Allnurses is not Supportive of Nurses

There was a time when I thought that Allnurses promoted online collaboration and support for nurses. I was wrong. Allnurses only intends to support themselves by padding their pocketbooks with ad sales garnered by promoting anonymous rants and gripe sessions. They claim to promote nursing, but they shun any nursing experts who can provide valuable insight to the conversations if that expert happens to have a blog.

Allnurses is a Huge Nursing Forum

Without a doubt, Allnurses is one of the largest nursing forums on the web. Heck, they may even be largest. They have an incredible potential to help other nurses connect with each others and help each other. They could do this even better if they allow nurse entrepreneurs to interact with their community and share their content.But all nurses does not permit nurse bloggers to post and on their website and share their own content. They don’t allow nurses who have blogs or business a to have a link in their signature and if they share their own content they are moderated and told to stop. But it’s not because they don’t  want links in signatures. No. It’s because they want to sell links in signatures. They also wish to keep any and all traffic on their own site.

I’m not talking about trying to prevent spam. I get that. What I’ve posted insightful, long, and well thought out responses to threads with a link to relevant content. What I’ve done in the past has actually improved their SEO by linking to relevant and high page rank content. Even so,  I’m told to step off.

 Allnurses Tells me to Stop Helping Nurses

As a successful nurse blogger, I understand what they are doing in terms of trying to keep their traffic. But I think it’s pretty audacious of them to have no desire to be a bigger part of the nursing community online. It seems as though they think they are the only nursing community online and unless you are willing to pay them are not allowed to participate.

Here’s a friendly little notification I received from Allnurses today:

Dear TheNerdyNurse,
You have received a Warning at Nursing for Nurses – allnurses.com.
Reason: Self promotion
——-
Hi there. While we do appreciate that you have your own blog, promoting it in the way top you are currently, by continually linking to  nerdy nurse is not allowed. To this end we are placing your acct on moderation which means your posts must be reviewed by staff and your private messaging is disabled. This has been discussed with you several times now over the past few yrs.
——-
This Warning is worth 50 point(s) and may result in restricted access until it expires. Serious Warnings will never expire.

I am sure that after I post this that my account will be permanently banned, but I really don’t care to participate in their restrictive website anymore. I’m probably committing a big blogging no-no, but I’m really annoyed with their attitude about “competition” for their content and I just needed to say that AllNurses.com really grinds my gears. They are preventing the nurses from getting insight from any entrepreneur nurse who may want to help their readers if they were given the ability to link to their content.

I wouldn’t be surprised if any of my content that is linked to on their site by other users is removed in the future. Heaven forbid anyone click on an outbound link to another nursing-related site, unless, of course, they got paid for it.

Allnurses Bullies Other Nurse Bloggers

I am not alone in this. I could tell you countless stories of other nurse bloggers who have tried to provide mentorship and add to the conversation on Allnurses online to be warned, banned, or flagged in some manner. Interestingly enough, I know of at least one of them who was banned for answering a user question by linking to her own post and then was later asked to be a paid contributor to the site (at a pitiful rate, I might add).

Allnurses Doesn’t Promote Nurse Entrepreneurship – They Stifle It

I’ve often considered starting me own nursing forum. Nurse entrepreneurs have so much they can offer online. We need a better and more centralized location to speak to each other because Allnurses doesn’t want us.

But I want us. In fact, I want you! Do you run a nursing blog or business? Feel free to link your website in the comments below. My links are do follow and if you are willing to take the time to comment on my blog I think you deserve your link. I care about all of you and your success online and I hope that others click on your links and go to your page.

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53 thoughts on “Allnurses is not Supportive of Nurses”

  1. Completely agree. I lost everything trying to get unsafe conditions addressed this has been going on for over 18 months. I reached out for support and one of their top contributors went on a personal attack. I responded and they blocked my account. Talk about why nursing is broken. They are as corrupt as the joint commission.

  2. I don’t have a blog or side hustle to promote, but I have stopped posting and reaching out for advice on AllNurses because 9 times out of 10, I will get a response from one of their top posters (the ones who seemingly like, live on there) with distinct air of condescension — more often than not, on AllNurses I see a lot of “toughen up” vibes toward new nurses, or “I would NEVER make that mistake” vs. being supportive and meeting the nurse where they are. (Of course there are exceptions so please don’t reply y’all with examples 🙂 ) That’s just the vibe I get after using the site for about 3 years now. It doesn’t feel like a — dare I say it — “safe space” (yes, I am a millennial!)

    I personally prefer Reddit or my real-life mentor mamas at work who tend to serve up advice with some humanity and a touch of of dark humor. I’m paranoid now anyway about putting anything remotely related to my pt care online anyways.

    Just found this blog — will look around! Thanks for posting this!

  3. Thanks for this article. I am not sure if you’ve seen the changes with allnurses, or if you’ve written them off completely, but now they offer links to websites, and all other social media platforms. Of course I cannot solicit my business services to their readers, but I can chime in on tips and strategies that may lead a few readers to seek out more information independently.

    Let me know if I am way off here, but it seems like they’ve changed for the better!

    Thanks,

  4. I have had a similar issue just recently with Allnurses. I was not kicked out, but they do not allow someone to talk about their blog. Mine is new and is being used as a therapeutic outlet for a traumatic event. They said they had a whole application process to be able to promote my blog on my profile (not allowed to link at all in any post and requires x many articles/blog posts that are not duplicates posted plus added minimum participation requirement on allnurses) I went through the application and it’s been at least a month without a response…. at all. Just nothing. I’m not going to take time to write articles for them if I am unable to link my blog in my own profile (This is what the application allows plus giving a badge).

    I understand not allowing “come see my site! come see my site” barrage, but if links that are posted are on topic and bring something to the conversation it adds to the conversation. It isn’t any different than if we were to link someone else’s post. That’s my opinion, though. I will be checking out justusnurses.com

  5. I do know this article was posted so so long but I still want to say that I have certain empathy with you, Brittney! I have currently operated a website which tend to support nurses. Of course, I added some affiliate links and would like to get more traffic but I’ve been trying to build useful content for readers as well. I think it’s all not about “selling product” or “marketing”, these sites make more choices for readers to get crediable information. Yeah, I totally agree with you about “competition”, sometimes this word does not make us improved at all as many people thought.

  6. I had no idea that the AllNurses site would be so rude to you. I know this article is old but i came across it doing research during my night shift. I have followed your blog on and off for a couple years now. Keep up the good work.
    – Robert

  7. Just want to say I thought allnurses was about community and building up the profession of nursing. All I have seen recently is a lot of trolling going on and especially the tearing down of one another. I am interested in attending a postmasters for NP and sadly have seen so many postings (often the same people) shred our profession to bits and tear down anyone interested in becoming an advanced practice nurse. It’s very sad to see…I’m glad I’m not the only one seeing the immaturity and bullying on that site!

  8. Allnurses.com isn’t for anyone. They bully everyone and ban you if you don’t agree with their ideals. 2 of my previous accounts were terminated. I hardly frequent the site, so I figured my accounts were disabled due to inactivity. I made a new one today. An hour later, I was banned for saying some nurses eat their young. Literally, that phrase exactly. Some moderator got very upset with me for saying that…said that NETY doesn’t exist…then banned me.

    Honestly, they did me a favor. All it has are ads all over and a bunch of people stuck in groupthink.

    Very toxic and not progressive.

    1. Too true. Several issues must be in accordance with their values. I was censured for specifically the same reasons.

  9. Like many of you, I was an active participant on allnurses MANY years ago. However, someone posted a link to one of my webpages which was OK with them because it wasn’t self-promotion. But a few weeks later, when I attempted to be a good Internet citizen and update the link (because it changed) so that the many many people looking for that info could find it, I was BANNED by allnurses admin from posting for like 2 years — I don’t remember exactly.

    I had a few email conversations with Brian and others about it and tried to explain I was just updating that link, and they didn’t care!!!!!!!!! I rejoined awhile ago when they invited me to do so, only to find NOTHING has changed. It bothers me immensely that because of alphabetical listing they always come up at the top of Google searches. And I NEVER promote their site or encourage readers to go there. But oh well….keep on blogging and updating my own websites. Thanks to Brittney we have LOTS of better places to share and interact!!! It’s too bad they have to be that way. It could be so much better!

    1. Demosthenes Likalotis

      Allnurses just gives me the creeps. To call that organization “Orwellian” is an understatement.
      But considering their infamous history, I suppose paranoid, overbearing and intolerant is par for the course.
      It’s sad but this is what happens when any organization allows but a few power mad administrators to set the editorial tone.
      Allnurses should be evaluated as an example of how a noble concept can once again be ruined by the perogatives of the few insiders with no love of nursing beyond their petty desires to deceive and manipulate the susceptible and uniformed.

  10. Hi Brittney! I wrote a post featuring 15 companies that hire nurses to work from home – http://www.homeiswherethejobsare.com/2015/06/work-from-home-nursing-jobs/, and I’ve received several comments from nurses saying that they just can’t seem to find anything in their state. In most cases, these nurses are not in compact states where it seems that more work from home opportunities are available. I’ve been referring my readers to All Nurses (or other nursing forums) for additional resources. I’m not a nurse myself, but this topic is near and dear to me, especially because I’ve received so much wonderful feedback from nurses. There are some great telecommute-friendly companies on my list, but do you have any other suggestions on where my RN and LPN readers might find home job opportunities, particularly if they don’t live in compact states? Thank you!

    1. Justusnurses.com doesn’t boast the largest membership but the nurses are real, supportive, you are allowed to voice your opinion, nurse entrepreneurs are welcome, NO infraction points are ever issued. You will love the difference!

  11. Angelodellamorte

    Currently a 2nd semester student nurse. I used to love looking at allnurses (and was an active commenter) for advice and sharing my limited expertise with pre-nursing students. I never told anyone that I was an RN (as I haven’t taken my boards and therefore am not a nurse) and made it abundantly clear that I am a student. I am also Italian and “miss infermiera” (Italian for nurse) was a nickname from my family, and I used it for my username. Apparently (according to the mods) I had been reported by multiple members of the community for my use of the word “nurse” in my username and it was changed without my permission or knowledge to “missinfermiera2b” along with a message accusing me of pretending to be a nurse when I am not. I haven’t used the site since.

  12. You are damn right about allnurses, the forum isn’t set up to help aspiring bloggers. It’s all about the dollars and not about the nurses I never got banned nor warned though because after going through the terms and conditions I noticed it really didn’t worth the time. I have a news aggregated forum still in infancy,thanks for providing this link building opportunity

  13. All I can say is karma is a b**** if you know what I mean. I saw your post about this a while back before he murdered his family. Looks like greed got the best of him in the end. Funny how that happens. You’re welcome to comment on onlyanurse.com anytime Brittany and feel free to send me any articles you want with links galore and I’ll post them for you, (complete with links).
    You’re an asset to the nursing community and an you’re totally committed to excellence. I love your work. Keep it up!

  14. Quite a few of us who were banned (and that “progressive warning” thing, to put it charitably, is a word that rhymes with “wool shirt”) have landed at JustUsNurses, a free, thriving, and delightful community for students, working, and retired nurses– no owner’s kids trolling, no med students, no pre-pre-nursing special snowflake students who get all flouncy when they’re disrespected.

    There’s an ongoing discussion about this topic there, with many links, also a nascent but growing student forum, and all sorts of fun stuff. Visitors will recognize many of us who mourn the loss of free-wheeling (but civil and literate) discussion that used to be possible on what we call TOL, the other list, and are delighted to be in one again. Come play. And we have the BEST smilies!
    “GrnTea”

  15. Information article. I was banned from AN about 6 years ago. They have always been about money, no open speech allowed, and ban on a very frequent basis. I created http://www.justusnurses.com after I was banned and we’re still there. Come join us if you want to interact and learn from friendly, professional, and mature adults/nurses. Welcome!!!

  16. An update 2 years later: Brian was facing a lawsuit–took long enough. He killed his family, then himself.

    Nursefriendly, please be honest and admit you are out for yourself, also. Did a search of your user name, and see the proof.

      1. I wasn’t ever banned, but am quite sure I am on ‘tachy’—something Brian had set up so a member can post and post, but no-one else sees it.

        Feel free to email me at gmail.

  17. Brittany,
    thanks for the heads up! I am new to the world of nurse blogging and did not know this about AllNurses. I’m sure I would have been banned and not even know why! Can you recommend other nurse forums to approach? My blog is about Maternal Child Nursing and I hope to reach nurses & mothers that want to learn more about their mother baby journeys and hopefully inspire nurses to obtain their maternal newborn certification along with me! http://www.mommybabynurse.com

  18. Great article, Brittney! In talking with other nurses, we heard many similar stories of negative experiences with allnurses. We’ve launched a new nurse community at http://nursescafe.com and we’re working on building up the community right now, but without the overly restrictive policies. It’s still small, but growing, and people are very positive so far. We’re approaching 1,000 members. We would love to have you be part of the community!

  19. Hi Brittney. I have just recently discovered your blog and I must say I like it a lot. I truly know what you mean about allnurses. Its a shame they don’t realize the importance of helping the nursing community by helping the blogs that in turn help all readers. Its a circle if life thing. Now I guess since you were gracious enough to offer I will list my site :-). http://onlinecnanursingclasses.com To be honest I am more used to starting more affiliate related websites and blogs but I am just passionate about nursing and CNA in particular. Nurses are sooo important and highly under glorified IMHO. Anyways keep up the excellent work and I look forward to reading more on your site and who knows maybe we can do some guest blogging! I would love hear about the business side if thenerdynurse sometime. Take care!

  20. Hey Brittney,
    I couldn’t agree more. Although I think allnurses does provide a decent forum for nurses of different stages to interact, I feel what they are missing is providing vital resources. With anyone being able to post, it can end up a haphazard (and loud) coffee shop with little direction for those who are looking for expert help on a subject matter. 
    I think people are looking for more than just individual stories and opinions. There are some of us nurses who want to do more than rant and rave. Some of us actually want to discuss solutions to problems, help other nurses dealing with things like stress, nursing field transitions, and career advice (to name a few). 
    But I must say that I don’t know much about the owners/founders and what their intention is for the site are. That makes all the difference. Maybe they are just so concerned about forums being bombarded with promotions, that they are willing to sacrifice having any type of expert portal/resource for their audience. Who knows? But these are questions I hope they ask themselves and their readers.
    Great article. I love these types of articles that question the “powers that be” and the mega popular or status quo. One of my mottos in life: question everything! It’s the only way to improve. 🙂

  21. elizabeth scala

    Bravo Brittney! You are totally on the money about the site. I have also received warnings and have decided it isn’t worth my time to go back. And in talking with other nurse entrepreneurs, I have found out I am not the only one. Now to hear this -while it is annoying and obnoxious- it is music to my ears to know I was not alone. You are doing the right thing and amazing work. It is about collaboration, it is about collective marketing. Anyone who lives in the space of competition lives from a place of “lack”. They will never prosper as much as they could have if they only came from a mindset of abundance. There is over-enough of us all to go around. What a silly thing they do, so I am so glad you are doing what YOU do and holding the space for us ALL to do what we love. Thank you!

  22. Hi there!
    I know the exact feeling. As part of my latest start-up I am trying to help new nurses find their first job. I made the mistake of posting a link to my site letting nurses know about my new resource and got banned within the hour. I had just spent countless hours pulling together over 400 nurse residency and new grad programs while paying a developer a few hundred dollars to get me set up! I figured that with all that work, nurses should know about our site when looking for more places to apply.
    Oh well.
    David Rndeer

  23. I wasn’t aware of this issue; it’s sad when the concern about a website’s own gain gets in the way of a good community! I do understand their policies and why they’re in place, but it does seem a little strict.

  24. Well, at least you got a warning. I posted a comment several years ago. I was answering a question a nurse had asked… And they just banned me. No warning at all… I wasn’t even promoting my website. I guess I did the unthinkable… I had been talking about being a nurse entrepreneur. Sharing ideas…etc. Not even just sharing what I do, but what can be done in general.  Someone wanted to know how to get in touch with me. They had more questions.. Yea.. I posted my email address… I really wasn’t thinking when I did it. But I honestly wasn’t trying to break rules. But… they didn’t even send a warning letter. They just closed down my account.

    1. JoyceHarrell don’t let it bother you Joyce. They are nurse forum dictators and totally don’t get nurse community and so concerned that someone might actually click an outbound link that they aren’t getting cpc for, you email address included, that they don’t know what to do with them self.

  25. I totally get where they are coming form….as a blogger myself….I obey their Terms of Service and not reference my site in their forums.  They allow you to freely post your url and social site connection on your home page.  I feel free to participate and don’t feel the need to advertise on every post my site.  I knew this when I signed up and I agreed to their terms.  I understand if I break the rules there are consequences….so I accept the rules or I accept the consequences.  I also know that they have a progressive process that involves warnings before point and points before moderation.  I appreciate the professional atmosphere and the relief from the constant bombardment of “come see my site” that makes Allnurses what it is.

  26. Brian and the gang at AllNurses.com have always had this policy. I got a similar “hand slap” in the past. I have to say that they are consistent and don’t allow any organization to self promote there. Still, maybe they can add a nurse entrepreneur channel to their forum to allow us to chat about what we do without violating the rules on their other posts.

  27. Loved the post and applaud your willingness to share with us. Reminds me of some of the “hand slapping” emails I got from some LinkedIn groups who won’t allow me to share my blog post within the group. 
    Although I do understand the whole spam and solicitation thing, if what someone posts is helpful to their readers, I can’t think of a reason other than greed to ding and potentially exile you!
    You’re doing great work…don’t be bullied by anyone!
    Renee

    1. RTConnections they would much rather have their readership stay within their site, I was told. It’s all about money with them. In the past when I asked about link in the signature I was told to purchase a premium membership or advertising.

  28. intriguing article
    really liked it
    though i am nt a part of Allnurses, but i still found this article useful
    thankx for sharing

  29. Interesting, because the entire point of the internet and connecting in social media is being able to reach out and expand and SHARE! As bloggers, we understand that putting links to other sites, whether or not it is our  personal blog, leads to increased information – and traffic – for everyone. 
    I’m not a part of AllNurses, not because I have anything against them, I simply never became involved in the community outside of a rare comment over the years.
    Bloggers are always sharing content and linking to each other – it’s what we do! It’s part of the community – you will find it in any blogging community, not just nursing.  It’s sad that it is seen as “self promotion” and not the promotion of nursing or nursing fellowship.

    1. Emergiblog most bloggers, webmasters, and social media professionals get the quid-pro-quo of content creation and links. I added lots of useful material and placed relevant links.

  30. Hello Brittney/Kevin, had that conversation with Brian Short over a decade ago when we were both starting out, at this point they are set in their ways, don’t expect them to change.  Their model works, they’ve made a ton of money and are protecting their assets.

    Lotsa other places to go. If we got our collective acts together we could make them obsolete in a very short period of time.  We’ve got the “reach” to draw people into discussions, forums, conversations.
    Not for nothing, you both already set up a perfectly good replacement in the Nurseup site.  You’re both welcome to take an active role in making that their top competitor and reaping the rewards. 
    We’ve done some amazing work promoting issues in the past, drawing nurses in.  Not many reasons why we could not do it again. The network is still in place.

    innovativenurse thenerdynurnurse

    1. guess his idea of nursing community is his own site. How brazen and arrogant. Nurses need a better place to go. A place that isn’t ran by forum Nazi’s and values nurse entrepreneurs for their excellent insight and rewards them for their contributions.

  31. innovativenurse

    I couldn’t agree more Brittney. All Nurses is a great resource for nurses, but the primary reason is because of the nurses who contribute to the community. This site is actually oppressive with its terms of services keeping everyone “tethered” to the site. 
    I actually wrote a post last year in response to one of my forum posts being taken down. I even attempted to remain professional in my response not necessarily calling them out, but you can certainly read between the lines. http://innovativenurse.com/nurses/
    Student nurses on the forums are always asking for help with their classes. They need to interview someone, they need input/advice, etc. I just wanted to extend an opportunity for the student nurses to share their story on RNFM Radio, which was already booked solid, but we wanted to make this a regular event. 
    I see so many posts on that forum that either go unanswered  partially answered, or just not the right answers for community members. 
    This business model will soon be the downfall of their site.

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