Nurses typically spend more time with patients than other members of the care team, and the information they gather directly informs care decisions. Their clinical expertise is essential for healthcare to work properly — and equally essential for Figure 1, a collaborative platform on which healthcare professionals share and discuss medical cases.

“Nurses are used to seeing all manner of symptoms and prioritizing care. That’s incredibly important in diagnosis and patient care, and it shouldn’t be downplayed,” said Dr. Joshua Landy, critical care physician and Figure 1 co-founder.

The close relationship with the patient is how nurses save lives. Catherine Griffin, a registered nurse in Tennessee who uses Figure 1, explains it this way: “As a healthcare provider that remains at the bedside for hours on end, it is often the nurse that notices minute changes in the patient’s condition that can lead to either positive or negative outcomes.”

Whether it’s a change in behavior or an unusual pattern on an electrocardiogram, everyone benefits from this attention to detail that is a hallmark of the nursing profession.

In banning the phrase “just a nurse,” we are formalizing an unwritten rule in the Figure 1 community. As seen in the quotations from actual case discussions that illustrate this article, there’s a strong grassroots movement against downplaying the important work done by nurses. With our @notjustanursebot, we are underlining that sentiment.

In the words of one internal medicine specialist on Figure 1: “I hate when you guys say ‘just a nurse.’ What would I do without all the high-quality nurses who work with me? Every day would be a lost battle.”