Rude Nurses

RoyalNurse2010 · May 13, 2011

I went through the same thing as a nursing student.But there are some good nurses that's willing to help.

KareBear0609 · May 13, 2011

They must have forgotten that they were once a student.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · May 13, 2011

Is this a normal finding in the nursing field?

Of course it is not. Before we became nurses, we all had to start out as nursing students at one point in time. Some of the nurses were rude to me when I was a student, but I let it roll off my back. Don't allow mean people to take up too much of your valuable mental space, because I can assure you that they are not losing one minute of sleep over you.

Some nurses are admittedly rude. Some students are admittedly rude. Some doctors are rude. Some patients are rude. Some family members and visitors are rude. Some aspects of society are rude. It is a two-way street.

AngelicDarkness · May 13, 2011

I've noticed that myself lately.

Situation in a retirement home: I sent a patient/resident through paramedics because of a temp of 39.0 and they could not stand/sit up/etc. This patient/resident had a urine sample sent to the lab that morning and antibiotics were ordered by the MD r/t hx of bladder infections being common the last month. I still cringe because the triage nurse called me at 3am, wouldn't let me speak and immediately doubted my nursing abilities threatening to report me for abuse. "Why didn't you give her tylenol for the fever? Give her the antibiotic! If you had done these things she wouldn't be here! This is abuse!" Thank gawd my supervisor stood up for me. The patient was on tylenol TID, with 0 PRN orders, and the triage nurse hadn't even looked at the MAR copy I had sent.

Thoughts? I'm thinking some nurses (not all) forget what it was like to be a new grad. We can't all graduate knowing everything;) haha:)

arnie1234 · May 13, 2011

Nurses can also be mean to fellow nurses. I am not by anyway making excuses. I think it is unacceptable. We need to be welcoming new nurses to our profession and supporting their learning. As previous poster has stated, we all were there once. I work in academic medicine and I have seen nurses be rude to residents, fellows, and nurses. I have also seen residents and brand new docs be rude as well. Just know we are not all like that!!

NENE RN · May 13, 2011

I am currently at the end of my 6 quarter out of a 7 quarter program. I will say that many of the RNs have so much going on that they may just want to get the task (meds, IVs, Foleys) done because we, in my program have to have our instructor for those things. Which can take a long time because we are all waiting for 1 instructor. Meds can take up to an hour for us to pass because we have to wait for her/him but it take them (RNs) less than 5 mins to get and deliver to the patient and they are the ones that the patient is mad at because they are the actual RN.

Then on the other hand, there are rude people everywhere in any line of work it doesn't change because they are nurses. I have found if you seem like you know what you are doing and have confidence they give you more opportunities to attemp skills. Not cocky just confident.

SNIXRN · May 13, 2011

Here in the Phoenix area, we have over 10 nursing schools, so hospitals are seeing nursing students almost everyday. There are still new and seasoned nurses who love teaching but I think some nurses are burnt from always having students around, and some nurses aren't meant for teaching/precepting.

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · May 13, 2011

I've noticed that myself lately.
Situation in a retirement home: I sent a patient/resident through paramedics because of a temp of 39.0 and they could not stand/sit up/etc. This patient/resident had a urine sample sent to the lab that morning and antibiotics were ordered by the MD r/t hx of bladder infections being common the last month. I still cringe because the triage nurse called me at 3am, wouldn't let me speak and immediately doubted my nursing abilities threatening to report me for abuse. "Why didn't you give her tylenol for the fever? Give her the antibiotic! If you had done these things she wouldn't be here! This is abuse!" Thank gawd my supervisor stood up for me. The patient was on tylenol TID, with 0 PRN orders, and the triage nurse hadn't even looked at the MAR copy I had sent.
Thoughts? I'm thinking some nurses (not all) forget what it was like to be a new grad. We can't all graduate knowing everything;) haha:)

Well speaking as a former ER RN and as a pre hospital provider it does get rather frustrating when nurind homes send ou patients that really do not need to go. It sounds like this patient need tylenol and the antibiotics that were sprescribed instead of being moved and shipped out of your facility, which for the patient, I am sure is not the most comfortable thing when you do not feel good.

Don't take it personally, but after you are the nurse/emt/paramedic/MD who sees this kind of needless transport to the ER over and over again it starts to get to ya!

Sorry about any tyepos, on an IPAD and typing is not so easy!

Happy

hope3456, ASN, RN · May 13, 2011

It comes from the other end also.....I have recently had to deal with a really 'rude' and pushy nursing instructor and she must have instructed her students to act the same way.

merlee · May 13, 2011

ALL nurses should be willing to have students - - we were all students at one time. And a large amount of our time is spent teaching things, anyway- - meds, procedures, tasks.

I always enjoyed having students, it kept me on my toes. I am saddened by the number of nurses who have left their own humanity at the door, and are frequently rude to each other, to the newbies, and the worst of all, to the students.

But I can almost guarantee that those nurses do not frequent this board.

It would be helpful, I think, if instructors could give a list of tasks/goals for each semester to the nurses on a particular unit, and ask if the staff would be willing to give it a try just this once. Maybe if the staff were better attuned to what the students need to accomplish then there might be more accommodation.

xx--RN--xx · May 13, 2011

I have noticed as a potential nursing student that many nurses are hostile and unkind to nursing students. This extends to refusing to help students achieve necessary tasks, displaying a antisocial attitude towards students on their units, and extrapolating any excuses to refuse assignments that require students. Is this a normal finding in the nursing field?

I’ve seen this play out on my unit with some of the nursing staff but I wouldn’t say it is the norm for where I work. I think its useful to ask “what can I do to make this situation better?”. All too often, students (not the majority) are not assertive enough with their education. This is mostly true with first semester nursing students. IMO, they are scared/lazy/don’t know what they don’t know and don’t know how to ask and are usually found in the break room working on care plans or studying for the next test. I speak from experience from when I was a first semester student nurse. I then realized that I would get out of clinicals as much as I put into it and by the second semester I was actively seeking learning opportunities. I approached every nurse on the floor at the beginning of the day and offered to do any skill related work and made myself available for whatever other help they might need. Once the nurses saw that I was serious, the attitude towards teaching changed. This won’t work on all nurses but it will work on enough of them to improve your overall nursing school experience.

Best wishes.