We need a new forum category...

Pre-Student Nursing. It would be a place for those who are contemplating attending nursing school, currently in CNA programs with an eye toward nursing in the future, high school students, etc. No nursing experience required, just an exchange between those who are looking into a nursing future and want to chat about their experiences with current schools/costs/requirements.

Already exists. In the student forum. Called, of all things, "pre nursing student forum".

Batter up.....

Pre-Nursing Student Forum - Nursing for Nurses

Oops, never mind then.

I just see so many non-nursing threads in allnurses.com that I figured there must not be an appropriate place for those posts to call home.

Be still my heart! Brilliant concept.

The problem is-even though a forum for pre-nursing students exsists...NOT MANY PEOPLE USE IT!

THis is a topic near and dear to my heart...and those of you who have not already done so, may check it out on my thread entitled "where are all of the experienced nurses hiding"

I was just checking out the first 3 pages in the General Nursing discussion and the majority of them are by non nurses...I am totally on board with actual nursing students...but my biggest soapbox is when non nurses or non students try to give advice regarding actual nursing situations.

and I am just tired of hearing the "nclex" , how do I get into nursing school (figure it out, we all did) and the please do my homework threads. Not to mention the "oh, I would never do that as a nurse"...etc

THe general nursing discussion is turning into the General NON nursing person discussion....

Just sayin-glad someone else feels the same way.

s

Be still my heart! Brilliant concept.

The problem is-even though a forum for pre-nursing students exsists...NOT MANY PEOPLE USE IT!

THis is a topic near and dear to my heart...and those of you who have not already done so, may check it out on my thread entitled "where are all of the experienced nurses hiding"

I was just checking out the first 3 pages in the General Nursing discussion and the majority of them are by non nurses...I am totally on board with actual nursing students...but my biggest soapbox is when non nurses or non students try to give advice regarding actual nursing situations.

and I am just tired of hearing the "nclex" , how do I get into nursing school (figure it out, we all did) and the please do my homework threads. Not to mention the "oh, I would never do that as a nurse"...etc

THe general nursing discussion is turning into the General NON nursing person discussion....

Just sayin-glad someone else feels the same way.

s

I said it on the other thread, and I'll reiterate a slightly condensed version here: while I certainly understand the frustration with 70,000 versions of the same 20 or so questions (NCLEX, homework threads, etc.), I don't know that targeting "non-nurses" (or trying to limit us to a sequestered forum, as has also been suggested) is the best option.

I'm a "non-nurse:" I'm studying for a position in an allied health field (health information management/administration). I post responses to threads that ask questions about issues that have fairly universal applications or about which I have particular knowledge because of my background. For instance, personnel conflicts are universal, whether they happen in a hospital, a bank, or a newsroom, so I will often comment about those situations. I don't post when people ask technical questions, like when to administer morphine. Nor do I post holier-than-thou responses on thread where nurses are venting about rude patient conduct ("oh, you're just jaded, I would NEVER do something like that" - no way). I don't appear to be the only non-nurse who follows those general standards.

One of the constant refrains on this site is the desire for nurses to be more appreciated and their roles in health care better understood by those who aren't nurses. I'm not sure how making "non-nurses" feel unwelcome or ostracized on allnurses squares with that desire. In fact, I came to this site while attempting to learn more about nursing and nurses, because I don't want to be one of those out-of-touch paper pushers the people here despise.

Target the annoying threads and those individuals who don't research their questions on the site before posting the nine millionth iteration of the same topic, by all means. I'm just not sure it's fair or terribly effective to generalize about "non-nurses" as an undifferentiated group of useless posters who contribute nothing to the site or its members.

That said, I definitely agree that it would be helpful for the pre-nursing forum to be better utilized. It would help those who need the related information and it would keep those who don't from being driven insane by all the repeats of the same pre-nursing questions. Perhaps the site could be slightly modified to better direct those with such questions to existing appropriate forums....

To TDCHIM,

My rants have never been directed at writers such as yourself, who post intelligent and relevant responses. It is quite obvious that you are educated and have a grip on the health profession. Your specialty is also sorely needed in healthcare today.

My soap box goes mainly to the posters as you said yourself, who try to give advice or ask the same questions ad infinitium....

Again, after reading the latest set of discussion topics, I guess I am beating a dead horse.

Anyway, I am sorry if I ever offended you.

s

PS, I hold a Masters in Health Administration...so I can relate...and I recieved it BEFORE I became a nurse. So mea culpa.

To TDCHIM,

My rants have never been directed at writers such as yourself, who post intelligent and relevant responses. It is quite obvious that you are educated and have a grip on the health profession. Your specialty is also sorely needed in the healthcare today.

My soap box goes mainly to the posters as you said yourself, who try to give advice or ask the same questions ad infinitium....

Again, after reading the latest set of discussion topics, I guess I am beating a dead horse.

Anyway, I am sorry if I ever offended you.

s

You didn't offend me in the least! I just worry about the impact on the useful posters who don't happen to be fully accredited nurses. I tread pretty carefully because I don't want to overstep my bounds on here and such things still spook me a little. I'd hate to see people scared away from the site, because it's a genuinely helpful resource for everyone, nurse and non-nurse alike. I think we're pretty much on the same page, especially where the exponentially increasing number of the same 20 basic posts is concerned! We're just approaching things from different perspectives. :)

Unfortunaly for every 1 relevant, intelligent and useful non nurse poster there seems to be about 20 who do not have a clue and who think that if you ask the same inane question about 40 times to the same people you may get a different answer.

There is also a difference between one such as yourself who is in a different aspect of the same profession and the posters who are not even in pre pre pre nursing school yet who profess to have knowlege regarding what nurses go through at work on a daily basis.

So, again, I don't know what a just solution could be. The posters are not even attempting to post on the appropriate forums and the moderators are certainly not moving them. It seems to be getting worse.

s

I guess the bottom line is that as along as anyone continues to answer the endlessly repetetive and irrelevant (irrelevant at least to a nursing forum) posts, they will continue.

Witness the "Disorderly Conduct" post recently, or as I like to call it, the "Banana Post" (you'll have to read it to understand). I was fascinated by that thread, as in fascinated by watching a train wreck. It was a thread that never belonged on a nursing forum that eventually disintegrated into name-calling and righteous indignation that led to its closure.

Personally, I don't think that we should start requiring licensure to participate in the forum. I think the key to maintaining some professionalism is for us all to resolve to quit responding to the ridiculous questions. At a minimum, we can post politely suggest an alternate category in which the pre-pre's or I-wanna-be's can find a more appropriate home.