Seasoned Nurses VS Newbie Nurses

Nurses General Nursing

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As I've stated in multiple other posts, I am a new grad in the ER. As a new grad, I do not possess the EXPERIENCE that a seasoned nurse has; however, I have noticed that many seasoned nurses are not up to date with new standards that were taught to us in school.

How can one bridge the gap between old knowledge vs newer knowledge?

Here is a perfect example. We were doing ACLS and all the new grads were very knowledgeable regarding the new ACLS protocol; however, a more seasoned nurse was there as well and was following a different protocol that was practiced years ago and not up to date.

With preceptorship coming soon, how do I as a new grad decide what to follow as far as their experience and advice, versus what was taught to me in school?

I am not talking about ACLS protocol here; OBVIOUSLY I am going to follow what the AHA recommends, but I am talking other things here for instance:

-skills

-assessments

-charting

etc.

I have noticed seasoned nurses also don't chart the same as newer nurses, especially because when they had originally started, there was no such thing as an online charting system.

I respect all seasoned nurses and love learning from them and their knowledge is absolutely invaluable, but I have noticed a lot of discrepancies between what we learn and what they do.

Any advice?

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I don't see people hating on the OP. We get probably a hundred threads on this same topic every year, and some of us get a little cranky when we see another seasoned vs. new nurse debate. Especially when the posters are still in school and have NO idea what working the floor as an actual nurse is like. A wise instructor once told me, when I complained to her about the RNs cutting corners in my clinical setting, "There's school, there are tests, and then there's real life". She was a practicing nurse, so she wasn't speaking from a high perch in academia. She was also right, and as I became a seasoned nurse myself I learned where I could (and could not) save time. I also took the time to explain to the students and new nurses I precepted that what they saw me do might not always be the way it was done in school, and that I expected them to do things exactly the way they were being taught.

We realize that new members may not know that this issue has been raised ad nauseam, but don't hate on *us* for being a little less than patient with these threads. They never end well, and we know it.

1 Votes
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
How do you know which shortcuts/deviations from the classroom setting are okay and which shortcuts are bad practice?

That's where your preceptor comes in. S/he's the person who's been doing it all these years. Sometimes the school way actually is new and improved. And sometimes it isn't.

When I was a student, my instructors would often point out that it was our job as new grads to show the old guard how it's done. Some of my classmates actually fell for this. My motto was "Watch and learn." If you really know a better way to do something, zip it until you have been there long enough to have earned a bit of credibility.

Well, thank goodness you're there to show all the experienced nurses what they're doing wrong.

Im pretty sure I never once stated that I was here to show the experienced nurses how it was done, I would never tell a nurse how to care for their patient unless it was something very dangerous that I witnessed them doing. I was just curious on others inputs, I never asked for advice on how to bring it up to the nurse, that was never my plan. I just wanted to see other peoples advice on the situation. You need to relax a bit.

I think such a charge merits at least one complete example...

(...said knowing full well that the better thing to do would be to ignore...)

Excuse me, what?

As long as there are no egregious breeches of protocol or nursing practice let it go.

You could ask 10 of the top bedside nurses how or why to do such and such and get 20 answers.

There are very few times where there is only one right way to do something.

Thanks for your advice, I never had plans on actually bringing any of the situations up to any of the nurses, I am just curious about others advice on here.

You won't be very well liked with that mindset. So what if seasoned nurses don't do things like you learned in school? School isn't real life sweetie. Instead of trying to point out how "out of date" they are, learn something from them! Good luck

To enlighten you a little, I am often very well liked by my peers. I am super respectful, honest and go out of my way for others. I didn't say I had plans on "pointing out" how out of date a nurse may be, that was never my plan. I asked for ADVICE regarding the differences in generations and the care thats provided. I also stated in the post that I absolutely love learning from seasoned nurses and that their experience and knowledge is invaluable. Read the post next time before you come up with a snarky comment, thanks.

Wow.... A lot haters up in here :) I think you make a very good point. I think everyone needs to be open to change as the nursing career is a constant education where medicine and science are always changing. Same will happen to us as we get to be "seasoned nurses". Everyone needs to relax.

Agreed, and on top of that I never said I had plans on mentioning what I see to these nurses, I was just curious as to how others approached these situations and whether they took on the skill set that they're taught or whether they do what was taught to them or what they felt was best for their patients. Never once did I say anything negative about seasoned nurses. Bless their hearts, they're AMAZING, but as everyone knows, seasoned nurses and newer nurses practice differently. Im just curious on advice, that is all.

Wow this post took a hateful turn quick. At no point did she say she pointed it out to a seasoned nurse she was wrong, nor did she say she thought she should tell her. She said it was observed that she wasn't following the new protocol. What I took from Alex is that she wants to do a good job. When you're a new grad you're scared to do things different from what you're taught but seasoned nurses have shortcuts that aren't what is taught in school. Are they wrong? Most of the time absolutely not. They're efficient and come after a period of time of learning what's okay. So as someone who is still in school I have the same question. How do you know which shortcuts/deviations from the classroom setting are okay and which shortcuts are bad practice?

I agree, people are so quick to reply with snarky comments when they're hiding behind a screen.

School teaches what it should be like in a perfect world. What you are meant to take from your education is how to be a safe beginner nurse. When you get to the real world, a lot of either shortcuts or quicker ways to do things are learned because demand on nurses time is high. The bridge between seasoned nurses actions and current practice is in that a seasoned nurse knows the basic safety requirements and what absolutely must be done in any given situation and can keep good practice while taking out unnucessary steps or extra interventions to reach the same goal. Soak up what you can from your preceptor and apply your current knowledge to do the same thing.

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to actually answer my question and not coming up with a snarky response. I appreciate your response. I love how seasoned nurses know how to get stuff done and possess great time management skills. I have no doubt that they're able to differentiate between what NEEDS to be done and what steps can be taken out to get the job done. Thanks again.

Pretty sure she is aware of that... Just a guess though

Hahaha I thought the same

Excuse me, what?

Examples.

Give us a few and we can give much better advice.

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