The Value of AN

24 Part of the value of AN is that it conveys the norms of the career we've all (or most of us, anyway) chosen to those who otherwise wouldn't have any way of finding out the norms. Nurses know that you don't call yourself a nurse unless you've been through an accredited program, passed the licensing exam, and hold a nursing license. But evidently some nursing schools don't cover that fact (or some posters were asleep when it was covered) and don't know that. And pre-nursing students wouldn't know unless someone told them. Someone told them right here on the site, and all anyone had to do was read the thread. That's awesome! That's a resource I could have benefitted greatly from when I was a lowly nursing student. Or a brand new nurse. Or even a not-so-new nurse who couldn't figure out why my co-workers hated me. (It's obvious now, but it wasn't then, and one post here would have cleared up the mystery for me pretty darned quick, had I the intelligence to pay attention.)


There are those who ask the question and there are hundreds more of those who can benefit from the answer, whether or not they themselves thought to ask the question. "Do I really have to drive to work in the snow?" "How do I survive working the night shift when I'm always tired?" "Why does my preceptor hate me?" "Fired -- now what?" All these burning questions -- and more -- are asked and answered on AN, and even if you didn't ask the question, reading through the answers may give you glimmers of insight you didn't know you needed. It's a valuable resource.


Like any profession, ours has norms. One of the toughest things about being a newbie is inadvertently stepping on the norms of your profession, and not realizing that you did so until your colleagues are ostracizing you. Reading AN can prevent some of that drama. Yes, you have to drive to work in the snow and it's unwise to insist to your manager that "it's not worth my life" to show up when you're scheduled. Yes, you really have to work your night shifts and your colleagues will be unimpressed when you insist that you're really too special to work nights, or that you shouldn't have to because it makes you miserable. Yes, hospitals do have IT departments scanning the social media for references to their institution or posts by their employees or potential employees. Now whether you've paid attention and internalized the advice is another story.


What I really cannot understand is why those who can benefit most from the free insights and advice offered on AN not only reject the information but angrily insist that it's incorrect or unimportant. I do know that it tells me a lot about that person, and what kind of an employee and a colleague they will make in the future. And, being the kind of person that I am, I'll admit that it can also lead to a helluva entertaining thread!
I love that I can come here and vent semi-anonymously (I do change several details to protect the not-so-innocent and myself) because doing so around my coworkers can bite me in the backside and my family just doesn't get it. As for the entertaining threads, there's currently one going on that I seem to find some strange urge to refresh often. Although I am enjoying my popcorn and wine to go with it!

I don't even .... 😬

Hey Ruby Vee, just a shout out to tell you not all of your advice falls on deaf ears. =) I enjoy the anonymity and community that AN provides. I feel like it is very important to reiterate the points about protecting your identity in this day and age of technology. In January an RN who worked for one of the bigger hospitals in my area warned my graduating class about the evils of posting all our social activity on social media. He told us that recruiters including himself, simply put hopefuls names in Google and looked at what came up. Most searches take less than half a second. So a word to the not so wise BE CAREFUL, it is not just "crusty old bats" who are talking just to talk, this is coming from somebody who has grown up in the internet age. Don't take it personally!!!!!!

Quote from Rose_QueenI love that I can come here and vent semi-anonymously (I do change several details to protect the not-so-innocent and myself) because doing so around my coworkers can bite me in the backside and my family just doesn't get it. As for the entertaining threads, there's currently one going on that I seem to find some strange urge to refresh often. Although I am enjoying my popcorn and wine to go with it!

Yes AN is a wonderful source to get some preliminary information, but it's an open online forum. The information on here is limited to the same accuracy as Wikipedia in that anybody can contribute anonymously and throw information askew. I wouldn't take what I read on here and apply it to my nursing practice without researching it pretty rigorously in established texts and quality studies. Not that I think I'm any better or anything, I wouldn't go taking an experienced nurses word as Bible without fact-checking either. Not because I'm biased against them, it's just good practice if you don't know something.

Quote from Ruby Vee One of the toughest things about being a newbie is inadvertently stepping on the norms of your profession, and not realizing that you did so until your colleagues are ostracizing you. Reading AN can prevent some of that drama.

Quote from kanzi monkeyBut you ostracize newbies on AN all the time...Just because it's anonymous doesn't mean your harsh comments to new nurses, students, pre-nurses aren't taken to heart (and not in a good way). I've been on AN for a while now, and I find myself wincing at your reflexive responses to novices (and I swear whenever a newbie thread is posted, there you are ready to cut them down). My intention here is not to insult you, but this is an honest observation. Your unprompted initiation of this thread--claiming AN is a safe harbor for newbies--is just ironic...

Me neither. I always welcome new members. I would love to learn from them.

I have learned a lot from AN and appreciate the honesty in some of the responses. No, the OP might not get the answer they were hoping for, but they usually get the truth from a lot of nurses who have "been there, done that".thank you all for your honesty and willingness to take time to answer all of our questions

Quote from kanzi monkeyBut you ostracize newbies on AN all the time...Just because it's anonymous doesn't mean your harsh comments to new nurses, students, pre-nurses aren't taken to heart (and not in a good way). I've been on AN for a while now, and I find myself wincing at your reflexive responses to novices (and I swear whenever a newbie thread is posted, there you are ready to cut them down). My intention here is not to insult you, but this is an honest observation. Your unprompted initiation of this thread--claiming AN is a safe harbor for newbies--is just ironic...

Ruby Vee-- I think that sometimes you make an assumption that someone who is new is ignorant based on, well, I don't know what. Tone? Which is obviously difficult in an online forum. I doubt it's intentional , (lol, I don't know you) and you do post a lot of interesting, quality, thoughtful stuff. (Like a lot. Holy cow you have a lot of posts). I'm sorry if I come across as confrontational, but sometimes your responses to new peeps (who maybe are trying too hard to sound like they know what they are talking about to impress you?) are actually harsh where they don't need to be. It strikes a nerve--when I was new I was kind of like that, and I was just trying to comprehend my profession and reconcile myself within it. It was emotionally complex, and there were some nurses--nurses with experience that should have known better-- who detected weakness and tried to devour me. It was a rough start. It got better, but for awhile I was like "oh holy $#|+ *** did I do I don't fit in and I don't want to be here". Choosing a profession like nursing (and paying for the education!) is not a choice taken lightly (at least, that's the assumption I would make about strangers in an online forum). It makes me sad to see some, albeit awkward or overly-wordy, nurses or pre-nurses discouraged from the life choices that they have made--without solid evidence that they, indeed, should reconsider their career choice. That's all. Didn't mean to hijack the thread, and again, didn't mean to insult.Kan

Quote from kanzi monkeyBut you ostracize newbies on AN all the time...Just because it's anonymous doesn't mean your harsh comments to new nurses, students, pre-nurses aren't taken to heart (and not in a good way). I've been on AN for a while now, and I find myself wincing at your reflexive responses to novices (and I swear whenever a newbie thread is posted, there you are ready to cut them down). My intention here is not to insult you, but this is an honest observation. Your unprompted initiation of this thread--claiming AN is a safe harbor for newbies--is just ironic...