The Know-It-All nurse

SF-OS-NURSE · Feb 15, 2005

The only know it all nurses I know are male nurses. Its like "oh, respect HIM, after all he's stooped to do the "womans" work. I also find male nurses get away with alot more.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Feb 15, 2005

The only know it all nurses I know are male nurses. Its like "oh, respect HIM, after all he's stooped to do the "womans" work. I also find male nurses get away with alot more.

OOOHHH YEAH! We have one who believes that he's somehow above the rest of us. He complains if he has a patient assignment, so most often he's charge or resource. When he does have a patient, he's happiest when he's in an isolation room out of sight, with his own private television. When he's resource, he complains about having to cover breaks and run to codes. Occasionally if we have a kid on CVVH, he'll run the pump, but watch out if there are problems... Oh, and he only works nights, when we don't routinely have management in the unit so he escapes scrutiny. He gets away with so much!! Oh and he works a lot of OT on the general patient floors which seems to also escape notice by anyone with any authority. Then we have two others, one is rather mediocre and has a problem with keeping his hands to himself, the other is an excellent nurse who really does know a lot, but has no difficulty sharing his expertise freely and nicely. He's also very entertaining. So it's really an individual thing, I guess.

BETSRN · Feb 16, 2005

Wow, it takes a lot of arrogance to think you know it all when you're fresh from school - my sister, who has been a nurse much longer than me, told me you don't learn anything until you're working, and is that ever true.
Diahni

It's those ones who DON'T learn it when they are working (and think they know it all) who scare me the most!

The one we have has never once worked wihout making some type of error. Thanks goodmess the margin for error is relatively low on our floor.

JustJen, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2005

As a student (RN in 10 months) I can tell you that a know-it-all is only a good thing when:

a)she really does know it all.

b)she is willing to SHARE her knowledge (ex:answering a students question) without making the student (who is older) feel like she should have flunked out of kindergarden.

I love a nurse with lots of experience and knowledge under her belt. What I don't love is the fact that many of my encounters with this type of nurse go along the lines of

Me: "Blah, blah, blah question?"

Know-it-all : "(Big Sigh) answer, answer, answer....I mean really, isn't that just common sense???? answer, answer, answer...I mean think about it....(sarcasm, sarsasm, sarcasm) "

I am not the class idiot. I do well in class. I do well in clinical. Nurse know-it-all makes me want to crawl under a rock rather than ask her another question. Maybe that is her plan.

CHATSDALE · Feb 16, 2005

if you will look at the various reponses to theis thread you will notice tha this nurse and her sisters are alll over he the usa and is so common and so annoying that we all have met her...she is not going to change...this is a basic ego need

count yourself lucky....she is not in your family

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 16, 2005

if you will look at the various reponses to theis thread you will notice tha this nurse and her sisters are alll over he the usa and is so common and so annoying that we all have met her...she is not going to change...this is a basic ego need
count yourself lucky....she is not in your family

they're all in my family! my mother is never wrong, my sister is always right, both of them know everything and they can never agree! :rotfl:

mattsmom81 · Feb 16, 2005

Me: "Blah, blah, blah question?"
Know-it-all : "(Big Sigh) answer, answer, answer....I mean really, isn't that just common sense???? answer, answer, answer...I mean think about it....(sarcasm, sarsasm, sarcasm) "
I am not the class idiot. I do well in class. I do well in clinical. Nurse know-it-all makes me want to crawl under a rock rather than ask her another question. Maybe that is her plan.

This is likely her plan ..she doesn't want to be bothered...at least not at this moment. Docs do this too, unfortunately.. I've learned to ask 'Do you have time to answer a question about----?', watch their response, and not take it personal if they bark 'NO." They may have their mind on 100 things, near overwhelmed themselves, maybe tired, not in the mood for 'teaching duty' this moment, etc. We all try to understand this in today's high stress workplaces, and we try to avoid operating in 'tunnel vision' mode...because everyone is likely quite busy. The world does not revolve around just us.

Now this nurse may have just had a bad day, or your questions may have been poorly timed...lots of variables.Or this nurse may not enjoy precepting, in which case you may need to locate a more approachable preceptor.

Good luck to you and my advice is develop a thicker skin...you'll need it as a nurse. :)

trixie44 · May 19, 2012

Have any of you ever worked with a nurse who THINKS she knows it all but is truly very unskilled in her specialty? These are scary people!! Let's compare :imbar :rotfl: notes!

I'm a relatively new nurse; I've been an LPN for 2 years and recently graduated with my RN. I work in an Alzheimer's unit and absolutely love it; however, we have one LPN on the day shift who thinks she knows it all... and doesn't try to hide it. She rarely ever accepts input from anybody else, and tends to just do whatever SHE thinks is right. We once had a patient pull a TV down onto herself inflicting a gash down the length of her anterior lower leg that was repaired surgically. A few weeks later she developed redness and inflammation surrounding the incision, and although she was mostly nonverbal there was obvious pain with palpation. This nurse decided it was her heart failure acting up and told me, "Right sided-heart failure causes edema in the left leg, and left-sided heart failure causes edema in the right leg." I must have looked completely dismayed because she then said, "What, they didn't teach you that in nursing school?" Instead of arguing with her I suggested that perhaps it was cellulitis related to her incision, but she wouldn't have it. I ended up calling the doctor after this nurse left for the day, notified her of the symptoms, and obtained an order for an antibiotic. Needless to say the next day this nurse was furious saying that I "went behind her back" to do what I wanted to do. After a few days of antibiotic therapy the redness, inflammation, and pain with palpation subsided (obviously).

Recently, we have a resident who is mostly independent, but does require minimal assistance with cares as she is incontinent. This resident has had redness to her bottom for MONTHS now related to her incontinence, and instead of using a barrier cream she faxes the Dr. and asks for triamcinolone topical; he ordered it along with zinc oxide. At the time I was only working every 3rd weekend while going to school, but it was obvious the triamcinolone wasn't doing what she hoped. Obviously the redness subsided after application of the cream, but it's not a barrier cream therefore it doesn't prevent further irritation or skin breakdown. Recently I decided enough was enough, talked to some other nurses, and asked the doctor for some vitamin A&D ointment which he ordered. Well, after the treatment was changed she went and complained about me changing the treatment without asking her, and I ended up getting into trouble! I don't understand why we would continue the same ineffective treatment for MONTHS. Am I wrong for seeking an alternative treatment??? Am I the new know-it-all nurse??

mombabyRN96 · May 20, 2012

I work NICU, and we have one relatively new grad who SWEARS she knows more than nurses that have been on the unit for 25+ years!! She came to the unit as a new grad insisting that she didn't NEED orientation!!! Can you believe it??? Scary, scary thought.

holy crap! that IS scary!!!! :eek: