Okay, so I'm a pre-nursing student who wants to work in the NICU someday. Well, a couple days ago a group of pre-Nursing students-myself included-talked about looking forward to Nursing school. I said that I couldn't wait to be a NICU nurse. One pre-nursing student replied, "But you'll have to watch babies die!" And I answered, "Yeah, but I'll be able to save babies' lives as well."
Another pre-Nursing student, who I find to be smug and abrasive, stated, "Nurses rarely save lives." ***** I wanted to slap him for making an ignorant statement.
So, is his statement true? Do Nurses "rarely" save lives? How many lives have YOU saved?
I have been threatened, written up, and told I may be fired, because I have called physicians down to see patients. These Drs refused to come, or gave me bogus orders, or were completely disinterested in what I had to say. I have called, and called, and called. I will go over your head, I will call your boss, I will not give up. So get down here and take care of your patients!!
And even though its the right thing to do, and the thing that our BON *expects* us to do, it may come at a cost.
And even in this economy, it's a cost I'm willing to take.
These are the saves I talk about. My assessment and judgment are telling me that we need to do something quick. The pt is taking a turn, and the MD can't be bothered to address it. If I do all of the above, and the previously dying pt is now living, well, I'm calling that a save! And I'm damn proud of that too!
. I was fired not long after that for 'insubordination'. Go figure.
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A nurse after my own heart :heartbeat
Being a nurse is tough work. And these are situations that we encounter daily, all of us.
Like I always say, I can get a new job, but not a new license or conscious. I will do what's right.
If he even makes it through nursing school he won't be a nurse for long. He sounds like an ignorant idiot.
I can list at least 8 lives I have saved over the course of my nursing, and physical therapy career. I have also saved the ER doctors butts several times. I love being a nurse.
My mom said the same thing when I told her that. He's delusional to think that Nurses rarely save lives, and he will be in for a shock if he does end up being a nurse.
I know this sounds bad, but I hope he doesn't get into the program. I don't want to have to deal with his smugness all the time.
Think of it this way, if he doesn't know what nurses actually do, he wont stand a chance getting in, in my opinion.
Yes, nurses save lives, but let's not get carried away. Caring for patients is a team effort. It takes EMT's, Paramedics, records personnel, techs, nurses, physicians, surgeons, RT, PT, imaging, dietary... we all have our part to play. Ideally, we all get things right, but mistakes happen. That's why there are overlapping layers of care. While Tonya stopped fluids on her CHF patient, a nurse at our facility a couple weeks ago overloaded a stable patient. It took an MD and RT to get him on a vent in the ICU. Let's make it clear that we ALL save lives.
i can undestand this! My dad always jokes around when he sees me and pretends he is holing a tray or bedpan. I just laugh because its such an uneducated joke. I laugh also because a nurse was the one that saved his life and got him to the OR when he was having a cardiac tamponade. Yes we nurses do it all! =)
I like to think that the team I work with including myself contributes to saving lives.
Maybe this was an opportunity where you could have challenged this student and asked why he thought nurses didn't save lives. You could have then gone on to describe how nurses initiate CPR etc that could have given him more perspective on what we do.
CCL RN, RN
557 Posts
I have been threatened, written up, and told I may be fired, because I have called physicians down to see patients. These Drs refused to come, or gave me bogus orders, or were completely disinterested in what I had to say. I have called, and called, and called. I will go over your head, I will call your boss, I will not give up. So get down here and take care of your patients!!
And even though its the right thing to do, and the thing that our BON *expects* us to do, it may come at a cost.
And even in this economy, it's a cost I'm willing to take.
These are the saves I talk about. My assessment and judgment are telling me that we need to do something quick. The pt is taking a turn, and the MD can't be bothered to address it. If I do all of the above, and the previously dying pt is now living, well, I'm calling that a save! And I'm damn proud of that too!
A nurse after my own heart :heartbeat
Being a nurse is tough work. And these are situations that we encounter daily, all of us.
Like I always say, I can get a new job, but not a new license or conscious. I will do what's right.