You've worked hard to earn your title and now you're a bonafide nurse, helping and caring for those in need. What more could ruin your ideal job other than some nasty stereotypes? Here's an opportunity to set the record straight:

Tell us what stereotypes about nursing drive you crazy and aren't true?

Help us debunk common misconceptions and myths about the nursing profession by posting your response below!

For your viewing pleasure: 5 Nursing Stereotypes Debunked

http://nursinglink.monster.com/benefits/articles/1519-5-nursing-ste...

I definately agree with God's Blessings, I have had RN come to me and ask me how to do things, so that is a big stereotype. That though is not what I cant stand. I can't stand the double standard, that just because you are a nurse that you are suppose to know everything about the health field even if it's not in your specialty. when we go to school we learn the basics about each subject , area of health. When we get to work , whether med-surg or cardia, we learn even more. So why is it that we have nurses that judge each other when working with a nurse who worked in a nursing home starts to work in a hospital, or a nurse who works in the OR or Ortho floor starts to work in the ER. Their is a learning curve for everything, and if given a chance both nurses could learn a thing or two from the other. Just my opinion

I am a LPN with 2 Associate  Degrees. I have found that I have more education than many RN's. In my job I have trained RN's on the ventilator and have had to correct mistakes RN's have made. I have also worked with knowledgable RN's that I have considered it a blessing to work with.

I am not a naughty LPN and I have more than once declared I would not go back and care for a patient because of the way the patient would not keep his hands off me (I am a very small person) and at another a patient's friend grabbed me.

There are all kinds of nurses out there and no one group should be judged by one person's behavior.

  I have been out of work for nine months and with 29 years of experience I can't find a job.  Hospitals just want new grads that they don't have to pay the wages I would make.  In a way this is age discimination but can't be proved.  Being older doesnot make you slower or less capable of doing the work.  You just spend more time doing actual patient care.  The young people barely speak to the patients.

"Anyone can be  a nurse."  No, not everyone can be a nurse, everyone should not be a nurse, just like not  everyone should be a doctor or Supreme Court Justice.

It takes an unique skill set to be a nurse, and an even more unique set to be an excellent nurse. No, I did not want to be a doctor. I want to truly get to know my patients and help them achieve better health. I don't want to treat diseases, I want treat patients.

LPN with 2 semesters left (just started next to last semester this week) of RN school.

To add to nursing stereotypes the suggestion that nurses "should know" just about everything there is to know. I did not go to medical school, but I feel I should because when someone says to me: what? you don't know that, your a nurse, you should know"  I feel they are suggesting without saying that I do not have a very high intelligence level. I am taking classes now for my BSN and to qualify for the nursing program your GPA must be 3.0 or above. This is my personal opinion passing college level classes with an A, OR A+ is darn good.

I am an LPN, and can proudly say that because I went through nursing school just the same as an RN did. I have worked in LTC now for two years and have found that some RN's fresh out of school do not have the same amount of training that I recieved while in Nursing school. I remember when I worked at a Nursing home while doing agency work about a year ago, there was a nurse that was not sure how to draw blood. Being an LPN, some LTC facilities do not allow PN's to draw blood. So I walked her through step by step on what to do, and how to do it the right way. Needless to say I was always asked to fill in there, and was always welcomed with a smile.

I love being an LPN, but we tend to get walked on when it comes to RN's who have been over worked, and under paid. I am currently going back for my RN and just continue to remind myself I do not want to be "that RN".

I am glad to have the opportunity to start off as an LPN and I will bridge to a RN. I myself am a former 3rd and 4th grade teacher. I think that every nurse should start off as an LPN to get the skills and knowledge needed to become the most competent nurse possible. I have learned lots of skills while in school. I have a teacher now that was an LPN for 19 years and decided to bridge to her BSN and just finished her MSN. It made her time in school a lot easier. No one ever knew that she was already a nurse except her teachers until 3 weeks before she grad from her BSN. I love her down to earth and humble attitude in teaching us. I hope that I will become half the teacher that she already is!

I am currently a CNA in nursing school and work with very good smart dedicated LPN's. They show me what I will need to know when I become a nurse, things the teachers don't tell you. LPN's do a lot of work most RN's don't because it is delegated to the LPN. The stereotype that LPN's aren't full nurses is just wrong. Patients don't realize who is listening to their problems, calling the doctor in the middle of the night, calling a Code Blue when you decide to have a heart attack, keeping track of your blood sugar even when we know about the candy bar you had after dinner. I am proud to tell people that I am in the process of becoming an LPN.

WOW where to start.... I agree with what everyone said. I was a CNA for a few years of my life and then went to school to become an LPN and worked for five years in LTC, I am currently working on my RN and plan to stay in LTC. I like many others enjoy taking care of my patients.... not just anyone can be a nurse and I think that it definetly helps to go thru the ranks, It helps you learn perspective when the shoe has been on the other foot..... I am seeking my RN just because the pay is better I have already decided that I will stay on the floor, Dont anyone take this the wrong way but I have met some RN's in my time that really could have switched pay scales with the CNA's that worked with them..... I also do not plan on being.... that nurse!!! On a lighter note, it would be fun to meet and marry a doctor.... it would be fun to know more than your husband about his patients and still get the benefit of the pay!!!LOL

Gitano, you are too funny!

" Interestingly enough...Ever remember nurses running around,sporting lab jackets to cover their office outerwear

  and clicking stiletto heals through the halls,sensurrounded by bed/chair alarms galore,until they reach

  the Nurse's Desk to inquire:" ISN'T ANYONE GOING TO ANSWER THOSE BELLS?!" CASE-CLOSED".

 I too have had many times when a patient refused to let one of my male nurses care for them, I had one elderly lady that needed a cath, she would not let Alex do it since he was a male, I came in and calmly said Mrs. *%^# could you tell me again, what sex your urologist is?  Uh uh well he is a male. Exactly, he is a male and he puts a catheter in you once a month does he not? Well yes. Okay well Alex is also a healthcare professional, JUST like your doctor, so he will be putting in your catheter today Mrs. *%#%, you have a great day.

One thing that is frustrating is nurses that eat their young. Nurses who feel the need to compete with every other nurse. Nurses that spend more time gossiping than taking care of their patients. THIS is what really frustrates me with my staff, trying to break these bad habits, the new ones always start it going.  grrrrr

@Gitano...I wish more were like you! You have such a sweet spirit!

Gitano_RN, I've been doing it for a long time.  I remember back in 1990 when I was training to be an LPN, I was doing a rotation in my last semester as a "medication nurse."  I walked into a room and identified myself to the patient; there was family present, among them a little girl who looked up at her mother and asked "he's a nurse?  but he's a boy!"  Her mother said in response, "he's here for the men," and immediately afterward I followed it with a polite but emphatic "I'm here for anybody that needs me."  I know, twenty years ago but still hardly the Dark Ages.  But where I live, and especially in rural areas, that's how it was, and still is, to an extent.