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.
As I said in my previous post it's SOME nurses who I feel don't respect us, not all of them. I get along really well with a lot of senior nurses who don't have chips on their shoulders . Why should I respect them when they have such bad attitudes towards younger nurses?
And some of the comments I hear daily about how much worse nursing is because the training is done at university not at the hospital like they did. Why can't they voice their concerns to the appropriate authorities such as the nurses board if they have such a huge problem with it? Why take it out on us? It's not as though we have choice on how we train to be nurses.
Fair enough. Things might be different down under because most of us went to colleges and universities. Hospital-based diploma programs have all but disappeared in many areas.
Prime example of eating young ltc nurse: new nurse po'd that experienced RN refused to assist with unplugging a blocked jtube after hours of trying & calling DON who said ask next shift to assist prior to calling MD & sending out to replace (which would require an appt. NPO status & next day appt anyway)...experienced RN said why didn't person get tube feeding during majority of shift & why didn't I notify MD...I said I did what I was told by DON as I was not sure how to proceed considering myself and 2 others couldn't unblock tube over 3-4 hour period. Said RN was reprimanded for not assisting/refusing to assist and another RN said its my license not the DON if person did not get required feeding during shift. So...makes sense in hindsight that MD should have been notified, but it also seems that everytime another shift fails to flush a tube or refuses to do their job; and/or I discover it, I am forced to own it?? I am simply trying to do my job, and others refuse to accept accountability and responsibility and think its funny I'm stuck owning it.. ISN'T THAT BLATANT INACCOUNTABILITY?? AND HOW DO I COVER MY BUTT WHEN OTHERS FAIL TO DO THEIR JOBS?? LASTLY, am I wrong for seeking DON advice on how to proceed once I realized jtube was hopelessly clogged? I'm a recent grad, I am not always sure when to notify MD.. Or should I have called MD first?? But then again, should I have called at start of shift when I first realized it was clogged or mid shift when I called DON or prior to new shift coming on (before they had opportunity to try?) Thanks for feedback..
First off, I think you did what you were able and informed to do by your DON.
I do not necessarily see this as nurses eating their young. I see this as a problem some of us face shift after shift and believe you me, I am not young nor inexperienced. There are simply co-workers who do not pull their own weight and pass the buck. How does that change? Each and everytime I see a pattern of someone doing that I ask them point blank, and "You did not do something about it because? "After saying that enough times, they do get the idea, to do what they can and then , if need be pass it to the next shift or next nurse.
Please note that by moderator concensus 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 lilnk. 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 nuturing to the new nurse and students on your unit.
End of sermon. LOL
Well I think that all of the people that answered you know one nurse in Hiawatha, Kansas. I believe she really does.
nurses do eat their young. i'm surprised and shocked to see that this is even a question. just about everywhere i've been, this is happening and it is so blatant that it cannot even be missed. what are u talking about? women have this thing where they tend to be jealous of and hate each other for no good reason. and the nsg profession is dominated by women. not only do nurses eat their young but they eat each other , nsg assistants, technicians and all that. so ladies, instead of denying it, let's all take a look in the mirror and try to be a little nicer to each other. if u r still not convinced just read my life story on the thread i started entitled, Help! trouble getting RN license on this forum.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
nurses do eat their young. i'm surprised and shocked to see that this is even a question. just about everywhere i've been, this is happening and it is so blatant that it cannot even be missed. what are u talking about? women have this thing where they tend to be jealous of and hate each other for no good reason. and the nsg profession is dominated by women. not only do nurses eat their young but they eat each other , nsg assistants, technicians and all that. so ladies, instead of denying it, let's all take a look in the mirror and try to be a little nicer to each other. if u r still not convinced just read my life story on the thread i started entitled, help! trouble getting rn license on this forum.
"nurses eat their young." that means that you don't have to take any responsibility for the negative interactions you're having everywhere you go? must be nice to be blameless. oh, wait! you're female, too, so you must be one of those women who have this thing where they tend to be jealous of and hate each other for no good reason! i mean, if you're sure that all women behave this way, that must be the way you behave. so i guess you're not blameless. could be that you're having these negative interactions because you need to be a little nicer to folks!
i really hate seeing these posts where someone trashes most of a profession and an entire gender because they are having difficulty getting along with people, and somehow it's never their fault.
all this negativity must be exhausting to sustain! i'd rather look for the good in people. it's less tiring, and you're more likely to find it!
Specializes in med surg, geriatric, clinical, pool.
i find it absolutely fascinating that there are so many here who are totally convinced that nurses eat their young, that it's totally because nursing is a female-dominated profession -- and we all know how catty females are -- and that they've been cruelly targeted and eaten through no fault of their own. oh, and one more thing. no one here actually eats their young!
perhaps the solution for the whole problem, then, is to get everyone on allnurses.com since none of our members ever seem to be less than kind to co-workers, "eat" their orientees, smart off to their preceptors or are catty to one another. then all nurses would be perfect just like us!
actually, i think it's sad that so many here seem to have such a terrible view of other nurses. and such an inflated view of their own worth and deflated view of their own contributions to the problems they seem to be having with others. it must be absolutely exhausting to keep up this hostility toward an entire gender and most of a profession! wouldn't it be healthier, easier and kinder to simply expect the best of everyone?
sorry you feel that way. i think the reasoning behind your thought "that other nurses don't eat their young" is because it didn't happen to you.
it did happen to me and no one can tell me it didn't. when your superior nurse asked me after i brought her the vital signs for the night shift, "what takes you so long, you down there fluffing pillows?" yes, i was if that is what a pt wanted. but no, actually i was helping them to the bathroom since the 3-11 nurse never came back like she said she would! this was a post-op floor and as you know everyone has an iv so this is not a quit task. it was one i loved until i got snide remarks such as that.
Specializes in med surg, geriatric, clinical, pool.
I used to hear this mentioned in nursing school, that
"nurses eat their young"
but I had a completely different take on what it really meant.
Once I got into orientation and real nursing, I found out,,,,,boy, did I ever find out! It was a real eye opener!
I would have thought that "nurses eat their young" meant that nurses would be openly hostile to your presence and let you know right up front that they were going to destroy you. And, some do, but those are rare.
Unfortunately, it's often the very ones who buddy up to you that you have to watch out for. They very often have ulterior motives,,,and they wrongly consider you a threat to their employment and standing.
Those are the kind who would rather be sharks, snarks, and barricudas, than work as a team with a common goal.
For me it meant one particular preceptor telling me to do things one way and then switching up on me,
trying to get me to do something wrong (intentionally), and
setting me up to try to make me look bad in front of other nurses and supervisors.
Her tactics ran the gamut from "seemingly innocent" things all the way to outright lying to try to make me look bad. She tried everything to put so much pressure on me that she thought I would quit.
In fact, I walked into the break room at the beginning of a shift and overheard her talking to my co-workers about how she fixed it so I "would never show up for work again!".
For some of my former classmates it has meant such things as, a preceptor intentionally trying to convince an orientee to do something that was actually life threatening.
Granted, some preceptors are not even decent nurses, and are just plain wrong,,,but, you had better question EVERYTHING.
When unsure, take time out and find out for sure!
It's your license on the line!
Considering the beatdown that we got in nursing school, these tactics worked on nurses who were less likely to assert themselves, and were submissive.
Most orientees who are not assertive, or who are unfamiliar with obscure procedures, etc., hesitate to challenge the preceptor, especially when it means punitive action result from refusing to do exactly as the preceptor says.
There's a lot more of this that goes on than I would ever have thought.
Let's make it perfectly clear to students, future nurses and orientees what "nurses eat their young" really means.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Sad thing is it is ALL true. The new nurses who don't experience this don't realize how fortunate they are.
sorry I don't know what planet you are on, but new nurses are treated awful by more experienced nurses. There are a few good nurses out there that will be a mentor to new nurses but they are few and far between. My sister works at the hospital. she was reduced to tears many times but she is too hard headed to give up.
Specializes in med surg, geriatric, clinical, pool.
sorry I don't know what planet you are on, but new nurses are treated awful by more experienced nurses. There are a few good nurses out there that will be a mentor to new nurses but they are few and far between. My sister works at the hospital. she was reduced to tears many times but she is too hard headed to give up.
I don't know what you are talking about. I am taking up for those new nurses as I myself was one who got eaten more than once!
i think that the sad truth is that nurses are just not good to each other, whether they are the older, seasoned nurses or the new ones. People are people. They talk about each other, look for mistakes the others have done, and love to carry stories around. It is the biggest problem in the workforce today. Cattiness. Unfortunately, it is the guys as well as the women.
It knows no age. If someone comes to you and talks about another co-worker to you, just bear in mind that they will also be talking about you at some point. Let's face the facts. Even if someone comes to you and asks about a co-worker, say nothing. Because WHATEVER you say will be interpreted as "talking about" someone.
Tweety, BSN, RN
36,370 Posts
Fair enough. Things might be different down under because most of us went to colleges and universities. Hospital-based diploma programs have all but disappeared in many areas.