Being called a baby nurse

[NurseA1987]

Just wondering, what do you all think constitutes someone being a "baby nurse"? I get offended when I am called this and don't really care for the term.

I was an LPN for 6 years and have been an RN now for almost a year, for a total of about 7 years as a nurse. When speaking with other RNs at work, I got referred to as a baby nurse yesterday and found it offensive. I was getting report from a nurse who has been an RN for 5 years who was complaining about a patient. I said that the patient didn't bother me and I didn't mind that she called often to be toilette. The other nurse said "that's because you're still a baby nurse. Give it time and you will."

Anyway, just wondering if you would find this offensive. Also wondering if RNs in general overlook the years of experience of an LPN? Would you consider me a baby nurse still?

[3peas]

First, you are not a baby nurse. I was trained by some wonderful LVN's I do not overlook LVN's ever. I'm sure there are some RN's who do overlook it, but that's their ignorance. I am a proponent for streamlining nursing education because there are so many roads to being a "nurse" and I feel it would unite us as a whole, but I feel it needs to be done slowly and we can't ignore the wonderful LVN's (Texas here) that we have.

Would it bother me to be called a baby nurse? No, especially not from someone who is insecure and resorts to name calling when challenged. I am a baby nurse 3.5 years under my belt, but this is second career for me so I'm older and I hope wiser.

[JKL33]

Just wondering, what do you all think constitutes someone being a "baby nurse"?

No one is a baby nurse; that is an unprofessional way to refer to a co-worker even if that co-worker actually is a new nurse. It says more about the speaker than the "baby nurse", that's for sure.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Are you new to your unit/area? Inexperienced in a specialty? Otherwise no, you aren't a baby nurse. Just a compassionate one. :)

[NurseA1987]

Thanks so much for the kind words! I agree that a lot of LPNs do have great experience and are wonderful nurses. I guess I found it most offensive because I felt as though those years of experience were overlooked because I was an LPN. I'm probably reading too much into it, but that's how I am haha.

I work in a small 6 bed ICU and have been working here for 7 months. The nurse that made this comment is an agency nurse who has been at our facility for 3 days.

[vanilla bean]

I also bristle a bit when the term baby nurse is used to refer to an inexperienced nurse. Words are important, and using a term that essentially infantilizes an adult healthcare professional is a no-go (in my humble opinion). Plus, I always think of baby nurses as nurses who take care of babies.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

For LPN experience to be discounted is ridiculous. In some settings I've seen, the LPNs and diploma RNs ran rings around the college crowd. This is NOT meant to set off another educational debate, but merely to point out that these "other" nurses are a valuable resource, not something to be dismissed.

[ItsThatJenGirl, CNA]

Unless she knows your background and experience, I wouldn't be offended.

If she does, it sounds like she was dismissing your work as an LVN and I'd be a little ticked off, but then I'd let it go. Her comment says more about her than it does about you.

[bekind_andtrue]

So technically you've been a nurse longer than her? I don't think you're reading too much into it. It sounds like she was definitely trying to take a jab at you for being an LPN first!

What kind of work did you do as an LPN? If you worked in something like a doctor's office then I could see what she means but you still wouldn't deserve to be called a "baby nurse" after holding the title of LPN for so long. The fact that you didn't mind toileting your patient has nothing to do with how long you have been an RN or working in that unit. It's about your character. She was just coming up with an excuse for why she has less patience than you while simultaneously insulting you.

I've only been an LPN for about a year and I was actually called "practically a fetus" during my first couple of weeks by another nurse. I found it funny and wouldn't mind still being called a baby nurse. But 5 years from now by another nurse who has been in the profession just as long as me??? No way. When I become an RN the only ones who should be calling me a baby are the ones who have been taking care of people 3x as long.

When I worked in a LTC/rehab facility there was an RN I worked with who had been an ICU nurse for 40+ years and she said that work we were doing at the rehab was way harder. I would never let anyone try to disregard my LPN experience.

[Sour Lemon]

The term doesn't offend me, but I've only experienced it being used in an enduring manner. The "baby nurses" on my unit are handled with a little more care due to their inexperience. They're allowed to overlook "obvious" things and they're encouraged to take extra time to compose themselves in the break room when they're having a rough shift. I've never seen "baby nurse" used as an insult.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

I suspect it's because you're newer to the ICU, but that's just the way I've heard "baby nurse" being used — not derogatory, just a statement of less time in a specialty area.

[kkbb, MSN, RN]

It think it depends on who is calling me a baby nurse. I call a former instructor "Mama Nurse" and she calls all her students "Baby Nurse" and I take no offense. In the case of it being someone brand new to the unit implying that you have no knowledge about caring for patients....not okay. But people like this are not worth the energy to correct. Just keep doing your thing and let her make herself look foolish.