Nurses are heroes. I’ve already proved it. However, just like other heroes, there are villains out there who are trying to take away our hero powers. Superman had Lex Luther who was always trying to expose him with Kryptonite; Perseus fought Medusa and the Kraken, and even Spiderman had the Green Goblin.
Nurses have their villains too.
JUDGMENTS
When nurses judge people by their age, gender, color of their skin or the role they play – we lose our powers.
Physicians are mean to nurses; nurses are mean to nursing assistants; nursing assistants are mean to unit secretaries; and unit secretaries are mean to…EVERYONE ELSE.
Anytime I hear a nurse being condescending to a nursing assistant, I say this, “How do you know? This nursing assistant may have a higher IQ than you; be more capable than you but maybe wasn’t afforded the same opportunity YOU had to go to school.
It’s just like when someone tells you, “You’re so smart. You should have been a doctor!” I’m actually offended by this. I COULD HAVE been a physician if I wanted – but I CHOSE to become a nurse!
ED nurses are mean to medsurg nurses; medsurg nurses are mean to OR nurse; OR nurses are mean to critical care nurses: and critical care nurses are mean to…EVERYONE ELSE!
I’m a true step down unit nurse. You put me on a critical care unit with vents and I panic. Likewise, you put me on a medsurg unit with 5, 6 or 7 patients, and I fall apart. I’ve worked in home care, managed care, was a unit manager, educator, nurse executive and now I have my own company.
I’m the same person!!! I just had to learn a different skill set.
What makes any one of us think that the role we play requires us to be smarter and more capable than any other role?
When nurses judge each other for the role we play, we lose our powers. It’s a HUGE villain!
3 Ways to Defeat the Villain
Recognize that every role in healthcare adds value to patient care – EVERY ROLE! From the President of the organization to the dietary aide passing breakfast trays; from the Chief Nursing Officer to the housekeeper cleaning toilets – it takes everyone to effectively care for our public.
Develop a healthy curiosity about other roles. Ask questions to learn more about other roles. What does it take to become a nurse educator? What additional training do you need to work as a homecare nurse? What is your biggest challenge as a dietary aide? Be curious!
Celebrate other roles. Say good things about nurses who do different things. If you’re a critical care nurse, compliment the previous (ED) and next level of care (medsurg) nurses to patients, their family members and to each other. When you meet a nurse who does something different than you, respond kindly and show excitement for their role. Celebrate ALL nurses!
As the late Jim Rohn said so well, “ALL of us need to recognize how valuable EACH of us are and EACH of us needs to recognize how valuable ALL of us are.”
Together, we can defeat the judgment villain!
Thanks so much for reading. Take care and stay connected!
Renee
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