Knowledgeable vs. Caring Nurse

iwanna · Mar 18, 2009

I don't understand how any nurse can be "dumb". Too get into nursing school is a challenge. And, to graduate and pass the boards, you must have the knowledge. I want both knowledge and caring in a nurse.

APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP · Mar 18, 2009

This is where the "Art" and "Science" of nursing goes hand in hand. You have to apply enough "Acting" (Art) in front of the patient to communicate that you are a caring nurse, while applying enough "Knowledge" (Science) to take care of the patient.

LilyBlue · Mar 18, 2009

I agree that there's no such thing as an intellectually challenged nurse. But that doesn't mean she has SKILL. She could recite an entire Mosby textbook verbatim, but unless she can actually start the IV and get the NGT down, the patient is going to do poorly.

I am a booksmart person. I am also good with skills, but skills were more of an effort to me. I am also a genuinely caring person, but I am not someone who hovers and waits on people. If you say you are cold or I see that you are cold, I will definitely go right away to get you an extra blanket. But I'm not gonna pack your axilla and groin with warm packs and call maintenance about resetting the thermostat. And that's what many people want - someone who goes above and beyond on every level. I learned a long time ago there isn't enough of me to go around and go to the extreme on all levels.

I choose to spend the majority of my time making sure that people are safe - which includes frequent assessments and frequent medication look-ups and checks. Patients don't see that, though. So they probably don't notice me as the "stand out" nurse. That's OK with me, because at the end of the day, I am more comfortable having spent my time keeping them safe than anything else.

Batman24 · Mar 18, 2009

I'm both.

nursesweblog · Mar 18, 2009

Good question! It makes me miss school! My answer is: it's fair. A caring disposition and attitude goes hand-in-hand with nursing. The two cannot be separated.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Mar 18, 2009

In my philosophy class today, we talked about a hypothetical issue about nursing. It got me thinking about what the real definition of caring is.
In the hyppothetical example, there is a nurse who is very knowledgable and knows that she is responsible for both the well-being of her patients but also the overall well-being of public health in her society. However, she is not a person who you would call "caring." So the supervisor ends up firing her for this very reason without explanation.
Do you think this is ethical? Why or why not?

Hard to say, but experience has shown me that a person that took the time to obtain the knowledge by continuing to read, take continuing education classes and applies their knowledge is a caring nurse. And, sometimes, to care properly, we have to put some of our emotions to the side. It may depend on how the nurse comes across. If she can perform accurate assessments and timely intervention safely, not be neglectful, then, I see no reason to fire her. This is subjective, however.

llg, PhD, RN · Mar 18, 2009

I don't understand how any nurse can be "dumb". Too get into nursing school is a challenge. And, to graduate and pass the boards, you must have the knowledge. I want both knowledge and caring in a nurse.

I hate to say this as a part of this particular thread -- which has included some very fine thinking.

However, as a nurse who has spent many years in the field of Staff Development, I am sorry to say there are a lot of nurses out there who amaze me with their lack of knowledge and/or intelligence. At some point in their lives, they got lucky and answered a few test questions correctly -- but they can't put 2 and 2 together and get 4 on the average day.

Fortunately, they are the minority. Most do not last long in today's hospitals. But believe me, they are out there!

They frighten me.

llg (sipping on a little alcohol here)

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Mar 18, 2009

This is where the "Art" and "Science" of nursing goes hand in hand. You have to apply enough "Acting" (Art) in front of the patient to communicate that you are a caring nurse, while applying enough "Knowledge" (Science) to take care of the patient.

Good response, PlaneFlyerRN.

My thought is that the Art of Nursing employs a kind of empathetic intuition. I could never in a million years prove how I "know" some things about a patient, but sometimes I just know things. Applying science helps me to understand and act on what I know.

All of that stems from a very basic concern for others. I enjoy helping other human beings.

Now if you put a time factor and six other patients into the mix, it's easy to see why my focus becomes the workload instead of the patient needs, so I may appear to others to be uncaring when in reality I'm rushed and distracted.

In my philosophy class today, we talked about a hypothetical issue about nursing. It got me thinking about what the real definition of caring is.
In the hyppothetical example, there is a nurse who is very knowledgable and knows that she is responsible for both the well-being of her patients but also the overall well-being of public health in her society. However, she is not a person who you would call "caring." So the supervisor ends up firing her for this very reason without explanation.
Do you think this is ethical? Why or why not?

To the OP: Not only would it be unethical IMO, but frankly, it's unrealistic. In all my years of healthcare, I've seen nurses fired for the most trumped-up reasons, but I've never seen a nurse fired for that reason. I have to ask, how "caring" can the supervisor be if the supervisor can fire someone without just cause?

Scrubby · Mar 18, 2009

If I had a choice between:

The nurse who was more knowledgeable than caring

More caring than knowledgeable

I'd choose the first option..

twistedpupchaser · Mar 18, 2009

I sometimes wonder about the "art" of nursing. On entering a Pt's room and saying hello a good nurse can assess: response, ABC's, pain, WOB in addition to a range of other assessments. Would a non-caring nurse take the time to "learn" this skill. If a non-caring nurse couldn't do this would that make them unknowledgable?

A nursing student on their first placement has little practical knowledge yet should be able to state the normal range of Pt observations and recognise paterns indicating the need for an intervention: if they didn't care they wouldn't tell someone so to my way of thinking that both are as important as the other.

rn/writer, RN · Mar 18, 2009

Then there's the definition of caring. Is it warm fuzziness and hand-holding?Is it being a good listener? Is it fluffing pillows? How about keeping after a doc till the patient has orders for adequate pain management? Or kindly, but firmly, inviting guests to leave so the patient can rest? Maybe it's running to three other units to find red jello because that's the only thing that sounds good to the patient.

I really dislike the fact that we commonly use just the one word--caring--to describe both an emotion and a skill. Caring--the feeling--may help us to connect on some level, but what might feel good to some might irritate others. Caring--the commitment to meeting the patient's needs--can involve a very different set of skills and much of it might take place out of the patient's view.

I find questions like this kind of irritating (no offense to the OP who was asked this in a school setting). They get us chasing our tails, when the real answer is to start with whichever side of the equation you come by most naturally, and go out and find and cultivate the rest.

I want to be a nurse who knows how to balance warmth and wisdom. And if I'm on the other side of the bedrails, I want the same kind of nurse taking care of me.

Tait, MSN, RN · Mar 18, 2009

Then there's the definition of caring. Is it warm fuzziness and hand-holding. Is it being a good listener. Is it fluffing pillows? How about keeping after a doc till the patient has orders for adequate pain management. Or kindly, but firmly, inviting guests to leave so the patient can rest? Maybe it's running to three other units to find red jello because that's the only thing that sounds good to the patient.
I really dislike the fact that we commonly use just the one word--caring--to describe both an emotion and a skill. Caring--the feeling--may help us to connect on some level, but what might feel good to some might irritate others. Caring--the commitment to meeting the patient's needs--can involve a very different set of skills and much of it might take place out of the patient's view.
I find questions like this kind of irritating (no offense to the OP who was asked this in a school setting). They get us chasing our tails, when the real answer is to start with whichever side of the equation you come by most naturally, and go out and find and cultivate the rest.
I want to be a nurse who knows how to balance warmth and wisdom. And if I'm on the other side of the bedrails, I want the same kind of nurse taking care of me.

Thank you for saying the exact point I was trying to get across in all my pre-work frustration.

Tait