Old nurses dont want to learn new tricks?

spidermonkey · Feb 5, 2006

Where I went to college, we learned to start IV's in the classroom on each other! We also practiced many other things on dummies & then in the hospital setting. I realize most (if any) of that is not taught in school anymore, and the focus is on passing a test that is maybe 1/2 as intense as yrs ago-- ALL THE MORE REASON to come out of school w/an open mind & a license to "learn" as one poster put it. A new grad will learn alot more if she is willing to learn from others' experience, and ask plenty of questions-- rather than 'pretend' to know it all-- exposure to many ideas & situations will help the new grad. gradually gain confidence-- it takes years though, and the attitude displayed by the OP is only a block to true learning. I've only seen a handful of new grads who weren't grateful for the experience & input of us experienced nurses. I have to hope this is the exception rather than the rule & that it isn't the trend of the future.

perfectbluebuildings, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2006

I have to hope this is the exception rather than the rule & that it isn't the trend of the future.

I hope so too... I can reassure you, being one of the newest nurses going today, that I am about the opposite of this attitude, and none of the other new nurses I've met seem to have this attitude either, at least at my hospital. Once actually working as nurses, it seems like a lot of people realize that the textbook learning only goes so far when you are dealing with real live patients with all their eccentricities, variations and so on. Not to mention that sudden heavy weight of responsibility of being THE NURSE all of a sudden (at least it felt like that!), makes every action and intervention seem fraught with all sorts of new perils for your patient and you ask, in serious tone of voice, questions about a rash on a kid's rear end that is, when you look at it a second time, quite clearly just diaper rash! (I often wonder, where the experienced nurses get that poker face when I ask questions like that...)

The original post, I would absolutely disagree that there is any reason for a nurse who's been in a unit/facility/position for many years, to have to go to a different unit. Like others have said- she/he has found their niche and the place where their unique skills/qualities/talents mesh best with what the patients need. They are the person I'd want taking care of me. You wouldn't ask a pediatrician to switch to adult cardiology after years of practice, for example, and nurses who work in a field a long time become real experts, assets and resources at the nursing (and a lot of the medical) care of say, oncology patients. That experience should be respected. I don't see those nurses not maintaining their skills, at all. I don't think that has anything to do with age- it has to do with individual people.

I know a lot of these points have been stated in other ways earlier in this thread... I just wanted to add my voice of support. I really enjoyed reading all the articulate points of view here I have to say.

weetziebat · Feb 5, 2006

How to put fear into an intern in 7 simple words:
"Do you REALLY want to do that?"
~faith,
Timothy.

:rotfl: :rotfl: Ain't that the truth?!

PedsER-RN, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2006

:deadhorse , but i'll add my $0.02:

i think the op's comments are completely ignorant, rude, and degrading. to categorize an entire group of people is just plain stupid.

i'm 22 and was 20 when i graduated. i was scared to death when i began and certainly did not think i knew everything (or even close)-i was scared at how little i knew. when parents asked me questions i didn't know the answer to, guess who i went to for help? :idea: yeah, you guessed right, one of the 'old' nurses :eek: (some of whom had been working longer than i had been alive). they have a wealth of knowledge that you simply can't get from books and classes.

the op just proves his/her ignorance by categorizing more experienced nurses as all being old, complacent, and waiting for retirement. :no: granted, i work with a couple older nurses who would rather sit at the desk and watch others work, but i also work with younger nurses who do the same.

:banghead: it never ceases to amaze me how close-minded some people can be......

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Feb 5, 2006

:deadhorse , but i'll add my $0.02:
i think the op's comments are completely ignorant, rude, and degrading. to categorize an entire group of people is just plain stupid.
i'm 22 and was 20 when i graduated. i was scared to death when i began and certainly did not think i knew everything (or even close)-i was scared at how little i knew. when parents asked me questions i didn't know the answer to, guess who i went to for help? yeah, you guessed right, one of the 'old' nurses (some of whom had been working longer than i had been alive). they have a wealth of knowledge that you simply can't get from books and classes.
the op just proves his/her ignorance by categorizing more experienced nurses as all being old, complacent, and waiting for retirement. granted, i work with a couple older nurses who would rather sit at the desk and watch others work, but i also work with younger nurses who do the same.
it never ceases to amaze me how close-minded some people can be......

not in their defense....

but

they were asking what others find.

that person had spoken with a few old timers (don't blast me, that wasn't my term, and i'm also not endorsing the usuage of it), and gave the opinion of that few, not a whole population, and asked a few questions relating to it on what others think.

i do not see anything that is saying what you're saying (in the underlined portion or the post i quoted.)

PedsER-RN, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2006

not in their defense....
but
they were asking what others find.
that person had spoken with a few old timers (don't blast me, that wasn't my term, and i'm also not endorsing the usuage of it), and gave the opinion of that few, not a whole population, and asked a few questions relating to it on what others think.
i do not see anything that is saying what you're saying (in the underlined portion or the post i quoted.)

original post by garciadiego:

ive spoken to a few old timers, and they seem only to want to coast until retirement.

they dont seem to feel obligated to stretch themselves, to maintain and update there skills

[color=#a0522d]

in response to marie_lpn: my post was what came across to me as i read the op's post. using the term few is subject to broad interpretation, and the fact that the op didn't mention any more experienced nurses as being anything but complacent (not what he/she said, but what i got from the post) led me to believe that he/she was speaking in terms of a broad generalization of older nurses.

thanks for the reply, but my post is my opinion, and i stand by that.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Feb 5, 2006

Do you in nursing land find that old time nurses, those with many years in the career, dont want to learn new things?- like learning to care for a new kind of patient than they are used to, for instance going from LTC to a more acute setting or rotating from a geriatric unit to a unit with younger, more alert residents, which would require learning new skills?

We all timers could teach this young pup a few things! All of the new grads I work with are thrilled to be precepted by an older nurse and state they cannot wait until they are 1/2 as knowledgeable as us old timers.

Ive spoken to a few old timers, and they seem only to want to coast until retirement.

So they only one's she's spoken to want to coast until retirement. Hum I've yet to meet one like that. You cannot coast in nursing. It just doesn't work that way. To me she implies that all old times are the same way because she has not heard anything different yet from an old timer.

They dont seem to feel obligated to stretch themselves, to maintain and update there skills- wouldnt they feel better about themselves as nurses if they did take on new responsibilities?
Is this the normal course of evolution in the career of nurses?

I find this more insulting than being called an "old dog" or an "old timer". We oldies but goodies began in the days when nurses wore all white and proudly wore their caps. I'm not saying that I'd like to go back to that because I wouldn't but my point is that we have seen alot, felt alot, learned alot, experienced alot, she has no idea how far nursing has come in the past 25-35 years. It's not even close today compared to how it was.

I do believe as PedsER-RN has said that this OP is catagorizing us all. I take her age and inexperience into account but she is the one who has alot to learn if she is going to be a successful nurse!

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Feb 5, 2006

The OP wasn't speaking in terms of all, but in the term of the "few" they had spoken to, then asked people here on what they've seen, i.e. is it this or that.

The term "few" does not mean "all" or even a broad generalization to me.

I'm done here, this horse is down to the bones.

Dalzac, LPN, LVN, RN · Feb 5, 2006

I am an Old Timer or whatever you want to call me but where I work if I don't have the required CEU's I don't get an annual raise. And I like money it can feed ya, clothe ya. send ya to school put a roof over my head and all the rest of that stuff. I go to work every day and just can't imagine what else I would do because I actually like taking care of sick people. I have a talent that helps them feel better so they can go home. I find it offensive that someone thinks that I am just 'coasting til retirement.but I also am looking forward to retiring as well I think it would be killer to go somewhere with the old man and just sit and fish. or just take off and go somewhere and not think about having to go back to work. but in the mean time I still have to crack open educational material to find out what new medical magic is out there.

myfriend · Feb 7, 2006

I too am a "old nurse". I teach alot of old tricks, and I learn new ones too!. I am a old diploma grad that is going back for my BSN after 27 years. So yes I can learn but when there is a major problem {clogged drain tube, feeding tube, chemo reaction and even codes} who do they always scream for the old nurse. when the guy with an infected leg wound keeps coming back, it is the old nurse who thinks to ask why and what home is like, sterile is great in the hospital for those dressings but at home sometimes cockroach free is the best we can get. So those great once a week new dressings just dont work. I also have the experience to find veins in turnips. So I may not love the adrenlin rush {it speeds up my old heart too much}, my joints dont work as well and I tire easily, so no jumping on chest is not my idea of fun. But I can teach you when there is no change in a patient but you know something is wrong with him, and I am usually right. There is a place for new and old everywhere even in nursing.

rita359 · Feb 7, 2006

Has been an interesting discussion. I think op should keep a copy of this to look back on in a few years. See if she still agrees then or if she has become an "old dog":roll

casper1 · Feb 7, 2006

I disagree , the majority f old time nurse I know are energetic ethusiastic and reliable. They welcome new challeges and act as mentors for new nurses. Statement like this sterotype older nurses. It's very unfair.