public's view of nurses

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How you think nurses are viewed by the general public?

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

A common layman's perception of nursing is the "pink collar job" perception. They see nursing as a job that doesn't require a lot of brains and is occupied by single moms, women who are digging for gold, and women in general who don't have a lot of skills. They accredit the doctors with everything and kind of pat the nurses on the head, considering them subservient maids.

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I have seen some pts. get confused about who their nurse is, and that is because most hospitals have added nursing assist. to the team, and everyone is wearing scrubs. I always make sure I wear my name tag, stating my name and RN after it. I have noticed that other people in the team such as, NA, respiratory therapists do not always have their tags on. I

always introduce myself to my pts. and tell them I will be their nurse for the next 12 hrs. By doing this I think it helps the pt. know who will be taking care of him and it is reassuring also.

:)

Is there anything that you think we could do to better educate the public about the different roles of health care professionals? What would you suggest?

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They know who the doctor is, but often times they do not know who their nurses are in a lot of facilities. They don't understand the roles of RTs, PTs, OTs, and CNAs for instance. Nor do they understand what the differences are between LPNs and RNs. I don't think they actually "see" each member of the team as a separate discipline.

How do you think we could fix this situation? Do you think that different occupations should wear different color scrubs like sort of a color coded method. How can we make it more obvious what position we have as far as the health care of the individual? They need to know what each person's profession is that is working on them. Any suggestions?

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.
"Trusted" is not the same as respected.

Before the Civil War, many people had "trusted" house slaves, that never complained, never stepped out of line,........but most of them were not respected.

Some Middle Eastern nations/religions talk about trusting the women of their nation, but still enforce draconian laws to enforce "their place" in society.

Nurses are the most "trusted" profession, but most of our job offers are contingent on us peeing in a cup (drug tests). We are required witnesses to narcotic waste, insulin dosing, chemo/blood administration, with double/triple/more checks to ensure safety. We are required to get "permission" from supervisors when we work a minute of overtime, if we want to get paid for it, are made to feel guilty if we leave the floor on a break, and are limited in how many times that we call in sick.

That may be "trust" but it certainly is not "respect".

Most excellent post!

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
Is there anything that you think we could do to better educate the public about the different roles of health care professionals? What would you suggest?

That would all have to start with the public actually wanting to learn, first.

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How do you think we could fix this situation? Do you think that different occupations should wear different color scrubs like sort of a color coded method. How can we make it more obvious what position we have as far as the health care of the individual? They need to know what each person's profession is that is working on them. Any suggestions?

I once worked in a facility where everyone from the transporters to RNs to RPNs/LPNs (no CNAs here), to RTs, housekeepers etc all wore scrubs the big problem was it was very hard to tell who was who. Having everyone in all kinds of scrubs is confusing.

One solution can be to have different color scrubs, where I currently work, the CNAs wear burgundy and the RNs wear ceil blue (no LPNs). Other disciplines such as housekeepers, dietary, transporters etc all wear different colors (not scrubs) with their department embroidered on the shirt (ie: housekeeping). Along with this everyone actually displays their badges in a prominent position. I will actually introduce myself, tell them who I am and tell them how long I will be there (I will be your nurse until 7 o'clock this morning). In a few places there is a big push for nurses to go back to wearing white and those ridiculous caps. Sorry, looking good in white and a goofy hat does not make a good nurse.

Hospitals provide all kinds of pamphlets about their facility, why not provide a pamplet about who does what. For example: Your RNs are dressed in blue, they are the ones who will provide your medications, they will assess your health status during your stay, it is not uncommon for the RN taking care of you to 6 patients, etc. Dietary provides your meals, if necessary you can consult with one of our dieticians, our food servers are dressed in navy blue and they will be happy to assist your with any problems/complaint you have about our food, etc. Establishing the fact that not everyone in a health care facility is a nurse, aside from the doctors.

Basically in the media, nurses are portrayed as "shut up and follow orders." That needs to change. On most medical shows, nurses are "set dressing," it's always the docs that are there and doing everything (yeah right). When there are big medical news stories (for example the Egyptian Siamese twins that were separated) all the focus is on the doctors, extremely little attention (if any) is given to the nursing staff that provides post-op and rehabilitative care. What about what the PTs, OTs, and RTs involvement in high profile cases. When's the last time anyone has seen a prime time program deal with real nursing issues such as understaffing, abuse, harrassment, job related injuries, etc? Or what about any media attention to how the different disciplines are designed to complement each other?

Long gone are they days when nursing was considered a "calling" not unlike the priesthood or nunhood (feel free to correct the use of nunhood here) where one devoted their entire life to this profession, yet the echos of that time long since gone still haunt this profession. The nurses do not do everything from housekeeping to laundry.

I don't think the problem is the public not wanting to know, it's the public not being told. It's the public receiving inacurrate information and not being given accurate information through the media and through the people that employ us.

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Awesome post DusktilDawn!

I think in my area of the world is pretty much the same as what I've been reading here. I'm just a student on the waiting list right now, however, I have been getting only encouragement from people about going back to school for nursing, and none of that "Well, you should be a doctor, etc." stuff that I hear other people having problems with.

I only had a good time at the hospital where I volunteered at for 4 months straight. I wanted to SEE nurses in action, and since they knew I was interested in the profession, were really honest with me. Like everywhere else, some are better than others, some work better than others, but that's ALL JOBS. Nursing does have a higher stress level, but I hope to work in a good unit like where I volunteered at, and have the kind and supportive people for co-workers like I saw there.

I love the idea of color coding scrubs/uniforms for different health care jobs. No white scrubs though! EEK!

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Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

Most of the people I run into express two sides (lots of in between but lets go for the pendulum sides here) that we are either above human, or below human! Some treat us as we are Doctors or unbelievable healers that can treat any and all ailments and quickly like a Mc Donald's Drive through...others treat us like we are servants to be ordered around....

The majority, I feel, have no comprehension of the profession! The strides nursing has done, objects and stereotypes we have tried to overcome, the compassion we have, or even the red tape/rules/administrations/board rules/protocols we have to deal with just getting a simple order! Or that we are human beings...like it or not...simple human beings with an education and large surplus of kindess, respect and compassion!

We are chastised by some, put up on a pedestal by others.

What I would really love is to be considered a human being who has a JOB being a nurse. There is a real human being here who can make mistakes, tries her best to help, jumps though many hoops to get things done, writers cramps by the end of shift from charting, occasional leg cramps from running around, and who really loves to see people well...so much at times it brings a happy tear to my eye!

I do this as a profession, and only a profession at work...at home I have my mommy cap on, and wife apron (which has bypassed my friends and family who call me 24/7 with every ache or sniffle!). I am not my patient's friend or enemy...but their helper and confidant to better well being and part of the TEAM to provide information and care to those so they can continue on helping themselves as much as possible...

I see the two sides, and lots of in between (which I tend to like more! LOL!). But my job is still to overcome all of that and educate as well as gain a very special highly confidential trust in order to help to the best of my abilities while I am in their care :) regardless of their feelings towards me or my profession.

IN any job..there are those that love and dislike the person serving them...and I really don't think nursing is any different from other professions in that respect. The trick is to overcome it, do your best, put things into perspective, and well...try to have some enjoyment with your job too!!!:).

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