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.
I'm always skeptical when someone tells me somebody said something about me. I was actually defending the intelligence of my philosophy prof and stated that she was a graduate from two prestigious universities. Somehow she got wind that I called her stupid after she started ignoring me.
I heard from someone else that it was the butt kisser who was telling her everything the class was saying about her quite inaccurately and for her benefit. You would think a professor of so many years would easily spot the brown noser out. Perhaps, she was stupid afterall...hehe
I see this a lot as well. Many new nurses come into my operating theatre, they argue back at me, are constantly defensive and simply cannot accept constructive criticism. I have all the time in the world for someone who will accept responsibility for their actions, but a lot of people I've noticed are constant victims and it's never their fault.
Example: yesterday I went to lunch, came back and found an instrument tray (that was actually used during the operation) outside the room. This is against policy and I quietly each told the two novice nurses in the room that they shouldn't have done this in case the count was incorrect. Well, you'd think that this would be a lesson learned. Nope, the both blamed the other person and didn't seem to care. I had to tell them both in the end that this is basic OR knowledge and I'm concerned that both of you have been here a year and don't know the ACORN and hospital standards. Found out later from someone else that I'm a big meanie.
and often those "young" who claim they're being "eaten" aren't so much being eaten as being given negative feedback that they aren't competent enough to to understand is actually legitimate. while i understand that many preceptors don't give negative criticism well, newbies ought not to let that stop them from considering the criticism itself and perhaps making the requested change in their practice. so many people just starting out have evidently never been given negative feedback in their lives . . . they don't know how to take it and complain about the delivery rather than considering the content.
absolutely precisely correct. many but not all new "young" nurse come into the profession with different expectation of their role. although i admire their enthusiasm of their profession. many believe that since they hold the same license as the preceptor that they are synonimous in practice...... i agree but what separates preceptor from them are years of experience and actual field knowledge. new nurses have a great deal of knowledge about pathophysiology but they difinitely lack the ability to integrate the hemodynamics and hematology and clinical presentation to the core problem. although i cant blame some of them especially those who are in the ms floor. they just are loaded with too many pt and lucky if they can eat their lunch!!.... but still this should not be a deterrent to satisfy your kowledge as a nurse. the outcome of your pt lives depends on your skills and knowledges. you put yourselves in their shoe and think, would i want to intrust by life to this nurse hand? will i be able to go back home healthy and without mrsa? will i be able to go back to work and support my family ? will i be able to take care of myself independently?..............
I have worked in three different professions in my life and I was always warned that "the experienced colleagues eat their young". I have not found this to be true in nursing or the other professsions either.
In many ways, I feel like nursing is like any other profession or area of life-there are positive, helpful nurses/people, and then are the not-so-positive/helpful (to put it nicely) ones.
As a senior nursing student, I've seen both sides of the coin. At an externship this summer, I had two very kind and helpful preceptors who were excited and happy to teach me. I'm now doing capstone/transitions hours that are part of my curriculum and find my preceptor to be less than satisfactory. The sad thing is that she hasn't been out of nursing school for very long, but she is clearly not interested in teaching me, is pretty rude to me sometimes, and seems to have a special knack for making me feel like the dumbest student ever. So, like everything else, it's a mixed bag. But if you have an excellent preceptor or a supportive work environment, DON'T take it for granted!!
speaking from experience, half of it is true, half of it is not.
half of the people at work will pull you to the drain, and half of the people will pull you up. there are just people who will always see the negative things that you do. they love being the center of attention. they dont care about what you feel or that you are just starting in the profession. they expect you to be a one time learner, in short perfect. surely, they wont admit it.
but the good thing is that there is still that other half of the people that will lift you up. they will bring the best in you. inspire you to be better. but dont depend on them, you need a lot of effort to work your out your gutts. it is never easy, it takes time, but you just have to hang on and believe to yourself. use all of your senses.
i was in the point of firing my preceptor and thought of asking for a new one. because she started to be irritated with me and things were going out of hand, believe me, i have all the reason to do it. situation lead to another and finally our director talked to both of us. i told them that it is important that my preceptor supports me and stands up for me. i am in a ladder of building my confidence and the least thing i need is somebody or anybody in the workplace rolling over it. i told them that she is my assigned resource person at work and that i have my respect for that. i dont want to hold any grudges with anyone and i want to have a smooth preceptorship. good thing, things has been better.
most of the things that ive gone through right now in the orientation has taught me a lot of things. there will always be feedbacks about this, about that you do. just listen to them but never let them affect you. easy to say huh? but things will come naturally to your senses. dont have to rush. appreciate all the good practices that you see and let go of the ugly ones. as my preceptor always say, 'every nurse is different. someday, you'll have your own way of style of doing things.' ------i could hardly wait.
Believe me- It's not always the young that are getting eaten alive in nursing. I'm not young nor am I inexperienced, This happens even if your old, experienced and PER DEIM ( at the same place for 14 months) by some one who is the assistant manager- only been a nurse for 4 years and this is the ONLY place she ever worked. It's what other posters are writing- it's what's happening inside that person - they are insecure, not real sure of themselves and are threatened. I, personally , after 30 years very tired of it.
I was working with a patient who was having respiratory difficulties. I had done all the basic things I could for the man, and needed the doctors to make some decisions (like a ventilator).
An older nurse at the unit I floated to made some pointed comments with the intention of "aren't you going to do something?" implied.
At first I was a bit irritated, then I realized that it was not about me and my ego.
It was about the patient.
I was not being as strong a patient advocate as I needed to be. I would have to get firm with these doctors to help my patient.
The older nurse gave me the nudge to be the assertive advocate for my patient in distress.
The nurse helped me out.
I made a point of thanking her for all her help at the end of the shift.
"I was working with a patient who was having respiratory difficulties. I had done all the basic things I could for the man, and needed the doctors to make some decisions (like a ventilator).
An older nurse at the unit I floated to made some pointed comments with the intention of "aren't you going to do something?" implied.
At first I was a bit irritated, then I realized that it was not about me and my ego.
It was about the patient.
I was not being as strong a patient advocate as I needed to be. I would have to get firm with these doctors to help my patient.
The older nurse gave me the nudge to be the assertive advocate for my patient in distress.
The nurse helped me out.
I made a point of thanking her for all her help at the end of the shift. "
Learning the culture of the unit makes things easier. When I started as a new nurse, I had no idea that if the MD didn't order it, that we could and should push for things. I had the "non -medical" picture of the MD as the ultimate authority. What I have learned is pretty obvious to most folks, we work with residents and even the chief resident has an attending. It is unfortunate that the more experienced nurse didn't just come out and say "You need to push harder to get him on the vent, call Dr. SoandSo. At any rate you did what you needed to do without dwelling on your ego. I try to use all info to improve my performance. I examine each criticism, regardless of the way in which it was delivered and attempt to see what is true in it and what is not.
I do get tired of the excessive nit picking and I try to be upfront if there is an issue that another nurse needs to know about without nitpicking. Apparently this doesn't always work, but I don't know a preferable approach. I took a patient from a nurse on days shift who worked with me and helped me out a lot on night shift when I first started. She was definately one of the goodguys! When I went to give IV meds through the picc line (which I had pushed easily when i had the same patient the night before), they would barely push. I have De Quevains Tendonitis in my right hand so this was really painful. When she came back the next day in report I mentioned casually to her, "Be sure to flush the lines good, I had a real hard time pushing her iv meds last night." She didn't acknowledge this but I knew she heard me and I was not invested in anything but her remembering to flush the lines, no apology needed. So several days later, I was givng report to her again, and I had gotten in a new patient. I knew something was wrong, when her first words were, "did you do the data base?" Of course I had done it, if not, I would have stayed after and completed it. Then as I was finishing my notes, she had logged on the computer and loudly told me, "You didn't mark the effectiveness of two pain meds!" Well when these are given at the end of shift I just routinely mark them for the first shift, as a matter of course. This really bothered me a lot as I had her pictured as a good guy. I guess she just can't handle any criticism without getting her feelings hurt or maybe since she had helped me so much she thought I shouldn't mention it. I just have to let it go, and mark it off to her having a bad day. We work with a lot of different people with different personalities, maybe someone had reemed her about something, who knows. I try to learn what I can from all these situations and apply it. I am still learning.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
it is unfortunate that the more experienced nurse didn't just come out and say "you need to push harder to get him on the vent, call dr. soandso. at any rate you did what you needed to do without dwelling on your ego. i try to use all info to improve my performance. i examine each criticism, regardless of the way in which it was delivered and attempt to see what is true in it and what is not.
and if the experienced nurse had just come out directly with her suggestion, it would have offended just as many people as would have preferred that approach. everyone's communication style is different. i tend to be pretty straightforward and direct -- i never learned to beat around the bush very effectively. some people appreciate that; others are offended. if you can learn what someone has to teach you without getting hung up on "she should never have said that" or "i wish she had just told me," you'll learn twice as much.
and if the experienced nurse had just come out directly with her suggestion, it would have offended just as many people as would have preferred that approach. everyone's communication style is different. i tend to be pretty straightforward and direct -- i never learned to beat around the bush very effectively. some people appreciate that; others are offended. if you can learn what someone has to teach you without getting hung up on "she should never have said that" or "i wish she had just told me," you'll learn twice as much.
i totally agree. even when the other person is a total jerk, i might bite back, but i generally try to see any truth in their criticism. i try to make suggestions directly but take care to never talk down to a person.
Oh, some of them are just miserable in all they do and try to take their misery out on the newer or less assertive of us. I hate what nursing is doing to me, inside, I am so stressed out. Am planning my escape unfortunately.. because it is not the job, not the patients, but the coworkers. What a shame.
dizzyheadspin
28 Posts
I'm always skeptical when someone tells me somebody said something about me. I was actually defending the intelligence of my philosophy prof and stated that she was a graduate from two prestigious universities. Somehow she got wind that I called her stupid after she started ignoring me.
I heard from someone else that it was the butt kisser who was telling her everything the class was saying about her quite inaccurately and for her benefit. You would think a professor of so many years would easily spot the brown noser out. Perhaps, she was stupid afterall...hehe