This vile expression implies that experienced nurses do not treat new nurses kindly. My first problem with the statement is that it’s a generalization implying that all nurses are like that. Interestingly, whenever I hear someone utter the expression, I always say, “I don’t do that. Do you?” The person making the statement always says, “Oh no, I don’t, but many others do.” I’ve never heard even one nurse own up to doing this, although some nurses are willing to indict the entire profession. Every time that statement is repeated, it causes harm and casts a dark shadow on every nurse. Say anything enough, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Please note that by moderator consensus some of the "Nurses Eat Their Young" posts will be referred to this thread where there can be an ongoing discussion, rather than several threads saying the same thing.
To students and new grads that are having problems with nurses, please take a moment to read the above link. Is it really the entire profession, every single nurse, or do you need help with one or a few nurses? We will be glad to help you in dealing with those people, but let bury the phrase "Nurses Eat Their Young".
To experienced nurses who claim our profession eats it's young, please take a moment to read it as well and think about it. Also take time to teach, be friendly and nurturing to the new nurse and students on your unit.
Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.
nurse2b2010-----good luck in your new endeavor.....wish all nurses had your attitude...after dealing with the lawyers, nursing school will be a piece of cake I am sure !!!!
Not have medical or nursing experience yet, I cannot truly compare nursing to the corporate world. However, after working in the legal field as a legal secretary/legal assistant for over 20 years, I have to say that most people do encounter an experience where you have to "prove yourself" and sometimes the treatment is very unfair. The legal arena is very backstabbing at times. But I think it must happen in every profession. I just want to do well in nursing school this fall, and the rest of the semesters, become the best RN I can be and be as compassionate and caring towards my patients and co-workers as I would want them to treat me or my family. I am looking forward to the career change.
I'm sure you're going to do just fine with that attitude and your experience. Always, always, always stay patient-focused and you'll do fine.
There is an expression "it's a dog eat dog world" and we all have to be wary of the dogs out there wherever we go. :)
I think students and new grads should be warned that they may come across a nurse or nurses that like to eat young. They should be taught skills in how to deal with these people.
Specializes in ICU,HOME HEALTH, HOSPICE, HEALTH ED.
I have a dear friend who worked in the field of nursing for only 9 years. Then she left it. It was a second career for her. She came to it full of enthusiasm and energy. Ready to join the ranks of a profession committed to helping mankind. She left because she was amazed and deeply disappointed by the negative culture in nursing. The lack of respect shown nurses...lack of management's committment and respect toward its nurses...the disrespect of doctors toward nurses...the palpable energy of demoralization among the ranks of nurses and the lack of mutual support among nurses. I looked back on my own 30+ nursing career and realized how much truth she spoke.
I've definitely come across a few situations these past few weeks which (unfortunately) have started to show me the true colors of the nurses I work with. There are a few GREAT nurses who I love interacting with, who are always there if I have a question, and don't make me feel like a fool for asking.
Let me say one thing: I very much dislike having things passed on to me that could have been taken care of during the day and evening shifts (I work overnight 11-7). For instance, I found a shearing kind of wound on one of my patients approx. 5 minutes before shift change in the AM. Since I'm still learning what kind of treatments we use on different wounds, I discussed it with my ADON, who I was giving report to that morning. Found out what the treatment would be, then she said they'd put a treatment order together for her that day. Super!
Come to find out, the order never went through all day, and I was told by the evening nurse that the ADON said "I should have done it." Why, oh why, am I not told in person about this?
They also decided to have me write an order to collect a urine spec. for UA/C+S. Fine, it takes one minute to write out the order. But why did they pass it over the evening shift? Even the evening nurse was asking me this....
I got a call as soon as I got home one morning from the day med nurse to let me know she fixed someone's J-Tube that was all functified the night before.
Overall I'm starting to see a different side to the nursing field. I've gone through my "honeymoon" phase of 120 hours of orientation, I'm seeing the personality traits of my fellow nurses come out. Thankfully I do have a couple of supports, however.
For Evilolive, you ask why nurses refuse to give feedback at the time of an incident (the ADON), answer is women in general are non confrontative, prefer to be seen as the "good girl", and not every one in a supervisor position are trained to handle the responsibility, so you have the ADONs and others saying to subordinates inappropriate things about others. As for why things are left for third shift and why there is little understanding that the reason there are 3 shifts is so that what tasks aren't completed (whether it is believed there was time in another person's day to have completed the task or not) whoever comes on duty is there to meet the patient's need. We find so much turf warring in nursing... day shift believes second does little or no work and second is definite that thrid shift does nothing, the bottom line is the patient and the profession suffers.
It is true that nurses need to be educated about our negative hostile behavior toward each other but if we refuse to acknowledge that it exists, who will our audience be? As long as we disrespect each other nopne else will respect us. Doctors adhere to the "poop flows downhill on the food chain" and as long as we maintain a position of bottow dwellers in our relations to each other we will suffer what disrespect is occurring. nanacarol
good thread, it can be the same in the UK, only not quite as bad as I have read, having said that I have been qualified 15 years and was in a senior position, so what do I know, I used to love mentoring newly qualified staff although as I moaned to my DH, I've got a headache, mentoring is really good for us old timers it used to make me think and question what I was doing, hense the headache, I would learn new stuff which I had maybe missed in the nursing press..it was a win-win (appart from the headache!) and I haven't read the whole thread but I have seen one about doctors don't do this, but I was quite often asked by consultants to mentor their students when they where in meeting ect, once about an hour after the student had gone I realised I had told him the biggest load of twaddle, I had gotten confused with a whole different condition!! told the consultant can you put him right, and he said narr, all we ever do is bull students! he'll work it out or fail...not nice
Specializes in OR, ICU, Tele, Psych, LTC, Palliative.
For Evilolive, you ask why nurses refuse to give feedback at the time of an incident (the ADON), answer is women in general are non confrontative, prefer to be seen as the "good girl", and not every one in a supervisor position are trained to handle the responsibility, so you have the ADONs and others saying to subordinates inappropriate things about others.
I"ve been "eaten" by the old AND the young. By the old when I was a new grad. By the young when I switched from med surg to the NICU. There was a group of about 5 young nurses who had worked in there since graduation, had an imprenetrable clique devoted to assigning themselves easy workloads and outsiders and newbies got dumped on. They were highly skilled in their specialty and nice to my face (I was in my mid-thirties, an ancient to them) but gradually I caught on to their sabotage and backstabbing. I walked in on one girl, a "friend"!, who was trashing me to the boss with her back to the open door. It didn't help that an "older", "experienced" nurse was learning a completely new specialty and I WAS clueless at first. They were very unhelpful at showing me the ropes and most of what I learned I learned from drs and books. The charge nurse had a "policy" common to many management types: don't come running to her with complaints about co-workers until you have discussed your problem with your co-worker. That's all well and good, but the problem was that she continued to listen to her favorites complain and trash people while nice obedient dopes who tried to follow her policy could not defend themselves against the backstabbers.
I"ve been "eaten" by the old AND the young. By the old when I was a new grad. By the young when I switched from med surg to the NICU. There was a group of about 5 young nurses who had worked in there since graduation, had an imprenetrable clique devoted to assigning themselves easy workloads and outsiders and newbies got dumped on. They were highly skilled in their specialty and nice to my face (I was in my mid-thirties, an ancient to them) but gradually I caught on to their sabotage and backstabbing. I walked in on one girl, a "friend"!, who was trashing me to the boss with her back to the open door. It didn't help that an "older", "experienced" nurse was learning a completely new specialty and I WAS clueless at first. They were very unhelpful at showing me the ropes and most of what I learned I learned from drs and books. The charge nurse had a "policy" common to many management types: don't come running to her with complaints about co-workers until you have discussed your problem with your co-worker. That's all well and good, but the problem was that she continued to listen to her favorites complain and trash people while nice obedient dopes who tried to follow her policy could not defend themselves against the backstabbers.
That really stinks! I have been at places like that (not in nursing) who have their little cliques and it's too bad there are people like that. Is there someone over the charge nurse manager that you can go to with your problem concerning the lack of assistance and mentoring they are giving you? As you said it is a brand new area for you.
aloevera
861 Posts
nurse2b2010-----good luck in your new endeavor.....wish all nurses had your attitude...after dealing with the lawyers, nursing school will be a piece of cake I am sure !!!!