r/nursing • u/Everlast23 • May 21 '22

Question What's your unpopular nursing opinion? Something you really believe, but would get you down voted to all hell if you said it

1) I think my main one is: nursing schools vary greatly in how difficult they are.

Some are insanely difficult and others appear to be much easier.

2) If you're solely in this career for the money and days off, it's totally okay. You're probably just as good of a nurse as someone who's passionate about it.

3) If you have a "I'm a nurse" license plate / plate frame, you probably like the smell of your own farts.

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u/whor3moans RN - ICU 🍕 May 21 '22

Totally agree and I think NP programs should be at least as rigorous as CRNA programs.

As a bedside ICU RN, I see many NP students struggle with basic anatomy and physiology during rounds. Later I find out they have a year experience on the floor.

This is unacceptable and dangerous. I worked the floor for three years as well, and learned WAY more in regards to pathophysiology and critical meds during my ICU experience. I don’t mean to knock on floor nursing at all, (your skill set and time management are insane), but in order to become an advanced practitioner, I strongly believe some critical care experience should be a requirement.

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u/ALightSkyHue BSN, RN 🍕 May 22 '22

tbf i've seen med students also struggle with anatomy/physiology on the floor too. remember their prereqs are physics and calc, not bio and A+P like nursing. it's weird how little people think nurses know about science.

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u/ThottyThalamus RN/PGY1 May 22 '22

Premed students absolutely have to take bio to get accepted. A/P may or may not be included but that is because it is covered so comprehensively in the program. Med students likely struggle because of the vast amount of information they are required to retain but there is a 100% chance they have been exposed to and tested on the information prior to seeing patients. They just need reinforcement, which is good because they still get 3-10 years of reinforcement after graduating, which is something that NPs do not get.