Beauty

[PA-RN]

I understand that when you want a Dr , you want a DR.But with the new medical acts, there is NOT enough Drs to go around .You cant add 32 million newly insured patients to an already overwhelmed medical system and expect it to function, expect it to get worse...Personally, I prefer my NP.She spends a long time with me and listening to me and my concerns and does a very THOROUGH exam.The Dr I have comes in the room 5 mins and spends it talking over me. ..That said.......I am also "JUST AN RN" .. Ihave a 2 yr degree( though I am getting my BSN at age 40) and 16 yrs of bedside critical care and adult nursing nursing experience .It kind of disheartens me that people so negative to "just nurses". We work very very hard.I am on my feet 14 hrs a shift by the time it is all done, and you know what? 99% of my patients rather have their nurse.WHY? because we are the ones sitting at the bedside explaining what the Dr doesnt.We are the ones holding their hands when they are told they have days w/eeks to live and we are the ones that go head to head with the Drs to advocate on behalf of our patients.In the hospital ( and some Dr offices) many of us have MORE experience than the Dr you are seeing.

[loveschocolate]

BRAVO, PA-RN!!!

[sunnysw]

On 1/30/2014 icezeus said:

On 1/30/2014 Luvmycats said:

If I were really sick I would ONLY want a physician- An RN only has a 2 yr degree (I have several friends who are nurses)- No thanks! Maybe, I would consider an MSN-

I am not a nurse, but I do not believe that statement to be true. They have to have a four year degree. I think you are thinking of an LVN which I believe stands for Licensed Vocational Nurse.

You are incorrect - an LPN (licensed practical nurse) has one year of schooling & WORKS UNDER AN RN OR PHYSICIAN OR PA OR NP. A RN can have a two year associates degree OR a four year bachelors degree. The process to become a Nurse Practitioner begins with a Bachelors degree in nursing, and a Masters in nursing plus clinical training. A NP can be specifically trained in various fields such as: dermatology, obstetrics/gyn, primary care, pediatrics, neo-natal, etc. After achieving Board Certification, the NP must apply for additional credentials such as: APRN license, prescriptive authority, , DEA registration number, etc at the state & federal level. NP's also must have a certain amount of continuing ed credits in order to maintain certification & licensing. Soon, NP's will be required to have a Doctorate. They may go directly from a Bachelors degree into a Doctoral program. The advanced practice nursing role began to take shape in the mid-twentieth century. Nurse anesthetics & nurse midwives were established in the 1940's. The present day concept of the APRN as a primary care provider was established in the mid-1960's spurred on by a shortage of medical doctors. You can research all of this on the net by typing in the various titles.

[basketsiam]

On 1/31/2014 sunnysw said:

On 1/30/2014 icezeus said:

On 1/30/2014 Luvmycats said:

If I were really sick I would ONLY want a physician- An RN only has a 2 yr degree (I have several friends who are nurses)- No thanks! Maybe, I would consider an MSN-

I am not a nurse, but I do not believe that statement to be true. They have to have a four year degree. I think you are thinking of an LVN which I believe stands for Licensed Vocational Nurse.

You are incorrect - an LPN (licensed practical nurse) has one year of schooling & WORKS UNDER AN RN OR PHYSICIAN OR PA OR NP. A RN can have a two year associates degree OR a four year bachelors degree. The process to become a Nurse Practitioner begins with a Bachelors degree in nursing, and a Masters in nursing plus clinical training. A NP can be specifically trained in various fields such as: dermatology, obstetrics/gyn, primary care, pediatrics, neo-natal, etc. After achieving Board Certification, the NP must apply for additional credentials such as: APRN license, prescriptive authority, , DEA registration number, etc at the state & federal level. NP's also must have a certain amount of continuing ed credits in order to maintain certification & licensing. Soon, NP's will be required to have a Doctorate. They may go directly from a Bachelors degree into a Doctoral program. The advanced practice nursing role began to take shape in the mid-twentieth century. Nurse anesthetics & nurse midwives were established in the 1940's. The present day concept of the APRN as a primary care provider was established in the mid-1960's spurred on by a shortage of medical doctors. You can research all of this on the net by typing in the various titles.

BRAVO!!!

I have said this throughout this thread!!! I myself am "just a nurse" with a masters degree in nursing. I am proud to say that I have been teaching "just nurses" for more than 20 years, and have been licensed for more than 30 years. Our roles as Advanced Practice RNs continue to evolve, and education/credentialing is a required component.

[italian baker]

On 1/30/2014 smoochy said:

as of tomorrow, I'm entering into semi retirement, complete with SS benefits and a very minimal part time work situation. After forty-two years of little respect for what I do, it will be a pleasure to ease on out of this profession.

I to am entering semi retirement. I have been a nurse for 42 years and people have no idea what we do.How many times have we have caught mistakes made by physicians.We are intelligent nurses who has the patient as our first priority. I never felt that nurses were appreciated for their expertise and knowledge. I can't tell you how many times patients would say thank you I didn't know that you did all this. We are glad that you are here.That is what kept me going. I'm really disgusted by what people are saying here. When you are in the hospital just remember that it is "just a nurse" who will be taking care of you. Or "just a nurse" who stops at an accident and has saved lives.

[151949]

smoochy and italian baker - i am a RN who has been retired for a few years now. It took me a while before I stopped having dreams that I had made some aggregious error at work.But, once getting past that I could not be happier being retired. As for all those who post here things like "just a nurse" - there are 100 people who know and appreciate what nurses have done for them to every one like the ones here. they are actually clueless but think they know everything there is to know about being nurses , and on this BB nurses are constantly being criticized by people like them. Just a few days ago someone wrote a huge long post about a nurse who would not clean up after her relative who was bleeding but instead was caring for the patient. DUH. She thought it was horrible that the nurse thought that was more important than cleaning the floor. See what i mean - totally clueless. For some reason everyone here thinks that you go to the doctor and TELL him what you want him to order for you and that they know everything nurses and doctors are supposed to be doing better than we do.

[just bee]

When I went off to a university at age 17 the last thing I wanted was to become a nurse. Fast forward a few decades and I'm a nurse. Graduated last spring at age 54 and am currently working as a nurse.

Yes, there are RNs with 2-year degrees. But the trend is to push for BSNs and MSNs. Some hospitals will only hire nurses with BSNs so as soon as a nurse gets her ASN/ADN, she has to go back to school and start working on that BSN.

The day before our pinning ceremony the new grads were told: "Now that you're just a bedside nurse, you'll need to get that BSN and then prepare for your MSN and PhD."

Excuse me? It makes one feel that the powers-that-be want nurses to get advanced degrees so they can get as far away from patients as possible. Who, then, will be taking care of you and your relatives?

When I was going through nursing school I worked as a tech. I started to see the evolution: Techs are taking on more of the nursing responsibilities and nurses are taking on some of the doctors' responsibilities. There's talk now that nurses will be able to prescribe meds.

We're losing doctors and schools are churning out more and more nurses. And nurses are spending more time on charting because of litigation.

Many of the doctors you see are residents or even med students. They're still learning and many of them are learning from nurses. And some hospital units have more Nurse Practitioners than docs.

Big changes are afoot.

[fairydogmother]

On 1/31/2014 happy housewife said: smoochy and italian baker - i am a RN who has been retired for a few years now. It took me a while before I stopped having dreams that I had made some aggregious error at work.But, once getting past that I could not be happier being retired. As for all those who post here things like "just a nurse" - there are 100 people who know and appreciate what nurses have done for them to every one like the ones here. they are actually clueless but think they know everything there is to know about being nurses , and on this BB nurses are constantly being criticized by people like them. Just a few days ago someone wrote a huge long post about a nurse who would not clean up after her relative who was bleeding but instead was caring for the patient. DUH. She thought it was horrible that the nurse thought that was more important than cleaning the floor. See what i mean - totally clueless. For some reason everyone here thinks that you go to the doctor and TELL him what you want him to order for you and that they know everything nurses and doctors are supposed to be doing better than we do.

bless you! you "get it"!! because you are one of us. Happy retirement to you, Italian baker and every other nurse who has worked hard over a long career and deserves a break.

[loveschocolate]

On 1/31/2014 just bee said:

When I went off to a university at age 17 the last thing I wanted was to become a nurse. Fast forward a few decades and I'm a nurse. Graduated last spring at age 54 and am currently working as a nurse.

Yes, there are RNs with 2-year degrees. But the trend is to push for BSNs and MSNs. Some hospitals will only hire nurses with BSNs so as soon as a nurse gets her ASN/ADN, she has to go back to school and start working on that BSN.

The day before our pinning ceremony the new grads were told: "Now that you're just a bedside nurse, you'll need to get that BSN and then prepare for your MSN and PhD."

Excuse me? It makes one feel that the powers-that-be want nurses to get advanced degrees so they can get as far away from patients as possible. Who, then, will be taking care of you and your relatives?

When I was going through nursing school I worked as a tech. I started to see the evolution: Techs are taking on more of the nursing responsibilities and nurses are taking on some of the doctors' responsibilities. There's talk now that nurses will be able to prescribe meds.

We're losing doctors and schools are churning out more and more nurses. And nurses are spending more time on charting because of litigation.

Many of the doctors you see are residents or even med students. They're still learning and many of them are learning from nurses. And some hospital units have more Nurse Practitioners than docs.

Big changes are afoot.

Congrats on your new career! You are right....big changes await!

[guatmum]

I don't think people who prefer to see doctors are "nurse bashers" or "don't get it." It's simply preferring to see the person most trained for what you are looking for. If I want someone to diagnose and continue to have a diagnostic eye as I progress through illness or injury, I want a doctor. Their training is in diagnostics. If I am more interested in a good bedside manner, I might consider a nurse, though I've met many nurses that were rough and many doctors who were caring. Yes, nurses work hard. So do police officers but I don't want one of them taking care of me when I'm ill because they are "just" police officers and don't have the training I'm looking for. I'm sorry that so many nurses feel somehow unappreciated. Many service professions do - teachers, fire fighters, police, etc. I don't know a single group of service professionals that don't work their tails off but still feel unappreciated and like the general public doesn't "get it." It is, sadly, a fact of today's society. That's why it takes a special person to go into a service profession for a lifetime and be HAPPY.