A nurse struggles through college and reads piles of books to pass the nursing exams. Even after finishing college, the study doesn’t come to a halt as a nurse must have updated knowledge about recent trends in medical and nursing practice.
A nurse overlooks her own needs to attend to the patient’s needs. Despite all the efforts, a nurse put in and advancement in the nursing profession still, some misconceptions are attached to the nursing profession. These misconceptions hide the reality and portray nursing in the wrong way.
Hence, Shifts & Scrubs in this post busts some common myths about nursing by presenting real facts.
1. Those who couldn’t become doctor choose to be a nurse
As a nurse myself I too have heard many times from my friends or relatives that why you chose to be a nurse, why not you choose to be a doctor instead. It’s a very common misconception about nurses that they are not smart enough to be a doctor hence they choose to be a nurse to compensate for their aspiration. Poof!! this one is a really weird myth attached to nursing. Nursing itself has changed a lot and has proved to be an entirely different branch of healthcare that stands out alone independently with its own body of knowledge and it has a variety of specialized education addressing all aspects of health. There is so much awareness among youth nowadays about this profession that many of them are choosing this career as a first option.
2. Nurses are there to clean stool and change toiletries
Another very prevalent notion about nurses is that the job responsibility of a nurse is to take care of the patient’s natural call now and then and nurses are there to change toiletries only. It’s no doubt that nurses take care of patients and nurses aid in everything that addresses the hygienic needs and promotion of self-care ability of her client like changing bed-sheets and providing a bed bath. But nurses do a lot of things other than that, which includes doing a regular assessment of the patient, checking the effects of recently applied treatment or any new therapy, notifying doctors regarding any significant changes in the health status of a patient, maintaining electronics and handwritten records, etc. Nurses do so many things that it will take whole day to write about all of it. Recent workload assessment of nurses only has introduced the concept of Patient care assistants or nursing assistants in India. As nurses do a lot of other things towards the promotion of patient’s health and many hospitals are hiring PCA’s who assist and help nurses and provides self-care and hygienic care to patients.
3. Nurses don’t have a voice or opinion treatment of a patient, it’s all a doctor’s job
Nurses are considered by almost everyone other than nurses as the ones who just take orders from doctors. This one is again the top-rated myth attached to the nursing profession that nurses just follow orders and have no right to give her opinion in the treatment plan of the patient. The reality is that nurses do vigorous study and have optimal knowledge and they know if anything is wrong with the prescribed treatment. Nurses have full authority to question and clarify the doubt with the doctor if she finds any discrepancy in the prescribed treatment. As much as a doctor is liable to face any legal action for negligence a nurse is also liable for the same. So modern nurses are so updated and upgraded that they too contribute towards ensuring patient safety by continuous clarification of the prescribed treatment.
4. Nurses are hired by hospitals only
Nurses work in many other settings other than the hospital. There are a lot of scope and career options for nurses after finishing their graduation. There are many special areas where the demand for nurses is increasing day by day. Nurses are required in schools, many governmental organizations like NRHM and non-governmental organizations persistently offer job opportunities for nurses for a wide variety of healthcare projects, nurses can also choose to work in international organizations like the Red Cross Society, they can opt for home care nursing and there are many sectors other than hospitals where there is a dire need of nurses. So it’s not correct to assume that nurses work only in hospitals.
5. The nursing profession is meant for females only
In a traditional scenario whenever one imagines the image of a nurse first thing that came in mind image of a female, this one is a complete stereotype adhered to the nursing profession. Nursing is not purely meant for females this gender bias removed from the profession many years ago. The contribution of male nurses in health care can date back to 256 BC. In historical times males were considered appropriate for this profession but due to the emerge of Florence nightingale and many upturns of events males faced challenges and discrimination that lead to the predomination of females in this profession. But once again the wheel has turned and now more and more male nurses are joining this noble profession. According to a report published in The Indian Express, the number of male nurses registered under the Maharashtra Nursing Council has doubled up from 597 in the year 2013 to 1038 in the year 2015. The demand for male nurses is soaring high day by day so it is a misconception that nurses are only females.
The myths related to nursing will take a lot of time to dissolute but, till then awareness about real facts needs to be spread among common folks. As a nurse one should always debunk these misconceptions and disseminate the real facts.
