I posted several weeks ago. I am a new LNA and managed to get a job on a critical care floor working nights. I was called, interviewed and hired despite having no experience. When I went in to start work my Nurse Educator expected that I would be available days to orientate; I was not and had made HR aware of this. Apparently, the message never got through. So I orientated 3rd shift-my normal shift.
Well the floor has been very quiet and the Nurse Educator is concerned that I will not be able to cope when it gets super busy. I caved and agreed to orientate some days this week so that (in her words) I could do things like a "bed bath". I am kind of surprised as I do not expect to be doing too many bed baths between 11pm and 7am, but I digress.
At first the complaint was that I did vitals too slowly. I managed to speed those up.Then I was speaking in too soft a voice for the patients (Sorry but I do not believe in yelling unless someone is hard of hearing) I have done everything asked of me with a smile on my face but I have to admit that I am getting irritated. Either these folks want me or they don't want me. I want to be a nurse and am now feeling like a loser....I mean, if I can't cut it as an LNA then can I make it as a nurse?
Yeah it is tough out there in the real world for new grads...I started a thread recently titled "I got fired" in which I described my recent traumatic experience that took place during my orientation period and as a result I was asked to leave...I started my new grad orientation with an fresh enthusiasm that was soon crushed by less than ideal preceptor who apparently didnt wanted me to succeed...I learned that a lot of people are envious of new grads..my preceptor made a comment once that I was very lucky to get a job in such a prestigious hospital with having only associate degree (she graduated with BSN) I also felt she was jealous of my looks (I'm quite attractive)..She used to talk behind my back all the time...Remeber there are a lot of burned out,bored,envious people in nursing field who are waiting for a chance to humiliate you..My preceptor started to complain about little things,I received two complains (that I didnt know how to do a flu shot and I couldnt hear BP on a patient once) She told my manager that she is not sure if I can handle a critical pt well and that I have trouble prioritizing my care..from that point everything went down hill...as a result of her complaining I lost my job.I felt my fate was sealed due to my unwelcoming preceptor,trust me the preceptor can make you or break you.
believe it or not things mentioned before happend...I know that it is hard to believe but there are many people who are envious of others for many different reasons...people are so quick to judge others like for an example "if she is pretty or he is handsome they must be stuck up or dumb", "all blonds are dumb", "all brunettes are mean",just in general people love stereotyping...I have heard stories in my school where the nursing instructor failed a student because he was a male and failed another students cause she was very pretty and drawn a lot of attention from doctors during clinicals.
Nevertheless I'm not saying my looks were a major part of why my preceptor disliked me but I think it was a part of a whole..I have a good intuition btw.
BTW Kashia you are very right..honestly my preceptor though she was still in high school and I felt like at times she was competing with me and was trying to show off..she also talk about high school a lot--go figure~~
I have to say, cuter nurses are generally treated worse than those nurses who come in that are less fortunate in the looks department. Sad, but true. There should be more comradery among the female species, but the competitiveness seems to yield its ugly head more often than not.
It shouldn't have anything to do with anything, but I believe there's a lot of competitiveness in the nursing profession. Why there's competitiveness in the appearance regard among female nurses is beyond me, but it happens. Perhaps, just as in high school, females are more critical of their own kind and feel that any attention that should be theirs is now shunted to their cuter female competitor. I know there is a lot of information out there on the psychology of women, but unless you work in the nursing profession, you really can't understand how truly difficult it can be to work with some very challenging women. If many just focused on the work, all of that riff raff could be eliminated. It's very juvenile.
It's an entirely different animal when you are cute and you wear low cut scrubs showing cleavage, white scrub pants that are super tight showing your thong when you bend over - when a cute (or not) nurse uses inappropriate professional conduct/behavior/attire - it minimizes our professional position as nurses among healthcare professionals - who wants to be known for their looks, and not their skills as a nurse? Attractive or not, appearance does have bearing on the entire picture. If a nurse is overweight or disheveled, do others not make that determination that they're lazy? Appearances do matter - everyone is judged.
I have to say, cuter nurses are generally treated worse than those nurses who come in that are less fortunate in the looks department. Sad, but true. There should be more comradery among the female species, but the competitiveness seems to yield its ugly head more often than not.
It shouldn't have anything to do with anything, but I believe there's a lot of competitiveness in the nursing profession. Why there's competitiveness in the appearance regard among female nurses is beyond me, but it happens. Perhaps, just as in high school, females are more critical of their own kind and feel that any attention that should be theirs is now shunted to their cuter female competitor. I know there is a lot of information out there on the psychology of women, but unless you work in the nursing profession, you understand how truly difficult it can be to work with some very challenging women.
It's an entirely different animal when you are cute and you wear low cut scrubs showing cleavage, white scrub pants that are super tight showing your thong when you bend over - when a cute (or not) nurse uses inappropriate professional conduct/behavior/attire - it minimizes our professional position as nurses among healthcare professionals - who wants to be known for their looks, and not their skills as a nurse? Attractive or not, appearance does have bearing on the entire picture. If a nurse is overweight or disheveled, do others not make that determination that they're lazy? Appearances do matter - everyone is judged.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
you're not a Gemini, are you?
No. . .am I exhibiting a Gemini-like behavior? (I'm a Taurus)
I'm living a sheltered life in Home Health-- please don't tell me nurses wear cleavage showing scrub tops and supertight white scrub pants with a thong showing?!?!
(I'm a Taurus)
Hoozdo, ADN
1,555 Posts
And a thundering ditto to this. Baths are always done at night in critical care.
The baths are usually very complex also because your pt is on a vent, has multiple
lines going, IV drugs that can't be stopped even for a second, and the pt is
complete dead weight.
You have to do bed baths. It is your main job to assist the nurse with bed baths
on nights. If it is a large unit (20 beds or more), you will be doing bed baths
ALL night long. A bed bath is at least a two person job on a ventilated pt. For every
100 lbs over 200, add another person. You will need extra hands to turn a pt
that weights 300lbs or more. Just a fact of life in the ICU. Sometimes the majority of the pts are > 300 lbs.