Experienced Nurses Only

[RunningWithScissors]

No replies from students please!

Nurses, are you frustrated with trying to read theses forums only to find that most of the posts are from students or nurse wanna-be's looking for medical advice? You can usually tell them by the poor grammer.

Can we have a forum created for experienced nurses only to post?

No flames, let's just be honest here.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I sometimes have a lot of typos and poor grammar. I also understand there are people from other countries asking questions.

I never tire of students asking questions, I never tire of the NCLEX questions, and I never tire of us old battle axe nurses venting the same things over and over again.

I've asked a few questions myself and am glad they were answered rather than "you're an experienced nurse, don't you know what to do with a hyponatremic patient? Don't you know how to use the search function, don't you know how to use resources....and your grammar is dreadful". (Tongue in cheek)

I confess to cringing when I read "nurses eat their young" or "the nurses in my clinicals are so mean".

I understand why you would want an experienced nurses forum, but as you said it would be hard to keep exclusive (look at the number of women who post to the Male nurses forum).

[PANurseRN1]

I would point out, though, that there is a forum specifically dedicated for first-year nurses, as well as one for students. The description for each of these forums is that they are dedicated to the issues unique to that topic. True, anyone can post on it, but they are places for support specific to students/new nurses. Again, I'm not trying to be difficult, but to me that is a bit of disparity.

I guess I will be the Lone Ranger on this. Perhaps I have just had my fill of the "hating on experienced nurses" threads/posts. A recent post by Timothy that cross-referenced multiple mean-spirited threads about experienced nurses was a real eye-opener for me.

And my offer still stands. If an experienced nurse needs someone to vent to and feel safe from recriminations, please PM me. I will gladly offer support.

[PANurseRN1]

I sometimes have a lot of typos and poor grammar. I also understand there are people from other countries asking questions.

I never tire of students asking questions, I never tire of the NCLEX questions, and I never tire of us old battle axe nurses venting the same things over and over again.

I've asked a few questions myself and am glad they were answered rather than "you're an experienced nurse, don't you know what to do with a hyponatremic patient? Don't you know how to use the search function, don't you know how to use resources....and your grammar is dreadful". (Tongue in cheek)

I confess to cringing when I read "nurses eat their young" or "the nurses in my clinicals are so mean".

I understand why you would want an experienced nurses forum, but as you said it would be hard to keep exclusive (look at the number of women who post to the Male nurses forum).

There's a big difference between your example and the "I have a diabetic patient. Help me write my care plan in NANDA format."

I don't post in the "Male Nurses" forum (except for one time when someone made a really inappropriate and sexist remark about female nurses). I figure it's for the guys.

[gauge14iv, MSN, APRN, NP]

(look at the number of women who post to the Male nurses forum).

OOOO!!!!! They don't check testosterone levels at the door?? :w00t:

[level1_traumaRN]

Wow...you shouldn't even be posting on this site!!! You were once a nursing student or a "nurse wanna be" as you say!!! I can't believe you would even start a thread like this. I was a NURSE WANNA BE just 6 months ago, now I am one! Wow...people these days.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

why do so many "experienced" nurses want to shut out the new generations of nurses? don't you feel some kind of obligation to help progress nursing?

anyway, i totally understand the desire for an experienced nurses forum. experienced nurses have a different perspective. but perhaps you should nix the "exclusiveness" of it, and stop separating yourselves from the unworthy, less experienced students. that makes people lose a lot of respect for you.

ouch! i wonder if you meant to attack me?

i don't think one forum out of the many for experienced nurses (rns and lpns) to vent without worrying about the put down comments of those who have clearly not been there constitutes shutting out new generations of nurses. there are, after all, plenty of forums for students, nclex, the first year, etc. it's not about "separating ourselves from the unworthy" but rather being able to vent without being chastised for being pushy, mean, nasty, eating our young, for feeling the way we do.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

newbies, students, wanna-bes (not meant offensively), please understand that no one, no matter how much she likes her job, is always positive. bad things happen. dysfunctional people cross your path. real life intrudes.

i think one of the problems with experienced nurses venting is that aspiring nurses see it out of context and it can scare them. they don't know about the good times because we're not talking about that at the moment. other nurses who've been around awhile can fill in the blanks. they can often distinguish between someone who's having a temporary snit and someone who is headed down a dangerous path.

when we're in dire straits, we have to take care of ourselves and sometimes that means we're don't have much left to take care of others. we need to direct our energy at solving problems and sorting out feeings and we don't want to feel like we have to hold everything in because some might not understand and be damaged by our candor.

experienced nurses should remember that they were green and needy when they started out. they should help the newbies feel comfortable with asking questions and do any necessary correcting with respect.

newbies and aspiring nurses should acknowledge that there is much they don't know about the real world of nursing and not assume that veteran nurses who have occasional struggles are bitter and burned out. let us be where we are and we'll try to do the same for you.

thank you so much for this post. it expressed everything i wanted to say but was unable to articulate. thank you!

[PANurseRN1]

ouch! i wonder if you meant to attack me?

i don't think one forum out of the many for experienced nurses (rns and lpns) to vent without worrying about the put down comments of those who have clearly not been there constitutes shutting out new generations of nurses. there are, after all, plenty of forums for students, nclex, the first year, etc. it's not about "separating ourselves from the unworthy" but rather being able to vent without being chastised for being pushy, mean, nasty, eating our young, for feeling the way we do.

i think you expressed yourself quite well, ruby! and you are right about forums directed toward pre-nursing students, nursing students, new grads and first-year nurses. i also fail to see how one forum for experienced nurses is such an awful thing.

[LuvMyGamecocks]

I, for one, am particularly grateful for the "human" side of the nursing profession that this forum presents and would hate to lose that until I have a license.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

probably exactly what you need to do.

why not use your generous experience and education to teach the students instead of complaining about their "grammar" ( i corrected your spelling by the way because that seems to be a major cause of panic for you). in other words lighten up!

sometimes, we just want to vent to someone who understands (and isn't going to remember our venting when evaluation time comes around) without worrying about teaching students. sometimes we want to be supported, without worrying about having to protect or educate newbies. it's difficult enough to do the job day in and day out without having to teach constantly and watch every thought we express because someone who hasn't the experience to understand where we're coming from might misinterpret it.

i'm not sure that i understand the tendency among some of the inexperienced among us to put down an experienced nurse who is venting. but when your feelings are already rubbed raw by the unreasonable patient/family member/co-worker/manager you're currently venting about, those posts telling us "if you're so burnt out, you should just leave" or "you should never laugh at patients behind their backs" or "nurses are just plain mean" are difficult to read and even more difficult to ignore.

most of us understand the need to educate newbies, whether students, new grads or the experienced nurse with 20 years of er experience who just transferred to the icu. most of us embrace and enjoy the experience. there are times, however, when we don't want to worry about the newbies.

when you see a post from an experienced nurse venting about something you have yet to experience (an irate family member, a rude physician, a clueless manager) please don't assume that the reason you haven't experienced it is due to your superior communication skills. it may be that you just haven't been around long enough or around the right places to encounter that experience. and please think about supporting that nurse who has had such a terrible experience rather than telling her she's wrong to feel the way she does, or that there's something wrong with her that put her in that position.

most newbies (and rightfully so) bristle at the idea of an experienced nurse telling them they're stupid or ignorant when they ask a question about how to do something or express an "aha" moment about something that seems relatively simple after 20 years. those of us who have been around for decades bristle at the idea of someone who hasn't even worked in the profession yet telling us we have bad attitudes, shouldn't be precepting, etc. when we vent.

[PANurseRN1]

sometimes, we just want to vent to someone who understands (and isn't going to remember our venting when evaluation time comes around) without worrying about teaching students. sometimes we want to be supported, without worrying about having to protect or educate newbies. it's difficult enough to do the job day in and day out without having to teach constantly and watch every thought we express because someone who hasn't the experience to understand where we're coming from might misinterpret it.

i'm not sure that i understand the tendency among some of the inexperienced among us to put down an experienced nurse who is venting. but when your feelings are already rubbed raw by the unreasonable patient/family member/co-worker/manager you're currently venting about, those posts telling us "if you're so burnt out, you should just leave" or "you should never laugh at patients behind their backs" or "nurses are just plain mean" are difficult to read and even more difficult to ignore.

most of us understand the need to educate newbies, whether students, new grads or the experienced nurse with 20 years of er experience who just transferred to the icu. most of us embrace and enjoy the experience. there are times, however, when we don't want to worry about the newbies.

when you see a post from an experienced nurse venting about something you have yet to experience (an irate family member, a rude physician, a clueless manager) please don't assume that the reason you haven't experienced it is due to your superior communication skills. it may be that you just haven't been around long enough or around the right places to encounter that experience. and please think about supporting that nurse who has had such a terrible experience rather than telling her she's wrong to feel the way she does, or that there's something wrong with her that put her in that position.

most newbies (and rightfully so) bristle at the idea of an experienced nurse telling them they're stupid or ignorant when they ask a question about how to do something or express an "aha" moment about something that seems relatively simple after 20 years. those of us who have been around for decades bristle at the idea of someone who hasn't even worked in the profession yet telling us we have bad attitudes, shouldn't be precepting, etc. when we vent.

precisely!

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

i have to say that i'm absolutely amazed at how threatened some folks seem to be by the idea that experienced nurses might want their own forum. as far as i can see, the original poster didn't say anything offensive, but i'm offended by some of the subsequent posts on this thread attacking both the op and anyone who agreed with her. i just don't understand. what is so very threatening about the idea of experienced nurses venting to one another?