13 Misconceptions About Nurses

1. We “basically” work part time.

   While it is true that the majority of nurses work three 12-hour shifts per week, it definitely doesn't feel like a part-time job. For that twelve hours, we are like little Energizer bunnies putting out one fire after another. The day shift nurses are up at 5:00a.m., and driving home mentally (and physically!) exhausted around 8 p.m. The night nurses have to leave their families around dinner time and fight their natural circadian rhythm through the night and pray they make it home safely by the time 8 a.m. rolls around; then deal with the night shift hangover for the next couple days “off.”

2. All we do is pass meds.

I've actually been told this before, and it was quite insulting. There is so much more to our job than reading off pills and popping them into your mouth. Who's going to do compressions on your chest when you go into cardiac arrest? Or suction your tracheostomy when it's so thick and full of secretions you can't breathe? What about when you can't tolerate anything orally and need an NG tube inserted? Assistance with your colostomy bag? Coaching through labor (and delivering your baby if the doctor doesn't make it in time)? Who's going to teach you all about the disease, its effects on your body, and how to live with it once you've been diagnosed? We live, we breathe patient care.

3. We get to work in our pajamas.

   We wear scrubs for a reason. First of all, I wouldn't want my pajamas to be covered in WHO KNOWS how many different organisms of bacteria, bodily fluids, and my own perspiration. Some of us are lucky enough to wear hospital-issued scrubs and get to come and go in regular clothes. The rest of us have to wear our own scrubs and launder them at home. Trust me, those of us who have to launder them ourselves quickly peel them off and just try to get it around our heads without anything touching our mouths.
   

4. We just do what the doctors tell us.

Actually.. a lot of times, we are the ones advising the doctor. We are the ones who spend time

with the patient and get to know them well enough to see when something is out of their normal. We learn the patient's baseline, their fears, their concerns; we are the advocate. Many times, we have YEARS more experience in an area than the resident placing orders. We have the ability to question, to accept, to suggest, and even to fight any given order from the doc. Don't get me wrong- we work as a team. But our biggest job is to be on the patient's team: to know them inside and out, and to promote their safety.

5. We know your second cousin who is a nurse at a hospital nearby.

   All nurses don't know each other. Heck, I don't even know the nurses on the floor above or below my own. There are all different schedules and different shifts even on the same unit. There are whole different worlds of nursing. We all have to go through very unit-specific orientations once we get hired after our 4 years of college. We get close to our co-workers on our individual units. We pass by the others on our way in and out of the parking structure or to get a morning coffee from the cafeteria.

6. If you're a nurse on a labor and delivery unit, you get to cuddle babies all day.

   It's actually not very often that we get to snuggle the tiny newborns. Labor & Delivery is much more complicated than many would assume. When we're not snuggling babies, we are treating our patients with pre-eclampsia and praying they don't seize. Or we are coaching a first time mom on pushing and labor positions after she's thoroughly exhausted from a 4-day long induction. We are assisting with an emergency C-section or, more often than not, watching a fetal monitoring strip to monitor the well-being of the unborn.
   
   
   
   

7. It'd be so cool if your friend is your nurse when you're in the hospital.

   Sometimes it's better to have someone you don't know as your nurse. Remember- we are
   

   

   going to see a lot of you. Do you really want your friend or family member inserting your catheter and dumping your pee? We had a nurse's male cousin once request her as his nurse for the day, but of course it did not end up getting assigned that way. I mean come on, wouldn't it be embarrassing for your cousin to help you with your suppository and enema? Sometimes it's better for both of us to feel disconnected.
   
   

8. Nurses have affairs with the doctors.

Let me just say real life is usually nothing like the television shows. While sometimes there is drama that we swear could be pitched for a reality show, it's typically not like your mother's soap operas. Most of the time, actually, nurses are completely separated from the doctors. We each have our own areas. The couple of times I have heard of affairs going on, it was between a nurse and another nurse; or between a doctor and another doctor. Of course you could probably get in big trouble for this, but sometimes when two lonely people are spending 12-hour long nights together and bonding by assisting each other wiping their patients' butts, sparks fly.

9. Nursing is all about compassion.

   While it is important that nurses be compassionate people, it is not “all” that our job is about. It's also a lot about time management, a vast amount of knowledge of the body and mind, patience, assertiveness, and intervening quickly in emergencies. Oh, and if we are being honest here, we probably spend most of our time charting. Once we provide care for someone, we have to chart every little thing we did and what time we did it. It's true- even the position you're laying in. Or how far you walked. Or how much you peed. If you cleaned yourself up or if we had to help. How you tolerated it. How many times we had to poke you to get your IV. How much you drank this hour. What you ate. How much of it you ate. EVERYTHING. Sometimes it feels stalker-ish.
   

10. You're too young to be a nurse.

    Sometimes the young minds are the brightest. Not always; but sometimes. We young nurses come in with a fresh perspective, a readiness to learn anything and everything, and we don't tire as quickly ;-) And hey, as long as we are old enough to have completed our bachelor degree, passed the state board exam, and completed the several month long orientation, you should be okay. Our older and wiser peers are always looking out for us- so really, you may be seeing your individual nurse, but there are a whole team of people behind her taking care of you.

11. You're probably sick all the time from working in a germ infested hospital.

Nurses have pretty good immune systems, probably from being in a germ infested hospital. The people who are self-proclaimed germ-o-phobes are usually the ones with the weaker immune system. Besides that point, we practice good hand hygiene... a lot. It is drilled in our heads. There are signs everywhere. There are purell bottles everywhere. Ever wonder why a nurse's hands are usually dry and cracked? We have to wash our hands in and out of every room, every time we enter and exit. Not to mention, some of our patients are on extra precautions, or isolated, because of their specific germs they have. We have to be even more careful with these people, and sometimes have to wear full gowns, gloves, masks, and eye shields to protect ourselves and our other patients.

My personal favorite response to this misconception when I hear it from friends or family members is this: I work on a labor and delivery unit. Not in the ER, not in an urgent care or a corner clinic. Contrary to popular belief, you can't catch pregnancy. So luckily, no, I am rarely sick, and have never been pregnant.

12. I have these symptoms, can't you tell me what I have so I don't have to go to the doctor?

    I have a basic knowledge of a lot of things that can go wrong with a human. I probably can tell you if something looks infected. I can probably tell you if it is an obvious break. But please understand I do not have X-ray vision and/or cannot sniff out what a simple blood test can show. I do not have the means to perform more complicated tests such as an echo, MRI, or a CT scan (and honestly, we aren't even allowed to, or trained to interpret the results of those things). I'd be happy to advise you to go to your doctor to get checked out; but don't get upset with me if I honestly have no idea what's wrong with you.

13. Night shift nurses are partiers.

    Anyone from any given profession can be a partier. I agree that sometimes nurses can become very stressed, burned-out, and feel they need more of a release when they actually get a full weekend off. To be honest, I think night shift nurses for the majority like to use their days off to catch up on sleep and nurse their hangover they already are experiencing without having drank anything at all. If you do party with a night shift nurse, though, be ready to be out all night because the nitty-gritty of her night is just getting started when you're ready to go to bed at 0200.