The Misrepresentation of Nurses- a Profile on MSN candidate Shania Johnson
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
I am successful because of the opportunities I was awarded early on. I was born and raised in Baltimore, and went to Baltimore City Public Schools. All the positive role models in my life have been the women around me- namely my mother. My mom was a teen mom, and growing up I saw her earn both her associates and her masters degree. There was also my 5th grade elementary school teacher, who was the first person outside of my mother to buy me a book. I went to a small elementary school where I learned about the Ingenuity program, which I later joined. From there I learned about Hopkins, specifically the Baltimore Scholars program. It paid for my undergraduate at Hopkins and showed me opportunities to get my graduate school paid for. I am presently a second year nursing student at the Hopkins School of Nursing, where I am working towards my MSN. I am a true finesse queen!
What drew you to nursing? How long have you wanted to become a nurse?
No one in my immediate family has gone into the health[field]. In 5th grade I read “the gifted hands” by Ben Carson and wanted to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, but realized I’d have to be in school for way longer than I wanted to. I also had a cousin with hydrocephalus (buildup of fluid within the brain), and the doctors told her mother she wouldn’t live past 6 months. She ended up living to be almost 5 years old. Much of her living past the 6 months she was expected to was attributed to the in home nurses she had in those years. I saw nursing as a way to do what I love, which is being with people.
This is something I know a lot of people get mixed up on- what is the difference between a CNA vs RN vs CRNP?
The main difference is in the education required, who you report to, and the amount of things you are allowed to do. This is a very brief highlight but here are some of the larger differences:
CNA: Certified Nursing Assistant; assists patients with basic needs such as checking vitals, transporting patients, and assisting with daily living tasks, such as dressing, bathing, etc. CNA’s are supervised by a Licensed Practical Nurse or a Registered Nurse.
RN: Registered Nurses; this requires more school and comes with the ability to provide injections, perform diagnostic tests and evaluate the results, operate medical equipment, and coordinate with physicians care for the patient.
CRNP-Certified Registered Nurse Practitioners; CRNP are able to give patients stitches, prescribe medications, and do the vast majority of the things that physicians can do.
What are the different pathways to nursing:
There are a few different ways to get into the field of nursing. You can get an associate’s degree in nursing from a community college, or you can complete a bachelors in nursing (BSN). You can also do bachelors in a field outside of nursing and enroll in a MSN program, which will take 2 years. These all result in one becoming a registered nurse. There are a lot of changes going on in the nursing world because it’s being acknowledged how much information needs to be known. There’s much more of a push now to at least get a BSN as opposed to an associate degree. Getting a master degree in nursing also comes with more incentives, such as higher starting pay and more administrative opportunities, such as becoming a nurse manager or a clinical leader. There also used to be a Master of Nursing program that would make you a nurse practitioner- this is dying out and turning into DNP programs (Doctor of Nurse Practitioner). DNP’s are clinical practice degree. You can also get your doctorate in nursing, which is more research oriented. There are also DNP-PhD dual programs that take about 5 years to finish.
How do you think nurses are perceived in the medical field?
While the current precedent is changing, there is definitely still a stigma around nurses. People think “nurses don’t know much,” or “nurses don’t change that much/aren’t impactful.” In actuality because of the constant contact nurses have with patients, they are often more likely to see what’s wrong with the patient, which they then tell the doctor, pharmacists, and other members of the care team. I feel like nurses are starting to be respected more as an integral part of the medical team- in one of the rounds I went on I saw doctors asking nurses about what their thoughts were, input on a patient’s diagnosis, etc. There are also a lot of different types of nurses: registered nurses can be traveling nurses, work in hospitals or work for insurance programs. Nurse practitioners can run clinic programs and can also lead research.
Describe the connection between nursing and the black community.
I think there’s this misunderstanding that a lot of black women are nurses, when in actuality there aren’t that many. There’s not a clear distinction between those that are black MA’s, CNA’s, etc. as opposed to black nurses. There’s a big miscommunication as to who are the nurses and who are the MA’s or CNA’s, and what each provider is able to do. Not everyone that sees you before the doctor comes in is a nurse. This thinking feeds into the stigma that all black people interested in medicine are into nursing as opposed to any other health field. In Baltimore specifically there’s a joke that “all the black women in Baltimore wanna be nurses and drive Hondas” and it’s said with a bad connotation that drives a lot of people away from wanting to be nurses because they think everyone else is going into it. In actuality the majority of nurses are white women. There’s also the idea that you can easily become a nurse; people get told “ohh just be a nurse and then you can figure out what you really wanna do later.”Things like this play into the idea that nursing is just something to casually do while you actually figure out what you wanna do, and isn’t a full career option.
Where do you see your career going?
My end goal is to become a pediatric nurse practitioner with my own clinic in the middle of Baltimore. I want the clinic to be there because there are so many major hospitals that often aren’t accessible to people in the city. I’ve gone to University of Maryland since I was younger but to get there I have to catch a couple buses or the bus and the subway. This is the case for a lot of people and it shouldn’t be like that. What’s more accessible than your clinic being in walking distance? I would eventually want to bring in others specialities like psych and geriatric specialties- psych especially. Mental health isn’t talked about much in the black community both because of the stigma and also because there isn’t access to affordable therapy options. I want it to be community oriented. I want to be seen as the Primary Care Provider but also seen as a member of my community. I want my patients to see me going to the same food stops as them, or the same grocery stores. I also want the nursing career to seem more accessible by being in the community to show others that they can do it too. When I get older I want to teach people in the community how to do basic safety tips- like teaching CPR, basic wound care, etc.
What’s one thing that excites you the most about being a nurse?
I love when I go into different patient rooms and the patients get excited about me- specifically a black woman- becoming a nurse. I like how proud they are of me and how they want me to keep going because they don’t see a lot of people that look like me as nurses. It’s not with every patient but there will be that one patient that is super grateful for me or is proud of me and tells me to keep going. It’s so great having this especially in the moments when I’m tired or don’t want to do it anymore. I’m excited to have a career filled with these moments.
