Don't know if I've ever posted before today (been a member for a while), but a post in another thread prompted me to respond to it and to post this. I've spent the last few years preparing for a career change into nursing and am in my first semester as a BSN student, and I'm irritated. I am NOT bashing nursing as a profession, but I am dismayed at the constant whining and complaining as well as the lack of any trace of intellectual curiosity that I have found in my short time around the profession among many BUT NOT ALL nurses. The #1 complaint among nurses that I have seen is a lack of respect by other health care professionals. You want to know why there is a lack of respect? Read on. In my short time, I've been around amazing nurses (bright, dedicated and excellent in what they do), but there are far too many that should be doing some else. Here's why nursing gets less respect than it should...
1) Constant whining. Nursing school is too hard, floor nursing is too hard, etc. News flash: most professions are really hard. Nursing isn't special in that regard. Medicine is brutal. IT, my former career, is cut throat. School teachers often have a miserable jobs. Cops work bad shifts and put their lives on the line. The list goes on an on. People that whine about nursing would whine no matter what career they are in.
2) The nursing culture. The claim of nursing being a "caring profession" (as if med techs, rad techs, RT's, etc. aren't caring), yet there is constant bashing of "bad" patients that are "noncompliant." In addition, many nurses go out of their way to humiliate students and new grads, talk about each other behind their backs, call physicians and other providers incompetent, and are in general rude, sour and bitter. Yet nursing is supposed to be the "caring" profession.
3) The nursing culture part II: Running around the hospital with balloons, teddy bears, flowers, whatever on your scrubs says to your colleagues, "I don't have a brain."
4) Nursing education. Learning to "diagnose" a patient with "Ineffective coping mechanisms related to disturbed transpersonal energy field" sounds like a bunch of hooey to a lot of people. Why? Because it is. It too screams, "I don't have a brain." Thankfully such stuff is only in the textbooks and not in the real world.
5) Feminization. I have heard ad nauseum that traditionally, physicians are men, nurses are women and that accounts for much of the disrespect. I actually agree. Ironically, many more women now are entering all health fields traditionally dominated by men (pharmacy, medicine, etc.) but there's barely been an uptick in the number of men going into nursing. Why? See #3 above for starters. Here's some other reasons. The local Sigma Theta Tau chapter at my school has brown and pink for their colors. The local CC has a teddy bear wearing an 1800's nursing hat and a big heart on its (her) chest (that'll make males race to apply to the program). Which, BTW, also screams, "I don't have a brain."
6) Lack of intellectual curiosity/knowledge. See #3 and #5 as well. One of my instructors this semester (who is a licensed pediatric nurse practitioner) could not answer a question as to what a lesion is. A nurse during my clinical last week did not know the difference between a H2 antagonist and a proton pump inhibitor, yet has been nursing for 20 years. My clinical instructor (with an MSN) "corrected" me and explained that myasthenia gravis is an intestinal disorder. I'm guessing they are like the students I had in my science prereqs that hated science and were just glad to get them done so they could apply to nursing school - never mind the fact that the sciences are the foundation of all modern health care practice. Would you go to a doctor that hated or was bad at science? What about a respiratory or physical therapist? Do everyone a favor - if you hate or are bad at science, spare your future patients and find another career.
In short, there's got to be a change in nursing culture for the profession to be respected.
Specializes in PACU, CARDIAC ICU, TRAUMA, SICU, LTC.
If you are so perturbed about the "constant whining," do yourself a favor...pay close attention to more important things, like the knowledge that you can acquire from nurses who have worked in the profession for many, many years. Focus on the positives!
When you complete the nursing program, and have been working in the profession for a few years, come back and tell us how you have effected change....if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem!
My mistake, I thought we were speaking about the issues she outlined in this thread. I don't generally investigate posters.
I read more than one thread on occasion. The other one also happens to be on the front page. Consequently, the criticisms expressed in this thread are the exact criticisms expressed in the other. They just happen to be expressed in two different places...Except in the other one, he took issue with the "cute little graphics" in the OP's post.
I read more than one thread on occasion. The other one also happens to be on the front page. Consequently, the criticisms expressed in this thread are the exact criticisms expressed in the other. They just happen to be expressed in two different places...Except in the other one, he took issue with the "cute little graphics" in the OP's post.
I did just read the other post. I don't disagree with her there either. Again, not a moral issue, and the OP there didn't appear to be venting as much as bragging.
So, I stand my my comment that the OP of this thread hasn't chastised anyone who's (as you put it) venting is in 100% in alignment with her moral code.
Sorry this thread has so disturbed you. I have found it to be an interesting conversation.
I did just read the other post. I don't disagree with her there either. Again, not a moral issue, and the OP there didn't appear to be venting as much as bragging.
So, I stand my my comment that the OP of this thread hasn't chastised anyone who's (as you put it) venting is in 100% in alignment with her moral code.
Sorry this thread has so disturbed you. I have found it to be an interesting conversation.
Who but you said I was disturbed? I don't remember saying so....
In regards to the other thread, we see what we want to see, I suppose. He saw venting as no less than bragging and you see his tirade as nothing more than concern. For me, though I can't put my finger on it, I get the impression that there's something a little off beneath the surface. Just going off of what seems to be the strongest recurring theme (which is his preoccupation with feminization, hands down). Like I said before, I could be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.
Who but you said I was disturbed? I don't remember saying so....
In regards to the other thread, we see what we want to see, I suppose. He saw venting as no less than bragging and you see his tirade as nothing more than concern. For me, though I can't put my finger on it, I get the impression that there's something a little off beneath the surface. Just going off of what seems to be the strongest recurring theme (which is his preoccupation with feminization, hands down). Like I said before, I could be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.
I guess I don't understand your preoccupation with feminization in her posts. As I said, I'm a female.....yet hold very similar beliefs. So, no matter the gender of the OP.....they are obviously not specifically "male" perspectives.
Specializes in L&D; GI; Fam Med; Home H; Case mgmt.
"I sewed my husband 3 scrub shirts with chickens on them"
I have no idea why exactly, but that absolutely cracked me up to no end! I mean no disrespect either, honestly. That image just made me laugh so hard. I also thought it said "I screwed my husband" when I first looked at it too - I think I'm just loopy and need to go to bed...
I guess I don't understand your preoccupation with feminization in her posts. As I said, I'm a female.....yet hold very similar beliefs. So, no matter the gender of the OP.....they are obviously not specifically "male" perspectives.
I'm not preoccupied with it. I'm explaining my impressions to you since you've persistently inquired.
I know that they are not specifically male perspectives. But in my personal experience, wherever I have seen a disdain for all things considered "feminine" expressed to such an excessive degree, as the OP has expressed, it was always a decidedly male perspective. It's just a hunch. I've said twice now that I could be wrong and in doing so I am recognizing your point. I'm not trying to prove anything. I can't. And neither can you. Only the OP can.
I have a question for the OP, now please take this question seriously as I am not being sarcastic, mean, or implying I know the answer, I read your concerns about the nursing profession, you are articulate and intelligent so I ask you this:
What are you planning on doing to change the things you mention? Im talking about physical actions that will contribute to to this profession that you care about? (no sacracasm...Im serious). I would love to hear you honest ideas...perhaps join your local BON? I would like to hear your solutions!
I'm not preoccupied with it. I'm explaining my impressions to you since you've persistently inquired.
I know that they are not specifically male perspectives. But in my personal experience, wherever I have seen a disdain for all things considered "feminine" expressed to such an excessive degree, as the OP has expressed, it was always a decidedly male perspective. It's just a hunch. I've said twice now that I could be wrong and in doing so I am recognizing your point. I'm not trying to prove anything. I can't. And neither can you. Only the OP can.
I used preoccupation from your post. You seemed to think that the OP was preoccupied with it....but you're the one who keeps mentioning it.
I guess we just interpret the OP's posts differently. I don't see a disdain for all things considered "feminine." As, that would obviously be a disdain for myself. I see someone who recognizes what is considered professional. I can't think of another profession (other than working with children) where it would be acceptable for me to come to work with teddy bears on my shirt. Saying that isn't a disdain for anything feminine (I like stuffed animals and at 41 still have one on a shelf), that's knowing there's a time and place for everything.
Now, that's not to say that we have to walk around in all black......but surely, we can do better than material that I would make children's bedsheets out of.
I used preoccupation from your post. You seemed to think that the OP was preoccupied with it....but you're the one who keeps mentioning it.
I guess we just interpret the OP's posts differently. I don't see a disdain for all things considered "feminine." As, that would obviously be a disdain for myself. I see someone who recognizes what is considered professional. I can't think of another profession (other than working with children) where it would be acceptable for me to come to work with teddy bears on my shirt. Saying that isn't a disdain for anything feminine (I like stuffed animals and at 41 still have one on a shelf), that's knowing there's a time and place for everything.
Now, that's not to say that we have to walk around in all black......but surely, we can do better than material that I would make children's bedsheets out of.
I mentioned it once in its own right, in passing. Every other mention afterward has been in response to you - it is the topic we're discussing, the point you are arguing, and the point I'm defending. (I can't believe I actually had to say that)
I think, perhaps, you are assuming that just because you share the OP's opinions, that the reasons behind why each of you hold the opinions must be the same - and thereby internalizing any criticism of the OP's point of view. It would help to discuss why you hold your opinions irrespective of what you believe the OP's reasons to be.
scoochy
375 Posts
If you are so perturbed about the "constant whining," do yourself a favor...pay close attention to more important things, like the knowledge that you can acquire from nurses who have worked in the profession for many, many years. Focus on the positives!
When you complete the nursing program, and have been working in the profession for a few years, come back and tell us how you have effected change....if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem!