Nurses eat their young?!

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Any thoughts on this concept? I am especially interested in nurses who have a lot of experience. I work in a place where the mean seniority is approximately 10-15 years. There are many 20 year or more people on staff. I have 5 years of nursing experience, 2 on this unit (part time). I am conscientious and not lazy. I also care about the well being of my patients. There are a lot of wonderful people where I work. I also notice that often, instead of very experienced nurses sharing their knowledge in a kind way and helping younger nurses grow, they tend to criticize and be very harsh towards many moderately experienced or inexperienced nurses. I am not the only person who feels this way. There are many of us. One person put it "I just come here, do my job to the best of my ability, and go home" It can be frustrating to feel good about your nights work going into report, and feel like crap when it is time to go home. Any thoughts, advice or insight?

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I don't see a lot of nursing eating their young on my unit. New grads are well treated.
Based on personal recollections of my own experiences as a student, I would estimate that about two-thirds of the nurses at my clinical rotations were either supportive or even-tempered. The remaining third of the nurses were unsupportive, bitchy, and overly territorial. Unfortunately, the mean-spirited nurses tend to stand out in the minds of most persons.

Every individual's experience is uniquely special and different. If a new nurse is fortunate enough to have co-workers and mentors that are patient and supportive, (s)he should feel grateful. If a newer nurse possesses the grand misfortune of being placed with miserable co-workers who 'eat their young', I think it is reasonable that the nurse should devise strategies to adapt to this situation without becoming hardened or unenthusiastic.

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Specializes in Transplant, homecare, hospice.
Any thoughts on this concept? I am especially interested in nurses who have a lot of experience. I work in a place where the mean seniority is approximately 10-15 years. There are many 20 year or more people on staff. I have 5 years of nursing experience, 2 on this unit (part time). I am conscientious and not lazy. I also care about the well being of my patients. There are a lot of wonderful people where I work. I also notice that often, instead of very experienced nurses sharing their knowledge in a kind way and helping younger nurses grow, they tend to criticize and be very harsh towards many moderately experienced or inexperienced nurses. I am not the only person who feels this way. There are many of us. One person put it "I just come here, do my job to the best of my ability, and go home" It can be frustrating to feel good about your nights work going into report, and feel like crap when it is time to go home. Any thoughts, advice or insight?

I don't have but 1 year of experience as a nurse and I have to agree with you. I would hear about how bad I was because I didn't know this or that...Well, excuse me...I didn't come directly out of nursing school and just automatically know and remember everything that was shoved down my throat. I used to hate going to work in the beginning...the nurses were BAD! Back stabbing! Rude! A lot of new nurses quit because they couldn't handle the pressure. It stinks. It really does. And it's sad. It shouldn't have to be this way. I can't tell you the amount of times I went home crying, called out, or felt I was on the way to a mental break down...:stone

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I find em' a bit chewy myself...

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I like my young with fava beans.

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Good post by llg as always.

I don't see a lot of nursing eating their young on my unit. New grads are well treated.

I have of course seen isolated incidents of meanness, there are mean people.

I had a job with a newspaper once for about 30 days. They ate me up and spit me out without any support. It happens in other professions too.

Where is that thread where we declared this to be an old wive's tale? :D

There are mean people everywhere. I've known a few when I was a secretary, a student, a waitress, a salesperson, etc.

Being mean has nothing to do with being a nurse.

Being a nurse does not equal eating your young.

You've just unfortunately run into some of those mean human beings and they just happen to be nurses.

Don't let them determine the way you behave though.

Don't let them win.

steph

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I like my young with fava beans.

I find a complex full bodied merlot makes a nice complement to "young with fava beans."

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