do nurses eat their young

Nurses General Nursing

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I have bben working for this hospital for three months and it seems like every other day I get in trouble for some paper not filled out and half the time it is not my fault, something that should have been done another shift, then I get in trouble because I gave a med iv antibiotic it was hung and dated but I forgot to sign it out on the mar the nurse who got me in trouble I saw had tons of med bllanks but I let it go, I love being a nurse but I am getting tired of feeling almst picked on, what should I do

Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.
From now on, don't let it go. Speak up, speak against anyone who badmouths you. Fight tooth and nail. Meet her after work outside, wipe up the street with her, LOL. Just kidding about the physical stuff but am very serious about the pointing out of her errors to the supervisor. If she is going to bash you that way, bash her right back. In love, of course, only to help her be a better nurse. LOL

Tit for tat is not the way to go. Running off to mommy and being a tattletale will not engender positive feelings toward the OP. Unless the OP sees a mistake that truly merits writing up, it's better to just let that sort of thing go. Charting errors/discrepancies catch up to you eventually.

The last thing the OP needs to do is spend time looking for things to nail her co-workers for. She should concentrate on her practice, her patients, period. It sounds like from her first post she does have things to work on...she should work on those issues instead of trying to find fault with others.

If she is being harrassed, that's another matter. But one thing I have noted lately is that new nurses seem to bristle whenever they get negative feedback. NEWSFLASH: You're new. You're going to make mistakes. Your co-workers and preceptors need to point your mistakes out to you so you can improve. And we all make mistakes, no matter how long we've been nurses.

Negative feedback does not mean the same thing as being "eaten."

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Do you wanna know what I'VE noticed in the time that I've been a nurse?

I've noticed that the nastiest nurses that I've worked with, are the ones that have not even been nurses that long. They are still fairly new and for some strange reason think that they know everything there is to know. Then they pick on the even-newer nurses and the perhaps not-so-new nurses that have more difficulty doing their jobs.

I've never had quite as much trouble with nurses who have been around 15, 20, 30 years. Maybe it's because they are just wiser?

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Destiny.. what type of picking on and bullying do they do in school??

Epona :o

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
i've noticed that the nastiest nurses that i've worked with, are the ones that have not even been nurses that long. they are still fairly new and for some strange reason think that they know everything there is to know. then they pick on the even-newer nurses and the perhaps not-so-new nurses that have more difficulty doing their jobs.

i've never had quite as much trouble with nurses who have been around 15, 20, 30 years. maybe it's because they are just wiser?

actually, it has to do with game playing and feeding ones own ego. by putting down others, it inflates their own self-importance and self-esteem. sad, isn't it, that they have to resort to destroying someone elses self-esteem to feed their own?
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Specializes in home & public health, med-surg, hospice.
Maybe it's because they are just wiser?

And more confident? Yeah, I've noticed that phenomena as well, RealNurseWitch. Usually it's the nurses who are insecure in their own knowledge.

Makes sense to me, most bullying is a result of the bully's own insecurities, ya know?

We need to be careful with the whole "nurses eat their young," that we're not over-generalizing. I've seen MANY older nurses ran through th' ringer once they've past their prime (back injuries, etc.). We need to be protecting them from abuses as well and utilizing them to their full potential. :)

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I've never had quite as much trouble with nurses who have been around 15, 20, 30 years. Maybe it's because they are just wiser?

some of those can be witches on wheels too

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I think that they are looking at you that way when you ask questions because either they don't know the answer, they just figured it out themselves or they may know the answer but haven't developed the capacity to explain it to any one else. Hospitals definelty need to develop more rules (as I type this I know it will never happen) around becoming a preceptor. I had about 20 different preceptors in 3 months, all of them gave me conflicting answers about how things where to be done, what paper work was to be filled out, policies in place. It was a joke.

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Hi There, As A New Nurse Take A Look Around At Co Workers.pick Out Those Who Always Seem To Get It Right,whatever "it" Is.maybe You Can Pick A Few Things You Admire And Emulate Them. I Once Worked With Someone Who Sounds Like The Prototype Nurse For This Negative Behavior. Everyone Learned Her Tricks Eventually And Started Documenting Everything.also, Another Alternative Is To Develop Some Very Inventive And Descriptive Charting Techniques. Learn To Use Synonyms.

Kathy

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Specializes in MedSurg.-Tele, Home health, LTC.

yup, there are very few "oldtimer" nurses i met were nice..but honestly, some are mean, and they always find little mistakes even if you did well on the job..i guess they are afraid of new blood coming in their little old world. just be nice, and remember, you do not want to be one of them later on.:smokin:

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Hi! I Do Know What You Mean. I Was A Preceptor For Many Years Before I Left The Hospital Setting And Some Of My New Nurses Perceived Hostility From Other Staff Members. Just Remember That Those Nurses Are Just As Worried As You Are About Being Called On The Carpet For Mistakes They Are Afraid You'll Make.

Kathy

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Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.
yup, there are very few "oldtimer" nurses i met were nice..but honestly, some are mean, and they always find little mistakes even if you did well on the job..i guess they are afraid of new blood coming in their little old world. just be nice, and remember, you do not want to be one of them later on.:smokin:

:uhoh3:

yeah, that must be it. we're all mean, evil, and sooooooo threatened by new nurses with no experience.

get real. there are mean people of all ages in nursing. this means young nurses too.

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as to "nurses eating their young", i so dislike this phrase. it is merely a cute, playful, idiomatic way of saying someone is being nasty. it plays down the seriousness of the bullying and psychological game playing that is really going on. ill-tempered behavior directed toward anyone is just unacceptable and it happens in all walks of life, in all professions, not just nursing. to combat it you need to learn assertiveness and therapeutic communication techniques. these are interpersonal communication skills that you may or may not have been introduced to in nursing school. you can also learn them by studying on your own.

i really liked your entire post but especially this last part.

my point is i also dislike this stereotype for all the reasons you state. it has always bugged me.

"nurses" don't "eat their young". some nurses are bullies. that doesn't mean "nurses" are bullies.

i run into a few rude truck drivers but for the most part the truck drivers i know and live with (my dh);) are awesome people, caring, compassionate and always pull over when they can to let you pass. just because i've been treated rudely by a few truck drivers doesn't mean truck drivers hate nurses driving white pickups . . . .

i really hate stereotypes, in case that didn't come across.

steph

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