What do you consider to be nursing's biggest setback?

Ruby Vee, BSN · May 15, 2011

in most cultures it is regarded as impolite to serve a meal in a public place that is not open to all those in attendance. the remaining cultures that establish exclusionary groups at public meals (forbidding women and children from eating in traditional arab social events, at least until the men are finished and have left, for instance), are regarded as backward and uncivilized.
perhaps it is unwise to allow food to be placed in front of patients if they will not be allowed to partake.

oftentimes there is no private place to set a tray of sandwiches for the nurses. patients, being for the most part adults, surely understand that their nurses need to eat as well . . . and as long as they are also being fed there should be no problem.

blueheaven · May 15, 2011

i post a thread for which i thought was an interesting discussion, one which i was curious about. i got some good and thoughtful replies, and i've encountered interesting people on an. but i'm appalled by the amount of rudeness that is allowed on this board and in the nursing proefession in particular. it's rude, immature and unnecessary, and has the quality of a 'i'm one up more than you' attitude.

i'm sorry you feel this way. as ops have mentioned, you cannot read attitude, nuance etc. into a written format. i as an "old nurse" i have worked with some wonderful younger as well as older nurses and some who were a "pain in the butt" because they just got out of school or had been a nurse for 999 years and knew everything. so it cuts both ways.

i for one probably won't post much on here anymore, as these attitudes towards newer nurses needing help and the blatant rudeness on here - which the moderators rarely do anything about, especially with longer-term posters who get away with it - greatly disappoints me. i thought the goal of an, and nursing blogs, was for us to help each other and to show a higher level of maturity.

why are you allowing someone else's postings affect you in a negative way? (just a question and something to think about) why can't you continue to provide timely, helpful answers and a professional attitude in your posts? why blame someone else for your decision not to participate on an?

sounds like you want to take your toys (postings) and go home.

PinaColada · May 15, 2011

Lack of jobs. There's absolutely NO such thing as a nursing shortage. Oh yeah- it's corrupt too.

No Stars In My Eyes · May 15, 2011

At the risk of beating a dead horse and stating the obvious, everybody is different. EVERYBODY! As many people as there are in the world, that's as many ways as there are of doing things. And oddly enough, that DOESN'T make the OTHER everybodys WRONG! It takes all kinds to make the world go "round, and thank God for that! You don't have to take things so personally, especially on an anonymous board like this. Remember that old saying about opinions, they are like @$$____s, everybody has one. If something makes you all bristly and irritable, take a deep breath, give a big fat raspberry to your computer, and go to another posting. Just 'cause you can mouth-off freely, doesn't mean you have to. I mean, we're here to help each other, not to correct everyone else's attitude. Which is maybe what I'm trying to do here, so I will plead mea culpa, and make a simple request : get a grip!!!!!!!:jester:I may be an idiot, but I"m a happy one. SORRY!(not)

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · May 15, 2011

"at the nursing leadership level the focus is on advanced practice and moving into the md turf."

let us not forget that it was within our lifetimes that the nurse practice acts in most states did not allow nurses to give injections or start ivs, because breaking the skin was something only a physician could do. also when clinical blood pressure measurement came in, only physicians could do that, because it was much too technical for a nurse. likewise with measuring body temperature with an instrument. and so forth. moral of the story: clinical practice leads the nurse practice act, not the other way around. if nurses want to be more competent and have expanded roles, then more power to them as they obtain the education and competency to do that.

there is no "turf." i strongly recommend people take the trouble to locate the ana scope/standards of practice and see what we do-- and what we can do.

if nursing has suffered a setback, it's on the media side-- we have let other people define who we are, what we do, and what we can become. for a good inspirational read, get summers and summers "saving lives: how the media's portrayal of nursing puts us all at risk."

PMFB-RN, RN · May 16, 2011

let us not forget that it was within our lifetimes that the nurse practice acts in most states did not allow nurses to give injections or start ivs, because breaking the skin was something only a physician could do. also when clinical blood pressure measurement came in, only physicians could do that, because it was much too technical for a nurse. likewise with measuring body temperature with an instrument.

*** all those things would still be physician only jobs if they could bill for them at lucrative rates. a job goes from being a physicians duty to nurses when there is no longer any money in it for physicians. at my hospital nearly all central lines & art line are placed by nurses, and not advanced practice nurses. that used to be physician only but when there was no longer any money in it for them all of a sudden it is a nurses job.

cdsga · May 16, 2011

Nurses who want to please doctors or follow their less than stellar techniques. Medical practice and nursing practice models are completely different. In that I mean medical practice concentrates on disease specific issues-addresses problems and attempts to fix them. Nursing practice needs to be revisited because it is different than the medical model. We get so focused on tasks that we forget the "mind, body, spirit"-holistic approach to caring for patients, whether sick or well. New nurses focus on becoming proficient, more experienced nurses hopefully will demonstrate proficiency and then learn why those tasks are important in the total care of the patient. We don't know why we do what we do, therefore we have a hard time educating the patient. We refer the patient to the doctor instead of being able to articulate rationale as their nurse. I just wish the nursing education today was more of a "whole" patient method instead of perform this task, get checked off. Done. Repeat. Competence to me is knowing how to do something and be able to explain why you're doing it. If you are going to stay at the bedside, then consider this a life long learning process-incorporate your growing experience into your daily practice. Let other nurses watch and learn also. Pass on your confidence to your patient. This is the best of nursing. Evaluate your patients response to the way you performed the procedures or offered information. If they stick with you during the procedure or get a better understanding of their care, you've been a wonderful nurse. There is an art to it. Finding a connection between nurse and patient is a very important bond. I don't want to be a doctor. I want to go a little deeper into the healing aspect of healthcare-and know that I made a difference in that patient's life. Maybe cheesy, but I enjoy the process--hang all the naysayers.

gentlegiver, ASN, LPN, RN · May 16, 2011

in most cultures it is regarded as impolite to serve a meal in a public place that is not open to all those in attendance. the remaining cultures that establish exclusionary groups at public meals (forbidding women and children from eating in traditional arab social events, at least until the men are finished and have left, for instance), are regarded as backward and uncivilized.
perhaps it is unwise to allow food to be placed in front of patients if they will not be allowed to partake.

I agree, however, the food was placed in a kitchen that was staff only. The patient saw the staff taking the sandwiches out of the kitchen to eat them during thier breaks (outside, it was a lovely day) and then began complaining. For the 7 days of Nursing Week, the activity dept had some great activities planned that all the patients were allowed to participate in. Each day had special meals, snacks, entertainment. Staff could not attend, all we got was the sandwich plate on that day. So it wasn't a case of serving a meal in a public place or stepping on another culture.

cdsga · May 16, 2011

First of all, when did patients have the ability to eat food other than what their diet allows? This post while sensitive is utterly too much for me. If someone on my unit gives me a birthday cake, am I to include the diabetic patients? Give it a rest. It's like a baseball game where everyone's a winner. Some folks just don't always get included...That's life. You're not a nurse? You don't get a sandwich! You have a tray of food...eat what is sent to you on a platter by a server no less. Sorry don't feel bad about that, and anyone who does? Well just cook for the patients and add that to the list of nursing duties you want to take on.

ZippyGBR, BSN, RN · May 16, 2011

let us not forget that it was within our lifetimes that the nurse practice acts in most states did not allow nurses to give injections or start ivs, because breaking the skin was something only a physician could do. also when clinical blood pressure measurement came in, only physicians could do that, because it was much too technical for a nurse. likewise with measuring body temperature with an instrument.
*** all those things would still be physician only jobs if they could bill for them at lucrative rates. a job goes from being a physicians duty to nurses when there is no longer any money in it for physicians. at my hospital nearly all central lines & art line are placed by nurses, and not advanced practice nurses. that used to be physician only but when there was no longer any money in it for them all of a sudden it is a nurses job.

if bill-ability is solely the issue why are these skills not still physician only in settings where there isnot the obsession with billing e.g. the evil socialist single payer systems ... :jester:

PMFB-RN, RN · May 16, 2011

if bill-ability is solely the issue why are these skills not still physician only in settings where there isnot the obsession with billing e.g. the evil socialist single payer systems ...

*** I explained why those tasks are no longer physicians jobs in our system. Trust me if a physician could bill at lucrative rates for starting IVs or taking BP they wouldn't let an RN near. Unless that is they could also bill for "supervising" up to 4 nurses preforming those tasks in the manner that anesthesiologists can bill for "supervising" up to four CRNAs.

If you work in a single payer system why don't you explain it to us? Also why do you call it an "evil" system?

ZippyGBR, BSN, RN · May 16, 2011

*** I explained why those tasks are no longer physicians jobs in our system. Trust me if a physician could bill at lucrative rates for starting IVs or taking BP they wouldn't let an RN near. Unless that is they could also bill for "supervising" up to 4 nurses preforming those tasks in the manner that anesthesiologists can bill for "supervising" up to four CRNAs.
If you work in a single payer system why don't you explain it to us? Also why do you call it an "evil" system?

ah the transatlantic sarchasm strikes again ...