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?
You know Suzy, that's a good question. A really good question. Could it be because nurses are quite respected by the general public and it is good for one's image to say I'm a nurse when in reality they are not? Could it be that they don't want to have to explain that they are an aide or a tech because their low man on the hierarchy of things? Both of these I think. And why don't they go into nursing instead of playing nurse? Just my opinion here, because they have a perception that what they do is nursing, how many time have you heard an aide say "I could do what a nurse does." because they only see the tasks, not the critical thinking that leads to what tasks we do. Not to mention that it takes an awful lot to be a nurse. For some people I think they want the image without the work to actually have it and as long as there are those out there that won't call them on what they are doing then it will continue to happen.
I truly believe that most of the public has a great deal of respect for nurses, but nurses do not give themselves much respect. If they did so then you would not have nurses who allow people to run all over them. Regardless of whether it is a doc, a manager or a patient/family member. I've never been molly milktoast, even as a teen. And as time has gone on that part of my personality has gotten stronger. Not aggressive, but I sure know I don't have any assertiveness problems. My one doc that never wants me to write wound care orders left an order on a chart day before yesterday that read "Helen is not to change wound care orders." Got the order and I was instantly pissed. So I called him. Told him I didn't change the order and I didn't feel the order that he had written was appropriate, that the order had been changed by the primary physician. He tells me that I called the primary, so I said you're right I did, after he changed the order on a weekend when I am not here. It was not an appropriate order so I called HIM, since it was his order not yours. AND since you had not seen the patient in a week and a half since YOU debrided the wound AND the last wound tx order was from the other physician it was my belief that he was now taking care of the wound, and the primary DID NOT disabuse me of this notion. I got oh, ah, oh ....then I told him that I felt it was essential for me to have a good, close working relationship with the physicians and that was something he and I had not achieved yet, and that he also needed to understand that I did not intend on being the ball between two physicians and perhaps he needed to speak to the primary about who was actually taking care of the wound. He agreed we had not worked out a good working relationship and perhaps we needed to. He also apologized for the order he wrote without understanding how the orders were changed then proceeded to tell me he was something of a perfectionist when it came to his wound orders. I told him I understood that because I was a perfectionist also and perhaps a some point in the future he and I could sit down and discuss things because I have been doing wound care on and off since 1994 and did have a knowledge base on which I was working off of. He agreed with that. So I'm hoping to not have a repeat the order he wrote, and to be able to start working with this man from a level of mutual respect instead of the current relationship that we have now. But that could never happen if I were not willing to call him on what happened. I figure these people put their pants on the same way I do, and I will not be treated like a moron. I also won't be treated without respect by anyone, be that as a nurse or not. I believe that people get what they demand, and if you have floor mat tattoed on your forehead than don't get upset when people wipe their feet on you. I have no qualms whatsoever with doing only what this doc writes, that is his practice and his patient as well, but I won't be treated the way he thinks is ok.
I sometimes think that people who want to play nurse but don't want to be a nurse also don't want the responsiblity. They only want the image.
I respectfully disagee when ANYone says it does not take a nurse to give injections or start IV's---wrong! It takes a nurse's background to understand the RATIONALE behind the "psychomotor tasks" we perform. HARM can and will be done by those performing psychomotor tasks in nursing w/o understanding the why's and if's and what to do when untoward reactions arise. It DOES take a nurse!
i remember the "nurse judy" thread very well. the reason, i got flamed my more than one NA/MA saying that they could do my job. my reaction was just because you know how, and it may or may not be with in your scope of practice does not meen i want you doing things with my pt. ie: in my facility, they are now talking about letting nurse techs in icu pull sheaths. NOT ON MY PT! i think just because you get some basic training on something, like this is how you do so and so, does not meen that you are educated on what will happen if something goes wrong. (we all know when you pull sheaths nothing goes wrong, right? lol) nurses, wether we are diploma/ADN/BSN are trained to do things that MA/NA just should not be doing.
i am lucky. in my facility i work with some very good techs. they all have no problem identifying themselves as techs. i have never heard any of them allowing a pt to believe that they are a nurse.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
yea, austin, frankly I am still SHOCKED when ANY licensed nurse expresses belief that " anyone can do IV's, catheters, injections" etc as if they are tasks we can teach monkeys. Yes, MONKEYS could DO these tasks, but not with the knowledge and accountability WE Have as LICENSED NURSES.....our title carries with it responsibilities as well as it's priveleges.
yea, austin, frankly I am still SHOCKED when ANY licensed nurse expresses belief that " anyone can do IV's, catheters, injections" etc as if they are tasks we can teach monkeys. Yes, MONKEYS could DO these tasks, but not with the knowledge and accountability WE Have as LICENSED NURSES.....our title carries with it responsibilities as well as it's priveleges.
Ahhh exactly Deb- THAT is what I am getting at: the intangibles behind the IV starts, but I propose that nursing is even beyond that. I believe it's the "presence" of a nurse, if you will, his/her healing art and capabilities - not so much the IV start - but the entire aspect of his/her care.
When I say that anyone can do IV starts, injections - they can and do. Techs start the IVs for MRIs/CTs, MAs give injections, pharmacists administer flu shots. We are so quick as a profession to hold on to those psychomotor skills, thinking that those things are what makes us a nurse, not really realizing that what makes one a nurse is so much more than that - and not even the "why am I starting this IV" but "what does this patient need?" Sure the patient needs the IV, but if you had a tech come in and start your IV, you could still provide your "nursing care" to the patient which I guarantee you entails intangible things; things like knowing the subtle signs of distress/worsening conditions, things like when silence is appropriate or offering to hold a hand or listening or counseling, etc.
I believe until those things I listed above are seen as valuable and only delivered by a licensed nurse, will we be more respected. Hospitals don't care about what makes us a nurse; they care about our psychomotor skills, which, are easily replaced. Until we, as a profession, can market what it is we do, will we be seen as providing a distinct service that only a nurse can provide.
The diploma program in our state is only 1 year, not three. Where is there a 3 year diploma program???
A ONE year RN program??? Hmm. I had no idea these existed...scary thought IMO.
My RN Diploma program was a three year program . The idea persists out there that Diploma RN's received some kind of second rate nursing education (I suspect this is perpetuated by BSN proponents) and it simply is untrue...Diploma programs offer a med school-like program that puts out great RN's, IMHO. The same docs teaching med school pathophys taught us. Nobody looks down on doctor's hospital- based training...but it seems many put down the same type training for nurses. Why??
We actually took quite a few college courses...A&P, Chem, Micro and more...premed ones too..not the watered down nursing courses often seen today. We went to school year round...no summers or Christmas vacation time off. We had a great rep in the community and were known as the best nurses in the area. 'Course the BSN grads resented us for this! They liked to put us down as 'trained monkeys'....they reminded us THEY were the 'educated ones'...although we had to truly carry THEM and mentor them as a group their first year or two out of school. We did our best to help them acclimate but quickly tired of the snippy, holier-than-thou attitudes. I blame this first on the universities because it's obvious they pass on this attitude to students. I guess they still are. This was back in the 70's .....this is how long the BSN-Diploma resentment has been going on. And it continues to stir up hurt feelings on a regular basis.
There are still a few 3 year diploma schools around, mine closed down after 105 years. Community pressure to give in to university clout has resulted in closedown of most diploma schools over the years.
I agree that college based education alone is NOT going to 'fix' our profession's problems. Nurses will have to come together to change our future. If we cannot respect one another as nurses with unique bodies of knowledge and experiences, how can we begin to come together? It's going to be tough.
Some feel BSN entry level for nurses will eliminate a lot of the infighting and maybe there is some truth to this. Maybe it will help unify us...which is why I have not been totally against the idea.
We sure do need to unify somehow and I think we ALL agree on that. Sorry for the length of this post..... :kiss
Nobody looks down on doctor's hospital- based training...but it seems many put down the same type training for nurses. Why??
Interestingly enough, when I was reading about the history of medical education in our country, I learned that physicians were trained in an apprentice-type arrangement for many, many years during our colonial periods and after. But medicine ran into the same problems as nursing now; fragmented education and non-standardized training. Some physicians learned this, others learned that. Eventually, when the AMA was formed, they hired an outside organization to look at some of these "medical schools" and the apprenticeships, and most were recommended to be eliminated - and they were. As a result, medicine has a standard method of requirements and education to be a physician. Is it possible that we could learn something from their history of education?
P.S. If anyone is interested in the source, I could cite for you. I'm just too lazy to get up to my bookshelf.
Hey I'd rather have a highly educated nurse then a wealthy nurse.
Or a highly educated doctor over a wealthy doctor.
In life money isn't everything. I'm spending a lot of my money for nursing books and extra certificates because I carry pride in my education. And I think it shows with the care I give my patients
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Yes, standardized education...I don't argue that. but if it's all to be BSN- only make it available to all who seek to enter nursing, some of us can't drive 100+ miles round-trip to attend school; ADN programs are more numerous and accessible.
A ONE year RN program??? Hmm. I had no idea these existed...scary thought IMO. 
Q.
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Way to go Helen! Why is it that people are so quick to identify themselves as a nurse, yet, we have so few people who honestly want to be one?