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.
It happens everywhere you go... its certain nurses not the entire profession. I have come acrossed a few to help me in my transition and others who spend 5 minutes with me then go tell the director I am not good enough. Its an attitude of I have been here longer I am better than you...its sad really.
Specializes in telemetry, medsurg, homecare, psychiatry.
I hate the fact that some nurses think that they have a right to make another nurses life so miserable. who do they think they are...really?
I wish that there were stricter "harrassment" policies put into effect.
I think if you feel bullied at work you should write up the bully everytime with something that starts off like this....:bdyhdclp:
I would like to report that i feel harrassed by the following named nurse ...(name) on this (date)... I am reporting the accused(name) is making my life a living hell!(this is where you actually say what theaccused did or said). I am therefore writting this letter to make this facility aware of "harrassement in the workplace" which i do not feel is necessary nor condusive to the moral of the unit, and is against my right to a safe and happy workplace
.:igtsyt:
If they don't stop!....Then you start. Do this everytime. It is better if you send it by email to the appropriate person along with a copy to the bully. Then you can keep a record for yourself, and prove they oppened it.
I think maybe Linnas was sleepy! I think MEN was a typo!
Mahage
To me it sounds more like referring to the older women that are still in the profession working but they are the big built women that look like men. a butch type of older woman....like the P.E. teacher off of the movie trilogy Porky's :chuckle LMAO! Thats who I always picture when someone talks about a Butch Woman! LOL:yeah:
Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.
We had a staff meeting today and our DON discussed the terrible cattiness that she has heard and that nurses have come to her with complaining about others....she made the statement that " nurses are the worst profession for this back stabbing when we should be working as a team".....we spent almost the entire meeting discussing this...we are trying to put a stop to it by confronting the one that gives us the problem....we'll see......
Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.
I hate the fact that some nurses think that they have a right to make another nurses life so miserable. who do they think they are...really?
I wish that there were stricter "harrassment" policies put into effect.
I think if you feel bullied at work you should write up the bully everytime with something that starts off like this....:bdyhdclp:
I would like to report that i feel harrassed by the following named nurse ...(name) on this (date)... I am reporting the accused(name) is making my life a living hell!(this is where you actually say what theaccused did or said). I am therefore writting this letter to make this facility aware of "harrassement in the workplace" which i do not feel is necessary nor condusive to the moral of the unit, and is against my right to a safe and happy workplace
.:igtsyt:
If they don't stop!....Then you start. Do this everytime. It is better if you send it by email to the appropriate person along with a copy to the bully. Then you can keep a record for yourself, and prove they oppened it.
To me it sounds more like referring to the older women that are still in the profession working but they are the big built women that look like men. a butch type of older woman....like the P.E. teacher off of the movie trilogy Porky's :chuckle LMAO! Thats who I always picture when someone talks about a Butch Woman! LOL:yeah:
Wow that is bad, ageism, sizism and homophobia all rolled in to one! Not all Butch women are big mean and ugly, not all Butch women are mean and ugly, not all Butch women are ugly! Some of the meanest nurses I have run in to are small, shapely and feminine. Mean people come in all shapes, sizes, colors and sexual orientations. :angryfire Talk about perpetuating stereotypes, UHUHH, don't even go there.
Well.. this was my experience. I was a new nurse and had never received one bit of negative feedback. I was called into my supervisors office and was handed an evaluation full of negative statements none of which gave me anything substantial that I could gain insight into how I was not meeting what was expected of me. Was told that my charge nurse and nurse manager didn't give examples. I asked that they be called in to tell me what was going on and that this was all new to me. Then to find out that I had been "written" up 3 times during my 6 month trial period!!!
The chain of command was so strict that one of the most experienced co-workers was terrified of speaking directly with me in that I could have gotten her into a lot of trouble because she didn't have "supervisory" status over me. My charge nurse worked my off days and opposite weekends. My nurse manager saw me even less than this.
I'm not saying that I was in the right or that I didn't have behavior that needed to be corrected. I did. This was my very first job ever and I was terrified. NO ONE took it upon themselves to instruct or supervise me and I was floundering badly and didn't know it. This is my point. I took good care of my patients. I was so upset by this set of circumstance that the experience co-worker I mentioned, did step out on a limb to help me and said from that day on, I made huge strides of improvment!!!
So...did they eat their young or just toss her out to hungry sharks?hmmmm:twocents:
I totally agree with this statement. I am a grad thankfull only for another two weeks and i have had a year that i really would never like to go through again. My first rotation sucked got a relaly bad appraisal which picked on my personality and who i am as a person. The GNP support person was not much help she wasnt not much better than the people on the ward. Second placement was great and now I am in ICU and just got another appraisal back which picks on my personality. not a thing is written about my clinical skills which is so hurtful. i cant do anything about who i am as a person and they have picked on me to the point i dotn even want to go back to work to finish my grad year off. i have tried my hardest and worked so hard and they dont recognise that, they just pick on me because im quiet and do my job to the best in which i can. What hurts more is i have been there five weeks and no one has said anything negative to me so i assumed that was good feedback but i get this appraisal back with stuff on it sayign i dotn ask questions which believe me i do and saying i need guidence well i dont know how they expect me not have guidence being new to ICU. i ask for help alll the tiem ebcuase i dont know much in ICU and they are saying i shouldnt have guidence. What annoys me is the person who wrote this i barely worked with and most of the time i was working next to agencies and i asked them questions so they wouldnt give feedback to the regular people so thats probably why they dont see me asking questions. They also wrote i dotn ask questions to the Team leader, well in ICU i thought u r not meant to leave ur pt so i dont know how they expect me to ask the team leader when the team leader is always busy and off doing what ever they do. I thought if i can ask the person next to me and get it solved then thats the best way to go about it instead of leaving my pt getting the TL getting them to come etc it would take so much time.
Anyway iin conclusion think nursing is the worst profession for bullies.. The experienced nurses need to go back to nursing school and learn how to be nice to their work collegues..because seriously people will not want to do nursing or go to work if the people are not nice who work there..
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. At the hospital I work in, I was reduced to tears many times but I am too hard headed to give up. Unfortunately 2 nurses that started work about 4 months after I did were reduced to tears by more experienced nurses and were not quite as hard headed as myself. Guess what? In this situation everyone has lost! The unit I work on is so short handed we can't afford to lose nurses. Patient satisfaction is going down the tubes and the nurses left are completely overloaded! So next time you treat a nurse awful, remember you may need that extra set of hands sooner than you think!!
I have had a 37 year career in nursing and have worked at many insitutions, in many areas. My focus has been OB. I have worked in large urban hospitals and rural hospitals and I have witnessed and experienced stories like yours.
In reading the comments to the article, I have to say that in the majority of situations it is true, nurses don't have any appreciation for the learning experience. There is a general attitude that lacks understanding of our peers. I have seen seasoned nurses, in a new job setting reduced to tears, for not "knowing" the nuances of a new job setting, with minimal orientation to the setting.
I have always told nurses, either new to the profession or job setting, to give themselves a year to feel comfortable in their "job". I think I am a minority.
I have seen the work load grow to an unmanageable level in the past 15 years. This, coupled with the pressure of everything we do reduced to a $, has made the stress level magnified a thousand fold. In my awareness, the level of physical distress the patients are admitted with has also increased. All of this leads to a chaotic, discomforting work environment for those who choose to be a healer.
By addressing these practices, which are true, maybe we can work on changing the integrity of the profession back to what it is, a healing profession. One that is not driven by unspoken fear of not being perfect or generating enough revenue for the corporation.
I do hope you are finding some peace in your workplace now, guiding any "newbe" with your compassion.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i hate the fact that some nurses think that they have a right to make another nurses life so miserable. who do they think they are...really?
i wish that there were stricter "harrassment" policies put into effect.
i think if you feel bullied at work you should write up the bully everytime with something that starts off like this....:bdyhdclp:
i would like to report that i feel harrassed by the following named nurse ...(name) on this (date)... i am reporting the accused(name) is making my life a living hell!(this is where you actually say what theaccused did or said). i am therefore writting this letter to make this facility aware of "harrassement in the workplace" which i do not feel is necessary nor condusive to the moral of the unit, and is against my right to a safe and happy workplace
.:igtsyt:
if they don't stop!....then you start. do this everytime. it is better if you send it by email to the appropriate person along with a copy to the bully. then you can keep a record for yourself, and prove they oppened it.
its priceless.
wow! this is not going to make you many friends in your new workplace! the fact that you think you had a negative interaction with someone does not mean that they did something wrong. i think i'd try to talk to the person first.
Specializes in telemetry, medsurg, homecare, psychiatry.
wow! this is not going to make you many friends in your new workplace! the fact that you think you had a negative interaction with someone does not mean that they did something wrong. i think i'd try to talk to the person first.
i agree and i should of added, "to be used in extreme circumstances".
Not all Butch women are big mean and ugly, not all Butch women are mean and ugly, not all Butch women are ugly! Some of the meanest nurses I have run in to are small, shapely and feminine. Mean people come in all shapes, sizes, colors and sexual orientations. :angryfire Talk about perpetuating stereotypes, UHUHH, don't even go there.
taunyarn
3 Posts
It happens everywhere you go... its certain nurses not the entire profession. I have come acrossed a few to help me in my transition and others who spend 5 minutes with me then go tell the director I am not good enough. Its an attitude of I have been here longer I am better than you...its sad really.