the "do nurses eat their young?" thread has become incredibly long -- and, for the most part, repetitive. but someone recently posed a question -- and proposed a topic -- that bears some discussion. do newbies eat their elders?
as an "elder", i know i've seen cases where newbies have been "out to get" the more seasoned nurses in their area, where newbies have been difficult or demanding or impossible to get along with, and where elders have interpreted some genuine misunderstandings as a newbie being "out to get them." (probably the same range of realities that exist in the "nurses eat their young" universe.) but which reality predominates?
come on, seasoned nurses! do newbies eat their elders, or is any "eating" that occurs unidirectional?
I am a brand new 22 y/o BSN and I feel that while some of my peers do have that "I am better than you" demeanor, that is not characteristic of all of us. I work in the OR so I am constantly learning new things from nurses, surgical techs, nursing assistants, secretaries...heck everybody! I am always grateful when somebody shows me something new but I do occasionally run into the ADN or surgical tech that feels that she has something to prove to me because even though I graduated from a university, she has more experience. I have had techs withhold information, set me up to ask the surgeon a "dumb question" and throw trash all over the floor because as the circulator I have to pick it up:banghead:! I have been told that I have "an attitude" because I don't make small talk with the staff or say good morning to every single person I see in the morning. I believe this very prevalent US vs. THEM mentality is the reason some of my peers get on the defensive and try to eat the older person before they can eat them. For some reason that "BSN" on our name badge is intimidating to some people and they do whatever they can to make themselves look good. Honestly I feel like this: I am only here to do my job and learn as much as I can for these 8 hours. I don't know or care what kind of degree, house, car, etc anybody else has or how much their husband makes. It would really do some people well to GET A LIFE and remember the real reason we are here, to take care of our patients:twocents:!
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
some new rns are afraid to admit they are wrong in front of a cna or lpn because they feel that they will lose face
nobody expects a new grad to know everything, they need to come with an open mind
older nurses should remember that they were once in the same position as these new grads.
more experienced nurses can offer a new nurse to be more capable and be a better nurse
a new nurse can bring a fresh outlook, most are younger and with a desire to learn
older nurses have kept up with new advances in medicine so they are not completely out of touch
most older nurses do remember when they were new and in the same position as the new grads. unfortunately, those new grads have no idea what it's like to be in the position of the experienced nurse who is expected to take a full assignment while "teaching the ropes" to the newbie. they just don't get it. some new grads -- most even -- are great. but then you get the one who thinks it's all about her (or him) and that everyone else can take a back seat.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i'll never forget when i was asked to precept a nurse who was transferring into icu from the step-down unit. she started off by saying she had to have every weekend off to spend with her boyfriend, and by the way her book club met on wednesday evenings, so she couldn't work a 12 hour shift on wednesday and it would be nice to have thursday off, too, so she could recover from staying up late on wednesday and what do you mean i have to work labor day? i want to have christmas off this year -- yes i know i had it off last year, because i have to have it off every year. oh, and i need all the jewish holidays off, too, because i'm jewish. my vacation is always in september, so you can put me down in the vacation book right now. what do you mean i won't be working with you every time i come to work? you can change your schedule to mesh with mine, can't you? it's not as if you have an actual life, or anything.
she didn't want to take care of that patient, because she already knew all about devices patients since they get them on the step-down unit, and she knows that patient because he's a frequent flyer and she doesn't like him, so maybe we should get our assignment changed. oh, and by the way she doesn't like isolation, so please make sure we don't get assigned an isolation patient. can she go home early today because miles is getting off early and they'd like to go out tonight. so if she's a little late tomorrow, you'll understand.
and then the complaints started. "ruby told me i had to take care of that nasty isolation patient, and she was mean to me." "ruby told me i had to stay late (15 minutes after the end of her shift -- she hadn't done any charting because she was talking to miles on the phone.) any time i gave her any sort of negative feedback about anything, it was straight into the manager's office to complain that i was mean to her or rude to her or wouldn't even try to accomodate her needs. management thought they were getting such a great nurse (the floor manager really gave her a great review!) so they kept her on anyway.
then she got engaged and she had to have a week off for her engagement party and then another week off to go to nyc to shop for a wedding dress and she couldn't work thursdays because she and miles had to go to classes at the synegoge, and by the way she couldn't put on the hair cover for line placements because it would mess up her hair and miles had just moved in and she didn't want to come home with bad hair.
about the time i left, she gave me report -- "i didn't give him a bath because i'm pregnant and i didn't want to work that hard, and i didn't change that dressing because i'm pregnant and that nauseated me and i couldn't ambulate him because i'm pregnant and that med is toxic to pregnant women so i didn't give it to him and i didn't draw his blood because i was hungry and i thought it was more important that i eat something because i'm eating for two now."
Specializes in trauma, ortho, burns, plastic surgery.
Freaking ass...pardonez moi, looool! I worked 2 jobs one 1.0 and another part-time and I was in abortion warning, I flyed in 8 months pregnant carried heavy packs for relocation, I stayed on Xray on OR 5 years from my life....I don't want to hear about princesses or blue ribbon girls or I DESERVE IT, because...bla, bla, bla... make me angry!
Let her away... live clean your life! Sorry about...
Tiffany, RN, BSN
60 Posts
I am a brand new 22 y/o BSN and I feel that while some of my peers do have that "I am better than you" demeanor, that is not characteristic of all of us. I work in the OR so I am constantly learning new things from nurses, surgical techs, nursing assistants, secretaries...heck everybody!
I am always grateful when somebody shows me something new but I do occasionally run into the ADN or surgical tech that feels that she has something to prove to me because even though I graduated from a university, she has more experience. I have had techs withhold information, set me up to ask the surgeon a "dumb question" and throw trash all over the floor because as the circulator I have to pick it up:banghead:! I have been told that I have "an attitude" because I don't make small talk with the staff or say good morning to every single person I see in the morning. I believe this very prevalent US vs. THEM mentality is the reason some of my peers get on the defensive and try to eat the older person before they can eat them. For some reason that "BSN" on our name badge is intimidating to some people and they do whatever they can to make themselves look good. Honestly I feel like this: I am only here to do my job and learn as much as I can for these 8 hours. I don't know or care what kind of degree, house, car, etc anybody else has or how much their husband makes. It would really do some people well to GET A LIFE and remember the real reason we are here, to take care of our patients:twocents:!
Thanks for letting me vent!