public's view of nurses

bulldawggirl · Sep 12, 2005

I just wanted to thank everyone for sharing their thoughts and opinions. Thanks!

zacarias, ASN, RN · Sep 13, 2005

I told my mom that the techs at work usually do vitals and she said, "you mean you don't do your own vitals? You're too good for that?" I was shocked...my own mother lol.

mattsmom81 · Sep 15, 2005

Actually I think how the public defines what a good nurse is and what actually constitutes a good nurse are two entirely different things.
I worked with one nurse who did very little when it came to taking care of her patients, except for passing out meds, that was basically all she did all day in regards to actual patient care. The only other thing she did was yak away with the patients. Consistently she would be singled out by patients and their families and praised for being a "wonderful" nurse when they sent thank you notes or gifts (ie: fruit basket, chocolates). Not only wasn't she the sharpest tool in the shed, when you worked with her, you continually had to pick up her slack. She rarely charted her own assessments, the LPN/RPN usually charted all the assessments, interventions, etc on HER patients. NEVER once saw her even assist with cleaning a soiled pt, much less ever put them on a bedpan.
Frankly I think the public confuses good nursing care with customer service in alot of instances.

Absolutely! They also mistake a good nurse for a simple charismatic personality, or someone who is just very good at getting people to like them. Sadly, these types many times are NOT good nurses; and use their personalities to get by on the job. They may get numerous awards due to favorable writeups from patients and families who just love them, but are often the most horrid nurse to follow because they prioritize with their visiting and schmoozing, neglecting necessary nursing duties. Gosh how I've hated working with these types...and they are soooo hard on morale...

DusktilDawn · Sep 15, 2005

Absolutely! They also mistake a good nurse for a simple charismatic personality, or someone who is just very good at getting people to like them. Sadly, these types many times are NOT good nurses; and use their personalities to get by on the job. They may get numerous awards due to favorable writeups from patients and families who just love them, but are often the most horrid nurse to follow because they prioritize with their visiting and schmoozing, neglecting necessary nursing duties. Gosh how I've hated working with these types...and they are soooo hard on morale...

When you've been the one who spent 30-45 minutes doing AM care each day and receive no word of recognition, but Nurse Schmoozer is praised high and low for "all the good care" she provided, yea, it burns my Canadian back bacon. Working with and after these types are a nightmare. Thankfully I no longer work with this twit.

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2005

I think we all feel the same but I have noticed that the way nurses are treated by the general public in 2005 has changed from the late 80's.

Do you know it still amazes me after all these months I have been a member how it doesnt matter if your working in UK, USA, Canada or Austrailia how we are all treated the same. I could be talking to nurses on the ward in the UK, we here blame the lack of respect and the totally lack of understanding about our role on a document which came out around 1990's called 'THE PATIENT CHARTER' because it seemed attitudes changed towards us, around that time.. We are thought of as angels, handmaidens to the other health care professionals but we dare to stand up and be counted and we are considered a bad nurse.

I for one am no angel :smokin:

kay

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2005

I think a good many people, particularly the crowd from the 50's and earlier, think a nurse is the assistant to the doctor who follows his instructions. I think that a lot of patients still see the nurses as "maids" of a sort. They know that nurses are doing what the doctor wants, but they also know that they merely have to ring their call light to get service. Service, I think, is an important concept to the public. I believe much of the public feel they deserve service from nurses because it has been paid for by their medical insurance premiums or their tax dollars (if they are Medicare or Medicaid recepients). Some of the public feel they are entitled to obedient service in much the same way they expect unquestioned service from a waitress or bellhop. People who are younger AND have better educations seem to be more aware of the professional and autonomous nature of modern nursing and see what we do as helping them.

MorganO · Sep 15, 2005

Just a thought...although you are providing the direct am care for your many patients and Nurse Schmooozer is passing meds and let's call it interacting with the patient's family, why are we not viewing this as a collaborative effort to offer patients holistic care? How do we expect appreciation from our patients and other professions when we don't appreciate each other?...like I said, just a thought.

DusktilDawn · Sep 15, 2005

Just a thought...although you are providing the direct am care for your many patients and Nurse Schmooozer is passing meds and let's call it interacting with the patient's family, why are we not viewing this as a collaborative effort to offer patients holistic care? How do we expect appreciation from our patients and other professions when we don't appreciate each other?...like I said, just a thought.

Because Nurse Schmooozer wasn't a team player. These types of situations are due to lack of collaboration. Do you really think a person like this appreciates what others are doing, actually the person in question I was referring to was clueless about what others actually did for her patients, nor did she care. When others have to pick up the slack working with someone like this, it also impacts on how the rest of the staff interacts with patients and their families. This was only one person on that unit. The rest of the staff actually were team players, it was one of the reason I would pick up alot of extra shifts on this unit as opposed to other areas. Believe me you appreciate it when the rest of the staff helps you out if you're working with a person like this, as was the case when I did work with this person.

mattsmom81: Absolutely! They also mistake a good nurse for a simple charismatic personality, or someone who is just very good at getting people to like them. Sadly, these types many times are NOT good nurses; and use their personalities to get by on the job. They may get numerous awards due to favorable writeups from patients and families who just love them, but are often the most horrid nurse to follow because they prioritize with their visiting and schmoozing, neglecting necessary nursing duties. Gosh how I've hated working with these types...and they are soooo hard on morale...

:yeahthat: As Mattsmom put it they are soooo hard on morale.

I agree that we should all work collaboratively as a team for the best interest of the patient. It's when one is not a team player problems are caused. Be thankful if you never have to work with someone like this person. You would not want to work as a CNA, LPN, or RN on a unit full of Nurse Schmooozers. One can be bad enough.

mattsmom81 · Sep 15, 2005

Just a thought...although you are providing the direct am care for your many patients and Nurse Schmooozer is passing meds and let's call it interacting with the patient's family, why are we not viewing this as a collaborative effort to offer patients holistic care? How do we expect appreciation from our patients and other professions when we don't appreciate each other?...like I said, just a thought.

Why would I appreciate someone who arrogantly thinks all her 'interacting' with family excludes her from basic nursing duties, because she is so 'special that we should be happy to pick up slack and unfinished duties for her...every shift?? We are all accountable to complete our tasks to the best of our abilities...those who choose to schmooze are concerned with being 'the favorite nurse' (a boundary conflict IMO) and are NOT team players.

gypsyatheart · Sep 16, 2005

Actually I think how the public defines what a good nurse is and what actually constitutes a good nurse are two entirely different things.
Frankly I think the public confuses good nursing care with customer service in alot of instances.

You have just hit the nail on the head! I have recently spent a week, a week can you believe that, in New Employee Orientation (gag me :uhoh21: ), and all week long the number one thing that was stressed was , that's right, customer service. We actually had a presentation by a "consultant" and the whole focus of his talk was just that....the public does not know anything about what we really do as healthcare providers, be it the X--ray tech, the dietician, the RN or a unit clerk. All they want is good customer service, to have their "needs" met, and the quicker, the better! No focus on educating the public as to our roles, only on being "customer service oriented".

gypsyatheart · Sep 16, 2005

Just a thought...although you are providing the direct am care for your many patients and Nurse Schmooozer is passing meds and let's call it interacting with the patient's family, why are we not viewing this as a collaborative effort to offer patients holistic care? How do we expect appreciation from our patients and other professions when we don't appreciate each other?...like I said, just a thought.

Because that is not providing "holistic care", that is what we call "lazy", you know, a slacker, always getting by with a little help from your friends....or should I say co-workers, in this instance...

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2005

You have just hit the nail on the head! I have recently spent a week, a week can you believe that, in New Employee Orientation (gag me ), and all week long the number one thing that was stressed was , that's right, customer service. We actually had a presentation by a "consultant" and the whole focus of his talk was just that....the public does not know anything about what we really do as healthcare providers, be it the X--ray tech, the dietician, the RN or a unit clerk. All they want is good customer service, to have their "needs" met, and the quicker, the better! No focus on educating the public as to our roles, only on being "customer service oriented".

Customer service in hospitals is not new. We had to attend meetings just like you did back in the mid-80's. We called it "Charm School". As disgusting as it may seem, it is something that is important to those who are responsible for running the hospital.

Happy patients go back and tell their doctors they are happy with the care they got at your hospital. The doctor continues, then, to admit his patients to that hospital. That keeps revenue coming in to the hospital. Our salaries get paid and the electric and water bills get paid.

Ticked-off patients go back and tell their doctors that XYZ Hospital that you had me go to was the worst hospital they'd ever been in. Don't ever send me there again. So, the doctor, to keep his patient happy and coming back to him (because he is in business too) will stop sending patients to XYZ Hospital. The hospital has less revenue coming in and if it happens enough is unable to pay its bills and cannot stay in operation and closes.

We are, after all, living in a capitalistic system. This may be one of the downsides of it, but it is a reality of capitalism. Patients are going to want to go where they are treated nicely and with respect. And, if every once-in-awhile one of the employees goes out of their way to be particularly meticulous in attending to someone's needs, there is a ripple effect throughout the entire organization. Each of us hospital employees has an obligation to educate each and every "customer" we come into contact with. We owe that loyalty to our employer. This is how we educate the public about the nurses role.

I worked for a very pretigious hospital that had many celebrities as patients. The hospital screened employees who would be having patient contact very carefully because they wanted to be sure that every celebrity was treated well. You know why? We were told in orientation that "we never know where our next angel will come from". That is a showbusiness term for someone who puts up money to help finance a production. To this hospital, an angel was a wealthy person who donated a large sum of money to their hospital, sometimes as a gesture of gratefullness for the way they were treated. It was how it got all the wonderful little extras and state of the art equipment that made it so famous. Any employee who had poor customer relations, I can tell you, was quietly shown the door. This hospital's way of educating the public about the nurses role was to have employees who demonstrated it each and every day they worked.