some patients may not even be aware that they have a right to know what's going on and to refuse any treatment. Do nurses do this because it makes their job easier or because patients really just want to leave all that to the nurses' and doctors' judgment?

Specializes in Cardiac.
Coming up on a year, I am actually starting to feel something like affection for some of the people who post on this board which is weird because I have no idea who any of you really are...

We are sitting right next to you in class!!!

Just kidding...

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"That Florence Nightengale stuff"

Yeah, we wouldn't want to listen to her....

after all...

What does she know about nursing?

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Specializes in Critical Care.
"That Florence Nightengale stuff"

Yeah, we wouldn't want to listen to her....

after all...

What does she know about nursing?

Actually, I would stipulate that old Flo knew NOTHING about nursing and she is a very poor role model for nurses.

She envisioned nursing as an underpaid, women only, subserviant, nurse's aid/doc handmaiden job.

It is BECAUSE of Flo and the philosophies developed in her wake that nursing remains so very far behind the curve. The sooner nursing decides to tump her to the curb, the better nursing will be.

What did Flo know about nursing? Not a darn thing worth passing on, that's for sure. She was a great role model for the old 'diploma' programs that focused on training nurses the 'hospital way', which meant, the way the doctors that owned those hospitals wanted nurses to be trained.

When nursing finally moved, under the goals of Drs. Brown and Montag, to a college level, empirically trained, science based model, Flo should have been the first symbol of the old guard tossed.

She would have had no part of such an 'uppity' vision of nursing.

~faith,

Timothy.

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Specializes in previously Med/Surg; now Nursery.
I am enjoying the philisophical dialogue in this thread. I left off on page 7, but I'll be back to post later once I've finished reading the entire thread.
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Coming up on a year, I am actually starting to feel something like affection for some of the people who post on this board which is weird because I have no idea who any of you really are...

It's not weird at all. I have some very close friends whom I've never met in person and others that I knew online for a long time before we first saw each other face to face.

Even in a open forum such as this one, we often communicate at a more meaningful level and with greater focus than we do with people we see every day. My coworkers and I talk about the job and our families, but rarely do we have heart to heart conversations on deep subjects.

You might not recognize any of us walking down the street, but knowing someone involves more than being able to pick them out of a line-up. You do get to feel close to your fellow posters in some very important ways.

That's something I treasure about online communication.

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Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.
Actually, I would stipulate that old Flo knew NOTHING about nursing and she is a very poor role model for nurses.

She envisioned nursing as an underpaid, women only, subserviant, nurse's aid/doc handmaiden job.

It is BECAUSE of Flo and the philosophies developed in her wake that nursing remains so very far behind the curve. The sooner nursing decides to tump her to the curb, the better nursing will be.

What did Flo know about nursing? Not a darn thing worth passing on, that's for sure. She was a great role model for the old 'diploma' programs that focused on training nurses the 'hospital way', which meant, the way the doctors that owned those hospitals wanted nurses to be trained.

When nursing finally moved, under the goals of Drs. Brown and Montag, to a college level, empirically trained, science based model, Flo should have been the first symbol of the old guard tossed.

She would have had no part of such an 'uppity' vision of nursing.

~faith,

Timothy.

There is absolutely no need to disparage diploma nurses, Timothy. Diploma programs produced some darned good nurses. I went to one, and I sure don't remember being taught to be subservient, nor do I recall doctors having any input into our education.

I am beginning to think that this site is not meant for older nurses, especially those who graduated from (hold your nose when you say it) lowly diploma programs.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
It's not weird at all. I have some very close friends whom I've never met in person and others that I knew online for a long time before we first saw each other face to face.

Even in a open forum such as this one, we often communicate at a more meaningful level and with greater focus than we do with people we see every day. My coworkers and I talk about the job and our families, but rarely do we have heart to heart conversations on deep subjects.

You might not recognize any of us walking down the street, but knowing someone involves more than being able to pick them out of a line-up. You do get to feel close to your fellow posters in some very important ways.

That's something I treasure about online communication.

As always, Miranda, you have put a truth into words which I'm sure many of us feel, but do not or cannot articulate as well as you can.

Some of you here know me far better than my vast range of acquaintances, even though we've never seen one another face to face (with the exception of Weetziebat, whom I met last spring at a seminar). You know my fears, my quirks, even some of my secrets. And I know I can always come here and unburden myself about work, which is invaluable for someone whose entire family consists of NON-medical people who have no clue whatsoever about what I do all day.

This is what I, too, love about online communication, and why I keep coming back here day after day, year after year. In fact, I consider my friends here among my many blessings, because as Fran says, we're all people who may have never met face to face, but know each other heart to heart.:nurse:

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
Actually, I would stipulate that old Flo knew NOTHING about nursing and she is a very poor role model for nurses.

~faith,

Timothy.

(Post shorted for brevity).

Florence Nightengale knew nothing about nursing as you and I know it today. One has to look at the times of Ms. Nightengale which was at the brink of the industrial revolution, before even the discovery of germs. So no, she has nothing in common with modern nurses.

However, nursing programs don't advocate that we role model ourselves after her. They primarily acknowledge she laid the foundation of modern nurses. For example she was the the first nurse reacher who kept detailed records. She was one of the first to show that nursing interventions save lives.

She's noteworthy for nurses of today to acknowledge, but not necessarily role model. In the two courses I've had where she was mentioned role modeling was not mentioned.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
It's not weird at all. I have some very close friends whom I've never met in person and others that I knew online for a long time before we first saw each other face to face.

I have an online buddy I've known for nine years. He's a music geek like me and we send each other burned CDs we want the other to hear, and talk about music. Over time we've shared a lot more of ourselves. He's in Wisconsin and I'm in Florida. I do hope that we get to meet in person one day.

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it has been very interesting to read the posts on whether or not nurses are pushy. based on my own experience as a triple coronary bypass patient, i do not feel the nurses were pushy at all. on my admission i signed a permission to treat form. an important part of the decision to undergo the surgery involves willingness to accept whatever the medical staff deems necessary in order to recover, for if you do not, the surgery itself was in vain. i did not question my physician's diagnosis of blocked coronary arteries so there seemed no reason to doubt their recovery recommendations. of course, i was very much aware that these "recommendations" would most likely involve procedures which were unpleasant, but then neither was the surgery. if any of this were made an option to me i would have made different decisions, and would also probably have resulted in a very different outcome.

about the only procedure that i would have problems dealing with is foley catherization. in my one and only experience my foley was placed after i anasthesized and was removed while still getting regular doses of morphine, so i did not even realize it was there. having the catheter inserted while awake and alert, however, is completely a different matter. i would not question the need of the intervention, but would have big problems dealing with its placement. i have read somewhere that foley catherization is a "man's worst nightmare" and it just seems so unnatural to insert a tube through your member into your bladder. simply thinking about this causes anxiety attacks and chills up the spine, and i have no clue as to why. it isn't that i want to refuse this, but i cannot see me lying relaxed and still and cooperating. so i inquire as to what options might be available. i know that this comes across as being a big baby and i'll drool and coo all the while, but are any of you aware of anyone else having this problem and if any compromises might be possible? also i am too new a student to have any experience at this, so i ask what is the typical reaction of a male patient as the catheter is inserted? just how much does it hurt? i think, in the end, i would most likely consent to this procedure but would sure like to save myself the anxiety of getting there. thank you very much. joe

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Actually, I would stipulate that old Flo knew NOTHING about nursing and she is a very poor role model for nurses.

She envisioned nursing as an underpaid, women only, subserviant, nurse's aid/doc handmaiden job.

It is BECAUSE of Flo and the philosophies developed in her wake that nursing remains so very far behind the curve. The sooner nursing decides to tump her to the curb, the better nursing will be.

What did Flo know about nursing? Not a darn thing worth passing on, that's for sure. She was a great role model for the old 'diploma' programs that focused on training nurses the 'hospital way', which meant, the way the doctors that owned those hospitals wanted nurses to be trained.

When nursing finally moved, under the goals of Drs. Brown and Montag, to a college level, empirically trained, science based model, Flo should have been the first symbol of the old guard tossed.

She would have had no part of such an 'uppity' vision of nursing.

~faith,

Timothy.

I think we are getting awfully "puffy" in the head if we think that Flo should be tossed to the curb.

Why is it that when something progresses we immediately want to disregard the founders of the institution?

The struggles she faced and the courage it took to forge this path for MEN and women should weigh heavily in someones recognition.

Nursing would not be better without Flo...

Nursing would not BE without Flo.

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Specializes in psych,emergency,telemetry,home health.

i don't think that happens to every hospital.like in the hospitals where i work,we make it a point to explain to the pt what we are going to do with him/her.i am talking about areas like er,tele and even psychiatry.pts have the right to refuse so we do not force them if they do not want to unless they are not on their sound mind to decide.

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