Is this the publics perception of nurses?

Nurses General Nursing

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i am a charge RN in a cvicu. yesterday i took care of a man that was pod1 5 vessel cabg on a balloon pump and multiple drips. i had post op'd the pt the previous day so i had developed a repor with he and his family. he was telling me that his daughter is a physical therapist and works in a DR's office yadda yadda, yadda. he then asks me if i make good money beings that i have no college degree. i informed him that i did have a college degree and was very well educated in my field. he stated that he was unaware that you needed to go to college to be a nurse.

i was shocked! this was a very sick man and needed detailed care! is this the perception of the public that anyone can walk in off the street and get a job as a nurse? do they think it is like checking groceries or something? and this was a very well educated man himself. i am still just shocked and offended! has anyone else had this happen?

thanks for letting me vent

When my mother was in the hospital recently my father and she both said that the "service" was good in the hospital. She stated that the "nurse" changed her nightgown and draw sheet. Both my husband and I are in health care and they still don't know what nurses do.

Originally posted by TEXASWAG

Austin Heart,

Yes, we give baths, turn and feed, but you know what.......if we didn't there would be more pressure sores, debilitation, and patients susceptible to sepsis. They don't see the big picture but we do.

Exactly - they don't see the big picture. WE know why we do what we do - and I guess we have to be satisfied with that...

Specializes in CVOR,CNOR,NEURO,TRAUMA,TRANSPLANTS.

Once had someone from housekeeping go to our OR manager and ask if she could apply for a job as a Nurse in the OR because it looks like something she could handle. I fell off my chair in shock. The woman who cant clean a OR room right thinks she can do the job of a nurse. There were about 4 other nurses at the desk when she said this and well she got out of there before someone read her the riot act and about the amount of school one must have to be able to and I quote" Sit on thier A$$ and write on a paper about what happened when the patient was in the room", as she put it to the OR Manager. I was so shocked that she had no clue, and her Daughter is a Nurse in ICU.

Zoe

THAT is why I get offended when CNAS and medical assistants refer to themselves as nurses.

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

By the same token, how many nurses, including hospital nurses, know what the training/schooling/internship/certification/etc. requirements are for the various positions all around them in radiology, audiology, food services, physical plant services/engineering, administration, billing/financial services, etc.?

People in each of these positions consider themseves to be just as "special" as nurses consider themsevles to be and it is no wonder that they don't know all the details about nurse qualifications, as we don't know theirs.

The public can be expected to know even less about it all. They just want to trust their healthcare providers without having to think about all this stuff.

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

AustinHeart,

Perhaps you should've asked this patient just exactly what type of training he felt a nurse has, and should have - so we can be clear on some of the public's perceptions.

Make no mistake, the public respects us; but I have no doubt a few of them with family members in other areas that require a 4 year degree are confused on why we do not.

Specializes in LTC/Peds/ICU/PACU/CDI.

i only mentioned the different levels of nursing education because the public at large are confused about it...going by what that particular patient stated in the first post...most are aware of the diploma levels but are ignorant about the various degree levels. i certainly wasn't trying to start any sort of lpn vs. adn/diploma vs bsn thread :( !!! as i've stated before, i wasn't trying to be disrespectful by spelling-out what each levels' requirements are. i just wanted to say that if many folks in the medical/nursing field are confused...then why would it be so hard to understand the general public's confussion.

i also agree about the stereotypical image that the media/hollywood have of us. they've glamourized nursing, they've sexualized nursing, they've demeaned nursing...so that is another reason why the general public see us as being mindless, obedient hand maidens to physicians...despite the fact that nursing now have more males entering & medicine have more females entering that field as well.

:chair: i'm not seeking any sort of war here...just wanted to clear-up my original thought on the subject because someone has decleared that all of the posts since the first post were about adn vs. bsn & that's just not true :mad: !!!

cheers - moe.

Specializes in LDRP; Education.
Originally posted by SKM-NURSIEPOOH

I'm not seeking any sort of war here...just wanted to clear-up my original thought on the subject because someone has decleared that all of the posts since the first post were about ADN vs. BSN & that's just not true :mad: !!!

Cheers - Moe.

Exactly. I'm with ya on that. ;)

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Not all our counterparts require a baccalaureate degree to practice in their area of expertise...and some require MORE -----for example: Pharmacists soon will need PHARM.d to do what they do-----and RT's don't have bachelors degrees ANYplace I have worked.....just associates' like many of us nurses. I have yet to meet a practicing Social Worker who held less than a Master's degree. Even across the medical field at large, degree requirements DO vary. So, to say nursing should have as it's point of entry a bachelors degree based upon using say, RTs as an example, is inaccurate.

I still say it's a lot more than the level of entry that puts us in the place we are in the public eye. It is about how we behave publicly....how we present ourselves and our profession. However, Sjoe hit on it, too. The public at large is NOT interested, really, in the exact level of education their nurses possess. Only when it affects them where THEY live. Otherwise, they let TV and the media tell them what to believe about any profession, including nursing. Nature of the beast, sadly, in a society that watches WAY too much TV anyhow.

Specializes in LDRP; Education.
Originally posted by Pretzlgl

And nurses would be respected by doctors unconditionally. And administration would pay nurses what they were really worth, and pigs would start to fly..........Sorry, don't buy it that this would be the great nursing solution.

I didn't mention in my post that a BSN would accomplish all of the things you listed. I simply mentioned that having ONE point of entry would eliminate confusion among ourselves, and, as evidenced by this patient, the public. Or are you arguing that if we had one method of nursing education, it would NOT eliminate public confusion?

Specializes in LDRP; Education.
Originally posted by SmilingBluEyes

Not all our counterparts require a baccalaureate degree to practice in their area of expertise...and some require MORE -----

And this is an argument to support fragmented nursing education? :confused:

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I dunno, I am certainly NOT confused as to what an RN's role is in healthcare.....whether he/she holds a BSN, ADN, or Diploma, it is purty clear to me. How far he/she wishes to go (e.g. mgt) is up to him/her, and yes, dependent on their willingness to advance their education. In the public eye, we still will appear the same unless something MORE is done to change our public image besides more schooling.

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