Some people are too smart for nursing

danceyrun · Apr 18, 2015

I get this a lot from people: "So are you going to go on and become and nurse practitioner or are you just going to stay a nurse.....?" I just smile and say "Nope, I like my job." And that's that! Nothing wrong with becoming an NP, but there's also nothing wrong with being a bedside nurse and enjoying it!

OnlinePersona, LPN · Apr 18, 2015

Plus, you can never be "too smart" for anything. We need smart CNAs and smart LPNs and smart RNs just as much as we need smart physicians.

exacccccctly!

bellini · Apr 18, 2015

In my experience, such comments as "You're too smart to be a nurse" are made by the unintelligent. I have had very intelligent patients comment on the volume of data gathering and analysis that bedside nurses do. Anybody who makes the "You're too smart" comment gets the retort, "You don't want the smartest darned nurse alive responsible for your or your loved one's care when life is hanging in the balance? You'd prefer some poorly educated, semi-literate, unskilled mouth-breather?" Okay, I don't say the last part, but I sure want to.

brandy1017, ASN, RN · Apr 18, 2015

Unless you work as an NP, nursing requires more brawn than brains! Sure you have to be smart, but you are expected to move and clean people and need to be strong to do that. Even then the wear and tear can break your back and body down over time. Also you will probably take a pay cut as a new nurse, although if you have the stamina you can always work overtime I guess. One of my pet peeves is how you are micromanaged as a nurse everything from scripting with bedside report to the computer med pass and time clock, plus working short or being mandating for 16 hours straight and being bombarded with endless alarms and being blamed for bad press-ganey scores! At times it is more exhausting than fulfilling.

JoseQuinones · Apr 18, 2015

Just smile and ignore the back-handed "compliment." Likely as not, they're just buttering you up so they can turn around and ask you for help when they get stuck. The question has always been, "Qui bono?"

Yeah, I hear all the time that I should be in medical school. And guess who comes around looking for the magic potion to ace the test when they haven't been studying?

Truly smart people put their nose to the grindstone, respect the choices of others, and encourage you in the task you are doing. Everyone has an opinion, but some people think you have a right to their opinion.

ArmaniX, MSN, APRN · Apr 18, 2015

It was required in my program that with the start of each semester we see the academic advisor to make sure we are on track. In the last semester before I'd graduate the advisor looks over my transcripts and proclaims 'you did really well in your math classes, you should become an engineer instead of nursing.. you'll make so much money!'

Yea.. no.

wannabecnl · Apr 19, 2015

I am a book-smart nurse who is trying to become as good a nurse as my colleagues. I have to prove myself every day, not just because some nurses turn their noses up at anyone with an MSN, but because book smart isn't enough for my patients. I have to provide excellent care, not just know what it is.

I'd say what you need to be a nurse is less about being smart, per se, and more about being sharp. Sure, there's a lot to remember in school, and it's easier when you're already a good student, but once you get out to work, it's a matter of applying the knowledge to practical skill and the famed critical thinking. I can spout off lab values, but if I don't look at my patient's weird 3-lead EKG and realize that the T wave is peaking AND go look at the K+ value AND track down a doc for a recommendation or new order, it's useless information.

That's not to say there's not a place in nursing for the book smarts! There will be things you know from your prior degree that will help you and let you become a local expert on some aspect of care. Look for ways to specialize, even within a specialty. Then you can be a resource who teaches and helps other nurses improve their care.

Too smart to be a nurse. I like to think I was too smart NOT to be a nurse!

Farawyn · Apr 19, 2015

OP: "too smart to be a nurse..."

Um, no one has ever said that to me.

Ha!

Farawyn · Apr 19, 2015

I'd say what you need to be a nurse is less about being smart, per se, and more about being sharp.

Love this.

BlackBettyRN,OCN · Apr 19, 2015

You don't have to be smart to do anything. You just have want to do it, be compassionate, and willing to do it. I know a lot of nurses who are smart, but can't do nursing.

I disagree with this to an extent. While yes, there are many "smart people" who are terrible nurses, you do have to have a reasonable level of intelligence to become a nurse. Just being compassionate and wanting to be a nurse isn't enough. If you look around this site, there are plenty of posts from students who have the "want to", but they cannot pass their nursing courses. Or the NCLEX. After three plus attempts.

jaycam, RN · Apr 19, 2015

I've heard it. My GPA was certainly high enough, practically has to be to get into nursing school here. My NP friend has heard it. He thinks it may be partly because he's male. This is part of why I want to go into nursing in the first place. I know far to many nurses who don't get as much credit as they should because of the idea that nurses are just there to assist doctors. I know that nurses do so much more than look cute in scrubs and do what the doctor says. I want to help other people see that. Besides, I've never been a huge fan of most doctors, I'd much rather be a nurse. There's something to be said for actually knowing what's going on with your patients and being able to help them out. For me, I always enjoyed the advocacy portion.

BrandonLPN, LPN · Apr 19, 2015

Of course, we really don't have to justify anything. We don't need to say that we want to be able to spend time with patients or that we don't want to dedicate a huge chunk of our lives to medical school. We don't owe anyone any sort of explanation. CNAs don't need to justify why they're still CNAs. LPNs don't need to explain why they're not going on to be RNs. RNs don't need to come up with an umpteenth speech about why they didn't go to medical school.

If you really feel the need to always defend your career, maybe that's indicative of having your own doubts, deep down.

As for the whole "You're too smart to stay a CNA/LPN/RN..." thing, yeah, that really is kind of a passive aggressive back-handed compliment. There's no escaping it. I've gotten it from many RNs and I'm guilty of saying it sometimes to the sharp CNAs I work with. Maybe once people stop saying you're "too smart" is when you should start worrying.