Non Nurse Threads

Originally posted by night owl

Yeah, and we'll kick their cyberpatooties!!!

Oh nightowl......how I love those kickin' feet, too. :rotfl: Everytime I see your avatar, it makes me laugh. Thanks for your sense of humor. :kiss

I think Brian will come up with a workable plan....after all...Allnurses IS his "Baby". :)

I'm not concerned for myself on this post, but I certainly can appreciate the concerns of others with so many lurkers scouting the board, or those with ill intentions posting just to antagonize or disrupt the flow of harmony around here......not to mention those who wish to do nurses wrong that they work with, etc.

Again......siblings......let's get back to being happy and joyful with one another and leave Brian's Baby up to him to figure out. I mean really now........has he failed us yet? NO, he hasn't.......so we have nothing to fear but fear itself.

I enjoy talking with the teenagers who come here: Cowgirl, Kristi915, RNbrat....... I learn from them as well. I enjoy their freshness to the board.....the excitement they have about venturing one day into nursing.......I would hate to see that no longer a part of us. I love you kiddos! :kiss

The Unit Clerks, the CNAs, the other health professionals.....they are a part of us. We COULD do our jobs without them, but we sure WOULD NOT LIKE TO......now would we? So......they have a place among us as nurses. It helps them to understand us, and it helps us to see them more clearly, too.

IN SUMMARY: The BEST solution to this problem is better registration, stop the lurking, allow those who wish to become members who are in the health field or have an interest in the health field to become MEMBERS who provide ID of some sort, so if they cause problems and what not, they can readily be taken care of by our Administrator and Moderators.

What say you, siblings? Does that sound like a decent plan to ponder?

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer

IN SUMMARY: The BEST solution to this problem is better registration, stop the lurking, allow those who wish to become members who are in the health field or have an interest in the health field to become MEMBERS who provide ID of some sort, so if they cause problems and what not, they can readily be taken care of by our Administrator and Moderators.

What ID Renee? It's just not easily enforced. That's quite a bit of work for Brian. It's not that I don't agree with you, I just don't think it's a feasible idea.

Heather

Do you all realize how absolutely psycho you all sound?

There isn't an evil conspiracy out there seeking to discover all our dirty little nursing secrets -- if we have any. Why would lawyers prowl a message board and what would they gain from handles such as "Flowerchild" and "Partygirl?"

As far as frustrated or desparate families seeking information, I applaud their williness to seek out second opinions about the care their loved ones receive. All we have to do is be professional and treat the questions with care as we would daily -- but don't shoot them down for supposedly invading our "private" little discussion board!

As far as restricting any information source to one minority of users, this is America. Can you say "Taliban?"

As the great philosopher Dennis Miller once said, "That's just my opinion, I could be wrong."

:roll

You know, if there is one thing I have come to know about Big Daddy is that he does not tolerate blatant displays of unprofessional behavior on this board.

I'm confident that any lurkers and undesirables will be dealt with swiftly and professionally.... that is if we don't get to them first....

Give my license #. No way. I don't know were you are but here in my state that is considered confidential info. When i was in nursing school I was warrned to not carry my license with me. "Take it to show to new employer and so they could make the required copy of it and then take it home and lock it up."

I was told that people steal licenses, go to another state and get a job and apply for a license in that state, In the mean time they can work on my license. Eventually they catch up with the person who stole it but in the mean time they can really reak havoc for you.

And where did you ever get the idea that some one could not come up with a convincing fake#?

As far as the right number of letters and numbers not all states have a set number of any of these.

No way could Brian check out every one who applied to this site. No way could he be sure that the person who came to the site really was the person on the license, even if it was real license.

I was warned never never give that info to anyone other than an employer or when taking CE classes where they needed the # for filing who took the class, for the BON.

I think we all have to be careful what we say to a certain extent anywhere even here. Use some reasonable caution. This site can be good sometimes for non nurses, and as Heather mentioned those who are not do not stick around. It is the adage about the internet be aware that all internet sorces of info are not legit.

We have a wondrful medium here. For the most part this site works and does it's intended prupose very well. We have to keep in mind any site from time to time will have hits from folks who misrepresent themselves and/or are less than desirable, and that is the cost of using the medium. I try (not always real well) to keep in mind that at any time someone who knows me may be here or lurking and it could be a boss, an employer that I might later apply to etc. i try to not give so much info that i can easily be identified. (though at times I have been a little slack about this) I have discovered through PM there are folks who actively lurk and never ever post. Who knows, maby ther are folks who know me. So just be reasonable cautious.

If I were asked my license I would have to say goodby to all you great nuses and that would make be sad.

We are naieve to think that ID such as licenses can't be faked. They are faked by criminals.

This is a problem but one that will be there as long as we have the internet.

Originally posted by RyanRN

It's a bit much to ask this site to be so scutinized. I regularly visit Studentdoc.com for their perspective. I'd be insulted if I was banned .

Provides us with a perfect opportunity to TEACH lay people just what it is that nursing actually do for a living. Geesh, not answering a call bell within 5 minutes, WHAT? are we in competition with that pizza place that hands out free pizzas if the delivery takes longer than expected!!! The public hasn't got a clue what we do and they should!

I agree with this statement. I mean, if people want feedback and discussion from nurses about us and our care... shouldn't we encourage that? Ignorance from the general public about who we are, what we do, and the realistic limitations of our responses (due to our own imperfections and other situations such as short staffing) is a HUGE part of what leads to complaints and poor opinions of nurses from lay people.

I also think there is no way to come to a consensus over how "private" this nurses' forum should be.... Yes we do use this as a place to vent, gain support for our own work-related hardships. And that is a very good function of the site. I'm sure most of my real patients would see me differently if they heard me vent about the difficulties of caring for them. That doesn't mean I don't need to vent, for my own mental health... and it doesn't mean that I am an uncaring nurse. The nurse members here all know that (including students in that bunch - I see you as "beginning nurses"). I wonder if the non-nurses who read this board "get" that... But does that mean we should keep them out?

Another thing I thought of when I read the original post was the recent "discussion" on breastfeeding... and the crossovers as people from allnurses "participated" in the discussion on another board... and vice versa. The idea of this being a "private" forum cuts both ways... and you can't tell me that the allnurses members who went over there to add to their discussions were all breastfeeding moms.

I don't agree with keeping out those who are not nurses. I think that people who are not nurses will lose interest pretty fast and stop reading. Much as we think all these discussions are fascinating, most lay people simply do not have the interest or see the relevance.

Having said that, maybe just being aware that people who are not nurses read these boards is a good wakeup call. Being disrespectful is not a crime - so what if they get offended by our venting? But when they ask for advice, we usually ARE pretty professional in our approach. The legal anxiety is not something that bothers me either - no judge is going to accept postings on the internet given as advice in a legal proceeding against a nurse. Most lawyers would turn to the Board of nursing for standards of care descriptions, and use nurse expert testimony if they want a good case - NOT anonymous heresy on the internet.

However (this from my dad, who is a lawyer) What we say on this board may be admissible in court if the statement is not being used for it's factual truth, but just for the fact that it was said. That wouldn't apply to the postings by people asking for feedback on how their family were treated - but it would apply to harassment, defamation, libel, slander, etc charges that may be filed against an allnurses member. So if you don't get along with a co-worker, and she feels you are harassing her - and you vent about her here, you could be in jeopardy if she sees the post.

Just a few thoughts... sorry for the long post!

-Pebbles

Originally posted by NMAguiar

Do you all realize how absolutely psycho you all sound?

There isn't an evil conspiracy out there seeking to discover all our dirty little nursing secrets -- if we have any. Why would lawyers prowl a message board and what would they gain from handles such as "Flowerchild" and "Partygirl?"

:roll

Uhhh..... since you are new here you probably are unaware of what has transpired with two users here; their employer had other employees track, cut, paste and fax postings made here by a user which then directly led to their dismissal or reprimand. One employer faxed all those posts to EVERY AREA HOSPITAL so this nurse couldn't get a job anywhere!

No, lawyers wouldn't troll around...duh. But other people would and then TAKE IT to a lawyer.

And Agnus, sure someone could fake a nursing license #, but it sure as hell would be a deterrant to actually registering if prompted for this info wouldn't it? Say you went to a site to troll or whatever, and had to provide a bar association #, a DEA or UPIN #.....would you still continue on?? Sure some people would, but I imagine the numbers would be drastically reduced.

I am not saying that this is the answer; I am saying that it's a suggestion.

I also thought about registering for nursing associations - like AWHONN of which I am a member. How do they filter out and keep track of members?

Maybe offer a "limited" user ability if a non-nurse, and give that option upon registering. I don't know.

No, lawyers wouldn't troll around...duh. But other people would and then TAKE IT to a lawyer.

I still gauge any information, however delivered, that a lawyer might receive from this board as insignificant. It might influence new tactics, or a new approach to an existing case, but unless posters use their real name it's unlikely any legal repercussions could follow.

As far as employers using postings against employees, it's possible. CYA with a good handle or be discrete. The same standards of justice don't exist in a hiring office as prevail in a courtroom.

All good reasons to change your handle, Suzy K, if you're so concerned about privacy. :kiss

Originally posted by NMAguiar

As far as employers using postings against employees, it's possible.

Damn right it's possible. More like, it HAPPENED.

These users might have legal recourse because certainly being dismissed at work d/t some post on the internet violates alot of freedoms, the only problem is financially being able to retain an attorney to fight such matters.

Originally posted by NMAguiar

unless posters use their real name it's unlikely any legal repercussions could follow.

Not true. To register here, you must supply an email address, which could be tied directly to the user.

If a person who wanted to join this site had to submit a license, license #, Driver's License, Student I.D., etc. wouldn't that leave more of a paper trail if a Lawyer or employer did want to track a person down for writing a particular post?

If you try to play it smart by not giving too much info., picture, email address and home website they would have a tougher time trying to find out who you are. Whereas, if your personal information rested with Brian or another administrator it would be easy for a lawyer or employer to find out who you are if they had the legal backing.

And, like a lot of you said, the internet is new territory, we don't know what could get us into hot water and what would give a lawyer or employer the legal backing to come in here and find out who you are.

Just a thought.