Nursing FAQ's and Myth Busters

This is a piece targeted towards those who are not in the medical field. Even my most inquisitive and caring loved ones do not always understand what my future career entails. There is a lot of misunderstanding about what a nurse is (anyone else recall the hosts of The View mocking Miss Colorado 2015, an RN who wore a stethoscope as she talked about her career?). Nurses spend 36+ hours a week taking care of others, but they need care from their loved ones as well. The first step to caring for the nurse in your life is to understand what he or she truly is.

The following are some FAQ's I've received over the years from people who could probably use a brush-up on their understanding of nursing.

1. You're smart...why didn't you go to medical school?

• This is one of my least favorite questions. I graduated with a 3.9 GPA from a highly respected undergraduate university, and many of my classes were considered "pre-med." People assumed that my intelligence in the sciences and my academic successes meant I was "too smart" for nursing school. Yet, many nurses perform the same higher level thinking as physicians. I've seen nurses be the ones to decide which medication should be ordered or which labs should be drawn at which time; they simply called the physician to get the official order prior to administration, but it was their higher level thinking to initiate the treatment. Physicians do have a wider scope of practice than nurses, but I am in no way "too smart" to be a nurse; in fact, I'm often overwhelmed by the intelligence and critical thinking this career demands. But most importantly...
• I do not want to be a doctor. It's as simple as that. Physicians practice medicine, nurses practice care. This is NOT to say that physicians cannot be or are not caring, but rather that caring is literally part of the job description of a nurse. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the hard and essential work physicians do, but their day-to-day is a little too distant from the patient for what I want. On any given day during my 10 weeks in the PICU, a physician would be in charge of seeing half the unit. On the other hand, a nurse typically had one, or occasionally two, patient(s) to take care of. I'm an incredibly empathetic, compassionate, and giving person who enjoys forming therapeutic relationships. Bedside nursing speaks to those parts of me much more than being a physician does.
2. You should become a nurse practitioner then! You can be a "nurse" but get a higher salary and more prestigious title!
•  I do not want to be a nurse practitioner. While amazing and important, a nurse practitioner (NP) has a very similar day-to-day as a physician. See above as to why that does not mesh with my career goals.
3. But if you're getting your Masters in Nursing, doesn't that mean you'll be a nurse practitioner?
• Good question! But, no. While an MSN is the minimum degree requirement to become an NP, not all MSN degrees lead to NP training or eligibility for certification. My program is an Entry Level Masters program, meaning I am receiving a masters level education in nursing without any prior formal education in nursing. My degree will lead to me becoming a Registered Nurse.
4. Well if you're not becoming a nurse practitioner, why are you studying so much? I don't feel like the nurse at my pediatrician's office did this much work in school...
• Let's clarify one thing, because I actually get variations of this question a LOT. The individuals who took your blood pressure and gave you a shot at your primary care physician's office were likely not Registered Nurses (RNs). They do important and meaningful work that is not to be undermined, but those individuals are usually MEDICAL ASSISTANTS. Many Medical Assistants receive their training from technical schools and earn a certificate within 9-12 months or an associate's degree within 18-24 months. Medical Assistants likely worked hard in their programs, but... those programs were likely very different from the programs to become an RN, and their scope of practice greatly differs as well.
5. Wait...then....what is an "RN?"
• First and foremost, an RN is a Registered Nurse. An RN has passed a licensure exam called the NCLEX (RN is to NCLEX as Lawyer is to Bar Exam). 
• To be eligible to sit for the NCLEX, one must graduate from an accredited nursing program. An RN could have a variety of different degrees: such as an Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN), a Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) or a Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN). 
• At the core of these different degrees exists something in common: the fundamentals of nursing and how to pass the NCLEX. These degrees differ in various aspects, though. For instance, my MSN is preparing me more than my friend's BSN did for leadership roles, healthcare policy changes, conflict management, and research. But at the end of the day, we'll both be "RNs".
• Having an MSN will not make me a "better nurse" than a BSN or an ADN. We are all just being prepared for different roles in nursing. (Some of the most badass RNs I've seen have an ADN. However, the field of nursing is advancing, and the ADN degree is being phased out of many hospitals. The job applications I fill out often require a minimum of a BSN, and many hospitals are making ADNs go back to school. In the years to come, more and more of the RNs you see will have BSNs or MSNs.)
• RNs can work in a plethora of different settings, but many work in hospitals.
6. What does an RN usually do in the hospital?
• Here's a (not comprehensive) list of just some of the "medical" tasks RNs in hospital settings complete: calculating dosages for and administering medications, inserting nasogastric tubes or indwelling catheters, starting or discontinuing an IV, assisting in procedures such as chest tube placements or cannulation for Extracorpeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), performing chest compressions during a Code Blue, performing wound care and sterile dressing changes, administering blood transfusions, performing dialysis/hemofiltration/plasmaphoresis, advocating to a physician for a patient to receive a certain medication after being told a critical lab value, and much, much more.
• Here's a list of just some of the psychosocial tasks RNs in hospital settings complete: call Child Protective Services to report suspicions of child abuse, form a makeshift mariachi band to cheer up a ten year old on isolation who wants to see a concert, hold a mother as she uncontrollably screams after seeing her dead toddler, pull a three year old in a wagon around the unit so she can see a change of scenery different from the hospital room she's been in for weeks, hold hands in a prayer circle as a family sends hopes and pleads of strength towards a teenager with cancer, braid a young girl's hair to make her feel pretty despite her disease process, tie up a body bag and transport it to the refrigerator in the morgue after a patient has passed away, help a nine year old boy stack his deck in UNO before his visitors arrive so he can have just one victory in his day, and much, much more.
7. It sounds like you see a lot of emotional sh*t in your field, are you happy with your career choice?
• Hell yeah, I am. My nursing school journey has been the most gratifying and humbling experience of my life, and I wouldn't trade it for any other in the world.