Is “I’m Just a Nurse” a Cop-Out Phrase or a Simple Put-Down?
Donna Wilk Cardillo RN, MA, CSP, FAAN (she/her)
The Inspiration Nurse | Motivational Keynote Speaker | Author | Humorist
By Donna Cardillo, RN, MA
I always advise nurses not to use phrases such as “I’m just a nurse” or “I’m only an RN.” My reasoning is that it demeans the nurse who says it and the entire profession. But interestingly I recently heard from a nurse who had read that advice in one of my articles and expressed an alternate perspective related to accountability. Nurse Sona Mahal stated, “How many of us attempt to avoid the accountability by using this boneless statement? If only it was that easy to avoid. It seems like lacking accountability for patient safety is falsifying the role of a professional nurse. There are many, many committed nurses, but there are much more for whom nursing is just a job and no one listens to them. I often question – how much do you want to be heard? Trying to be heard requires commitment and persistence and sometimes a setback, but giving up means harm – we all know who gets harmed by our silence and fear of acknowledging our role.” What a powerful and intriguing statement! Continue reading.
? Donna Cardillo (DonnaCardillo.com). All rights reserved.
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Nurse Deb - FIXING the broken US HealthCare System 1 patient and 1 employer at a time! President at AIMM, Ault International Medical Management
7 年When one has distinguished themselves and proven to the audience their level of knowledge/expertise this phrases draws attention to the fact that "I have medical knowledge and experience that No one else is bringing to the conversation" in a humble way. As with almost every such phrase, context is key! I used this phrase just this past weekend. Additionally, given the recent Miss America publicity, I find this phrases being used satirically.
Nurse Patient Advocate PAFY, Inc and nurse Consultant Certified Dementia Practitioner
7 年both
GCP Auditor~Retired
7 年It's definitely a put down Donna and I always tell Nurses (and anyone who says it, for that matter) not to label themselves as 'just' anything.