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.
How long have you been in nursing? Perhaps you could help me understand where I am wrong. Care to share?
Why is that, exactly?
Because youre what some refer to as a "know it all", when it is very apparent that you do not. It's cute that you think the way you do, but it is not reality and you setting yourself up for a quick burnout.
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.
There's good nurses and bad nurses, although it is scary to think that educators have those lackings... perhaps the problem also lays in the lack of incentive to become a nurse educator?
I love science. Most of my credits are in math and science. I even took a Pathophys course for my own enrichment. I did find it alarming the prenursing students who were terrified of their intro to Stats for Non-Math Majors or hated their Microbio Lab or couldn't figure out a simple redox reaction in Chem. I thought that was scary...
... but then I thought my Sociology 101 and Cultural Anthropology 101 classes were beyond useless fluff (and not just as nursing prereqs). Does that mean I shouldn't choose nursing?
Specializes in M/S, Tele, Sub (stepdown), Hospice.
that's a cop out. i've been working professionally for 13 years, some of which has been in health care. i've never seen anything like it.
it's not a cop out. i've also been working professionally for over 10 years & i've seen it in every company i've worked for. also, you're just entering the nursing profession - i don't think you can even get the full picture until you're really in it. my observations & opinions on nursing has changed from my first semester until now (i'm in my preceptorship).
that is not true historically. nursing has prided itself on caring in the emotional sense of the word, thus the emphasis on the five domains, which nursing claims sets it apart from other health care professions.
i think nurses are allowed to come here to "bash" their "bad" patients. we're venting....that's ok. i read the post that led you to write this one. i disagree with how that nurse handled the patient but we weren't there & don't know the whole story. most nurses.....a lot of nurses truly care & advocate for their patients. again, that's not to say we "care more" than other professions.
you might not, but you need to ask around a little bit. i never said that everyone thinks its ridiculous. obviously, not everyone thinks it's ridiculous or companies wouldn't be able to sell those things.
why do i care? because i'm entering the profession and care about the profession.
so, because you enter the profession, you care what other people are wearing? who gives a $#!%?!?
no. the "teddy bear" logo that i mentioned is not my school. i am basing it on many schools out there.
really? you've really seen it in that many schools to form a very general opinion?
wrong. i am a member of many forums and people from all over the country have said their nursing school experience has been very similar. in fact, several people have thought i was a student at the school they graduated from because when i describe my experience, it sounds exactly like theirs!
i think you get what you search for. if nursing school is a horrible experience, you're gonna find lots of people who share your same opinion & vice versa. if you have a horrible nurse or instructor, you're going to find many out there who have had similar experiences.
very good advice.
which is exactly why i posted tonight.
what i mean is graduate, become a nurse, & make changes. anyone can come here & post opinions but actions speak louder than words. if you truly want to change the views on our profession, it's going to take action, not posts on allnurses.com.
including me. unfortunately, many don't. i'd like to see that changed.
many...really? fortunately, i haven't met the people you've described.
Because youre what some refer to as a "know it all", when it is very apparent that you do not. It's cute that you think the way you do, but it is not reality and you setting yourself up for a quick burnout.
So why is it that there are nurses with 15 years of experience on you (4 x your experience) that have responded on this thread that agree with me?
Let me just say, I love 99% of my patients. The reason we "whine" about some is because they take away a LOT of time that needs to be given to the patients who really need us. I cant tell you how many times I have one med seeking take all my time and my poor other patients get the shaft because I cant be 5 places at once. We complain about certain patients because we want to do our best for all our patients.
Let me just say, I love 99% of my patients. The reason we "whine" about some is because they take away a LOT of time that needs to be given to the patients who really need us.
That's another thread. Nothing in my original post in this thread was about whining about patients. It was about whining about not being respected by the rest of the medical community. Reread.
NightNurseRN
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