*Just* a Nurse/*Only* a Nurse

[der_kerl]

I'm a Registered Nurse currently doing my army conscription in an Army Medical Centre. One thing is that I am the only RN in the Medical Centre, and I am not a medic or whatever. I am a clerk due to medical reasons, so I am not allowed to do nursing or medical-related activities that the other conscripts (who are medics) in the centre can do.

I pride myself on being an RN, and I have encountered medics telling me that I am a clerk and they are medics, even being aware that I am RN. This carries the connotation that they (the medics) are better than me and it triggers me.This triggers me further that even the medic supervisor (also known as the senior medic) was quoted as saying that I am *just* a nurse. In my country, medics in the armed forces are picked from unqualified 18 year olds, and are trained for 3 months. They call themselves 'healthcare workers' but fall short of what I expect from them in terms of skills and professionalism. I go through 3 years of diploma training, and 1 year of Bachelors training but I am quite saddened with the perception of these medics/supervisor towards nurses.

Is this a global problem? How do I deal with these people?

Thanks in advance!

[Castiela]

Education to people who say that. Standing up for yourself when you hear "only a nurse"

[Davey Do]

It sounds like a power play between people of low self-esteem.

"My happiness does not depend on what others do or say or what happens around me. My happiness is a result of being at peace with myself."

[der_kerl]

That's the first step to take. The problem with my supervisor is that she thinks she knows better about the healthcare system, and she uses her '40 years in the army' as excuse for that. But she knows nothing about it. She says everyone in the medical centre is a nurse. This dilutes the hardship of what an RN goes through in the years of training.

In my country, if someone is not a nurse but declares himself/herself as a nurse, they can be charged by court of law of up to $10,000. I've heard my professor say they wish they have that kind of law in their country.