Just a Nurse

[Guttercat]

(I've been an RN for quite some time, so this may be a generational issue.)

The other day I was entering the elevator at work with several other people. A male visitor boarded the elevator at the same time, but stepped back abruptly and gave me the nod to go in first. He stated, "Doctors have priority."

I heard a voice say, "Oh, no. I am just a nurse." It was my voice, and I didn't even realize it until right after I spoke the words out loud: "Just a nurse."

Granted, MD's have bona fides that deserve respect, but I do wonder why I still had such a knee-jerk, self deprecating response to being mistaken for an MD.

I would like to go back and simply say, "Thank you. Actually I am an RN, but I appreciate your polite offer regardless."

Depending on our specialty and work environment, the amount of knowledge and the expertise we are responsible for executing to perfection each day is nothing short of astounding. Why then, did I refer to myself as just a nurse?

It's got me wondering how much of this is a taught, sociological phenomenon (nice little boys and girls are humble), and how much of this is institutional indoctrination (you are just a nurse and therefore replaceable)?

Anyway, dear colleagues, we are not "just a nurse." Please remind me of this from time to time when I say something stupid like that.

[canigraduate]

Do you guys really have people treat you lowly or disrespectfully because you're a nurse?

Yes, but they only do it once.

It doesn't happen very often, thank goodness. Usually the comments come from some prima donna surgeon, or a snobby family member.

[Guest805836]

We have a new chief of clinic who routinely disses our nursing staff. He has told us we were incompetent, don't know anything... Last time he asked me do something (like draw blood for lab tests), I asked him if he was sure, as I was surely too incompetent to pull it off - and wouldn't he like to do it himself ? He looked a bit guilty. Some people are a-holes...

But most of the time I don't feel under-evaluated or under appreciated. So I'm not 'just a nurse', I'm 'a nurse, not the doctor'.

[3rdGenRN]

Everyone STOP "justing" themselves! Not JUST a nurse, not JUST a mom, not JUST a secretary, not JUST a tech! Stop putting yourself down. Don't belittle your place in the world.

[kidzcare]

Do you guys really have people treat you lowly or disrespectfully because you're a nurse?

I work mainly as a school nurse and I can wholeheartedly say that my position garners almost no respect in the school. Everyone says they respect what I do but it is never reflected in actions. What they see is a ton of first aid, which I'm sure leads to the thought "Well, anyone could do that!" But my new favorite thing is something I read on here last week, as I feel it so strongly applies to my role in the school "Nurses are not paid for what they DO, but for what they KNOW".

In the school I'm certainly not paid what I'm worth, but I'm not paid because I'm the ONLY one who knows how to put a bandaid on or hand a child an inhaler. I'm paid because I know what concussion symptoms to look for after a fall in PE and the difference between anaphylaxis and an asthma flare up.

[RNperdiem, RN]

I believe in being humble, which means being real about yourself. Even so, I would not use the "just a nurse" phrase because it sounds like an apology. I do not need to apologize for my being a nurse. If a patient wants something out of my scope, I will explain that I am the nurse, but maybe they can direct their question to the appropriate person.

I am a nurse, but not "just a nurse".

[anewsns]

I tend to look up to doctors as having a lot more education and focus than I do and had to go through a lot more crap to get where they are. I have my own trials but probably never would have gotten where they are . In this sense I'm "just a nurse" compared to doctors . However I don't think this necessarily downplays my intelligence or abilities

[thevez]

Just a nurse is like looking down on my career as one. I am proud to be a nurse. I am not JUST a nurse. The more a nurse thinks they are just that, the more they will get abused by the system. I refuse.

[kensbest]

I work in a VA Hospital where all the Pt's have been in the service at some point in their lives. Anyone who has been in the service has heard someone mistakenly call a sergeant or Petty Officer "SIR". He/she has also heard the response "Don't call me Sir, I work for a living!" When one of my Pt's asks me if I am a Doctor, I always Say "I am an RN, I work for a living". That always get a chuckle from the Veteran.