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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:
LunaTheCat · 19/12/2017 01:58

Actually I do suffer too. I am a GP and I feel like punching anyone who asks me if I am going to specialise...

Willow2017 · 19/12/2017 07:43

Vivien
You serm to have a huge chip on your shoulder anout nurses.

Slagging off people who could one day save your life is pretty strange and self absorbed.
Nurses do not feel inferior to doctors nor should they. What is ridiculous is people telling them they are. Doctors couldn't do thier jobs without nurses. Doctors are not on wards 24/7 nurses are. They are the ones administering care and monitoring patients and calling doctors when patients condition changes. They are the ones supporting relatives.
What the hell is your problem with that?
If you ever get taken into hospital for emergency care remember and tell them you dont want the nurses looking after you as they are too arrogant and above their station but to send someone else to administer your care and quite possibly keep you alive.

Stuffofawesome · 19/12/2017 07:51

My step mother used to disparage nurses then her daughter became one and she shut up. I love nurses. Keep up the good work.

Emilybrontescorsett · 19/12/2017 07:53

Omg nurses are fabulous!
Your relatives sound awful.

Situp · 19/12/2017 08:00

Anyone who has had any extended experience with medical services knows how important the contribution of nurses is.

I hate the idea that nurses are seen as aspiring doctors who weren't good enough. Both roles are crucial and actually quite different. If either one wasn't there, it wouldn't work. Sadly I feel a lot of this is a chauvinistic hangover from when all doctors were men and all nurses were women Hmm

Your family are stupid.

WaitrosePigeon · 19/12/2017 08:03

Nurses are incredible people.

Maldives2006 · 19/12/2017 08:04

Are you a nurse because your comment is ridiculous. Nurses and doctors work in very careful partnership. Drs can not make decisions without the observations of the bedside nurse.

In certain areas now for example ITU nurses make clinical decisions independently of the Drs. Microbiologists will decide what antibiotics you have to treat infection. Physios will make sure you stay mobile and your chest stays clear. Occupational therapists will ensure that your discharge is safe. It’s a massive team response which usually the nurse co ordinates

If Drs wrote a prescription incorrectly and the nurse administers the medication, it will be the nurse who will get into trouble.

Consultants rely on the nurses to in effect supervise the junior Drs.

It’s the nurses who will get you well

BeakyPlinder · 19/12/2017 08:09

Nurses are amazing, dont you let yourself forget it op.

notsohippychick · 19/12/2017 08:11

I think you’ll bloody marvellous. What nurses do is invaluable and I for one appreciate how fabulous and hard working you are!!!

StickThatInYourPipe · 19/12/2017 08:13

Hahahahahaha! Just a fucking nurse!! What a load of old shite.
My mum is ‘just a nurse’ bloody hell that woman works so bloody hard and such long hours.
The only shit thing about being ‘Just s nurse’ is that you are not paid enough or receive accurate recognition for the role you play.

YANBU OP ignorant twats.

notanurse2017 · 19/12/2017 08:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

strawberrymarshmallow · 19/12/2017 08:27

YANBU. Nurses work so hard for little recognition. I'm seeing the nurse this morning at my GPs. I know she will listen to me much better than my dr will and she can prescribe too Smile.

lborgia · 19/12/2017 08:30

Page 1 . I’d rather have one nurse than two doctors looking after me any day.. This x1000...and I work for a brain surgeon.

As with any profession, there are those who work their guts out, and those who skate through with minimum insight, skill or work ethic, but I have seen the latter far more often with doctors tbh.

I do wonder, OP, if this is about you/your family’s dynamic, as it just seems really unpleasant. Not even to do with being a nurse really. Did you ignore their ideas and push on regardless when you went into training? are you seen as having ideas above your station in other ways? Sorry if this has been covered, I’ve only got to p.3 so far...

Sirzy · 19/12/2017 08:30

A nurse saved DS life when she knew a Dr had missed something major so went straight for a senior colleague.

Nurses are amazing!

BlindAssassin1 · 19/12/2017 08:32

I'll preface this by saying my DDs dr was obviously a very clever person, brilliant at his job, intuitive in his practice, but twice it was the nurses he called on to carry out two small but essential procedures to diagnose and treat her when she was tiny.

Nurses were invaluable to saving her life. And, they are massively underpaid.

Maldives2006 · 19/12/2017 08:35

Are you a nurse because your comment is ridiculous. Nurses and doctors work in very careful partnership. Drs can not make decisions without the observations of the bedside nurse.

In certain areas now for example ITU nurses make clinical decisions independently of the Drs. Microbiologists will decide what antibiotics you have to treat infection. Physios will make sure you stay mobile and your chest stays clear. Occupational therapists will ensure that your discharge is safe. It’s a massive team response which usually the nurse co ordinates

If Drs wrote a prescription incorrectly and the nurse administers the medication, it will be the nurse who will get into trouble.

Consultants rely on the nurses to in effect supervise the junior Drs.

It’s the nurses who will get you well

LakieLady · 19/12/2017 08:36

Nurses are awesome. I'd rather be diagnosed and treated by a good nurse than a bad doctor any day.

A friend is a nurse and we see the same GP, who knows us both quite well. I've had more than one conversation with him that goes:

Dr: What seems to be the problem?

Me: I've got this pain/rash/problem and I wondered if it might be (insert name of medical condition).

Dr: And what makes you think that?

Me: Well, I showed it for (friend) and that's what she thought.

Dr: Ah well, she's probably right, let's have a look

And she's always right!

She also does awesome things with steristrips and has saved me from a couple of nasty scars.

user1493423934 · 19/12/2017 08:42

When I've been in hospital nurses have been bloody amazing. Often short staffed, and run off their feet too. And some of the rudeness and $hit they have to put up from some patients too!
Flowers to you OP and all the other nurses on here.

cakedup · 19/12/2017 08:43

I had surgery a month ago. I started to get severe cramping which was affecting my breathing. I had a nurse and doctor with me. The doctor actually started to panic! And he kept looking to the nurse for answers. The nurse was amazing, calmed me down by explaining everything and was able to get to the root of the problem and come up with a soloution. The Dr kept insisting I roll over on my back so he could examine me and the nurse actually told him off, she understood that I could not move I was in so much pain, and that it got worse if I wasn't on my side. She was a godsend, honestly and I trusted her more than anyone in those moments.

IrritatedUser1960 · 19/12/2017 08:46

I used to get this from my first husband, oh you're just a stupid nurse. He wanted me to be an air hostess so he could brag to his friends!!!
They can all get stuffed, nursing is an amazing career, you should be proud. They sounds bloody ignorant to me.

IsaSchmisa · 19/12/2017 08:47

Are you on glue viviennemary?

ItMustBeBedtimeSurely · 19/12/2017 08:51

Intrigued by the comments about nursing not being a professional job - of course it is!

Eryri1981 · 19/12/2017 08:51

Haven't read the full post.

But if op promotion is to an advanced practice role, then there is no lack of skills, knowledge or responsibility compared to a doctor working at a similar level, and the only insulting thing about it is being paid as a cut price doctor.

HamishBamish · 19/12/2017 08:54

Anyone who has been in hospital as a patient or has a relative who has knows the huge value of a good nurse. Drs may make the clinical decisions, but it's often the nurses who are in charge of administering those decisions.

When my son was in hospital with viral meningitis, it was the nurses who cared for him day and night. It was the nurses who kept me calm. It was the nurses who comforted me when I was at my lowest point.

Of course the Drs were amazing too, but they work as a team. Neither would be able to exist without the other.

ScottishDiblet · 19/12/2017 08:54

I want to thank you for your service. I’ve spent lots of time in hospital and the nurses were INCREDIBLE and looked after me with such care and devotion. I also LOVE watching 24 hours in a and e and feel that the a and e nurses are just amazing combining their medical skills with human caring. I could not be prouder if my daughter chose to be a nurse. My brother in law is a nurse and we are so so proud of him.