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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be pissed off at being 'just' a nurse?

613 replies

bottleofwater · 18/12/2017 22:45

Three times in the last week Ive had different family members making sarky comments regarding some recent achievements & promotion at work.

Usually comments along the lines of "Oh Florence Nightingale you will be telling the Doctors what to do now" " You will be a surgeon in no time" & " What do nurses know about blood pressures, they are not doctors".

Im so fed up of how its like being a nurse is rubbish & that only Doctors are of any value Angry

Also comments regarding how I dont make the same amount of money as other family members but thats probably another thread!

Not sure what they think nurses actually do but aibu to be pissed off at the constant sneering at me?

OP posts:
FruitCider · 19/12/2017 13:42

Agents = aren’t

RebornSlippy · 19/12/2017 13:43

@FruitCider, I'd really love if you could point me to anywhere at anytime that I've described nurses or midwives as doctors' maids!

NB, you won't find it, because I never said it. Read my posts again. Good job this isn't a drug kardex...

FruitCider · 19/12/2017 13:47

Drug kardex don’t exist in my service (or most other services these days), it’s all electronic Wink you are correct, you didn’t say that, however you do keep insisting that nurses have limited autonomy which simply is not true.

Polarbearflavour · 19/12/2017 13:48

RebornSlippy - at one time, midwives had to be nurses first. Now there is a stand-alone midwifery BSc. It’s a separate profession in its own right but of course they are linked.

Registered adult nurses can train to be midwives with an 18 month conversion course. Human anatomy, drugs, treatments, medical conditions etc don’t change...

RebornSlippy · 19/12/2017 13:51

Yes, @Polarbear, I'm aware. I'm a midwife myself. Which is why I was pretty surprised to read a fellow midwife compare her role to that of a nurse's. In my opinion, there is absolutely no similarity in the job description. One dealing with sick people and the other dealing, for the mostpart, with healthy women for a start.

Tiredeypops · 19/12/2017 14:00

It never ends. My best friend gets sick of being 'just a dentist' when she does more hours, earns more money and works harder than her DH (doctor) - it's not him that comments btw.

Polarbearflavour · 19/12/2017 14:03

RebornSlippy - if there is no similarity between nurses and midwives, why can nurses become midwives in half the time it takes for a normal midwifery BSc?

In the USA, they also have Certified nurse-midwives.

WiddlinDiddling · 19/12/2017 14:08

This is like saying 'you are just an apple, these others are oranges'..

A nurse and a dr have two very different jobs, most drs I know could NOT do a nurses job (whereas on the other hand most nurses I know could have a bloody good go at doing a drs job and make less of a mess of it than many!).

You cannot and should not compare the two, one is not 'better' than the other, they are different.

RebornSlippy · 19/12/2017 14:09

@Polarbear, I'm talking about the actual role. Of course, the basics of anatomy and physiology is what it is. During their training, nurses and midwives must cover these basics. However, the job they do is very different as is the training, once the basics are out of the way in the first year or so. Which is why (to flip it on its head) nurses must do an additional 18 months to become midwives in order to focus on women, pregnancy and childbirth specifically.

The USA... well where to start? I have no interest in becoming an obstetric nurse, which is essentially what they have in America. Childbirth is a highly medicalised experience a lot of the time in the States and it's not something I'm attracted to.

Tiredeypops · 19/12/2017 14:10

We don't need all this Dr bashing to agree that nurses do a great job btw

NeilPetark · 19/12/2017 14:13

Let’s start on pharmacists next, I mean they’re just failed doctors right? 🙄

pallisers · 19/12/2017 14:19

There is a whole lot of prejudiced crap being talked on here - about nurses AND doctors. And no, most nurses can't have a bloody good go at doing a drs job because it is not what they are trained to do. Just as most physios couldn't do a nurse's job or most lawyers couldn't do an ad executive's job etc etc.

I also think the more traditional elements of nursing that a lot of people sneer at (even on this thread - bed baths etc) are utterly undervalued and almost eliminated from modern healthcare but that kind of personal attention to the patient's total physical needs done by a highly-trained, experienced, professional is enormously useful - far more so than a dietician doing one consult, the family left to help the patient shower or use the bathroom etc. - there is now a disconnect between the patient's physical condition and what happens him in the hospital because nurses are overwhelmed - just look at the threads about partners staying over after women give birth. I believe that if my father had had the benefits of really intense nursing like nurses had time to do years ago, he might have lived longer. I know that the reason I was able to breastfeed my first after a very traumatic birth (and probably the reason I didn't get pnd) was that the wonderful midwives/nurses spent ages with me, figuring out how to get him to latch (this was in the US).

RebornSlippy · 19/12/2017 14:20

I have never wanted to become a doctor. I wanted to be a midwife, so this is what I did. I can also say that I appreciate the essential role of obstetrician's within the MDT. They take over and step in when I am outside my scope and abilities. We need them. They also need us to do what we do when things go well, meaning they are not needed at all. Just like doctors and nurses, are roles are very different and both valuable.

I suppose the difference between nursing and midwifery is that there is potential for women to never need an obstetrician, whereas, by the very nature of nursing; all hospitalised patients require medical input and as such, a doctor. Your roles are intrinsically linked. Others here have said that doctors have the greatest respect for nurses. I find it sad that the nurses don't seem to hold doctors in the same regard.

AmeliaFlashtart · 19/12/2017 14:20

And why oh why do nurses whilst striving to be considered as professional at work always resort to the cheesy stereotype of sexy nurse when a fancy dress themed social bash arises.

DharmaInitiativeLady · 19/12/2017 14:23

OP, I hear you. My family make comments like this too. It's embarrassing for them to have a nurse in the family you see.

Xmas Angry
Mia1415 · 19/12/2017 14:24

YANBU On the many occasions I've been in A&E with my DS, its been the nurses that have prescribed treatment and cared for him. On more than one occasion the doctors were asking the nurses what treatment they thought they should give.

(on one occasion the nurse and doctor had a massive argument in front of me about it - and the nurse was the one in the right!).

I've a huge amount of respect for nurses and doctors.

AmeliaFlashtart · 19/12/2017 14:26

Gah, all these thick doctors getting in the way of the nurses!

ginteresting · 19/12/2017 14:31

Op, your problem is your family. You have worked hard in your chosen career to get a promotion, instead of supporting you and giving congratulations, they choose to compare you to a different profession to make your promotion feel less important. Doctors and nurses are different they don't need to be compared. Neither, could probably do their job without the other though.

AmeliaFlashtart · 19/12/2017 14:34

Don't be ridiculous, of course a doctor could do a nurses job. The nurse couldn't do the doctors though.

ginteresting · 19/12/2017 14:36

Amelia

ginteresting · 19/12/2017 14:37

Amelia Biscuit posted too soon.

Polarbearflavour · 19/12/2017 14:45

AmeliaFlashtart - really?! Confused

Could any doctor also do the job of a physio, occupational therapist, radiographer, dietician or speech therapist?

They are different professions.

Seacow87 · 19/12/2017 14:46

Unfair to say nurses have no autonomy. I work at an advanced level. I prescribe. I examine. I admit and discharge. Order and report tests. No nurse is just a nurse. People who dont realise it are "just idiots". The majority work very hard because we care and want the best for our patients.

BiglyBadgers · 19/12/2017 14:47

Reborn I haven't seen any nurses on here who don't show good doctors the greatest respect. Arguing that nursing is a different and yet vital role that should be respected in its own right is not a slight on doctors. I find it sad that a midwife whom I would have thought would have a better understanding of the health care service does not seem to realise that not all nursing takes place in a hospital ward setting. Many nurses in different roles do treat and support patients without any more involvement from doctors than a during a simple birth. In many situations, as with midwifery during birth, nurse lead care is the expected and ideal.

Polarbearflavour · 19/12/2017 14:54

RebornSlippy - but things like care plans, obs, helping patients wash, referrals, discharges etc and the basic ward routine for nurses and midwives are similar in hospitals?