will nursing have a slow, agonizing death?

What do I really think of nursing? If you read this blog regularly, you probably think I hate it.

Nursing frustrates the hell out of me.  I really am not cut out for it. I'm not exactly a timid little mouse (har).  I speak my mind.

I cannot stand how nurses allow themselves to be shit on as a profession. I think that underlying nursing this idea that we really don't think we are all that valuable. If we thought we were valuable, nursing would be in a whole different position.

We are the backbone of the  medical profession. Without us, it would collapse. I think we have the hardest and most important job in healthcare. We spend 24 hours a day with the patient. If we don't do a good job, the patient won't get well. We coordinate everything, make sure everything gets done. We ensure that  all the other people do their job for the patient.

We do another thing that is probably the most important and valuable aspect of nursing: We make sure the patient doesn't die or get worse. :The fact of the matter is, lots of people could be trained to do the tasks of nursing.  The value of nurses is their experience. With experience, we learn to recognize when
something is going wrong and when to intervene. Patients lives are literally in our hands. We prevent problems.  We can look at the overall picture to decide what the patient needs.  We are the only person in the health care team that is in a position to do this.

What bugs the shit out of me is how little we value ourselves and what we do.  We desperately want others to recognize us, value us. How can they do that when we don't even value ourselves?

As nurses, we don't take control of our own profession. How we get educated is an example::  Who ever heard of a profession where you can enter it with either a 2 or 4 year degree?  I''m a 2 year grad, but I think all nurses should have a bachelors degree.  It just makes sense as a profession.

I would like to see us take control of our profession. Stop having other people who aren't part of nursing dictate how we will practice.  Take the power we have and use it to better our profession and improve patient care.  Become so powerful that nothing in healthcare happens without us at the table.

If nurses don't start valuing themselves, fighting for thier profession, nursing will cease to exist.  Healthcare is in the middle of a huge change that will change medicine forever.  If you can't prove your value, you will be replaced.