NursingLink

What phrases or questions REALLY get under your skin? Is it something along the lines of "Why didn't you become a doctor?" or "Would you choose McDreamy or McSteamy?"

Share those lines that really push your buttons and then check out our Top 10 Things to NEVER Say to a Nurse.

"You're just a nurse, let me talk to the doctor".  That really sucks when  a patient you are trying to help says that to you!  In my case I am only a med tech, but I have put a  lot of caths and cleanup up nasty wounds, helped the doc hold the finger of a man who got it amputated.  I am important too!  Plus I have carried several dead people to the morg.

To a night nurse:  "Nothing happens at night!"

MAMADAWN says ...

"You're just a nurse, let me talk to the doctor".  That really sucks when  a patient you are trying to help says that to you!  In my case I am only a med tech, but I have put a  lot of caths and cleanup up nasty wounds, helped the doc hold the finger of a man who got it amputated.  I am important too!  Plus I have carried several dead people to the morg.

YES! You hit the nail on the head there! As if nurses didn't spend 99.99999% of their time with patients compared to a doctor's 15%.

i am a nurse working in post partum ward and our nursing supervisor told me.."there is no work in post partum" ahuh..what was i doing the whole time then?sleeping?

"You work in L&D?  Oh, you get to hold babies all day?"

Oh heck no!  I hold babies about 0.5% of my time.  Or less.  I'm too busy managing several laboring women (and their unborn children).  Each "patient" I have is actually two (or more, in the case of twins) patients in one unit.  Multiply that by several mother/fetus dyads that I am caring for, and that adds up to a lot of patients I'm taking care of at one time.  A mother or fetus can crash at any moment - and they do.  I need to be able to handle any emergency that is thrown at me.  I take care of critically ill pregnant women as well.  I have skills in labor, delivery, antepartum, critical care, surgical skills, PACU skills, etc.  Who has time to "hold babies all day"????

It's not the doctor who is managing your multiple medications (including some very high risk drugs like pitocin, magnesium, insulin, heparin), nor is it the doctor who is by your side being your advocate, support person, medical lifeline, while you are laboring/delivering.  The doc comes in at the end for the "catch" and gets all the glory, while I'm the one who has actually managed and taken care of you all day/night.  I am the eyes, ears, and hands of your doctor.

Hold babies.....hmph.

Are you sure you know what you are doing?

The phrase that really bothers me is, "you're JUST an LPN?". The fact is that after being a nurse for 23 YEARS is that I probably know more than most RN'S!!!!!!!

 I've been a nurse for 20 years, and have done a lot of different kinds of nursing. Med/Surg, Home Care - taking care of patients with Trachs and Vents, Feeding Tubes, and Nebulizer treatments - in the home.  I've also worked in Maternal/Newborn, Pediatrics, and Long-Term Care - which encompasses patients with Alzheimer's, Dementia, Multiple Sclerosis, etc.  

When I interview with some nurses, I get an answer which drives me crazy!  For example, we need someone with more experience.  We don't want to train anyone, and we need someone who has done this, and can come in running.

I too, have been asked if I knew what I was doing.  I would gauge the patient's intelligence level, and their sense of humor, and sometimes, I reply:  "No, I just make it up as I go along".  This makes some of them laugh, and then the patients feel more at ease.  Many times, a patient and their family members are just nervous or downright petrified, and need someone who understands this.

I have been asked to jump in as an Agency Nurse in a strange hospital, and did fairly well.  

Nurses do a lot more than just empty bedpans.  And if a nurse IS emptying one, it's because he/she has to know the color, odor, consistency, amount, and frequency of the bowel movement.  This helps doctors to steer their tests in a specific direction, to correctly diagnose the patient's condition.

Also, Nurses start and change IV's, administer medications, monitor all the Vital Signs = Temperature, Pulse, Blood Pressure, Respirations, and Pain.

In a Nursing Home, there is rarely a physician who is available to jump in and care for a patient who goes into cardiac or respiratory distress.

It is the Nurse who must call a code, administer First Aid, and call 911 to transport a patient to the hospital.  Sometimes, a nurse must argue with a doctor, and inform them that a patient has a new illness - such as pneumonia.  The argument must be subtle, sometimes, because some MDs feel they are god.  I called one such doctor, and informed her that a patient was developing breathing problems, and I thought she might have pneumonia, after I listened to her lungs.  The doctor snapped at me, on the phone, and said : "Well, I was just there, and I didn't hear anything!!"  I then stated, "Well, could we just have an X-Ray, please, to make sure that the patient doesn't have it?"  The doctor was angry, but because she had to protect HER own license, agreed.  The X-Ray was POSITIVE FOR PNEUMONIA.  Good thing I persisted. 

Nurses are also responsible for inserting catheters into patients, for urine, and for feeding.  Also, Nurses are the ones who monitor patients, and ensure that physicians are kept up to date on their condition.  

Yes, I DO wish I could go to Med School, and apply what I have learned in Nursing, and continue.  However, I am happy now, being an R.N., with my BSN.  I worked extremely hard, and acquired a great deal of knowledge.  

The main problem in Nursing, is that many Nurses tend to be nasty to other nurses, and create an atmosphere of tension and nervousness.  If ALL Nurses would help each other, and stop looking to get other nurses into trouble, Nurses would be happier, more confident, and less stressed out and less burned out.

Also, with respect to other people's comments, Nurses don't have time for in-hospital or in-nursing home romances.  We're too busy saving lives!!!

Joan M. Enering, R.N, BSN

I have been an LPN now for 12 years and proud of it.  I have RN'S tell me that  they would put me up against an new RN anyday because of my knowledge.  Yet there's always that one RN or other staff member that says "Well your JUST an LPN.  That really gets under my skin.  I have looked down at my name tag several times and said back thats funny my title ends in NURSE also.  Its not the title that makes a nurse folks.  Its the compassion, dedication and knowledge.  LPN's are nurses and good nurses at that.

I only recently graduated lpn school and talk about rude awakenings... i always thought being a cna was hard... yeah right my back may not hurt as bad but i am like that one nurse on hawthorne... always on the verge of tears... my pay got bigger but so did the problems and responsabilities.... just a nurse    please i am the one there when you need something

I am a doctor in the Republic of the Philippines as well as a registered nurse both in the Philippines and in New Mexico, USA.  I have a three years experience as an ICU nurse here in my country of origin, the Philippines.  What I can say is that - nurses do have a demanding job and it demands a 100% of him or her.  I do believe that nurses are stronger, tougher, and more equipped with a lot of things and they can handle different situations as well as scenarious altogether.  I am very proud to be in the nursing society/community and as a health care giver - I do not care if you are a doctor or a nurse as long as you do your job well. 

I'm a night shift nurse, I prefer nights to days -, nothing sends me up in smoke quicker than being told I should find something better to do than wake a patient for vitals, treatments, meds etc. Particularly love hearing this from post op patients....

The next worst thing to say to a night shift nurse, "Well ya know, all they do is sit around and eat - when they aren't sleeping"..... I wish I had a nickel for every shift I didn't get a bathroom break, much less something to eat OR drink...

HHMMMM... and while I'm thinking about it, How about the clueless that suggest - after three or four night shifts in a row - "You should be able to stay awake today, and go to bed tonight like normal"....

LOL.... Maybe I should quit now, I'm thinking of more and more..... and I love nursing.

The one that I can't stand is "Is that all nurses do, is pass out pills and take vs??"  That makes me want to scream!!!!  If they only knew what all we have to do as a nurse, they would crawl in a hole and hide!!!!

 

 

To a night nurse:  "Nothing happens at night!"

And to this, I would reply... when you're sick it doesn't matter if it's night or day, YOU are still sick.   It's actually worse at night because you're working with skeleton crew and  don't have a lot of support should a patient start to circle the drain.