When they're SO sure they're right...

Nurses General Nursing

Published

You've all seen them (sometimes on AN)- a person who believes with all their heart that a practice is correct while you and the rest of the civilized world know they're wrong.

What's the weirdest, most outlandish clinical or technical misconception that you've seen a co-worker espouse?

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

I once worked with a guy who was convinced he could properly time a balloon pump by resting his forehead on the console and "feeling" the correct settings.

Then there was the guy who believed that if there wasn't a sphygmomanometer in the room, he didn't need to record blood pressures. Seriously. In CCU! Not only did he keep his job, he got promoted. He's the manager now.

Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Trauma.
I worked in ICU and a resident was covering - patient's urine was low flow via catheter and I advised him - he told me "well, she's sleeping, you don't produce urine when you sleep!"

oh my God! You have to be kidding?

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I agree. The profession of nursing is a calling, not a random choice. Life circumstance might make you the compassionate one who is drawn to nursing, in which case you are indeed made compassionate not by academic study.

I'm not entirely sure what you're agreeing with, or which post or poster. But I cannot agree that nursing is a calling. It takes much more than compassion to make a nurse. In fact, there are plenty of good nurses out there who are completely LACKING in compassion. Compassion can be convincingly faked, and often is.

Nurses need to be able to learn and understand a difficult course of study. We must be able to calculate the correct dose of vasoactive drips, of drugs (how many 0.125 mg tablets of digoxin make a 0.5 mg dose) and if the patient weighs 100 pounds and I'm supposed to give .75 mg per kilogram, how much is that? Nurses need to understand the drugs we are giving, their side effects, the usual dosage (and if the patient is not prescribed the usual dosage, why not), toxic effects, drug interactions, interactions with food and lab values to watch. Nurses need to be able to understand when sterile technique is required and how to maintain it, what to do if their patient stops breathing and when to call the physician. There is so much more to nursing than mere compassion, and most of it cannot be faked.

When I first joined this site, I felt it would be a great place for learning more about my field. Maybe nurses sharing tips and techniques about their fields, helping others, and I thought there would be more evidence-based posts because EBP is an important concept. No one on this site knows everything and I am sure at some point we have all made dumb comments. Here is mine. I once asked a patient with home PEG tube feedings how their Thanksgiving was. I then felt immediately stupid. Whether intended or not, this post seems to be a catalyst for a catty ***** session. It the intent was to bring some humor into our job (which we all need), it would be more effective if self-deprecating and not about the dumb nurses we work with. This type of discussion has no value, is unprofessional, and will only hurt us as people and our field in the long term.

The assertion that having light-colored hair, skin or eyes has any bearing on one's IQ is about the most stupid thing I've ever heard a nurse say.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

A shift supervisor once got very upset when I questioned a morphine dose that turned out to be very wrong. Among other things, the dose was calculated for 1 mg/ml, and the stuff we had was 20 mg/ml. She actually said "I have never seen someone actually sit down the do the math for this! I assume that whatever we get from the pharmacy is correct!" She had been a nurse much longer than I had. For a minute, I wondered if I was the subject of a practical joke.

When I first joined this site, I felt it would be a great place for learning more about my field. Maybe nurses sharing tips and techniques about their fields, helping others, and I thought there would be more evidence-based posts because EBP is an important concept. No one on this site knows everything and I am sure at some point we have all made dumb comments. Here is mine. I once asked a patient with home PEG tube feedings how their Thanksgiving was. I then felt immediately stupid. Whether intended or not, this post seems to be a catalyst for a catty b*tch session. It the intent was to bring some humor into our job (which we all need), it would be more effective if self-deprecating and not about the dumb nurses we work with. This type of discussion has no value, is unprofessional, and will only hurt us as people and our field in the long term.

You're late! There's a post like this every time ...but usually much earlier in the thread.

Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.
Since you bring it up...I'm always wondering WHY OH WHY are some people willing to wear those god awful masks ALL flu season long just to not get a shot?! I never asked. Maybe someone can enlighten me. 'Fraid of walkin' backwards or something?? lol

Because they have "done their research." Hours of googling, we should all be very impressed.

Sigh. I cannot even with this bullhockey. Vaccine denial is a hulksmash issue for me, because I drank that koolaid when my kids were little. They didn't get any vaccines for years and years, even though my daughter has an immune deficiency and impaired airway clearance! :blink: Talk about eating humble pie, when I realized how wrong I was. I thank the stars that the majority of parents weren't as dumb as me, so my kids could benefit from herd immunity despite my ignorance. UGH!

When I first joined this site, I felt it would be a great place for learning more about my field. Maybe nurses sharing tips and techniques about their fields, helping others, and I thought there would be more evidence-based posts because EBP is an important concept. No one on this site knows everything and I am sure at some point we have all made dumb comments. Here is mine. I once asked a patient with home PEG tube feedings how their Thanksgiving was. I then felt immediately stupid. Whether intended or not, this post seems to be a catalyst for a catty ***** session. It the intent was to bring some humor into our job (which we all need), it would be more effective if self-deprecating and not about the dumb nurses we work with. This type of discussion has no value, is unprofessional, and will only hurt us as people and our field in the long term.

Agree. This is mean-spirited and self-righteous. I will wager that every one of us can identify something bone-headed that we have done at some time in our careers.

That said, if licensed nurses are doing things that are so dangerous,life-threatening and egregious then there is something lacking in training/education/supervision that is allowing such things to happen. That is where attention and effort needs to be focused.

Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.
Agree. This is mean-spirited and self-righteous. I will wager that every one of us can identify something bone-headed that we have done at some time in our careers.

That said, if licensed nurses are doing things that are so dangerous,life-threatening and egregious then there is something lacking in training/education/supervision that is allowing such things to happen. That is where attention and effort needs to be focused.

I don't think that the majority of people posting mean it in a mean spirited manner. Yes, we are all human and make mistakes and laugh WITH each other, not at each other. Just meant in fun, not trying to be mean.

I don't think that the majority of people posting mean it in a mean spirited manner. Yes, we are all human and make mistakes and laugh WITH each other, not at each other. Just meant in fun, not trying to be mean.

Sorry, don't find many of the comments as "with" laughing. I find many of the comments to be of the "look at what this moron did!!" variety.

blood glucose reading 242.

pt: (refusing any intervention)that's my normal blood sugar. I'm just sweet natured.

my brother ( worst patient ever) calling me from his remote cabin on top of a mountain an hour drive from any civilization:

" I was chopping wood and fell. A big splinter of wood went into my leg and then punched through the other side. After I pull it out should I flush the hole out with hot water or peroxide?"

Me "how big is this splinter?"

Him," about an inch wide, give or take."

Me" GO TO THE E.R. PETE. NOW"

Him, " nah. I got a brand new turkey baster. I remember you said something about peroxide. Don't remember if it's good or bad."

Me," GO TO THE E.R."

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