The Know-It-All nurse

actioncat · Jan 23, 2005

It's sad that someone would think that way. However, I think that is due to many things: 1)the specific person's personality and 2) some of the programs that encourage these new nurses to think that they do NOT need to know how to do hands-on things. I think we do our new grads a disservice encouraging them to think that they will go directly into management and don't need to know how to do bedside nursing.

Because, as you know, the dream of every new nurse (especially those with a BSN) is to go into management.

dazzle256 · Jan 23, 2005

Because, as you know, the dream of every new nurse (especially those with a BSN) is to go into management.

LOL.....that may be true, but.......can you imagine? Not enough money in the world for me to be a nurse manage

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Jan 23, 2005

I work with one who was probably one of the laziest and sloppiest nurses on the floor---she frequently refused admits, missed orders, left paperwork and IV changes for the next shift, gave the wrong meds and covered it up---but she kissed up to the management, so she was the golden child who couldn't do anything wrong. :uhoh3: She got picked for all the leadership stuff, was even charge nurse for a while; she'd take 2 patients while all the rest of us had 4-5 each, and then give us the admissions.

Now she's a discharge planner, and the rest of us couldn't be happier. :)

teemarie · Jan 23, 2005

That's what is called " RN-itis! :rotfl:

Good one, I like that.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Jan 23, 2005

We have one right now that sounds like the Policy and Procedure handbook. "You can't do this because (fill in applying rule here)." I swear she studies that thing in her spare time.

Which DEFINATELY wouldn't be a bad thing if she PRACTICED what she preached, which she doesn't always do, on very vital things.

Thank God she's PRN. I would need Xanax to get through a whole shift with her.

lindymarie · Jan 23, 2005

u know what i hate is a HHA that thinks she/he knows more than the nurse..
its like if u wanted to be a nurse --go to school and get your stripes--if not shut up--

teemarie,

I thinks it's a shame when anyone thinks they know it all, whether it's a doctor, R.N., L.P.N. or an aide. I am an L.P.N. who let her license expire. I worked as an aide before I became an L.P.N., and am working as an aide again. I have seen the issue from both sides of the proverbal coin. Due to the many duties placed on nurses aides in most instances spend more time with the client than the nurse. While they should certainly not presume to be nurses, aides can be and are a valuable source of information to the nursing staff. It is not necessarily that an aide thinks she is a nurse. In many instances an aide gets sick of being treated like she hasn't got a brain. She merely wants her observations of a clients condition noted. There have been numerous occasions when I have noticed subtle changes in a clients condition and reported these changes to a nurse, only to have them dismissed.It is very degrading. We are supposed to work together as a team. Nobody knows everything. How nice it would be if that were true.

Thank you,

Linda

mariedoreen · Jan 23, 2005

As a student I have an idea on how some of them may get started...

we have an instructor who will ask you a question, when you answer it he'll say, "What?! You're going to do that?!!!" which immediately makes you doubt what you just said, you hesitate and start to re-think it only to find out that you really were correct. Now because of this game he plays you have a whole group of students who are insisting that they are right every time they are questioned...

I get that he's trying to make us confident in our answers, but I think it's smarter to have professionals who are aware they don't know it all, not professionals trained to think that they do... which is what seems to be happening here.

BETSRN · Jan 24, 2005

teemarie,
I thinks it's a shame when anyone thinks they know it all, whether it's a doctor, R.N., L.P.N. or an aide. I am an L.P.N. who let her license expire. I worked as an aide before I became an L.P.N., and am working as an aide again. I have seen the issue from both sides of the proverbal coin. Due to the many duties placed on nurses aides in most instances spend more time with the client than the nurse. While they should certainly not presume to be nurses, aides can be and are a valuable source of information to the nursing staff. It is not necessarily that an aide thinks she is a nurse. In many instances an aide gets sick of being treated like she hasn't got a brain. She merely wants her observations of a clients condition noted. There have been numerous occasions when I have noticed subtle changes in a clients condition and reported these changes to a nurse, only to have them dismissed.It is very degrading. We are supposed to work together as a team. Nobody knows everything. How nice it would be if that were true.
Thank you,
Linda

I am so sorry to hear that has happened to you. Our CNA's (actually OB techs) are invaluable and I would never dismiss what they tell me. You are also a professional and your observations are valid. You must admit, however, that there are some in every profession that act like they don't care (that goes for RN's too, as we all know). I suppose psrt of it may be the attitude of the CNA her/himself and that of the nurse as well.

BETSRN · Jan 24, 2005

I work with one who was probably one of the laziest and sloppiest nurses on the floor---she frequently refused admits, missed orders, left paperwork and IV changes for the next shift, gave the wrong meds and covered it up---but she kissed up to the management, so she was the golden child who couldn't do anything wrong. She got picked for all the leadership stuff, was even charge nurse for a while; she'd take 2 patients while all the rest of us had 4-5 each, and then give us the admissions.
Now she's a discharge planner, and the rest of us couldn't be happier. :)

There is a scary sounding nurse. I suppose her you-know-what is on the line when she has to place someone. Maybe she went from the frying pan into the fire???? Judging from some of our D/C planners, they seem like a pretty burned out bunch of people!

BETSRN · Jan 24, 2005

Gee, I wonder who that could be Betsy!!!
I am not sure that the loose cannon example is really that she doesn't think outside the box. More that she likes to be in the center of things that she thinks she can handle but really has no clue of the trouble she can get herself into. We have one of those here and unfortunately she recently oriented a new, just out of school RN who is a great nurse already but needs to be "re-oriented" to reality!!

You are right Karen, but the nurse I was thnking about when I first initiated this thread is NOt the one I mentioned above. I think she came after you left!

BETSRN · Jan 24, 2005

I think your right BETSRN. Personality and some of the programs. We were talking about that at work the other day.
As far as working with new grads...sometimes they are my favorite to work with because they are so willing to learn or they are my least favorite because they act as if they came to show me how to do things.
Heck I've been a nurse for 8 years and I still look up to the nurses more senior then me. We have some nurses that have been at my facility for 25 to 30 years........a wealth of knowledge.

Heck, you guys, even the two most senior top nurses on my unit (over 35 years experience) will collaborate with the rest of us on what we think about certain issues (questionable strips,etc.,). That's what you call teamwork and it sure works with the docs. When one of us calls a doc and says "WE have all looked at the strip, etc (instead of saying I) it gets the response we want every time!

SmilingBluEyes · Jan 24, 2005

Collaboration is so important. I do that ALL the time, both to gain the confidence and trust of my colleagues, and to be sure I am on the right track. Nobody is perfect, after all, and I have made my share of mistakes, believe me.