Nurses Deserve More Respect!

whodatnurse · Oct 21, 2010

I think it the attitude may be unique to your own family situation. For the last 10 years (except in '01, when the firefighters outranked us) Nursing has been ranked as the #1 trusted profession in America. http://www.nursingcenter.com/Blog/post/2010/08/27/Nurses-are-the-most-trusted-profession-in-healthcare-today.aspx
So, the public likes us... don't want to pay us, but they like us.

Five and a half years ago, when I appeared on the TV game show Millionaire, THIS was my $25,000 question (except it was phrased, "In four out of the last five Gallup polls, which profession did those surveyed say was the most honest and ethical profession?" My choices were nurses, firefighters, pharmacists, and teachers.

I decided to use my last lifeline - my phone-a-friend - who didn't know. I wasn't about to risk losing $15,000 venturing a guess on the outcome of a Gallup poll...so I walked away with 16K.

Shortly thereafter, I decided to return to school to get the education I needed to become a member of this 'most honest and ethical profession.' :)

massrn116 · Oct 21, 2010

Love nursing, proud to be a nurse. The only thing that bothers me is when people thank me for the SERVICE and not the care I provide. I am not a waitress. But then again maybe they think of their loved one as a restaurant customer.

digitiminimi · Oct 21, 2010

I get this all the time from family and acquaintances. When I tell them I'm going back to school to become an RN I get this "...Oh." response. And then of course, "Why not a nurse practitioner?" One time someone said "But it's...dirty." :mad: I don't know why ppl feel like they can say these things. I think the perception that people have of nursing varies greatly based on their culture and social status. I haven't seen much respect for nursing as a profession and that's truly a shame. It doesn't deter me from the profession at all though, just makes me mad when I hear ignorant comments. In the end, you should do what you really want to do. You're going to be the nurse, not them. You will be living your life - not them.

ittybittynurse · Oct 21, 2010

It's always challenging to convey to outsiders what we (nurses) do in terms that are meaningful to them. There is still a widespread belief that nurses are "helpers" to the physician, obediently and selflessly following orders. What most people (even some nurses) fail to recognize is that nursing is an independent and autonomous profession. It is a knowledge-based profession with its own body of science, research, and practice standards.

Nurses develop their own plan of care for patients-just as physicians do. We use critical thinking skills, initiate life-saving measures, and conduct comprehensive, precise evaluations and monitoring. We teach, counsel, coach, nurture and support. We are healthcare experts in our own right. Nurses possess a great body of healthcare knowledge and experience-even right out of nursing school.

A question I find most remarkable and annoying is, "you're so intelligent. Why didn't you become a doctor?" It's as if intelligent people become doctors and less intelligent people become nurses. When I was recently asked that question-for the first times in years- I gave the questioner my standard answer: "It is precisely because I am so intelligent that I chose nursing. Nursing and Medicine are two entirely different career paths. One is not an elevated version of the other. Don't ever underestimate the amount of intelligence, science, and the skill needed to be a great nurse. We make it look easy because we are so good at what we do"

So the next time someone asks you what you do, consider responding, "I save lives and improve health. I'm a nurse what do you do?"

Excerpt taken from Donna Cardillo R.N., MA

www.nurse.com

natasharostova · Oct 21, 2010

Thanks everyone for the awesome replies! I feel much more encouraged now :)

Yes, my family is full of engineers, doctors, lawyers, and professors. I've been told that the "least" I could do is become a prof. And yes, they'd be willing to pay for (most) of med school. But that doesn't change the fact that I really want to be a nurse and deal directly with people. The people, not the puzzle. :)

I feel like I'll be much more prepared the next time someone asks me why I didn't go to med school. Thanks all for your help!

Love, -NR

BabyLady, BSN, RN · Oct 21, 2010

Hello All,
Does anyone else feel like there is a stigma that comes along with nursing? Like, do you ever feel like people are judging you based on your career choice? Do you feel like nursing isn't as well respected in society as it should be?
My parents and a lot of my friends are being pretty critical of my decision to become a nurse. I can't even count the number of time I've been asked, "But wouldn't you rather be a doctor? Why not try for med school instead?"
Just wondering if anyone else has experience with this sort of thing. How do you handle it?
Love, -NR :heartbeat

The only people that I have heard bash nursing as a profession, is other nurses.

I have heard people complain over a PARTICULAR nurse, but not the nursing profession.

The Gallop Poll also publishes the most respected professions every year...Nursing has always ranked as the NUMBER ONE profession, every year, with the exception of 9/11.

Yes, people have asked me why I don't go med school...I tell them the truth: I suck at Chemistry and 10 years is too long.

MJ415 · Oct 21, 2010

FWIW I am a nurse who is more interested in the puzzle. I probably would have liked being a physician, but I'm not interested in an 80 hour work week, so I opted out of medicine.

Amen!

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Oct 21, 2010

I don't know any happy physicians, and I can only think of one still married to his/her first spouse and whose children don't hate him/her for serials absences. I have the utmost respect for their education and knowledge, but hells no, I don't want that life. Not as a student, and certainly not for a career. Not worth it by a long shot.

Guest27531 · Oct 22, 2010

I actually view every patient as a puzzle and try to put together the pieces, independent (and usually much earlier than a doc), because I'm with the patient longer and oftentimes see the lab and diagnostic results first).

The nurses definitely have a puzzle to solve but I hear you thinking about the person ("because I'm with the patient longer") and you seem to be interested in hearing more of the person's story. For many of us, that's why we prefer nursing. It is about solving the puzzle for the sake of the person...not solving the puzzle for the sake of the puzzle.

whodatnurse · Oct 22, 2010

Thanks everyone for the awesome replies! I feel much more encouraged now :)
Yes, my family is full of engineers, doctors, lawyers, and professors. I've been told that the "least" I could do is become a prof. And yes, they'd be willing to pay for (most) of med school. But that doesn't change the fact that I really want to be a nurse and deal directly with people. The people, not the puzzle. :)
I feel like I'll be much more prepared the next time someone asks me why I didn't go to med school. Thanks all for your help!
Love, -NR

There's a lot to be said for giving thought to the kind of LIFE you want to have.

I thought you would appreciate this article I just read at Huffington Post on 'slowing down':

Elizabeth Killingsworth: Slowing Down

nopainNurse · Oct 22, 2010

I can totally relate. My family is very similar.

I grew up thinking my aunt was a nurse (was told so by her and various family members). When I decided to go to university to become a RN, the aunt responded by saying, "Why would you go to school to clean up poop?" Hmmm... Got me thinking and I started asking questions. Turned out she was (is) a care aid in LTC. Aside from being bitter and hating her job, she also never even finished high school, but considered herself a nurse. No wonder my family couldn't understand why I would go to school for this career!

Over the years, my family has learned more about what a nurse does, but I highly suspect they still don't really understand.

My own take on it is to do your best, have respect for yourself and your own profession and otherwise let them think what they want.

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Oct 22, 2010

My husbands aunt had a competition thing with her sisters (my husbands mother) family. My MIL was a nurse. She had 2 sons, both of whom married nurses. Her sister married a doctor and they had 4 kids, all of whom became doctors. When I met her for the first time, she told me no one in *my* family would ever consider nursing It is either medicine or law for us. Seriously, what would miss manners say, lol? I just said "Wow, that is really great. You must be so proud." She was a fuknut.