Who Should NOT do nursing as a Career?

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Oct 29, 2003

Anyone who is unkind, and is not empathetic should not be a nurse.

Also, some people think it's all about them. I had clinicals with a girl like that. She never actually thought about her pts, just what kind of impression she was making on everyone else.

She had a post partum psychosis pt, who just kind of shuffled around like a zombie, never spoke. This pt touched the student's leg (She actually used the student's leg to brace herself when she was pushing herself back in a chair). This student went around telling everyone that only she could get a reaction from the pt, no one else. She was very smug about it, and really it was nothing. The pt was just trying to change position!

She turned the pt's situation around so that she (the student) was the focus.

I feel that anyone with that level of ego should not be a nurse.

Anyone who is interested in nursing because they want to make big $$, and look cool in scrubs and with a steth around their neck should not be a nurse, IMO.

A nurse's focus should be the care and welfare of her pts. Anyone who has a problem putting their own needs aside for the sake of others should not be a nurse.

This does not mean we should disregard our own needs or allow institutions to abuse us. Far from it.

But, the pt has to be our primary focus when we are on duty.

Of course, anyone who can't handle the gore, the tragedy. or who thinks they are "above" wiping butts and emptying bed pans should not be a nurse.

Erin RN · Oct 29, 2003

Anyone who isn't willing to be part of a team..Or the person that feels like they are ALWAYS the most important part of the team..In my opinion every healthcare provider has their piece of the action and the patient needs all of us...something to remember.

I agree with the previous post about the bedpan and wiping butts, it is part of the job.

One more than that is it..the person with no common sense or intuition. I have worked with more than one nurse that knows her text books inside and out but can't apply any of the knowledge...the intuition is absolutely essential in critical care....I listened to my gut more than anything and it hardly ever steered me wrong...

gwenith, BSN, RN · Oct 29, 2003

I DO have a very serious reason for asking this question.

What would you think of someone who, constantly seeks validation for themselves and exhibits attention seeking behaviour up to and including threatening suicide if they do not get their way over quite trivial issues. This person tells me that they want to become a nurse.

itsme · Oct 29, 2003

Suggest a psyche consult first!! Seriously, she/he maybe does need to get her life in order first, it may be a good sign that she wants to have a profession where you have to put others first.

gwenith, BSN, RN · Oct 29, 2003

To be honest this is not the only disturbing aspect of this persons personality. They lie and constantly. I never know when I am hearing the truth from this person. But they are determined to become a nurse. :eek: To be honest I don't think they "get it". Nursing requires a high degree of honesty otherwise,,,,,,,,,,,, Well the otherwise is just too nasty to contemplate.

sanakruz, ADN · Oct 29, 2003

Any young woman who believes she will marry an MD by becoming an RN should be taken out back and shot. And should not become a nurse;)

jax · Oct 29, 2003

Gwenith,

I have worked with a couple of perfect princesses, besides taking frequent bathroom breaks for reapplication of lipstick , they were great. Different priorties to me but still good nurses. jax

Hardknox · Oct 29, 2003

Gee, Gwenith...it sounds like a frequent attention seeking poster here who was kicked out of school for not completing assignments and giving meds without his/her instructor. That is the type of person I feel should not be a nurse, especially if the person refuses to take responsibility for his/her mistakes and blames his/her instructors. I would not want that person being my nurse. :eek:

gwenith, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2003

Originally posted by jax
Gwenith,

I have worked with a couple of perfect princesses, besides taking frequent bathroom breaks for reapplication of lipstick , they were great. Different priorties to me but still good nurses. jax

I guess I wasa thinking of the archetypal perfect princess with the bleached blonde hair sitting at the side of a pool in her leopard skin leotards painting her toenails.

"Me be a Noirse? Ya gotta be kiddin' me!":roll

You know - Hollywood type??

Yes Hardknox this person is a bit of a worry. I know that people who have been through depression have continued on to make marvellous things of thier lives and so suicide threats are not my main concern but attention seeking and lying are. I have a high personal regard for truth and adherence to the law and to have someone lie is a betrayal of trust. How can you be a nurse if you hold truth in contempt?

imenid37 · Oct 30, 2003

Read the Battle axe thread by Plato. Do you have Battle Axes in Oz or are they called something else? I do have a co-worker who gets sick at the sight, sound, and smell of vomit. She's a good nurse, in all fairness, but sometimes she looks like she's gonna hit the floor if they vomit chunks or it is foul-smelling. Mostly we just laugh about it.

gwenith, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2003

We have all types down here just as you do and it is not confined to "battle axes". There are grumpy ones happy ones nasty one nice ones - all kinds but on the whole they are caring people with a high degree of honesty.