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

[bottleofwater]

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

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?

Going back to autonomy. Your patient has a do not resuscitate order in, and they deteriorate rapidly on the ward. The crisis meds are prescribed which you known will end their life. Do you wait around to call the doctor or do you end their suffering?

That’s a really extreme example but it’s just one of the challenges nurses face.

A few of the responses here have shocked me in their ignorance.

Nurses are not just doctor's assistants. We are a clinical profession which specialises in a different set of skills. No, I am not directed by doctors, senior nurses direct nurses. While I'm sure it varies in different areas, in my locations doctors diagnose and prescribe medication (obviously some nurses can prescribe) while nurses specialise in risk assessment and spoken therapy (though obviously psychologists also offer spoken therapies).

Saying someone is just a nurse, because they aren't a doctor, is like saying someone is just a fireman because they aren't a police officer.

@FruitCider and @Monoblock, you're really doing yourselves no favours right now. Just saying.

Anyway, goodnight all.

Haha laughing at comment about how doctors do more procedures.. ime - bollocks!
Work in a hectic acute ward and our nurses are incredible, can not fault them.
One example; had an emergency in - patient had the opportunity to be thrombolised (blood thinned - treatment for certain types of stroke which has to be performed within 4 1/2hours if onset of symptoms) so A&E contact our ward, let us know a patient is en route. .
1.nurse in charge contacts doctor on ward/on call to come ASAP

1. Ensures bed space is cleared which could require resituating upwards of two patients - requires liaison with bed manager
2. RUNS to A&E to begin admission paperwork, during this gathers medical history and performs stroke toolkit tests
3. Orders emergency CT scan
4. Chases up doctor and result of CT scan
5. Prepares drugs to be administered using patients weight which they themselves measured at A&E
6. Liaise with other staff nurse on duty to ensure continued care of acute patients on the ward, this can include having many unwell patients
7. Re-assess patient on arrival to ward, hand over admission, scan and A&E information to doctor
8. Administer drugs if the procedure is a go ahead

10. Perform 15minutely observations on patient for the First two hours followed by half hourly for six hours and then hourly for 24hours 11. Continues to provide care for other patients in room, some of which may be unwell 12. Documents entire process in nursing, multi-professional, patient and relatives communication notes, orders follow up scans, tests, procedures and ensures safety of patient for their continued stay

Doctor:

1. Find correct ward and patient
2. Liase with nurse
3. Explain treatment option to patient/patient representative (which nurse has most undoubtedly already done while comforting patient/rep throughout initial assessment)
4. Confirms consent
5. Writes up medical notes

FruitCider RMNs are brilliant, I’ve worked with loads of fantastic ones! IM Pabrinex though...ouch!!

Or... I’ve got a 22 year old heroin addict and alcoholic come in at 8pm after the doctor has left. He’s sweating, vomiting, shaking, has runny eyes, nose, stomach cramps. Scoring 14 on COWS, pulse is high, systolic is high, pupils size 5 reactive to light. Clearly in opiate and alcohol withdrawals. So I go ahead and give 200mcg lofexidine, 10mg diazepam, 1g paracetamol, 400mg ibuprofen, 135mg mebeverine, 10mg metoclopromide via injection, loperamide 4mg. All without them seeing a doctor on their clinical presentation.

(This is just an example of a scenario that happens vvv frequently and is not based on any particular patient).

*Back in the day, I briefly worked as a ward clerk at the local hospital. The nurses had to address doctors as "Dr" or "Mr" but the doctors got to address the nurses by their first name.

I chaffed at this on their behalf. (they didn't appear to mind).

Is that still the case?*

Absolutely not! We all use first names. I can't imagine a real life doctor walking on to the ward thinking they are senior to the nurses, that would not go down well.

This thread is making me really sad. I will be starting my nursing degree in September. I'm immensely proud that Iv been able to get a university place and terrified of how much work it's going to be. So glad to see I'll be busting my ass on a full time course for 3 years (4 if you include the access course I'm doing) to become "just a nurse"

I bet your relatives wouldn't be dissing your nursing career if they were in hospital and needed a nurse!

Take no notice. All they are doing is showing themselves up at the end of the day.

Well nurses have to be brought down to earth by somebody. They don't know everything. Train to be a doctor and take and pass the exams if you're not happy with your status.

It is depressing, but don't forget most people's perceptions of what a nurse does are based on crap tv or stories about nursing in the old days. Most 'well' people (mumsnetters are likely to be young enough not to have much experience of needing complex healthcare) are fairly ignorant of what modern health professionals can do.

Thank you for your comments. I in no way want to start a Nurses vs Drs debate.
We all work hard and I work with some fantastic Consultants & Jnr Doctors.

I think I take from this that you have confirmed that my family members are infact dicks & I think there is an element of sexism involved.

Someone had said about the idea of 1950s nursing & giving bed baths all day which I believe this is what my family thinks I do rather than being overall responsible for 26 patients everyday while the Consultant comes in for the ward round and leaves again.

I’ve got to go to bed now... but seriously MN thank you for showing nurses some appreciation. I’ve been having a really hard time recently and this thread has definitely lightened my mood!

Well nurses have to be brought down to earth by somebody. They don't know everything. Train to be a doctor and take and pass the exams if you're not happy with your status.

What on earth are you on about? Did you miss the numerous posts pointing out that nursing is a profession in it's own right, not some sort of subordinate doctor's assistant?

I find the general public have not a clue about most medical professions and what the jobs entail.
As a junior doctor you would hear “just a junior doctor? I want a proper one” - they have quite honestly idea what it means.
They have zero clue what nurses do in modern medicine and the majority of them (until hospitalised) think nurses wipe bums and dish out the odd pill. It couldn’t be further from the case.

As for blood pressure, outside FY1 I think I could count the amount of times I did a BP check on one hand.

The NHS would die without nurses. You are the back bone of the health service and the nation. I understand how hard it must be, isn’t it a shame their notions of such a critical job are based on what sounds like television shows from the seventies?

The NHS would die without nurses??? What arrogance. It would die without chefs, cleaners, laundry staff and others. Out of all professions nurses are the most arrogant and such a sense of their own importance. Even on this thread we are all supposed to sing their praises. Well I won't. Sorry.

vivienne are you ok dear?

Dh is a Specialist Nurse in Community, I was an RMN until a few years ago. Dh is a prescriber and well-skilled in diagnosis and palliative care. He assesses and directs the care of patients in their own homes and is the link between them and their Gp, who very rarely will actually see them. Without specialist nurses these people would spend the rest of their lives in hospital.

Fuck that. My friend is a senior nurse on an acute mental health ward now acting ward manager but not getting extra pay!

Due to her knowledge and experience and her degree in her chosen field of acute psychiatric medicine she tells the junior drs what to give the patients when they kick off or are dumped through the door by the police cos they dont want them destroying the police station.

She is also one of the nursing staff holding down a patient while meds are administered or holding the isolation room door closed while a patient high on the latest drug has ripped the tv cage off the wall and is throwing the tv at the door then charging at it like a bloody rhino. You wont see a dr for dust then.

None of the drs on her ward have been off with injuries but half her staff are regularly off with broken bones and stress.

Drs and nurses are not the same job they are both highly specialised in thier own right. Do they think drs have a 6th sense and just appear when a patients condition changes for the worse?
Nobody is 'just' anything.

When i was starting out in nursing many moons ago i had a postcard which said Behind every Good Dr there is a Great Nurse. Its still true today.

Vivienne it says a lot that you perceive a group of professionals being unhappy with being spoken about disrespectfully as arrogance.

YANBU. Assuming that they are not trying to be amusing, you need to find a way to handle this twattery. People do not change. Can you find an ally who could contradict their stupidity? Negative family vibes can be hard work. Ha. Probably why I don't associate with mine often.

I value the nurse at my GP surgery way above any doctor there. Nurses are bloody brilliant. Although saying that, you do get the odd one that undermines that sentiment... But I salute you. I couldn't do your job.

Of my four kids, one is a nurse, one is a doctor. One is run ragged in a large teaching hospital, the other is in highly specialised end of life hospice care for young adults. Both are committed, knackered and recognise that each have a separate but essential set of skills!

Doctor daughter is paid more, trained for much longer (7 years just to get through med school and F1.F2) but by no means valued in the NHS. Nurse daughter trained for 3 years but in current role carries out highly skilled procedures. They have different but complementary skills. Junior doctors are treated like shit in the NHS...even worse I think than nurses are. Both work bloody hard!

Op... your family are just daft if they think nurses are less worthy...they just don't understand!

Remember whenever they're talking to you about their profession that you always refer to it in similarly disparaging terms - 'just a manager - not really real work is it, just telling others what to do' or 'just a teacher - not really real work is it, just kids and short days, long holidays' or 'just a xxx, not really a real job is it, [add appropriate insult]'

I hasten to add I don't think that the above is actually true for managers or teachers or most jobs - but in the circumstances it would be good to mirror back to them their inappropriate attitude and it might make them realise that they are so wrong and about your job.

I wouldnt want my post op care overseen by or my babies being delivered by the hospital chef or someone from the laundry thanks. Would much prefer someone trained in their field.
Why should nurses be brought down? They are highly trained and without them there wouldnt be any point in going into hospital for care would there?
Where on earth did you get the idea that nurses think they 'know everything'? Doctors dont know everything either. Not everyone who is a nurse wants to be a dr either. They are very different professional fields. Nurses actually spend more time with and know thier patients on a ward better than any doctor.

Vivienne

The NHS would die without nurses??? What arrogance.

If you are quoting me, it is not arrogance. I am not a nurse, I am a former health care professional who worked closely with nurses. When we went off to write up notes and liaise with consultants the nurses would be holding bays and wards together.
Yes they had the HCAs and the cleaners, catering staff, admin staff etc. all doing terrific jobs supporting too but from my experience the nurses kept everything progressing.

If talking about how hard you work and expecting some respect for it is arrogance in your book then you might want to take some time for some self reflection.