public's view of nurses

How you think nurses are viewed by the general public?

Thanks in advance for your reply. It means a lot!

Is this a question regarding your studies (for school)...if I may ask?

I think the opinions will vary...but I think they are generally viewed as compassionate and caring individuals who save lives. :)

Yes, this is a project for school but is also a topic that I find interesting. It is always nice to see how others view things.

Yes this is for a project in one of my classes. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

As someone who is still in highschool, who is a patient, I view nurses as, kind, caring, considerate, knolegable, trustworthy, hardworking, overworked, and shown disrespect by many

Strong willed, patient, caring. Those are good nurses. However you will hear of bad nurses as stated by a family member when they were in the hospital "lazy, uncaring, incompassionate' But the fact is, I think that is the result of burnout. In my opinion, most of us are compassionate, caring, inventive, compassionate (oops did I already say that?), and overall have a heart of gold

Hey BullDawgGirl

The non-patient public is really clueless about how things really work and what kinds of things we do. There is a fairly large population of people who've been, or frequently are patients--they know.

But the general 'person on the street' imagines that Nurses calmly and compassionately cool the fevered brow of poor suffering people and that wise and courageous Doctors are at the hospital 24/7 until the disease is cured.

There is a big sense of shock when I explain to people that the 3minutes that the Doc spent at their bedside is all they're going to get from him, that for the rest of it they have ME. They imagine that Nurses only do what the Doc orders and that we follow their orders precisely and nothing else.

But here's the rub--the world out there doesn't WANT to know too much about sickness, pain and death. They don't want to think about it at all.

So when they end up in the hospital--crushed in a car wreck or sicker than a dog or with some loved one who is--we have to explain how the system works. Part of the job.

Papaw John

Hey BullDawgGirl

The non-patient public is really clueless about how things really work and what kinds of things we do. There is a fairly large population of people who've been, or frequently are patients--they know.

But the general 'person on the street' imagines that Nurses calmly and compassionately cool the fevered brow of poor suffering people and that wise and courageous Doctors are at the hospital 24/7 until the disease is cured.

There is a big sense of shock when I explain to people that the 3minutes that the Doc spent at their bedside is all they're going to get from him, that for the rest of it they have ME. They imagine that Nurses only do what the Doc orders and that we follow their orders precisely and nothing else.

But here's the rub--the world out there doesn't WANT to know too much about sickness, pain and death. They don't want to think about it at all.

So when they end up in the hospital--crushed in a car wreck or sicker than a dog or with some loved one who is--we have to explain how the system works. Part of the job.

Papaw John

ITA, PapawJohn. You are so right. Oftentimes I think the public sees us as handservants, maids, if you will. The mentality that nurses serve the doctors and have no real duties other than emptying bedpans and serving drinks...

I do believe that nurses, in some cases are viewed as trustworthy, but, sadly, the general public has no idea what we really do.

I don't know....I get calls all the time from my friends, the parents of my kids' classmates, etc. Always asking for advice, which I am happy to give (I know, I know....and I always encourage them to contact their practitioner....). WHen I say they should call their doc, often times they tell me they already have; but they don't trust his/her judgement of the situation. They don't feel like the doc spends enough time listening to them, or going over their options. Half the time I get calls like this, it is because someone wants me to give an opinion on what their doc suggested, and make sure that there isn't something else they should be doing. It's like I'm QAing the docs!

My experience is that people *do* have a better idea of how nurses work now than 5 or 10 years ago. I think most people realize the education required, and that nurses provide 99% of the care that goes on (in relation to docs, that is). I think that most people have a very high opinion of nurses, precisely because when ill, most people want to be nurtured. Nursing is an intimate, nurturing profession -- being a physician is intimate, but somehow more distanced in most cases. I think that is why people trust and respect nurses more; because we are closer to them, because we do alot of nurturing in addition to our clinical "skills" and knowledge.

Just my .02, fwiw.

People get a lot of false impressions about what nurses do from TV and movies. The coverage of the aftermath of the Hurricane should change a lot of that. From what I am seeing there should be some nurses that get the Congressional Medal of Honor.

ITA, PapawJohn. You are so right. Oftentimes I think the public sees us as handservants, maids, if you will. The mentality that nurses serve the doctors and have no real duties other than emptying bedpans and serving drinks...

I do believe that nurses, in some cases are viewed as trustworthy, but, sadly, the general public has no idea what we really do.

I coudn't agree more. That public may think that we are wonderful, but, as stated above, that is due to the subservient, handmaiden, servant image, who accepts their place without complaint, low wages and compensation, and we do it with little protest.

Just wait and see if we, as a group, became more militant. Demanding safe staffing, MUCH HIGHER PAY, and benefits., respect, etc. and took the militant step of just walking off the job and leaving the mess for the "nurse managers and administrators", without the assitance of scabs from that strike breaking agency. You get the picture.

We can't even protest without our peers chastising us for "unprofessional, and uncaring" conduct, concerned more about, (E-gads), money and compensation, than our "calling" as nurses. Will it take the entire profession being dissolved so we can be replaced by unskilled labor and foreign nurses who will work for pennies to send back to the "old country". It certainley seems that way, doesn't it? When they finally get the "finished product" from the two week courses for aides, and the foreign nurses who can barely speak English, and could't care less that the workload is nowhere near safe, and could't care less what your grandmother needs. Because if they complain they will be sent back to their own country in disgrace. That is when the public will finally realize the value of nurses. It will be too late at that point.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

Exactly, Lindarn, I couldn't agree more w/you. If only nurses realized how much power we have, or could have, if we weren't so "emotional"....for lack of a better word and maybe even afraid, afraid to stand up for what's right, to demonstrate that we have education, knowledge and skills. Sadly, nursing has never been a profession to view itself as just that...a profession. It is said time and time again that nurses are caretakers, nurturing, that we are in this profession due to a "calling", likening us to some sort of ethereal beings, angels of mercy. Willing to forfeit humane, fair working conditions and overlook what is the "right" thing and allow administration to treat us as doormats d/t that mentality. If we could stand together as professionals and demand what is fair and right perhaps nursing would be a better world. Perhaps the public would become educated as to our true role in the healthcare system.I find it usually the "young" (to nursing) nurses that have the idealistic mentality about our profession. The more "seasoned" nurse understands the political pitfalls of nursing and many, many nurses after 10-15 yrs practice leave the bedside.

I coudn't agree more. That public may think that we are wonderful, but, as stated above, that is due to the subservient, handmaiden, servant image, who accepts their place without complaint, low wages and compensation, and we do it with little protest.

Just wait and see if we, as a group, became more militant. Demanding safe staffing, MUCH HIGHER PAY, and benefits., respect, etc. and took the militant step of just walking off the job and leaving the mess for the "nurse managers and administrators", without the assitance of scabs from that strike breaking agency. You get the picture.

We can't even protest without our peers chastising us for "unprofessional, and uncaring" conduct, concerned more about, (E-gads), money and compensation, than our "calling" as nurses. Will it take the entire profession being dissolved so we can be replaced by unskilled labor and foreign nurses who will work for pennies to send back to the "old country". It certainley seems that way, doesn't it? When they finally get the "finished product" from the two week courses for aides, and the foreign nurses who can barely speak English, and could't care less that the workload is nowhere near safe, and could't care less what your grandmother needs. Because if they complain they will be sent back to their own country in disgrace. That is when the public will finally realize the value of nurses. It will be too late at that point.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington