Where have all of the nurses gone?

Or, where have all of the PROFESSIONAL nurses and nursing students gone? The focus and atmosphere on this site have made a drastic change in the past few months.  Several members have left. I left for a few weeks and returned because I missed so many people on here. I have many of my current and former students who are members of this site and they encouraged me to return.

I am very distressed over the way events have turned on here. The name calling, the “I am so much better than you because I . . .” attitudes, and the fact that the members, and it seems at times the staff, have lost focus of what this site is all about.

Here is a small part of what we are supposed to have here on this site:

“There’s no other place that brings together all the tools, content and community you need to get you through your work life.”

And

“NursingLink brings nurses together to provide resources and services to advance careers and take advantage of everything a community site has to offer. News, education resources, job search, career networking, advice, and mentorship are just a few of those benefits.”

Has anyone seen this lately? I have seen members get upset because of requests to stop so much of the silly games and get back to nursing topics. I have seen members, including myself upset because important topics get pushed aside for games. Feelings have been hurt, some have tried to use the site as a place to pick up dates, and some have had horrible nasty lies started about them.

The point system I think has caused a lot of hard feelings. In the beginning the point system was fun once we figured out what it was all about. I have seen the point system change three times in a year so I have truly given up on it.

There are several members who have been on here since the very beginning of the start up of this site. They are feeling unappreciated and used. These original members have worked very hard and have in essence built this site to what it is today. I know for a fact how many members are on this site that I have brought here. I have taught LPN, RN, and PA classes and close to 500 members are my students and former students. In addition I have many of my coworkers on here. I came to this site at the invite of my dear friend and former coworker BPARK.  

I hope that the members I list here are not at all upset with me: charlita (who it seems has also left us) shan4691, starlightrn, damomb, al, ljr, vickelee, nevadarn, cutie; and so many others who have been on here from the beginning. I know I have left some out and I am sorry. I am just spouting and want to get this posted. Please do not think I have forgotten you or left you out intentionally.

I see some posts on here about “friend collecting” More than one has sent me an email about this. It does not seem fair at all to those of us who have literally built this site that “point collectors”, as they have been called, can knock down those who have truly be loyal to this site for all of the right reasons with no thanks.  

There once was a feel of professionalism on this link. Am I the only one who wonders where all of the professional nurses and students have gone?

Oh, looky there, I just earned two more poularity points...sorry cd, I couldn't help myself!  Subtle sarcasm has never really been one of my stronger suits!

Oh boy me too. Points, points points.

I wish the ones who left would return. You are leaving for silly reasons. You have made new friends, inspired students like myslef, get over the point system and be proud of your accomplishments in the REAL world.

I'm glad to see CDNURSE return. I'd like to see a couple other people return as well. You can't leave because of the silly point system. I agree that this site wasn't here for a "popularity contest".

I agree with CD...points or no points, we are on the site to get to know each other, get support as nurses, and learn more about the nursing profession.  I, myelf, have started games.  I just like relaxing sometimes.  I will be more aware to start Forums that have to do with Nursing and its purpose.  It is okay to have fun sometimes too while learning.  I started a Forum called illness.......this is a cool way to learn about diseases.  We each know something that perhaps someone else does not know OR wants to know more about.  These kinds of topics are good I think.  I hope we all continue to have fun, get to know each other, and learn as much as we can about the Nursing field.  Nurses Rock!

squirmals: do not let the ragging about speeling stop you. I have seen your posts. you are very bright. I think (I know the ragging that I have done any way) about spelling is a little more than typos and that more is expected from educated people than what we have seen on hre.

I'm just glad to be around some very fun, professional, and kind people.

Take the points away. I could care less. I don't have much time these days anyway to rack up the points. Nursing school takes up way too much time!!

damomb: great ideas. Wish I had thought of that.

We can all make typos and spell something wrong from time to time. I think, from what I have seen on here, is that some are vey blatant and not at all indicative of an educated nurse. The point that is trying to be made, I think, is that we are professionals and need to write like professionals. Most of the postings I have seen on here seem to be of that caliber. However, I have seen some that make me cringe. Again, we can all make mistakes but I have seen some postings that make me wonder how someone got out of the sixth grade. I do not think that anyone has set out to hurt some ones feelings.

Good topic CD, however I'm rather hesitant anymore voicing my opinion, since just recently I've received emails calling me rude, questioning what my mother taught me, a sad person and to "get over it".

DaMomb, I posted something similar to your idea months ago in forum change topic. ( can't remember the name of topic)  I asked, if duplicate posts/topics could be consolidated under one similar topic and then the excess deleted. 

In my defense, I am one of those who would post the topic is already being discussed and usually would take the time to give the topic title.  It was an effort on my part to make this site more mobile and easy to navigate.  I won't do this again.

Dear "editor"....you state:

2. Within the next two weeks, we will be adding site moderators to the forums who will police threads. They will move misplaced threads into the correct forums and be able to shut down inappropriate threads. A moderator will be designated by an icon in a user's profile.

so what parameters, education, guidelines will these "moderators" have at their disposal to determine "inappropriate threads"?

well cd, looks like you got someone's attention!  Hopefully, some of the new upcoming changes will be helpful.  However, I see nothing in regards to (eliminating) the "point" system.

Point and friend collecting, is that why I am getting so many invites these days. CD I just wandered off because of some of what you mentioned and I gotta say that some of it lookes a bit juvy for my taste, and there is no doubt that I am one of the cracked pots on this site. Good job CD, you have again pointed to true north.

lj

larry, glad you found the topic and hope we can get the juveniles off of here.

editor says ...

NursingLink Members,

First off, I would like everyone to know that we do not turn a blind eye to your concerns and we at NursingLink take them very seriously. We are adding a series of features and general improvements to the site that we hope will help placate some of the issues brought up in this thread.

 

1. We have added a new forum called "Game Zone" where all the games will live. We hope that this will be a effective solution in keeping the games seperate from the general professional topics.

2. Within the next two weeks, we will be adding site moderators to the forums who will police threads. They will move misplaced threads into the correct forums and be able to shut down inappropriate threads. A moderator will be designated by an icon in a user's profile.

3. We will be adding a new feature by the end of the month to verify is a user is an acutal nurse or not . More details to come during the launch of the feature.

 

We hope that these new features will alleviate  your concerns. If you have any more questions or conerns, feel free to contact the Editor, GBPrice or Jawirt.

 

Have a great day!

 

-The NursingLink Team

Hopefuly, the moderators will be some of the long-term members.

Do you think that it would posilbe for the user submitted news to stay up long enough (3-5 days) for all to have a chance to read and comment on them. We used to have some great discussions from these articles. Now, they are thrown out there for the point value only.