Who says nurses can't be scholars?

[Neuro Guy NP]

So perhaps this is a bit of a diatribe, but I really do believe nurses can be just as scholarly as any other profession. And to be quite honest, I am very tired of hearing nurses talk about how there is no need to further their education or at the bare minimum keep up-to-date on CEUs or the latest journal articles because it 'just doesn't have anything to do with being a nurse or being xyz,' or quite frankly any number of other statements or attitudes that put down or otherwise discredit the need to engage in academic or scholarly pursuits.

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard a professional discharging one of my patients, and going over the instructions and hear them give ludicrous explanations about medications, diagnoses etc. only to think to myself "where did you get that hogwash from?"

I have really been trying to instill in my students and new NP graduates that follow me a love of learning, to never be stagnant in their clinical practice, and to always look for the answers to questions they develop throughout the day (not that I have 100 years of clinical practice, but I digress). I really do believe that this is the best way to practice as a nurse, whether advanced practice or at the RN level. I tell my students that as an RN you should never do things just because they are ordered. If there are no reasons not to perform an order, fine, do it, but take the time to find out why things are done the way they are, listen to the doctors on rounds, read physician notes, multidisciplinary notes, go the extra mile.

For my advanced practice colleagues, puh-lease let's not be satisfied with the status quo. Sign up for conferences. Go to lectures. Go to skills courses. Author journal articles. Get that next degree. Let's step up our science background and take extra courses and represent the very best that nursing has to offer.

I do worry sometimes about the quality of our graduates from APRN programs. As for me, I am going to try to be the best role model I can. I have just completed my DNP degree , and I have just been accepted to a Neuroscience Ph.D. program here locally at a renowned university.

I signed up as someone willing to be a preceptor in the national databank of whatever with the ANCC for NP students, but have yet get any requests, but I love to take on students as teaching is one of my main passions, so if anyone here needs a preceptor and serious about their stuff, I'm willing. I'm in the Philadelphia area.

I guess I write this long post just because I grow tired of seeing so many members of my profession who are OK with lackluster. I feel that this is not something seen in other professions to this degree. I suppose I could be wrong.

The grass on the other side of the fence very well could be brown instead of the plush green I sometimes see. Just my two cents.

[Aromatic]

usually clicking peope's profile gives the answer

[Nancy54]

Out of curiosity I pulled up the ANCC's preceptor national databank program cause I hadn't heard of it and it sounds like a great idea! There's a link on the page where you can check out which Universities are part of the program and there are only a few. There is a fee to the school to be part of the program which doesn't seem exorbitent to me (considering how much we pay!) as long as there are enough NPs signing up to be preceptors as well I suppose. But that might be why you're not getting contacted although I am sure there are many, many NP students who would love to find a great preceptor. Too many schools pass that on to the student, even programs that aren't on line programs.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

Scholarship is all well and good, but some of the sheer "hooey" in academia (i.e. certain nursing theories) keep APA formatting skills sharp but do nothing to advance reality in healthcare. (Or life, for that matter...)

[AMatherRN]

I've just started back for my BSN for the very ignoble reason of easier access to jobs. In reading all the stuff I have to, I've noticed that lots of people really seem to like piling up those initials after their names. As far as I'm concerned, they don't necessarily make you a better nurse. I'm not against learning new things, but please let those things be how to do the actual job better, how to use new equipment and supplies, insight into patients, etc., not this glorified, dull, incomprehensible word diarrhea just to make ourselves look better. We are what we are. Let's keep it that way. Maybe some people are meant to be scholars, but most of us aren't. We just want to get on with it.

[futureprovider]

I consider myself a scholarly nurse. Lol. I have always had a hobby of reading medical research even before I got into the healthcare realm. I am deeply fascinated by science especially immunology. I am definitely much more into those topics than classmates I have had in the past but the further I go in education I find more and more likeminded classmates. :)But if no likeminded folks or peeps who share similar interests are around I just kinda do my own thing anyway. I'm known to be unconventional so I'm use to being the lone wolf 🙃. More research scholarship money for me !!

[PreDRG]

As a Nursing Instructor I've seen many students who want to enter the Profession of Nursing for the wrong reasons. Over the course of almost 40 years as a bedside nurse, as well as an instructor at every level of nursing education except the Doctoral Level, I've been seeing an increase in the number of new nurses who see Nursing as merely a J-O-B...job, not a calling or Profession. Yes, they are dedicated to being a good EMPLOYEE for their employer, and a good nurse as well, most times, but when it comes to increasing their knowledge base or improving their skills in an effort to maintain or improve their practice they drop the ball. They will openly and without any embarrassment on their part admit that they believe Nursing to be a J-O-B...merely a job where they take home a decent paycheck and nothing more! They feel no need to improve their practice or their knowledge base. There was always a certain pride in being a Professional Nurse that I have seen decline over the last 40 years. So why would anyone be surprised that we now work with some nurses who find it difficult to understand the necessity of keeping up with our practice? To them, Nursing is a JOB and not much more. ......Just my observation over the years.

[AnotherRNisnew]

Even though I may not be pursuing a higher degree in nursing I am still always working at learning more every day. Last year I accepted a job as a dialysis nurse. This is an area in which I have no experience in but the company I work for provides extensive training . I am working towards getting certified as a nephrology nurse. So at age 62 I am not stagnant just not paying thousands of dollars to receive an advanced degree.

[Natasha A., CNA, LVN]

Thank you for this great post! Nursing is community awareness, collaborations, and self directed learning. I am a nursing student and consider myself a life learner that enjoys "learning for the sake of learning" by reading books, journals, magazines about nursing and health care. I truly appreciate you bringing this to our attention and keep up the great work!

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

As a Nursing Instructor I've seen many students who want to enter the Profession of Nursing for the wrong reasons. Over the course of almost 40 years as a bedside nurse, as well as an instructor at every level of nursing education except the Doctoral Level, I've been seeing an increase in the number of new nurses who see Nursing as merely a J-O-B...job, not a calling or Profession. Yes, they are dedicated to being a good EMPLOYEE for their employer, and a good nurse as well, most times, but when it comes to increasing their knowledge base or improving their skills in an effort to maintain or improve their practice they drop the ball. They will openly and without any embarrassment on their part admit that they believe Nursing to be a J-O-B...merely a job where they take home a decent paycheck and nothing more! They feel no need to improve their practice or their knowledge base. There was always a certain pride in being a Professional Nurse that I have seen decline over the last 40 years. So why would anyone be surprised that we now work with some nurses who find it difficult to understand the necessity of keeping up with our practice? To them, Nursing is a JOB and not much more. ......Just my observation over the years.

The ONLY 'wrong' reason' for entering nursing is a desire to do harm. It is not for faculty to determine the 'rightness' or 'wrongness' of someone's decisions to enter a profession.

[divobari]

I am currently pursuing a DNP and am pleased with the skill that I have gained this far. There is clearly a divide in nursing. There are those who want it to be a labor intensive profession and others who want to use it to influence delivery of care.

Nursing, albeit hard to admit, is not terribly difficult to join. So, some are able to make a decent living with less time compred to other healthcare professions. I think ADN/BSN RNs do a fine job. However, I do believe that the more knowledge/skill you have, the better equipped you are to advocate for your patient, when necessary. I've seen nurses who were clearly in the right lose the argument because they didn't have the language and confidence to support their concerns.

Furthermore, this is all about personal goals. If you choose to remain where you are, do not disparage others who choose to move on.(something that I have to deal with on a weekly basis.) And those of us who move on, let's inspire others by our actions!

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Some good points have been made here. I guess I do not necessarily equate advanced degrees with being scholarly, and I do apologize if my post sounds like I look down on those with lesser education, because that certainly is not the case. It is true that there is more than one way to pursue excellence without the addition of another degree, it's just that the point I was trying to make was to never be stagnant in our practices, yet this is something that unfortunately is all too common.

I have had conversations with a couple nurses in our Neuro ICU who are veteran nurses of many years but have shamefully minimal knowledge of some relatively basic neurological topics. I just want to push the profession forward into maturity.

Well, I see that at all levels and in my mind it is just laziness. Why would you not want to perform the best in your practice area? I just do not understand that at all. Even though I haven't pursued advanced degrees I have always done what it took to be at the top of my practice and be able to give patients current and accurate information and guidance.

[AlextheOK]

I am mainly a lurker hiding in figurative bushes on allnurses, but I really wanted to say I love your initial post, OP!

I am fascinated with neuroscience - it is what I am majoring in (the "Wild West" of science, IMO, as there is so much left to discover/unravel). I want to be an PMHNP eventually, and everything I am learning thus far I feel is going to benefit me with my end goal. Plus, it's a joint venture with the College of Medicine, so I can take some really interesting classes - like the neurobiology of disease, neuroimmunology, et al.

I would love to have you as a preceptor down the road as you are passionate about learning, but I am in a different state, so it probably is not feasible.

While I am actually posting, from a lurker's perspective, I just want to say thanks to everyone who contributes to this particular forum; all the different view-points is very helpful in deciding what is the best road for me to travel in order to be a safe/competent healthcare provider (no online schools!) and gauge my eventual monetary worth as such (Jules, you are awesome).