you CANNOT eat me!

Specialties Emergency

Published

I will soon be starting my first RN job in an ED. I am confident and eager to learn. I know have a TON to learn, and the coming months will be a struggle. I have thick skin but I know that there will be people who will try to eat me for lunch. So what I am asking for is a simple one liner to use, tactful but gets my point across, that even though I am new and may have asked a "stupid" question; doesnt mean they were born knowing all this stuff. I don't want to be rude, or insulting, just a statement to let them know they can't walk on me. I don't need comments about dealing with it or just letting it roll off my back. I know its coming, I know I will make plenty of mistakes, but already in my short stay I have seen the nasty that can come from coworkers. They were new once and made the same mistakes I will. I just want a friendly reminder that they were just like me.

Specializes in Emergency Department/Trauma.

I feel very lucky. I started in an ED as a new grad mid-June. I have had nothing but very positive experiences. Each experienced RN that I have interacted with were helpful and had good attitudes. I had a very strong preceptor (ED RN for about 20 years) who already spoke to our director about releasing me (I've been a firefighter/medic for about 18 years now so a lot was the same with different charting). I've had 4 shifts on my own now and feel comfortable and still have a wonderful support network of coworkers that seem to always be willing to lend a hand or advice. I think no matter what keep a positive attitude and show a willingness to learn and you will do fine.

Congratulations on your job!

The staff nurse who did most of my orientation at my first RN job had worked as an RN since before I was born. She was very gruff, but not tired, not burned out, and not out to 'eat' anyone. The new grads that hired onto my unit WERE afraid of her - needlessly. My experience with her was a huge blessing/stroke of luck/whatever you want to call it, and I knew it at the time. It seemed to me that she knew just about everything under the sun, was more efficient than I could contemplate ever being, and was down-to-earth and compassionate with the patients and always had just the right words for them. Who better to learn from! If you have an assigned mentor, you can expect that this person takes a certain amount of pride in helping a new nurse get a great start - they really don't want to work with someone for 2 or 3 months and have it turn out to be a flop any more than you do.

I understand your concerns; certainly there are nurses who can't wait to make someone else's life miserable. But these are 'haters' and they could be anywhere, not just nursing. If you discover one or two of them, steer clear. Expect that most of the others just want to see you do a great job (you'll actually make their life more difficult in the end if they don't help you learn how to be successful handling your patient load). I don't think you need a one-liner at ALL; be eager, attentive, learn from your mistakes, and in fact make it one of your top priorities to NOT get overly-concerned about who might 'eat' you. Not in a snarky way at all, but I have to say I do agree with what's already been said - if you are looking for and expecting that your new co-workers can't wait to drive you down, that's probably exactly how you will end up feeling. But you're not going to make that mistake, are you! ;)

Good luck ~

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