No such thing as a stupid nurse

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CRRT,.

i was in a critical care conference today, and one of the speakers said something that realy touched me, so i thought i would share it with you all. she said "I believe there is no such thing as a stupid nurse. you get up, put your clothes on and come in to work, regardless of what crap you may face when you get there. Your heart is in the right place, and you have the desire to care for others. you are definitely not stupid. It is just a matter of learning the things you dont yet know. You managed to get here. Never let anyone call you stupid".

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Specializes in School Nursing.

you know...they are absolutely right ! thanks for the uplifting post ! :yeah:

praiser :heartbeat

i was in a critical care conference today, and one of the speakers said something that realy touched me, so i thought i would share it with you all. she said "i believe there is no such thing as a stupid nurse. you get up, put your clothes on and come in to work, regardless of what crap you may face when you get there. your heart is in the right place, and you have the desire to care for others. you are definitely not stupid. it is just a matter of learning the things you dont yet know. you managed to get here. never let anyone call you stupid".
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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I agree. In addition, it takes a reasonably intelligent person to successfully get through nursing school, since not everyone has the capability to accomplish that feat. There's no such thing as a stupid nurse.

However, I must admit that a handful of reasonably intelligent nurses have done stupid things throughout their careers, as evidenced by the number of nurses being disciplined by BONs across the country for impairment, unsafe practice, and so forth. It was the act that was "stupid," and not the individual nurse.

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I had a patient once-two actually. One had a PhD in astrophysics. At first he was actually surprised that nurses could get a bachelor's degree, then he said "Good. It takes a lot of smarts to do this job. It's more than I could ever do."

Another PhD in some kind of chemistry said essentially the same thing a few years later. "Nurses need to be really intelligent to do your job. And add the whole compassion thing to it, I could never do that."

So there are people out there who recognize our value.

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Specializes in Behavioral Health, Show Biz.
however, i must admit that a handful of reasonably intelligent nurses have done stupid things throughout their careers, as evidenced by the number of nurses being disciplined by bons across the country for impairment, unsafe practice, and so forth. it was the act that was "stupid," and not the individual nurse.

:yeah:

exactly!

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Specializes in LTC, Med-SURG,STICU.

I would have to agree with the poster about intelligent nurses doing stupid things. I would have to add that there are a few nurses that have a case of "not thinking before acting" or a case of a "whole lot of book smarts, but absolutly no common sense". They honestly make me wonder how on earth they passed nursing school let alone the NCLEX.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Pragmatic ol' me here. YES, there is such a thing as a stupid nurse. Sorry; not meaning to hurt anyone's feelings--just my own opine.

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Specializes in cardiothoracic surgery.

I agree-there is such a thing as a stupid nurse. In fact, one just got fired from our floor a couple of months ago. Fortunately, it was before she managed to harm a patient.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i agree-there is such a thing as a stupid nurse. in fact, one just got fired from our floor a couple of months ago. fortunately, it was before she managed to harm a patient.

i've met a few nurses who were "less cranial" than others, but can't say they were actually stupid. some of them were extremely gifted at milking the system, getting the plum assignments and avoiding work. i think the majority of "stupid" i've encountered has been on the patient side of the equation. and of course smart people doing stupid things because they weren't paying attention, didn't think it through or were trying to avoid work.

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CRRT,.

OK let me rephrase a little. I think that the general meaning behind that was that the nurse was able to A) get through school and pass boards, so they had to have some intelligence, at least at some period. B) to be a nurse, it usually takes a certain amount of compassion and desire to help others. So, that being said, nurses may do dumb things, and may be lacking in common sense. But, however, nurses have the ABILITY to be great..if they take that opportunity and run with it.

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Pragmatic ol' me here. YES, there is such a thing as a stupid nurse. Sorry; not meaning to hurt anyone's feelings--just my own opine.

I work with one. Somehow she has a BScN but has failed the registration exam twice. Her priority is herself. Her co-workers dread taking over her patients, the works not done or is poorly done, the patients are unhappy and have questions.

Booksmart, maybe. Let's all remember average grades will obtain a BScN. Commonsense lacking completely. Sense of entitlement-huge.

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho/Uro/Rehab CNA.

i felt inspired by the post but then it was shortly dashed away only by another thread i read just earlier today... the one about the nurse who has 3 duis in mi. like the other posters said she only got caught 3 times.. and if she had the bad judgement to drive that way you have to wonder if nurses like that think it's acceptable to work that way as well..... that would qualify as stupid in my opinion!:nono:

i must say, if i hadn't read that thread earlier i would be able to appreciate this one much more, it's just still fresh on the brain.. sorry!:mad:

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