Am I skeptical,when

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I go "Yeah right!", when I read comments students make like, "Oh, she did this or that...", "Oh she said this or that..." I don't ever want to be like that and then later on, you turn around and find those exact same students doing what they said they would not do.

Granted, this is not the rule, but I get skeptical when I hear comments like that.

A colleague( recently graduated nurse)- first few days on the floor, "I saw nurse so and so do this, Oh I would NEVER do that. (very emphathical). Me being pleased.

Fast forward to a couple of days later. Same new nurse doing exactly same thing she very emphathically stated she would not do.Me feeling letdown.

What gives?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

Studentnursitis meets Real World.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I don't think most people are actually lying when they say things like, "I'll never do that."

I think it's just that at that particular moment, they see how bad a certain behavior is and can't imagine that they will ever do something bad. Then at a later point, they are so focused on their own personal wants and needs that they don't realize that they themselves are behaving in a bad way.

People just don't have a lot of self-awareness. They have grown up rarely being held accountable for their behavior. Our society did not force them to stop and think deeply about what they were doing, how they appeared in the eyes of others, and how their actions might be unfair or hurtful to others. So they have grown up doing what they want, saying what they want, making excuses or blaming others for any problems they have, etc. They rarely think deeply enough about their own behavior to say, "Maybe I do things wrong sometimes. Maybe I need to change." etc.

They grow up thinking, "I am perfect. It's only those other people who are wrong or who do bad things." It's a lack of self-awarenss and having a "blind spot" when it comes to their own behavior.

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Studentnursitis meets Real World.

That is what I think it comes to, really.

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I don't think most people are actually lying when they say things like, "I'll never do that."

I think it's just that at that particular moment, they see how bad a certain behavior is and can't imagine that they will ever do something bad. Then at a later point, they are so focused on their own personal wants and needs that they don't realize that they themselves are behaving in a bad way.

People just don't have a lot of self-awareness. They have grown up rarely being held accountable for their behavior. Our society did not force them to stop and think deeply about what they were doing, how they appeared in the eyes of others, and how their actions might be unfair or hurtful to others. So they have grown up doing what they want, saying what they want, making excuses or blaming others for any problems they have, etc. They rarely think deeply enough about their own behavior to say, "Maybe I do things wrong sometimes. Maybe I need to change." etc.

They grow up thinking, "I am perfect. It's only those other people who are wrong or who do bad things." It's a lack of self-awarenss and having a "blind spot" when it comes to their own behavior.

We easily see the log in another's eyes but fail to see the speck in ours. I've seriously taken the biblical principle to heart and I'm slow to respond.You just never know, I tell you.

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We are only human.

I used the phrases "when I am a nurse" and "when I am a parent" sometimes too. Those that didn't say that probably thought them some of the time.

Most people hold themselves to high standards. When you work, those standards get put to the test and you need to decide what you can realistically do.

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Specializes in M/S, ICU, ICP.

i remember when i was in my last course in nursing school and hearing them talk about reality shock and i thought surely it could not be as rough as they were telling me, but guess what? it certainly can be and is. it is not only the realization that somethings you are taught never to do get done, but also the reality that nursing and healthcare are not the "save the world" dream that you thought it would be. not only is it hard to see that the reality of what is done does not meet the minimum you have learned everyone should do, there also comes a point in time when you let yourself down.

i cannot tell you the tears that i have shed in frustration with myself knowing that my day had been so insane and so hectic that i actually did the minimum that i could do with each patient and they deserved so much better. times when i wanted to stay and hold someones hand and let them vent or cry, times that i wanted to take the extra time to answer questions with a new diabetic scared of having to learn to do self injections. i did their care, i made their beds or passed their meds, but there was so much more needed. it can be hard some days. i am not sure there is anything they can teach you to prepare you for it.

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.
I don't think most people are actually lying when they say things like, "I'll never do that."

They grow up thinking, "I am perfect. It's only those other people who are wrong or who do bad things." It's a lack of self-awarenss and having a "blind spot" when it comes to their own behavior.

I don't even think it's that they believe they're perfect. Sometimes they just don't know what they don't know. If you are a parent, you probably know what I'm talking about. I specifically remember telling someone that *my* baby would never be allowed to cry. :uhoh3: Um, yeah. That lasted about, ooooh, 2hours. Before I became a parent I was rather judgemental of parents, you know, because I had read all the books so I knew how it should be done. Oy~ Parenting in the real world with real children is a whole other ballgame, but I didn't know that before the kids were born. I think the same thing can be said of nursing or any other job.

As my grandmother used to say, "Better sweeten that crow cuz you're gonna be eatin' it later."

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Specializes in med-surg, mother-baby.

Im gonna agree with New nurse syndrome :p

When we are nursing student, with 2-3 patients at a time, we can and DO spend all the time we can giving all the care we should. I went through school thinking I would always treat every patient like she was my grandmother(who had cancer, suffered unbearable pain, and refused to let us see her). I still do treat patients like that, but in the sense that I give my patients as much care as I CAN! Nursing reality now is that we cant spend an hour at bedside holding someones hand just because there are 8 other patients under my charge who need the same darn thing, plus all the medical care.

What I hope doesnt change for me, is the change from caring-realistic nurse to burnt-out nurse who doesnt care anymore and just wants to get to the end of her shift. I dont want to get lazy and neglect patients, and I see SOOO many older nurses end up like that because they have just gotten so tired.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

Again with the generalizations about "lazy older nurses." There are lazy younger nurses who are uncaring as well. Please be careful about who you judge.

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Don't judge a person until you have walked a mile in their crocs.

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