Nursing, is it really a profession

HOOBOY

lots and lots of threads on this very subject.......

Some argue nursing is NOT a profession due to our many entry levels (LPN/LVN, ADN/Diploma/BSN)....argument is that only professions have all baccalaureate entry requirements....others disagree....

And I don' t see ANY nurses I WORK with acting like "handmaidens" but consummate professionals....

I think to be professional, education is HIGHLY important...so is ACTING the part.

I see more nurses popping gum, wearing garish makeup and perfume, dirty/wrinkly scrubs, acting loud than I do handmaidens. THESE do NOT conjure a professional image in my mind....

It's so complicated. Try searching the BSN/ADN threads and those titled Is Nursing a Profession to see all the varied opinions out there. Then judge for yourself.

Maybe we should ALL grow a member?

I dont have the time to be some MD's handmaiden, and unless both his arms are broke, he can get his own damn coffee- I have people to take care of!

Sanakruz

Maybe if more nurses grew a member then they would have the balls to stand up and make nursing a profession instead of just a job.

Originally posted by sanakruz

Maybe we should ALL grow a member?

I kept kept mine in little pots on my kitchen window sill, but they all died.

Maybe I should have tried Viagra instead of Miracle Grow.

Whatever.

My whatever comment was headed toward the person with the member envy going on, not you helllo nurse! Hell, I am a great professional nurse and I do not, nor have I ever had a member!!:)

Coming across as a true professional is SO important as a nurse! Let's change some negative perceptions about nursing.

hmmm nursing professionalism and member's....I'm lost..lol

I have never seen a nurse act as a doctors handmaiden. If the doctor wants a cup of coffee I will gladly get one for them if it is made and I have time; I do the same thing for my fellow RNs and patients. I agree with SmilingBlueEyes, too many nurses don't look or act professional; however, I'm not sure that is has to do with education level. Part of being professional is working with all your colleagues, including doctors, to give the best possible care for your patients.

Cqc_Cqb

I send you a PM.

MMMMM what makes a professional, as an rn with a member I have too say - it is not that.....

I think it has something to do with how we work with each other. I need to say I have only worked in Australia and New Zealand - so it may be diffenet in other places. What happens when you do something wrong? Not something that ends up with a patient dying, rather something that was just a stuff up. Lawyers huddle together and make sure know one knows about it. Doctors have round table discussions so that everyone (that is a doctor) learn from it. We nurses (in my experience) have more of a tendancy to hang the guilty nurse out to dry, the charge nurse, then the num and possibly further up all reprimand the guilty nurse... often it is said this is to learn from - but I have watched new grads quickly become timid scared nurses afraid to think past what the num tells them to do for fear that they will do something wrong. I feel that we are so busy trying to prove that we are professionals that at times we do so by pointing to faults that other nurses have made. We all fill out incident forms if a mistake is made, and these forms are reported on... what was the last time you heard of an incident form filled out because of a doctor.

When I do audits for quality control it is only considered a mistake if the nurse has made the mistake. If a Doctor fails to sign a medication order it is only a mistake if the nurse acts on the unsigned order, at no time is the Doctors mistake considered.

I say all this because I think that we I trying to show how good we are by pointing out how few mistakes we make, shouldn't we indicate how good we are by pointing out positive achievements?