Please ask responsible and thoughtful questions!

aundrea543 · Apr 3, 2008

I have to disagree here. I don't think people post ?'s here because they don't want to do the research... this is a great site to find out the best places to do the research. Also I think it's nice to be able to get advice on procedures from the people who have actually done them and it tends to put your mind at ease when you find that you are not alone with what you struggle with. I have found so many useful links on the information I wanted to research by starting here.

Just my :twocents: :nuke:

vashtee, RN · Apr 3, 2008

I like a lot of the questions. They help me learn and reinforce what I know.

NeosynephRN · Apr 3, 2008

Well I am sure that I have asked some "dumb" questions here. They may seem dumb to those of you who are very experienced, but can be mind boggling for us newbies. I may have looked up the info, but would like to hear real world information about a topic, cause I think we all know that what we read and what we do can be very different. I ask alot of questions at work too. Some maybe dumb. I have only been a RN for a little under a year, I would rather ask a dumb question than go into something thinking I know it all and hurt a patient.

sjt9721, BSN, RN · Apr 3, 2008

evilnightwitch.......I have to admit, I've had those same thoughts on occasion.

I like to think that the person asking is using this forum as one of several avenues to find answers. That while waiting for replies, they're reading policies, consulting the PDR, etc.

A question that makes me chuckle is "Does anyone know if ABC college has an XYZ program?"

Let me get this straight: You are Internet-savvy enough to find allnurses.com, register a user name, and start a thread...but you couldn't figure out how to "google" a certain college to see their programs? :bugeyes:

Heck I'm sure some of my posts have raised some eyebrows along the way...so I'm by no means casting any stones!

deftonez188 · Apr 3, 2008

I'm in nursing school right now, and I appreciate it when people take the time to help me. I'm not asking for people to do my homework or explain EVERYTHING there is to possibly know about DM for example, but if I make a post asking if I could maybe write X dx better or a better way to do something, i'm truly thankful for the replies.

Being that we're pretty much self-taught and that our instructors don't have alot of times for questions (or that they don't have you do it the way you learned :banghead::banghead:) it's very helpful to me and others no doubt.

BrokenRNheart · Apr 3, 2008

I think people are using peers here to further understand something.

I would like to believe that they already had to look it up at work in order to perform it. They might have come here to get more feedback on it or to verify that someone did something right

Or maybe it was something that someone else was doing that day on the job and let's face it. If it didn't directly have anything to do with them, they most likely didn't have time to research it at work between reading magazines and filing their nails and probably couldn't wait to get home.

Micro-management has it's drawbacks in patient care. Something has to give somewhere.

TazziRN, RN · Apr 3, 2008

I agree with Witch about questions that sound like the poster wants us to provide the homework answers. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Those irritate the blankety-blank out of me and I refuse to give them the answers they seek. Sometimes the poster has done the research and either cannot find the answer (which is possible) or doesn't understand it and comes here to get clarification. In those cases the poster should say right from the get-go "I looked it up and this is what it said but I don't understand it, can someone explain please?" Then I'm more than willing to help.

As for technique questions, I can understand why someone would ask here. P&P's do not give step by step instructions on things. Or the poster could have gotten written up for doing something wrong and can't figure out why it was wrong. Or the poster could be following P&P and may have been told "But you should do it this way" and is asking for opinions.

UP Nurse · Apr 3, 2008

When I was in my "RN to BSN" program some time ago, we were required by our instructor (and I don't remember which class now) to sign on a nursing discussion board. I stayed with it for several years, but some time out of the country and a couple moves...I "lost" the connection. Anyway, over the time I participated there were students who was post and ask questions that led you to believe they were asking us to do their assignments rather than do their own research. There is a difference in that and new grads asking for help from the more experienced nurses. Sometimes it takes really looking at the questions and sometimes asking the person who posts the question for the reason for the question. If you are too busy to reply to a question, let it go! Or if you have nothing to add. Don't fuss about posts/questions that you think are "dumb."

I "speed read" over the questions, comments, etc., that don't interest me or if they aren't my area of practice, or I simply don't have time to deal with.

We need to treat our peers with more kindness! We all have more in common, as nurses, than differences.

BJ

NurseCherlove · Apr 3, 2008

evilnightwitch.......
A question that makes me chuckle is "Does anyone know if ABC college has an XYZ program?"
Let me get this straight: You are Internet-savvy enough to find allnurses.com, register a user name, and start a thread...but you couldn't figure out how to "google" a certain college to see their programs?

My thoughts exactly!:chuckle

mrsraisinkain · Apr 3, 2008

A question that makes me chuckle is "Does anyone know if ABC college has an XYZ program?"
Let me get this straight: You are Internet-savvy enough to find allnurses.com, register a user name, and start a thread...but you couldn't figure out how to "google" a certain college to see their programs?

This is true to a certain extent. A lot of the private and technical colleges in my area that have nursing programs do not offer a lot of information on their websites. Basically the sites just have a form to fill out to request information directly from the school. That way they have your name, phone number and address and can directly contact you. I guess then they can dazzle prospective students with their propaganda. Trust me, it got really frustrating when I just wanted to gather information for schools and didn't want to spend the time to come in and talk to representatives if the school didn't offer basic things I wanted in my prospective school.

Anyway back to the topic at hand: I haven't been in school long enough yet to have asked many questions on here but I really enjoy reading everything. It gives me a great way to know what to expect and anticipate what I'll be learning in school. I like to think it gives me a leg up, Lord knows I need all the help I can get!!

Thanks to all the people who do take the time to respond to the "dumb" questions!!!!:bowingpur

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Apr 3, 2008

The questions don't bother me much . . . unless there's an excessive number of "Homework Hotline" style questions where the student actually wants us to basically complete their assignment. Also, the "Ask a Nurse" advice questions are a thorn in my butt.