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[CapeCodMermaid]

I've been a nurse for 25 years and been in management for about 20 of those. I am amazed at the new nurses these days. We had to counsel a nurse for not doing her nursing summaries on time. I heard the way the ADNS spoke to her. She said "you need to get your summaries done." That was it. She didn't yell or raise her voice or anything. I was there. I looked at the nurse who appeared to be chewing something....she had 3 kinds of food on her med cart. I quietly went over and told her she couldn't eat or have food on the med cart. Next thing I know, she's down in the administrator's office turning in her resignation because the ADNS was 'mean' to her.

So, how do you all deal with this? We were not mean or disrespectful-we simply stated the fact.

I am relatively new to the building and am trying to set some standards.

I can't imagine acting that way as a new nurse. We have gone out of our way to accommate her schedule, have offered help with her personal issues, and have been very supportive. I don't know what else to do. I can't let her continue to not do summaries and eat at the cart. I am beginning to think I should throw my hands up in the air and let the chips fall where they may.

[eccentricRN]

sounds like she was doing you a favor! i can live with a nursing shortage as long as i don't have to put up with a bunch of half educated primadonas who think a rn license entitles them to royal treatment. give me three nurses with professional intergity, commitment and some common sense over 6 "fluff chicks" who think the job is a chance to do thier nails, catch up on thier e-mail, and flurt with every md that strolls through. more nurses dosen't equal better care, better nurses usually does. i'd like more and better but the profession can't afford to lower its standards any further.

ouch, that hurt a little:cry:... i'll however get over it. i'm a new grad & i'm not sure what some are taught in school, but it was stressed... that we should not expect to just walk into a new job just because we were now a nurse. we were told to dress properly, blah...blah...blah to get hired & that we should expect the off shifts as the norm. i'm sorry that there are so many new nurses out there making us look bad... we're not all bad.

[vashtee, RN]

I don't know why this has to turn into a "new nurse vs. old nurse" thread. I think most people can recognize that work ethic has nothing to do with how long someone has been a nurse. If it seems like this is a problem with only the new nurses, perhaps that is because the old nurses who behaved this way were already weeded out.

[gracenotes1]

Ahhhhhhhhhh now I feel at home. I am so glad I found this site today.

My name is Angela and I was a DON for 7 years in 103 bed Long Term Care facility.

I know this may sound crazy but I miss it so bad. I even miss the lazy nurses that eat on their med carts.

I was on my way to work on morning and a tractor trailer truck turned over and slid into me. I lost my spleen and my career at the same time. I haven't nursed since. I still keep my license because I am a writer now. I am hoping to soon get my provider number and provide a CEU here or there to facilities.

I even miss the stomping out fires!! Sounds crazy I know--but I do. I think I was a good DON and we had a good facility but the problems never ceased. I thrived on it I reckon.

The one thing about being a new DON is it will take months to assemble your team. It will take months to showthem that you mean what you say and you say what you mean.

I wanna help you guys.

I am tickled pink that I found this forum.

[HannasMom]

As far as an old nurse vs new nurse thread, is concerned, I have seen many "old" nurses with bad habits too. Sometimes the new nurses are more respectful of the DON, than the old nurses, because change can be hard for some of them. At the facility I work at many of the older nurses have trouble with changes, complain about the work, etc. So it isn't only the new nurses who can behave badly.

[gracenotes1]

She is right about that. Some of the older nurses have gotten set in their ways and it takes dynamite to change them. I remember having to terminate a nurse that had been at the facility for 25 years. She was lazy and I found out and proved that she was only giving meds to the patients that could talk. Now that is bad.

No one believed that I actually would fire her--but what good was she to us or the patients?

Once I read an article in a Nursing Journal titled--Nursing--Are We Eating Our Young?

Sometimes I think this is true. I hope that new graduates are not all like the one yall have been talking about. And I hope that veteran nurses take young ones under their wing and help them instead of hindering them.

It is sad to think that a new nurse behaves like the one you have been discussing. I just hope that she didn't get the idea that she could eat at the cart and not do her work from other nurses that have been training her in orientation. Now that would be a scary scenario.

A new DON has a very difficult job until her team is her team. When a new DOn gets the people in place that she knows she can depend on things will run alot smoother. It just takes time and a great deal of patience.

[c.oconnor]

Some of us do not have that luxury. There are a group of nurses who have contracts and I have been told I am not at liberty to fire them without going to the top of the company.

Do you have union nurses where you work?

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

The nurses were not in a union. This particular owner thought the way to fill nursing hours was to import nurses from the Philippines., give them a place to live and a contract they were supposed to work out.

[caliotter3]

The last post explains a lot.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

Since on the whole they were so troublesome, I think he has stopped this.

[caliotter3]

Have never seen a place where owners/admins have seen the light. They are intelligent enough to know what they are doing from the beginning and let their greed surmount their desire to provide a safe, comfortable home for the elderly who have to endure the ensuing problems.

[txdon]

In my humble opinion I believe that nurses behave this way because they've been allowed to get away with it - holding staff accountable is vital. Unfortunately most DNS are "afraid" because they can't afford to lose them. I am facing this very issue. The previous DNS was more worried about everyone liking her than what was best for the residents. As a result, an environment of tolerance and denial evolved. My dilemna is I am now left to "fix" these problems. The only person on the nursing management team is a loyalist to the former DNS. She is very much like the former DNS and want to be buds with CNA's who should have been fired months ago. She goes outside and takes multiple smoke breaks with them, "ignores" them goofing off, taking multiple breaks, and not giving good resident care. Also, the former DNS has allowed her to wear breast piercing that are visible, facial lip piercings and ear gages. This is what I am faced with. When new employees start I emphasis that facial and body piercings are not allowed, however their response is well the manager wears them. I know what I need to do, any suggestions on how I should approach this?

[noc4senuf]

Even though i do no have the issues with piercings, i know of several facilities that allow them. If the rules were made "after" they were already sporting them... they are grandfathered in. As long as it does not get in the way (dangle) in their work... they are ok. Many residents find them fascinating and ask many questions of the employee starting a conversation and communication.