8 True Definitions For “RN”

“The true meanings behind RN: Reluctantly Nice, Real Nurturer, Registered Nutcase, Rather Nerdy, Rockstar Nanny, Regretfully Naive, Rebelliously Naughty, Rescue Ninja…”

Reluctantly Nice : We all have bad days, we all have the patient that you just don’t get along with, we all can’t be “on” 100% of the time… but aren’t we expected to be? Nurses are viewed as the nice, gentle caretakers who always put a smile on people’s faces (or at least that’s what I strive for). So even in our darkest hour, when stresses from home are dragging us down and we haven’t slept because our own kid was up half the night coughing, we throw back our hair, slap a smile on our face, grit through our teeth and say, “Good morning, Mrs. Johnson, I’m going to be your nurse today, is there anything you need?” Although some days reluctant, we always strive to be nice.

Real Nurturer : Sure, doctors may do the prescribing, and they may even do the surgeries. But RNs are the nurturing force at the bedside. In a pediatric hospital when the parents can’t stay the night, it’s the nurse that is holding and feeding the baby. When bad news that the cancer has spread blindsides the family, it’s the nurse that lends a listening ear and holds the patient’s hand during chemo. When the miraculous recovery leaves the patient walking out of the hospital on their own, it’s the nursing staff that has spent countless hours at the bedside lining up to hug the patient when they walk by. That’s a nurturer.

Registered Nutcase : We work crazy hours, deal with crazy patients, and have to see what some people would call crazy things the human body does. So we are allowed to be a little nutty at times. At Thanksgiving dinner we get deemed the nutcase when talk of bodily fluids doesn’t gross us out. Some would even call working all night a cause for nuttiness. But if we don’t care for patient at all hours of the day and night, who else will? I’ll claim this title proudly.

Rather Nerdy : Granted, we work alongside those in white lab coats (and thank goodness for them) who carry around medical textbooks and dictate orders. For this example, let’s call the doctors the brains of the operation. So that makes nurses the senses for the brain. We are the doctor’s eyes and ears, and we are responsible for picking up on small changes at the bedside that may be missed without an astute assessment. For that reason, and for the knowledge that we must use to make a thorough assessment, one could deem us nerds. The human body is a complicated masterpiece, and nurses are expected to know many more details than the average person. Have you ever been that “go-to” friend that people call when their child is sick? “Oh, I have a friend who is a nurse, she knows everything, let’s call her…”

Rockstar Nanny : This could be explained in various scenarios, but who wouldn’t want a nurse as their nanny? The parents would never have to worry about an emergency, would they? I’ve had parents of perfectly healthy children tell me that they would pay me more to babysit their children just because I’m a nurse. Also, in the hospital setting, when parents have to go back to work because of financial constraints, it’s the nurses that step in as the faux mom, or nanny, during the hospitalization.

Regrettably Naive : I know when I first started I wanted all of my patients to be cured, to return home healthy and in better shape than when they came to the hospital. How naive. I know after some patients have passed away, I have troubled myself for weeks over what we could have done different to save this patient’s life, even though it was just their time to go. How naive. Amidst the naivete, something that nurses can count as a sure thing is that they are impacting somebody’s life each time they go to work. That makes up for being naive.

Rebelliously Naughty: This I will chalk up to jest but when Halloween comes around every year, what is consistently the most popular “naughty” costume found in stores? Although the stigma stays, a stigma that also presides on television and in the media, I would hope to say that in the real world RNs stray from this stigma since we are all professionals.

Rescue Ninja: Because of our exposure to emergency situations in the hospital setting, nurses are expected to maintain a sense of cool, calm and collectedness whenever an emergency arises. In the hospital, at a restaurant, at the party, etc. Thank goodness there was a nurse there that day!

Whatever people may deem alternative acronyms to Registered Nurse, I know it encompasses a working group of talented, empathetic, nurturing, important professionals that make a difference in people’s lives. For those of you who are a nurse, strive to be the best that you can be. For those of you who have experienced a nurse, lucky you.

Got any ‘true meanings’ for CNAs? LPN/LVNs? How about NPs? Share in the comments section below.

This article was republished with permission from SCRUBS Magazine.