As many of you are aware we "allnurses' staff went to Washington DC and had a booth in the exibitors floor.
During our time at the booth in DC we had many people who said they surfed allnurses.com site but didnt join and become members even though it is free to join.
So my question is what made you take the plunge and become a member?
And for those surfing the web site right now, why dont you join and tell us why you never joined before?
I had surfed without joining while in pre-reqs, and I made the plunge with a paid membership when I started nursing school.
I had an unrealistic view of nursing and the attitudes of people in nursing prior to joining. This site set me straight.
I worked in corporate America a long time, and it is necessarily set up hierarchically, i.e. you know less, you have a lesser position, and you have fewer responsibilities. As you gain more experience, you take on more and more and are rewarded with money and promotions. Differing levels of education are rewarded, and lesser-educated employees accept it as fact, rather than with defensiveness. Responsibilities are also clearly demarcated among differing levels of employees.
In nursing, the lack of hierarchy and the need to hit the ground running as a new grad creates tension, bad feelings, loss of confidence, and just general bad behavior among some, apparently. I now know what to expect. It has opened my eyes. I must be able to perform the same duties in the same amount of time with the same level of responsibility as someone who has been there for 20 years. I won't be perfect at it, but I know what is expected of me not long after being hired. Six month preceptorships seem to be a thing of the past, from what I read (please correct me if I'm wrong!) For these revelations, I'm grateful.
To make the nurse's life easier when I am in the hospital under their care, which is frequently -- hospital etiquette, I guess you could say. And there is a lot of good up to date information on this site for patients. God bless all the nurses out there, I don't know how you guys do it, over worked, under paid and under appreciated with hearts of gold.
When I first started visiting, I was not even a pre-nursing student yet. I only read the humor threads. I got tired of having to remember where I was up to when I came back so I set up an account. After finishing with the humor threads, I started visiting the rest of the site.
The things I learned about nursing school and nursing kept me coming back every single day. Back then, there was always something new for me to learn. I would quickly go through the forums, subscribe to the threads that interested me, then go back and read through them. Back then, missing a day of visiting meant missing a lot of information to learn.
Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.
I joined allnurses.com because I am a future nurse. I was searching for info on various subjects from nursing and the forums from allnurses kept popping up so I checked it out and fell in love. I especially liked the fact that their were tons of other male nurses and prospective male nurses on here for me to connect with. All other sites bashed nurses (example of one I joined is Student doctor.com) because most that were members were docs, med students, or those wanting to go into medicine and occasionally one of those nurses who hates nursing. Allnurses allows me to find people who love everything about nursing as much as I do.
:kiss:loveya: It is just nice to know you are not alone when you are going through the hell in school and are not alone looking for your first nursing job.
I joined when I was in the RN program. I just found this website to be helpful and I thought this community would be a great source of support from others having gone through nursing school and the first few years thereafter.
I came across allnurses.com by accident. A couple years ago I was looking for information on how to get a nursing assisant job and apply to a specific nursing school I was interested in. When I noticed that there were people on this forum who lived in my area and were able to answer my questions, that's when I decided to join.
I joined in 2000 StudentSandra, after graduation in 03, got busy working etc, got away for a while, them came back a few years ago. I had forgotten my old name. Was also away for a while when I was stuck on dial-up.
I joined in 2004. I was a pre-nursing student and in doing a Google search, came across my question being answered here at allnurses.com.
I quickly became fascinated and joined right away. This site was such a wealth of information when I finally entered the nursing program. Here I am still. It's definitely addictive but also the best and only place for me to come and commiserate with others that understand. As a matter of fact, my family is clueless as to what goes on at work or what I really do because they just don't get it............this is my refuge!
Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.
I was encouraged in school to join the website. It was listed as a resource for one of my classes, can't remember which.
Anyway I decided to go straight to Platinum because I really respected the layout, moderation and support of the site. It has always been a great $60 spend for me!
I joined as a pre-nursing student. I was so excited to start on this journey towards my second career and was so happy to find this resource that I paid for a student membership. That option isn't available anymore.
Truly, I've walked away from the board several times due to decisions made by the administration of the board (removal of student membership, mismanaged upgrades, unfair and restrictive moderation, etc) but have come back in spite of the administration because of the other members.
dudette10, MSN, RN
3,530 Posts
I had surfed without joining while in pre-reqs, and I made the plunge with a paid membership when I started nursing school.
I had an unrealistic view of nursing and the attitudes of people in nursing prior to joining. This site set me straight.
I worked in corporate America a long time, and it is necessarily set up hierarchically, i.e. you know less, you have a lesser position, and you have fewer responsibilities. As you gain more experience, you take on more and more and are rewarded with money and promotions. Differing levels of education are rewarded, and lesser-educated employees accept it as fact, rather than with defensiveness. Responsibilities are also clearly demarcated among differing levels of employees.
In nursing, the lack of hierarchy and the need to hit the ground running as a new grad creates tension, bad feelings, loss of confidence, and just general bad behavior among some, apparently. I now know what to expect. It has opened my eyes. I must be able to perform the same duties in the same amount of time with the same level of responsibility as someone who has been there for 20 years. I won't be perfect at it, but I know what is expected of me not long after being hired. Six month preceptorships seem to be a thing of the past, from what I read (please correct me if I'm wrong!) For these revelations, I'm grateful.