Apologies for using the term "NETY"

Nurses Relations

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I posted recently using this term. I want to apologize for using it without knowing what it really means to you. I am (relatively) new to nursing - I have mostly worked as a scientist. Clearly it's not a nice thing to say, and I am sorry for titling my post with those words.

Best to you.

I'm sorry. You're apologizing for saying nurses eat their young??

what the hell. You can find it offensive or out of date all you want, but it's true nontheless.

Senior nurses regularly feel threatened or put-off by younger, more energetic nurses and, therefore, bully them. It happens all the time and should not be regarded as a phrase that should be apologized for. It should be addressed.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I'm sorry. You're apologizing for saying nurses eat their young??

what the hell. You can find it offensive or out of date all you want, but it's true nontheless.

Senior nurses regularly feel threatened or put-off by younger, more energetic nurses and, therefore, bully them. It happens all the time and should not be regarded as a phrase that should be apologized for. It should be addressed.

And you know this how?

Senior nurses rarely feel threatened or put-off by younger nurses (who may or may not be more energetic) and don't actually bully them. It happens no more often in nursing than it does in the world at large. If you want to tell me that senior nurses are put off by YOU because you're so much younger and more energetic than them, I'd tell you to look a little deeper.

"Nurses eat their young" seems to be a phrase that is thrown around indiscriminately because it's easier to blame "NETY" for your failings at work than to admit that the negative feedback you've been recieving is actually warranted and you need to do something to change that. It seems to be more common, actually, that younger nurses seem to try to chomp on the old.

The phrase has been addressed; it should be apologized for.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Oh lawdy, the young eat the old

the old eat the young

most of the time it's a lack of communication

OH AND THE YOUNGER are NOT more ENERGETIC as a rule. I have a lot of "young" coworkers who whine, cry and moan about aches and pains and call out for headaches routinely. People in their 20s for the most part, don't know what pain is yet. Not all young people, but many.

So we can dispense with the "younger more energetic" thing already. I can run circles around the young who are whiners in my unit. I am very energetic and enthusiastic for an old broad.

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And you know this how?

I'll grant you it's subjective, and I know it from experience.

Senior nurses rarely feel threatened or put-off by younger nurses (who may or may not be more energetic) and don't actually bully them.

And you know this how? I'd guess the same way as me: experience.

It happens no more often in nursing than it does in the world at large.

Quite true; though it does not make it any less true of a statement despite the fact it occurs in many other fields.

"Nurses eat their young" seems to be a phrase that is thrown around indiscriminately because it's easier to blame "NETY" for your failings at work than to admit that the negative feedback you've been recieving is actually warranted and you need to do something to change that.

I'm tempted to agree with you on this. New nurses will, often times, quickly toss up criticism to nurses eating their young and deny and real blame or fault of their own ineptitudes.

It seems to be more common, actually, that younger nurses seem to try to chomp on the old.

No. Younger nurses more often than not look to their senior staff as resources and pillars of information.

The phrase has been addressed; it should be apologized for.

This phrase has zero reason to be 'apologized' for. You may argue it's fallen out of context in the recent years and has other reasons behind the meaning, but, in no way, should be apologized for. Certainly not to the degree as I've seen in this thread.

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Oh lawdy, the young eat the old

the old eat the young

most of the time it's a lack of communication

This is the best part of your post. I agree.

I have a lot of "young" coworkers who whine, cry and moan about aches and pains and call out for headaches routinely. People in their 20s for the most part, don't know what pain is yet.

This is pretty odd. "aches and pains and call out for headaches...don't know what pain is yet" Care to explain what pain young nurses are to experience soon? Sounds like you're being pretty judgmental about younger nurses and, dare I say, working towards eating your young. You already have categorized a majority of them as weak simply for being "younger."

So we can dispense with the "younger more energetic" thing already. I can run circles around the young who are whiners in my unit. I am very energetic and enthusiastic for an old broad.

Younger people are more energetic than older people. I feel it's a little strange I have to explain this to a nurse. No one is saying that "an old broad" such as yourself is, in any way, slow. What I am saying is younger nurses come onto a unit bright eyed, full of questions and doubt and trying their best to be the best nurse they can be. They have not had the years to become cynical as those of us with the experience behind us.

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Specializes in Hospice.
I'm sorry. You're apologizing for saying nurses eat their young??

what the hell. You can find it offensive or out of date all you want, but it's true nontheless.

Senior nurses regularly feel threatened or put-off by younger, more energetic nurses and, therefore, bully them. It happens all the time and should not be regarded as a phrase that should be apologized for. It should be addressed.

No. It needs to be put to rest.

It's four words strung together to elicit a specific response.

It's also less valid as older nurses are being pushed out in favor of younger, cuter, more PR positive for the almighty Press-Gainy scores.

You actually see more young nurses treating older nurses like crap these days, because the message they get from management is that they are more important and deserve what the older nurses have worked for years to attain-the more desirable schedules and assignments.

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No. It needs to be put to rest.

I'm agreeable that the term can be put to rest. Only on the basis that it happens with any field and should not be exclusive to nursing.

It's also less valid as older nurses are being pushed out in favor of younger, cuter, more PR positive for the almighty Press-Gainy scores.

As I don't know of any evidence to support this claim that younger nurses elicit higher press-gainy scores (please link any) I can only argue the alternative (which is more likely) that senior nurses are being replaced by younger nurses simply because they are starting at the bottom of the pay scale to do the same job as the higher paid nurses.

Point being: you can say the phrase "nurses eat their young" needs to be put to rest or retired from the vocab of nursing all you want, and I'll actually agree. The fact that people are apologizing for saying it is simply ridiculous.

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Oh lawdy, the young eat the old

the old eat the young

most of the time it's a lack of communication

OH AND THE YOUNGER are NOT more ENERGETIC as a rule. I have a lot of "young" coworkers who whine, cry and moan about aches and pains and call out for headaches routinely. People in their 20s for the most part, don't know what pain is yet. Not all young people, but many.

So we can dispense with the "younger more energetic" thing already. I can run circles around the young who are whiners in my unit. I am very energetic and enthusiastic for an old broad.

I am not being age-ist, necessarily, but I have encountered a fair number of younger people who I can run circles around too, in terms of work (agriculture, so very physical stuff). I am twice their age - it's sort of ridiculous. Interesting to know that this behavior is extant in other fields as well.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
I'm agreeable that the term can be put to rest. Only on the basis that it happens with any field and should not be exclusive to nursing.

As I don't know of any evidence to support this claim that younger nurses elicit higher press-gainy scores (please link any) I can only argue the alternative (which is more likely) that senior nurses are being replaced by younger nurses simply because they are starting at the bottom of the pay scale to do the same job as the higher paid nurses.

Point being: you can say the phrase "nurses eat their young" needs to be put to rest or retired from the vocab of nursing all you want, and I'll actually agree. The fact that people are apologizing for saying it is simply ridiculous.

Are you aware of the context of this story at all? If no, there is another thread in which the OP was jumped on before she realized the history and radioactive nature of the phrase on this site. She then chose to do what many people don't-- my opinion is that she was strong enough to give ground rather than become defensive.

You may call the word "apology" some sort of groveling, I see her use of that word as a desire for meeting of the minds and open dialogue. As a result of that, a number of us realized she was treated unfairly and reached out to her.

Perhaps your style works well for you. Calling hers ridiculous is just ridiculous, especially when you consider the likely lasting effect of the two styles.

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I'll grant you it's subjective, and I know it from experience.

And you know this how? I'd guess the same way as me: experience.

.

Too big - click on the photo to see the entire message. I'll try to fix it in the meantime.

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Too big - click on the photo to see the entire message. I'll try to fix it in the meantime.

Exactly. The poster was commenting on my anecdotal evidence at the same time as offering their own as evidence. Irony.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

This is for Dealwithit:

True story: The young are eating the old more often than the other way around in my experience. Anecdote for anecdote. Fair is fair. And yea, for the most part when I hear a 20 something calling out for a "cold" or "headache" I do roll my eyes. So often it's on a Monday, after a "big weekend" they posted all about on twitter and FB. And your body already breaking down and failing at 28, absent of chronic long-standing disease, well your username works here: Dealwithit. Take some Motrin, Tylenol, Dayquil, whatever, and show up.

We all have aches and pains and they get more often and worse as you get older. May as well enjoy your 20s and 30s while you can and you may as well just suck it up and work hard, cause you have a lot of years of work ahead of you.

And Dealwithit, You young 'uns are more energetic than me? OK----then just prove it by showing up and working hard. I don't call out from work unless I am severely sick or if I were injured. I can count on one hand the number of times I have called out from work in all my working years, which between the military and nursing, number quite a few.

Til then, the whole NETY thing is bogus to me. It's the other way around these days. And don't get me started on age discrimination in nursing and everywhere else. There is a whole other thread about that.

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