This morning I read a Facebook post by Allnurses: "I firmly believe that 'too stupid to live' should be a diagnosis."
This post is receiving 'likes' and 'shares'.
I'd "like" to take this opportunity to not just passively read such a post, but really consider the message.
Is this post a favorable representation of the nursing profession?
Do we want to encourage this type of thinking among our peers?
Is this how some view our fellow human beings who have entrusted their care to us?
Is this really about nursing arrogance?
May I counter such thinking? (I love to read the definition of a word to be reminded of its full beauty)
Humility - acknowledging that acheivement results from the investment of others in my life
Meekness - Yiedling my personal rights and expectations with a desire to serve
Self control - rejecting wrong desires and doing what is right
Altruism - unselfish regard to the welfare of others
Empathy - The ability to share and understand the feelings of another
Compassion - investing whatever is necessary to heal the hurts of others
Advocate - the act of pleading, supporting or recommending
and then..... there is basic Kindness
Such a post does not leave me in judgement of the patient, but the nurse.
"The world is put back by the death of every one who has to sacrifice the development of his or her peculiar gifts to conventionality." - Florence Nightingale
I don't really think the meme is funny, but the outrage over it is way over the top.
My gosh I don't want to be a martyr - I don't even want to be viewed as one. If that's what's going to be expected of me, I need to go into laboratory science or something. I can't handle the pressure of the self sacrificing, always kind, meek, altruistic perfection in a white cap image that seems to be the expectation.
While I agree that some of the FB stuff is questionable at best, and perhaps intentional click-bait.
That said....
NO. No, no, no, no, no. The word "meek" by itself, in my opinion, is NOT a favorable quality for a nurse. One can be kind and empathetic, but a nurse also needs to be STRONG. Looking at that definition, that is why many nurses have come to believe that they shouldn't take lunch or even BR breaks, and that sick people have an excuse to assault us. No. I am not meek and I encourage no nurse to be meek.
Exactly. That being said i also do not have a desire to "serve" anyone or under anyone. I am NOT submissive, however, i am a collaborator!
The more references I hear to allnurses threads turning up on Facebook, which I intentionally choose not to patronize, the less interested I become in continuing to participate here. I have no interest whatsoever in anything I post here turning up on Facebook without my knowledge. I think the site should explicitly inform participants here that that is a risk they are taking.
I can understand the sentiment, but this is the nature of the Internet. You are posting on a public forum and give up the right to posting for "select" eyes once you post. Just because a link is posted that draws more people to the site (and your comments) doesn't make it inherently wrong or sneaky of AN.
A few weeks ago, the AN facebook page posted a meme of a nurse telling a patient, "Trust me. I can tell the pharmacist more about the medications he is giving you than he can."
It was foolish and insulting ...and annoying enough that I no longer see their posts in my feed. I thought it might not even be affiliated with this site, but I guess it is?
It is mentioned in the TOS, but we all know how many people just click agree without reading.
I actually did read the TOS in detail before I originally joined (I'm funny that way ... :)), and referred to them frequently back when I was a moderator for the site. That was a number of years ago. This must be a more recent addition. I admit that I haven't gone back and re-read the TOS in recent years. Maybe I need to start checking each time I log on, in case something new and alarming has been added.
"Meekness - Yiedling my personal rights and expectations with a desire to serve"
This is the biggest pant load of pure crap I've read in a long time! I will be damned if I will be a meek simpering little nurse, grateful for the scraps from my master's table.
It is dark humor that may or may not be appreciated/ condoned by folks. Everything is 'interneted' now so scrutiny is going to come positive and negative.
A few weeks ago, the AN facebook page posted a meme of a nurse telling a patient, "Trust me. I can tell the pharmacist more about the medications he is giving you than he can."
This is the type of social media nurse bragging thing that I cannot stand. I see stuff like "I know more than doctors," too, and it's like... nope. No you don't. Absolutely not. Doctors and nurses (and pharmacists, for that matter) have totally different knowledge bases and while there may be some things you're more equipped to handle than a doctor is, it's very unlikely that you actually know more about treating complex disease processes than a doctor does. UGH. And you don't know more than a pharmacist does, either. Period.
ItsThatJenGirl, CNA
1,978 Posts
I don't really think the meme is funny, but the outrage over it is way over the top.
My gosh I don't want to be a martyr - I don't even want to be viewed as one. If that's what's going to be expected of me, I need to go into laboratory science or something. I can't handle the pressure of the self sacrificing, always kind, meek, altruistic perfection in a white cap image that seems to be the expectation.