does anyone else get tired of hearing (from other SNAs/hopefuls/vets) what we nurses are "suppose" to be like ?
i read through thread after thread of how if you're not "compassionate to the core" and "really into nursing" and all this other stuff, you won't do well in the program or as a nurse in general.
is it really that big of a deal that some use the profession as a fallback option, or as a way to get by while trying to pursue something they'd really wanna be doing, without having to work something that provides just above minimum wage to make ends meet ?
i often hear people being scolded because their "heart" isn't in nursing, and for taking a seat away from others who "really" want to be there. Are any of us less deserving because we went through the same prereqs as everyone else but were competitive enough to actually secure a seat ? Is this something i should apologize for ? Should we be barred from applying simply because we have different prospects for the horizon ? Say med school ? or a field outside of healthcare altogether ?
Is it wrong to consider this profession a job ? one in which i will do my best to do well as i would with any other endeavor ? I go in with an attitude to make sure all of my duties are done, everyone is accounted for, and everything is the way it should be from the time i arrive until the time i clock out. Does it make me a bad nurse that i don't cry with a patient when they're going through a hard time ? Please dont take this as an implication as me directing negative or rude comments towards the patient. I'm attentive, and consoling, but i'd rather not have my emotions tie me up in knots to the point where i start to make clinical errors, which in the end is truly the most important thing to me.
Don't mind me, just my Tuesday morning rant for the day. I'm curious to see who else feels like this. I know im the minority but i can't be the only one
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Here's a great example of the problem with healthcare: On my unit people are asked to come up with WOW moments with patients
and they are posted on a white board to share with staff. The other day the night nurse asked a patient what would really make him happy, he asked for one of those disgusting pancake egg sanwhiches from mickey ds which we have at our hospital. The nurse
bought him 2 of the sandwiches so she would be extra special and of course he enjoyed both. The day nurse who is telling me this
story explains that this pt is a IDDM and while the night nurse got mention for the deed she was left with the chore/task of managing
his BS which was 459 in addition to some patient education.
Don't ya just love it. You had all the work and none of the glory!
It's sort of like the newbies who don't follow any of the rules about no more than two visitors at a time, step off the unit to use your cell phone, no visitors during report, etc. They make the patient real happy -- and then the rest of us have to deal with the fallout because the visitors no longer feel as though the rules apply to them. I asked one of those new grads about why she did it -- she knew what the rules were, so why not just go by them. The answer I got was that she wanted the nice letter and the patient satisfaction scores, and she really didn't CARE about the rest of us dealing with the fallout. Nice.
Don't ya just love it. You had all the work and none of the glory! It's sort of like the newbies who don't follow any of the rules about no more than two visitors at a time step off the unit to use your cell phone, no visitors during report, etc. They make the patient real happy -- and then the rest of us have to deal with the fallout because the visitors no longer feel as though the rules apply to them. I asked one of those new grads about why she did it -- she knew what the rules were, so why not just go by them. ****The answer I got was that she wanted the nice letter and the patient satisfaction scores, and she really didn't CARE about the rest of us dealing with the fallout. Nice****.[/quote']
****How about THAT for a "WOW" moment....
I think I have a new displeasure.....glory seeking nurses.
an rn knows, that an ma can't learn with some experience. Most of
everything we learn as medical professionals is through experience. We
can have it beat into our heads from school all day long but until we
see it, its just a book concept to us. At a clinic I worked at, the mas
were taught on the job how to start ivs, take vitals, and do a physical
assessment, as well as pass And draw up meds. These were skills I
already had as a medic, but many of the ma titled workers there (as well
as x ray techs, who perform these duties as well) obtained within a few
weeks of training. Maybe a hospital setting is different..haven't been
in one outside of clinicals. But tell me what I'm missing here? Other
than having to do the occasional outlandish off the wall treatment once
in a while, I really couldn't tell you how profound knowledge of
pathophysiology or pharmacodynamics has helped me perform better than
any of my coworkers despite my broader knowledgebase. At the end of the
day we all had the same job to do.
Or when asked why the OP is in nursing school;
Its not snark. And I'm not offended by the
question regardless, since I've been asked the very same thing by my
friends and family after having started the program.
The answer is, I wasn't (and still not) sure all of the functions of a
nurse. I'm trying to get out of my paramedic mindset, where everything
was pretty objective.
This is what's happening--this is what you do--this is why. So believe
me I fully grasp the importance of understanding physiology and duty
interactions and whatnot.
The thing is, we were essentially completely autonomous. Within our
scope and protocols we have actual choices of what to give, when to
give, how to dilute and titrate at our discretion, things of that
nature. From what Ive been experiencing so far, little of nursing deals
with medicine (I'm finally beginning to understand when people say
docs/pas are taught under a medicine model vs nurses/nps are taught
under a nursing model) and nurses don't have very much autonomy.
Everything we do is pretty much doctor ordered. We just follow through
and I guess make sure that the the proverbial turd not hit the fan ? All
the while making sure our patients are comfortable and well tended to
This seems to me to be something that most levels of healthcare
providers are capable of. And if I were wrong, then rns wouldn't so
easily be phased out by professionals with supposed far less education
and capabilities.
My (ill received) 2 cents haha
Unfortunately his comparison of Paramedics to RNs is way off since Paramedics operate under protocols written by doctors and for anything not written med control must be called.
And here is another view;
P
Fantastic nurse. Here's a cookie. Now go push the lopressor like I told you. I have other things to do.
Womp womp.
I bet if I cared to look I could probably find more of his posts on the EMS forums showing how nurses agree that the nursing profession is a mess and many do it just for a job....unlike those in EMS who band together to save lives.
This guy is just starting his 2nd semester of nursing school. He still has a long way to go before he is an RN. Considering all of the threads he has started and the posts he has made, it would be fairly easy to reason his classmates and educators are getting annoyed by his attitude about nurses and patients. If they weren't, there probably would be no reason for him to spend all this time ranting on the internet.
I would like the nurse who is competent AND caring to take care of me. Yes, we all are getting paid for what we do, but people are not machines. I would want someone with real compassion because I think that person will, "go the extra mile" to insure my care and satisfaction were being met.
When did Florence Nightingale ever state that she felt women were ill-equipped to work in the field of medicine? You do realize that she was in fact a woman herself?
She actually felt that way. Florence was lucky enough to be educated by a tutor right along her male cousins which actually gave her a significant advantage, but she was also a genius. She invented the Polar Area Graph which was the first graphical representation of mortality data and the English government used data from an 800 page report she created to change military hospital policy. However, she did not believe that women, at that time, were the intellectual equivalents to men. She did start to change her mind much later in her 70's and 80's.
She actually felt that way. Florence was lucky enough to be educated by a tutor right along her male cousins which actually gave her a significant advantage, but she was also a genius. She invented the Polar Area Graph which was the first graphical representation of mortality data and the English government used data from an 800 page report she created to change military hospital policy. However, she did not believe that women, at that time, were the intellectual equivalents to men. She did start to change her mind much later in her 70's and 80's.
But not surprising. Attitudes such as this have existed in nursing and even today.
This forum even has a separate section for "Men" so issues like being labeled as feminine, weak, homosexual or giving up the macho EMT identity can be discussed without the women folk's opinion.
is it really that big of a deal that some use the profession as a fallback option, or as a way to get by while trying to pursue something they'd really wanna be doing, without having to work something that provides just above minimum wage to make ends meet ?
If I am ever a patient in the hospital, I would rather not have a nurse caring for me who is in the profession as a "fallback option". Because if that is the case, it will show in how you do your job. If this is truly the case with you, jonnyvirgo, please get a desk job with an insurance company, where you will not deal with patients in person.
At first it almost changed my view of her, but now I really just see it as reflection of the times. Remember, Florence was the person responsible for making nursing a profession, where for the first time, women went to formalized schooling. Before then, nursing was a profession run by truly poor, uneducated women who were often prostitutes. When she entered "the calling" she was an educated woman who spoke 5 languages and was gifted in mathematics. Really, she should be admired for her vision and realization that care at the bedside is what transforms health. It just took her about 50 years to realize that women had the same potential as men.
Ruby Vee, BSN
17 Articles; 14,051 Posts
Don't ya just love it. You had all the work and none of the glory!
It's sort of like the newbies who don't follow any of the rules about no more than two visitors at a time, step off the unit to use your cell phone, no visitors during report, etc. They make the patient real happy -- and then the rest of us have to deal with the fallout because the visitors no longer feel as though the rules apply to them. I asked one of those new grads about why she did it -- she knew what the rules were, so why not just go by them. The answer I got was that she wanted the nice letter and the patient satisfaction scores, and she really didn't CARE about the rest of us dealing with the fallout. Nice.