Some people are too smart for nursing

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Apr 19, 2015

My math major kid will start talking about "statistically speaking...." and my eyes glaze over.

If I were to discuss a patient case, her eyes would, I am sure.

I am not book smart. I speak and write well. I critically think well. I have the ability to see an entire picture. However, unless I can put my hands on it, the nuts and bolts of parts of education allude me.

So if intellectually speaking one is good with the "nuts and bolts" it can be the things one doesn't see in black and white (the 50 shades of grey, if you will) that are difficult concepts to grasp. And there are lots and lots of gray areas. Which I love and explore the grey, where my very intelligent kid thinks grey makes her head hurt.

jaycam, RN · Apr 19, 2015

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.

Personally, when I first moved here, my LPN/RNs used to give me this one a lot. I never thought of it as backhanded though. Coming from someone higher up the chain than me, I just took it as they saw potential and were encouraging me. Now that I'm in school I get a lot of the same encouragement from them, just in the "I know it's tough, but we believe in you" kind of way. If I hadn't shown interest in going back though, they wouldn't have kept it up.

Kittenlove · Apr 19, 2015

My professor mentioned this to me when I was in school. thinking about it now, that conversation had redirected my career goals. I have never enjoyed being a nurse, eventhough I have had some of the best jobs because I became focused on medical school (and still am). I have not thought about how much that statement impacted me, until now!

Libby1987 · Apr 19, 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.

You must be referring to inpatient? I have to go to the gym to make up for my lack of physical activity and I primarily work alone with an abundance of autonomy.

I don't get the "should have been a dr" but I often get the "you know or do more than the drs" which of course is said out of their frustration.

Farawyn · 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.

I am guilty of this. I think Red should be a nurse, and I think YOU should be an RN. There's nothing backhanded about it.

Anna S, RN · Apr 19, 2015

I will say this.....

I scored in the 97th percentile in an intelligence exam I took at my college. I also passed the MENSA exam years ago, but did not join.

I've been a nurse for over twenty years.

I find nursing frustrating for the reason that I often know what is going on with a pt, and know what needs to be done, but don't have the authority to make it happen.

I did not find the content or complexity of the nursing, pre-nursing curriculum to be especially difficult. The NCLEX was not an issue, either.

What I found difficult about nursing school was the shear volume of work required, and the politics. The politics of school and work have always been a source of difficulty and stress for me.

Also, good advice here:

The problem is, antiintellectualism is present in nursing. Although this problem is time- and place- specific, it is here. One recent topic on this very forum was about "A" students who just can't be good at bedside nursing for this very reason, and there were quite a few participants who agreed with that.
You may want to keep your mouth shut up from day #1 in school till after your graduate, keep very low profile and carefully plan your career. It might be for your advantage to go directly to advance studies or area like nursing informatics in order to avoid bedside nursing as much as possible.

Pink Magnolia, BSN, RN · Apr 20, 2015

I've been asked by several people why I choose nursing as my 2nd career and not just become a doctor....irritating question, but we have to ignore their ignorance.

Microgal · Apr 23, 2015

I'm just starting in nursing as my second career but I get these comments all the time. Fortunately I am old enough now not to let it bother me. I do what makes me happy and if someone else doesn't like it, too bad.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Apr 28, 2015

The problem is, antiintellectualism is present in nursing. Although this problem is time- and place- specific, it is here. One recent topic on this very forum was about "A" students who just can't be good at bedside nursing for this very reason, and there were quite a few participants who agreed with that.
You may want to keep your mouth shut up from day #1 in school till after your graduate, keep very low profile and carefully plan your career. It might be for your advantage to go directly to advance studies or area like nursing informatics in order to avoid bedside nursing as much as possible.

So you're too smart to be at the bedside? Only dumb nurses should actually take care of patients? Really?

Ruby Vee, BSN · Apr 28, 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.

I'm not sure I agree with you there. NPs have to be knowledgable, to be sure. But if your brain isn't fully engaged while you're working at the bedside, you're not doing it right.

It's scary to me how many people here don't seem to be doing it right.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Apr 29, 2015

But if your brain isn't fully engaged while you're working at the bedside, you're not doing it right.

^

Annnd THIS right here proves that nurses are smart-and CAN be smart.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Apr 29, 2015

I have heard the majority from my patients and laypeople that "nurses have to know as much as the doctors" more than the "doctor v. nurse" mentality that some may still carry.

Peers have told me that I should go on beyond the bedside because of how I practice and how I use my nursing knowledge.

I am also fortunate to be surrounded by knowledgable nurses most of my career; although there have been some who I wouldn't call not knowledgeable; but don't put the effort into their practice.

I think that most "smartness" available for the general is based on effort one can put the time and energy in; whether it be identifying and developing how to understand and apply the information down to identifying what leaning style works best. Yes, there are some that will never "get it", but if they haven't even tried to fully apply, who knows?