advice: stop focusing on other people!

[IHeartPeds87]

I am a self-proclaimed thin-skinned nursing student set to graduate at the end of the month :) I can't wait!

Allnurses has always been here whether it's been for help with material, advice, a much needed vent session or a laugh.

I wanted to post today about something that I have realized, perhaps too late in my nursing school journey.

In nursing it is common to hear the phrases "burnout" and "nurses eat their young" and hte like. I agree; overall these are big issues exacerbated by the fact that nurses are often overworked, responsible for lots with control over their time frame and that can lend itself to equal more eye rolls than smiles.

I have had many a clinical where I came home (and sometimes didn't make it home but went to the bathroom) and cried about how rude someone was to me. I have had my feelings hurt at work multiple times when people just weren't pleasant and it made me upset.

I am here to tell the students something: please stop focusing on all that. There is a LOT to learn. I mean a ton. I am not condoning rude behavior but I am here to tell you that in hindsight, many of those instances were situations where my feelings were like the 903830'th priority. That is something that is hard to get used to, but truly, in the hospital/ltc/whatever setting you are in, your feelings are really, really low on the totem pole of things that matter.

It sucks when instructors are unfair. It sucks when people are mean and rude. At the end of your journey though, it is highly likely that those people may not be in your immediate circle of people you interact with. What WILL stay with you is YOU. Your own knowledge base. Take every opportunity you can to learn.

Knowledge is more important than feeling good about yourself. Nursing school has been incredibly humbling. Try not to take it personally. 98% of the time, it wasn't about you.

[nm0279]

Good for you! I had very few negative experiences (after graduation) until I went into my specialty 30 years ago. I was (and am) thin skinned. I am very concerned the trend of "nurses eating their young" continues today. We lose many qualified nurses to this abuse. New nurses out there - listen up. It's not you.