Ok..so this has been bothering me a lot, but yesterday I had an encounter with a PT and now this is starting to get to me. Just a little rant..and I'd like to know if anyone else feels this way and how you deal with it.
Little backround on me: I'm 22, and def. look younger then I am. I worked for 2 years as a student nurse aide, 3 months in PA as a RN on a peds/med-surg floor, and now im here in Texas doing Peds home health. I have had my fair share of experiences, and although I know im not an expert, I'm most certainly not a novice. Therefore..it bothers me when people never take me seriously that I'm a nurse.
Yesterday I took my patient to PT, and the PT and I were talking, and she asks about me and my backround. And so I tell her, and shes like " Oh you must be a LPN then.." (NO disrespect meant to LPNS here WHATSOEVER!) No ma'am, I'm an RN, yes I have my bachelors, yes I went to school for 4 years, and yes I have experience ( Now i didnt tell her that, just told her that I was an RN, but thats what I wanted to say).. she just seemed so shocked..and shes not the only one who is shocked that I'm a RN. She was kind of just the last straw since this wasnt the first time..
I've had lots of people seem to not take me seriously that I'm a nurse, and this frustrates me. I just hate when people find out I'm a nurse and say- not ask- they say "you must be an LPN then". I worked hard for my bachelors..ugh..just ask me what I am and i'll gladly tell u! With each new job..I pretty much get asked how old I am every time...
So..after this rant, since this has been on my mind all day..I feel better.
Does anyone else experience this? I want to be taken seriously..not looked at like I must not know much about nursing since I look younger and therefore have no experience. I'm really just curious as to opinions and what you all think..
I dont want to stir anything up,but I'm just frustrated and needed to vent. thanks for responses in advance! :)
I was just wondering how all of you got your RN or BSN at such a young age.
i graduated from college in '98 (first bachelors)...went back to nursing school 2001 & graduated in 2002...started working as an RN in 2002...worked and went to graduate school (NP) starting in 2003 and just finished at the end of 2005. That's how I did it :-)
I've mostly found that Drs don't seem to really care how old (or young!) I am, they just want to give their orders and go. However, I have occasionally had some bad experiences with older nurses who automatically assume that since I'm not as old as they are I obviously don't know anything. It has been frustrating at times! I had a situation where I was orienting a new nurse (who was probably 15 years older than me) and she had never worked cardiac, while I had been working it for the last 2 years. She was very hard to work with since she refused to listen to what I said, and to my advice and yes, my experience! I certainly don't claim to know everything, and there is still much for me to learn, but I don't like being discounted just because I am young. All that said though, I have had many great experiences, and fortunatly the majority of people that I have worked with and encountered have been great.
not to change the subject but I mentioned to my Dh that I thought he needed to go back to the dermatologist he tickled me with his response. He said (very seriously), "Aw Babe, I don't think that kid knows what he's talking about."
Maybe it's just me, but I'm cracking up now just thinking about it
I've been a nurse since 1990. Since then I haven't aged. So 16 years down the track, I'm 38 and still look like I am in my early twenties and get treated like I know nothing. Meanwhile, a friend of mine, she has been a nurse for 18 months, she's just turned 50, has the right look, you know wrinkles, grey hair ect and so people think she is a senior nurse.
Gah, I'm so over it I decided not to take a higher level position or work extra shifts anymore. I just have had enough. The less time I spend in the place the better.
People are nice when you explain. Like my colleagues all know but the patients, every day at least one asks for the senior nurse. Well considering tomorrow I am the only senior nurse on, plus one enrolled nurse and casual/agency, I'll not be a happy bunny of I get questioned. No one is rude. It's just tedious now. I'm getting old, it's about time people understood that
I guess I will get it. I just got my MSN and will start my NP job soon. I am 28 but people always tell me they think I am 19 or 20. Wish me luck, I understand.
Oooo, I'm in trouble - I'm 32 and still get carded. Someone actually TOLD me to my face that there was no way I could be 32. I told them that if I were going to lie about my age, I'd tell them I'm 24 because I could get by with it. Why would I lie about being, of all things, 32??
I used to get that stuff all the time. I'm not even five feet tall, and I look younger than I am. Now that I'm almost thirty (next month ) I don't get it nearly as often as I did when I first started in nursing. I also graduated high school at 18, got my BSN when I was 22, and started working as an RN that same year.
I remember during those early years, I got a lot of looks from the parents of the babies I cared for. Like they didn't really trust me to know what I was doing, until they spent some time watching me and listening to me.
I remember one evening, probably when I was like 24 or 25, I was caring for this very sick baby. We're talking oscillating ventilator, multiple IV drips, transfusions, unstable vitals, the whole bit. The baby's grandfather watched me caring for this child for over an hour - assessing, weighing, helping suction, giving IV meds, drawing labs, talking with the docs, etc. When I finally got a spare moment, he actually asked me if I was doing this as a special high school course.
I couldn't believe it! Did he really think an unsupervised high school kid would be caring for a very sick 1 pound baby?!?!
Nowadays, I rarely get those suspicious looks, and I often don't get carded when ordering alcohol in a bar or restaurant. Better believe I've started using eye cream religiously!!! Most of the time, I love shocking people with my real age!!!
There was an x-ray tech who came to a room where I was taking care of a patient and she said knowing that I was an extern, "Do you live on campus?or are you at home with your parents?" I said, "No, I live at home with my husband" She said "Oh I thought you were 18", I said, No I'm 35. She said, "I couldn't even tell", I said the genes run in the family, my grandmother is 93 and looks like a cool 70 and my mother looks as young as my sister and I. I enjoy crossing the age barrier - Its quite a compliment.....HB
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) I don't get it nearly as often as I did when I first started in nursing. I also graduated high school at 18, got my BSN when I was 22, and started working as an RN that same year.
GiantHeart21
51 Posts
I was just wondering how all of you got your RN or BSN at such a young age.