How many nursing school graduates actually know what their doing?

Question

I've been volunteering in a hospital and none of the nurses really know anything. They know the same hospital procedures I do and they know how to make people feel good, but I see little evidence they know how to take care of the patients because they're all like DOCTOR DOCTOR whenever there's a question about anything.
Heaven forbid there's no doctor available. I'm not talking about changing meds or diagnosis or anything like that. I mean the time a woman who couldn't talk was trying to make herself known about something and this nurse hits the emergency button and I go "I think she wants help to get something off the table" and this lady starts nodding profusely.

Answer 1

All nurses have to go to school and pass a licensure exam in order to be licensed and to work in that capacity. So there is a minimum standard for nurses. But the same thing can be said of drivers on the road. They all (in theory) have their licenses, but not all are good drivers.

But keep in mind RNs have to be skilled in many different areas. Some may be stronger in one area (pharmacology, obtaining an IV, etc) than another.

I think that what you are noticing is that some nurses may not have the best of people skills. This is (in my opinion) one of the strong suits of nursing. They spend more time with the patients than anyone else and they tend to get to know their patients better than anyone else. This allows them to act as an advocate for the patients as well.

But like all interpersonal relations, sometimes people don't mesh. You don't know if this was an experienced nurse who been caring for this patient for 14 hours and was at his or her's wit-end or it this was a nurse two days out of nursing school and having a difficult time coping with a patient she didn't know how to communicate with.

Nurses are also limited in their decision making. The care plan for a patient is set out by physician who then directs the nurses how to execute this plan. This keeps the decisions to a single entity or team. It prevents the old "too many cooks" problem, but limits what the nurses can do, even if it seems like common sense. If the doctor didn’t specify it and the rules don't cover this situation, the nurse is often not allowed to act independently unless it is a true emergency (e.g. cardiac arrest - but then that's covered by hospital policy).

Answer 2

I know what you mean I went to LPN school and to tell u the truth i learned more while working then i did in school..this shows how the whole "school" teaching system needs improved.
I was ill in December and had a trach in and could not talk, it is very disturbing when the nurse does not take the time to figure out what is wrong..

Answer 3

I know that you have to go to college and get a degree and they have to pass test so they obviously know what they are doing now maybe they just want that attention from Dr's I know that when i was in the hospital i had several nurses and techs and geeezs alot of other staff in and out of my room besides DR's they all were great to me they new what they were doing when the Dr's weren't around. I also know that the test are very hard..

Answer 4

RN are board certified by the National Board of RN Registry, so they know they stuff, before becoming RN's. They may be hesitent in giving out certaiun medical advice, because of orders from the doctors.

Answer 5

My mom and my aunt are nursing school graduates. They both know what they're doing. Maybe it's the hospital you're in.

Answer 6

Everyone knows better than the nurses!! If you do not believe me, just ask them.....Just what we need: A know-it-all volunteer.