are southern nurses better educated than northern educated nurse?

Hushdawg · Nov 4, 2009

I think what the Yankee may be seeing to make such a negative statement about the former Confederacy is that many big-city folk come down to the gentle lands of the Blessed South and find country and cows and assume that is all there is.

Comparing a hospital in a town with the population of less than 20,000 to a hospital in a major Yankee city like New York City or Detroit is an unfair and unjust comparison and just the kind of thing we Sons of the South have come to expect from Yankee blowhard carpetbaggers.

* - North vs South terminology has been added for satirical purposes only.

coffee4metech · Nov 4, 2009

To make comment like that is completely uncalled for and childish , who even thinks like that !?!?!?

rn/writer, RN · Nov 4, 2009

No offense to the OP, but this is what I call an "Oh, brother!" kind of question.

Generalities don't usually offer much wisdom as they are often outdated and may not have had much truth to them from the beginning. And "This vs. That" questions have a way of serving to divide people who really need to stick together.

The reality is that education, technical skills, hospitality, and all the other wonderful things we need to be good nurses vary greatly depending on the state, healthcare system, facility, unit, and person. There can be hot and cold climates within the same building. A particular unit can seem full of wisdom or full of wise guys from one shift to the next.

I think many of us share the same goals no matter where we were educated and where we live now. We may have different "recipes" for how to bake the cake, but we still want to end up with something satisfying and good.

What amazes me is the knowledge and skill, and the goodness and dedication that you can find in some folks no matter what the geography.

GilaRRT · Nov 4, 2009

To make comment like that is completely uncalled for and childish , who even thinks like that !?!?!?

Ignorance perhaps? Nursing is full of such concepts. I still see nurses loose the plot when EMS brings a COPD patient in distress into the ER with a non-rebreather mask. Even though, it's common knowledge not to withold oxygen if needed, they still hold onto the hypoxic drive scarecrow as if it would come dancing into the ER causing apnea after a few minutes of oxygen.

People hear something that makes sense or fits into their belief system, and they accept the concept as dogma without any attempt to validate. Nursing is full of this type of thinking and behavior.

Who knows, I could be wrong. If somebody has good peer reviewed evidence (peospective studies preferred), perhaps they can present this info and make me eat my words. Otherwise, I call Bravo Sierra on this one.

KeechieSan · Nov 4, 2009

Two words: Loaded question.

Trauma Columnist · Nov 4, 2009

As RN/Writer so graciously put it: generalizations are just that - not worth much.

I have lived and worked in several states as well as overseas and there are good nurses, bad nurses everywhere.

Agree - this is a loaded question.

Otessa, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2009

Has anyone worked in a northern and southern state? Someone made a comment to me about that during an interview but I don't know if she was being insulting or what. I know people who were patients tell me that the technology in the south is not great and care was inferior.

If they are saying southern schools are "less than" then I guess Duke University doesn't count??

I've always understood it depends on the school not North or South.

otessa

MassED, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2009

Has anyone worked in a northern and southern state? Someone made a comment to me about that during an interview but I don't know if she was being insulting or what. I know people who were patients tell me that the technology in the south is not great and care was inferior.

I was educated in Washington state - so not sure about the north and the south, but I now work in Massachusetts with substandard technology. I had worked in North Carolina, in a rural ER, that had state of the art technology/equipment. The nurses are no different - there are some great, some not so great.

Lacie, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2009

I've worked in major teaching hospitals in the north (Pittsburgh) and small rural community hospitals in appalachia areas of Kentucky. I now reside in Florida. In all honesty I learned more in that little rural appalacachian hospital then I did anywhere else I have worked. I was treated as an equal by not only the other nurses but the MD's as well. We did our own art lines, suturing, intubations, etc that in major hospitals a nurse wouldnt be permitted to do. We didnt have MD's on premises at night and the only MD in the hospital 24/7 was the one ER MD. We learned very quickly how to fend for ourselves. We didnt have high tech equipment therefore had to do many things the "old fashioned" way. I cherish that experience because as I stated before I became a much more knowledgable and experienced nurse in that little southern "Hick" town then anywhere I have ever been.

elkpark · Nov 4, 2009

I've worked in major teaching hospitals in the north (Pittsburgh) and small rural community hospitals in appalachia areas of Kentucky. I now reside in Florida. In all honesty I learned more in that little rural appalacachian hospital then I did anywhere else I have worked. I was treated as an equal by not only the other nurses but the MD's as well. We did our own art lines, suturing, intubations, etc that in major hospitals a nurse wouldnt be permitted to do. We didnt have MD's on premises at night and the only MD in the hospital 24/7 was the one ER MD. We learned very quickly how to fend for ourselves. We didnt have high tech equipment therefore had to do many things the "old fashioned" way. I cherish that experience because as I stated before I became a much more knowledgable and experienced nurse in that little southern "Hick" town then anywhere I have ever been.

I had a similar experience in another small, rural hospital early in my career. It was a fabulous experience in terms of developing and mastering my skills and expertise.

Cindy-san · Nov 4, 2009

Has anyone worked in a northern and southern state? Someone made a comment to me about that during an interview but I don't know if she was being insulting or what. I know people who were patients tell me that the technology in the south is not great and care was inferior.

I have friends who were trained and had most of their nursing career practicing in "the south" and they are incredibly intelligent and all around great nurses.

I've met nurses who were educated in the north and everything they do is without a drop of understanding about the rationale or signifigance. (HR of 175? Why do we have to do anything about that? )

There are lousy schools everywhere.

FLmomof5 · Nov 4, 2009

My now-ex-husband was hospitalized on Long Island....the doctors and nurses there could have been educated and could have been providing excellent care....but it was hard to tell....they were not born here, their accents were so thick as to be indecipherable AND they were arrogant as a NY prima donna!

Love southern nurses. Loving sweet and patient!:redbeathe:heartbeat