Why hire RN's when other disciplines can do the job

caliotter3 · Nov 14, 2011

No, RNs cost money, and they all want to cut down on costs. One of the best ways to do that is to combine roles, in the case of the pharmacists, or replace RNs with cheap labor.

adnrnstudent, ASN, RN · Nov 14, 2011

The corporate machine won't stop until everyone that's making more than $50,000 a year is down to $12 an hour.

The field of nursing needs to quit trying to "elevate" the profession by pushing B.S.N.'s. This will only increase cuts of R.N.'s to other types like M.A.'s and CNA's.

The money would be better spent on ad campaign smearing hospitals for replacing R.N.'s with M.A.'s CNA's, etc.

The public has high regard for nurses, and the public doesn't understand what's happening. They think all these other people are nurses too.

They need to understand that their healthcare is being delivered by people making not much better than Starbucks.

Creamsoda, ASN, RN · Nov 14, 2011

I think its the nature of the medical profession. Years ago there were many things that RN's were not allowed to do that was the doctors job. Foleys for example. These days thats a rarity unless its urology because its something that we can do. Despite a lot of tasks going to lesser trained personell for stuff we used to do, on the same token we have been able to advance our practices to do much more. But when it really comes down to it, we can still do it all if we need to even right down to the basics.

tothepointeLVN, LVN · Nov 14, 2011

Well what we first need to do and this will probably cause a flurry of controversy but the word nurse MEANS something and hold weight. We need to regulate the use of the title nurse to well nurses LVN/LPN's RN, NP's actual licensed nurses.

There are some really good M.A's out there but they should never be referred to as a nurse ( usually the Dr encourages this so their patients don't realize how cheap they are) and the same thing in LTC's a good chunk of the time the patients refer to the CNA's as nurses and the CNA's do nothing to discourage this.

I'm not putting down these above professions at all they DO have their place but they should not be coopting the name "NURSE"

Forget occupy Wallstreet. Lets take back our titles!

SE_BSN_RN, BSN · Nov 14, 2011

The corporate machine won't stop until everyone that's making more than $50,000 a year is down to $12 an hour.
The field of nursing needs to quit trying to "elevate" the profession by pushing B.S.N.'s. This will only increase cuts of R.N.'s to other types like M.A.'s and CNA's.
The money would be better spent on ad campaign smearing hospitals for replacing R.N.'s with M.A.'s CNA's, etc.
The public has high regard for nurses, and the public doesn't understand what's happening. They think all these other people are nurses too.
They need to understand that their healthcare is being delivered by people making not much better than Starbucks.

Scary thought, isn't it!?

muesli · Nov 14, 2011

Has anyone noticed that pharmacist at major drug chains administer flu, pneumonia, and other vaccines at large pharmaceutical chains. The medical assistant at my doctors office calls in medications for me because they don't hire RN's. In the hospitals we have nursing aids, & patient care technicians assist with patient care. I know the value of RN's doing the many functions, but I ask myself when did personnel or professionals from other disciplines start performing what was once mostly performed by RN's.
Could this be part of the reason new grads. can't find employment, or frankly many nurses in different markets. Why bother hiring RN's ? I Know that nurses do more than administer medications, call in medications and perform other physical labor, but sometimes I ask myself if the push for more anxillary health care help is slowly replacing the need for RN's. I recall getting injections from RN's at the large pharmaceutical chains years ago, but now the pharmacist administers. They hire nurse practioners for the outpatient clinics at the large phamaceutical chains or drug stores, but they are advanced degree Registered Nurses. Does anyone value a nurse with a simple RN behind her name anymore?

OK this is a great question, and I hope none of the responses are angry or defensive!!! lol. You mentioned a few tasks here that are replaced by ancillary or other healthcare staff:

1) administering medications and immunizations

2) coordinating medication refills (performing administrative tasks)

3) assisting patients with activities of daily living (toileting, hygeine, etc) by nurses aides

Take a deep breath, because thankfully nursing is SO MUCH MORE and could never be defined by these tasks alone, nor be replaced by pharmacists or patient care assistants. What you are missing here is that the special contribution nurses make revolves around the nursing process (are you in school and studying this?). Nurses are the EYES and EARS for physicians and other disciplines. Our assessment skills combined with our knowledge of disease and disease management, nutrition, psychology and pharmacology, make us irreplaceable by a less educated patient care technician or a pharmacist whose training focuses on pharmacological treatment (not that these people aren't extremely valuable). We are so much more than just people performing tasks. We continuously assess our patients' condition using our knowledge acquired through a vigorous degree program and we assess patients' response to treatment, and changes in health status and then inform and collaborate with physicians and other disciplines. We educate patients on symptom management and disease prevention. We use psychosocial skills to help our patients increase their levels self-care and autonomy. In my bachelor's program I am learning about assessing nursing research to use scientific evidence to influence the care I give my patients. We are much more than talking pill dispensers, and while some will never value us, for the most part the healthcare system seems to realize that educated RNs are essential to certain aspects of patient care. While I would agree that medical assistants and LPNs have replaced nurses in doctors' offices and some long-term care settings, I do not see any push for the replacement of RNs in acute care settings, educational roles or care coordination.

SDALPN · Nov 14, 2011

To the OP....you make it sound as if only RN's are nurses. LPN's are nurses too. And stating "RN behind her name" makes it sound as if only women are nurses. Men are nurses too.

tothepointeLVN, LVN · Nov 14, 2011

To the OP....you make it sound as if only RN's are nurses. LPN's are nurses too. And stating "RN behind her name" makes it sound as if only women are nurses. Men are nurses too.

I wasn't going to go there but thank you and yes we are

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Nov 14, 2011

To the OP....you make it sound as if only RN's are nurses. LPN's are nurses too. And stating "RN behind her name" makes it sound as if only women are nurses. Men are nurses too.

The default pronoun in English is masculine. I see nothing wrong with defaulting to the feminine in a women-dominated profession.

muesli · Nov 14, 2011

To the OP....you make it sound as if only RN's are nurses. LPN's are nurses too. And stating "RN behind her name" makes it sound as if only women are nurses. Men are nurses too.

Good point! I'm sorry if my post was also insensitive to LPNs, although that wasn't my intent. I confess not to know a lot about LPNs because I don't work with many.

SDALPN · Nov 14, 2011

I wasn't going to go there but thank you and yes we are

From her other posts in the past....it needed to be mentioned. Too many comments specifically about RNs being nurses.

https://allnurses.com/nursing-career-advice/how-do-you-627271.html#post5738633

A comment about becoming an LPN or medical assistant to get your feet wet before going into nursing.

uuuugghhhhhhh!!!!!!

BTW, after seeing so many posts where she spelled congratulations wrong.....its not congradulations....sorry, but it really was just as annoying as reading LPN's aren't nurses.