Have you ever heard a nurse pass judgment on a colleague and say that another nurse isn’t a “real nurse”? Have you noticed some nurses looking down on those who choose to be school nurses or work in home health, dialysis, assisted living, medical offices, or ambulatory surgery?
Judgmental attitudes by one group of nurses against another don’t do anyone any favors, but such thinking is all too common.
So, given that there are still nurses who think in such old-fashioned ways, what then constitutes a “real nurse” anyway, and how do we know when a nurse is the real deal? (Hint: they’re all the real deal.)
That’s Not “Real” Nursing
When we’re in nursing school, it often seems that everyone and their mother has their sights set on “sexy” specialties like trauma, emergency nursing, and critical care. When a peer talks about having a goal of working in public health, school nursing, elder care, home health, community health, or some specialty that isn’t highly technical or soaked in adrenaline, some may scoff at such a notion.
“School nursing? That’s not real nursing — all you do is put band-aids on boo-boos and give kids aspirin for headaches.”
“Home health? Do you want to go from house to house checking blood pressures and filling little old ladies’ med boxes?”
“Why would you want to do public health? That sounds so boring.”
Looking down on nurses who don’t want to follow the straight and narrow path of the more fast-paced or complex acute care areas is an all too common way of thinking about others’ choices. When a nurse isn’t inherently drawn to the ICU or the ED, some nurses may be quick to judge that nurse for being lazy, not smart enough, or simply not a “real” nurse.
For those who think that school nursing is just band-aids and aspirin, think again: kids come to school with trachs, vents, complicated medication schedules, brittle diabetes, and all manner of chronic illnesses.
School nurses have to think on their feet, sometimes manage multiple schools, and also tend to the medical needs of teachers and administrators. And in rural and underserved areas, the school nurse may be a student’s primary connection with the healthcare system, not to mention parents.
In home health, patients can come home with complex surgical wounds, including a wound vac, IV antibiotics, and other medications administered by a programmable IV pump.
Home health nurses may also encounter patients receiving TPN and other complex situations necessitating expertise and highly skilled care. And when a home health nurse is out in the field, that nurse is all alone — there are no colleagues, doctors, or specialists to lean on with questions and concerns.
The home health nurse is by nature autonomous and independent and can face life-or-death decisions without the benefit of others to confer with.
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), approximately 55% of nurses work in general medical and surgical hospitals. So, where do the other 45% of nurses work if this is the case?
When it comes to “real” nursing, there’s nothing fake about home health, public health, ambulatory care, community health, or school nursing. All nursing is real, and those who think otherwise are gravely misguided.
The Big Tent of Nursing
Nursing is anything but homogeneous. Dozens of nursing specialties make it an exciting, fascinating, and varied profession, and these many choices give nurses multiple potential career paths. Nursing is a profession with a big tent under which nurses of all stripes and persuasions can find career satisfaction.
No nursing specialty or area of practice is more worthy than another. Under our big nursing tent, all nurses are welcome, and whatever each nurse chooses to do for a living is a valid choice.
When you hear another nurse talking negatively about another nurse’s valuable contributions to society, you can rest assured that that nurse’s opinion has no merit, and every colleague’s career choice has its role to play within a noble and highly respected profession.
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