Do Nurses Eat Their Young?

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We have all heard the saying "Nurses eat their young". Do you feel this is true?

Please feel free to read and post any comments that you have right here in this discussion

Thanks.

This article sums it up for me... ?

http://www.dcardillo.com/articles/eatyoung.html

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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 LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

I've seen nurses "eat their young" and I've seen this same phenom in every other profession and every other job I've ever had.I believe that too often a nurse calls out she is being eaten when she is truly just being resistant to learning -as evidenced here on this board in 2 recently closed threads...It is sometimes more important for these people to be 'right" then it is for them to admit that their approach toward a difficult patient/situation could be improved upon or could in fact be dangerous to the patient..

Specializes in Med/surg..

Nurses young old, Junior Senior, need to all realise we are all working toward the same thing, our patients.

We all have so much in common.:lol2:

Specializes in L&D, Same Day Surgery.

I have to put my two cents in. I started a new job a month ago. I had been working in a doctor's office for a year prior to that and decided I liked the hospital better. Anyway, on my second day their, I had a nurse tell me that she didn't want me there and that I would have to excuse her for being rude to me, but nothing I did would make her like me. I am not making this up. I had admitted to the nurses that I hadn't started IVs in over a year and needed to build my skill back up, so I asked that if they have IVs, please let me start them. That same nurse used that as a complaint against me. I was honest about what I knew was a shortcoming for me and she used it against me.

This is SO TRUE. Nursing unit teams can have a clique mentality in assessing and testing your ability to fit into their team and be advocates for their lil-babys.(patients)

I worked a surgical floor as charge and occasionally I would be pulled to the medical floor. They did not hide the fact I was not THEM...from the charge nurse down to the CNA's. Until I proved I could handle all the death, telemetry, chemotherapy on their floor , and of course saving one of their baby's from doom helps, I was not ACCEPTED. Eventually they see you are an asset and not a burden and they love you when you float to them cause your better than AGENCY and well.............I spent most my spare time on nights trying to get that filthy medical floor as clean as my surgical floor......UGH.:lol2:

It is so hard to work in an environment where other people are both rejecting you, and secretly hoping you'll mess up. The clique thing several people wrote about seems to be much worse in small town hospitals, where the nurses went to the same school, know each other's families, and so on. I have heard that urban hospitals are less likely to be this way. Small towns can breed small minds, unfortunately. It happens in a lot of professions, not just nursing.

Diahni

Specializes in Cardiac/Tele, Med Surg, Home Health.

i am not speaking about all nurses. please don't get me wrong, but i have been eaten many times. i work with a few sharks. i think that a few nurses will start eating and continue to nibble as time goes on.

It is so hard to work in an environment where other people are both rejecting you, and secretly hoping you'll mess up. The clique thing several people wrote about seems to be much worse in small town hospitals, where the nurses went to the same school, know each other's families, and so on. I have heard that urban hospitals are less likely to be this way. Small towns can breed small minds, unfortunately. It happens in a lot of professions, not just nursing.

Diahni

Oh now come on . . . . as a nurse in a small town I reject this stereotype.

Small towns breed small minds? Not a chance.

This kind of behavior cuts across all of the human race. But for the most part, we are NOT unkind to one another.

steph (just a small town girl)

Specializes in Cardiac/Tele, Med Surg, Home Health.
Oh now come on . . . . as a nurse in a small town I reject this stereotype.

Small towns breed small minds? Not a chance.

This kind of behavior cuts across all of the human race. But for the most part, we are NOT unkind to one another.

steph (just a small town girl)

I agree Steph! I was raised in New Orleans not exactully a small town. We live in a very small town now. In my 30 years in New Orleans I would say that happens in most professions. :angryfire

I agree Steph! I was raised in New Orleans not exactully a small town. We live in a very small town now. In my 30 years in New Orleans I would say that happens in most professions. :angryfire

Thanks!

steph

Well, not to turn this into a town-or-country fight, but some places do unfortunately meet the stereotype. I am between a rural hospital and a city with several large teaching hospitals, and having visited both settings with my daughter-as-patient I have to say the rural hospital only enforces stereotypes of small towns, poor care and cliquish behavior. It worries me a great deal because the rural hospital is the one affiliated with my nursing program. Unfortunately at the rural hospital nurses made no secret of hating one another, as well as being incompetent (in my experience), unprofessional, sarcastic and cruel (to the patients around us, and to each other, as well). I had never seen that at any hospital, as employee or patient, in my entire life. Everyone I meet who has visited the small town hospital says that they would take the risk and travel further up to the city if they needed medical care.

So of course not all small towns have that, and I don't think anyone meant to imply it. It's a valid point that being in an insular environment can damn an outsider, or even an insider, who can't escape things that happened in school or outside of work. Any advantages or drawbacks will be particular to the nature of the environment, whether big city or rural country. ;)

I am working in a city hospital now - the same city hospital where patients don't have the same care that we could give them at our rural hospital because there just isn't enough staff.

As an example, we would always give all the patients showers or bed baths every single day. This rarely happens in the big city. There were at the most 10 patients with 2 RN's and one CNA in the rural hospital where I worked.

I don't think it is fair to compare the two though because in a rural hospital you just have more time and staff to do more personal care.

I'm sorry that the rural hospital you described is like that. I doubt it has anything to do with being rural, but with that particular group of folks.

When I worked as a proctor in Anatomy, every class would be different. Some were extra whiny, some not whiny at all and excited and ready to learn. It changed every year, because the dynamics of the class changes every year with a new group of people.

I would never put up with the kind of behavior you describe - rural hospital or big city hospital.

steph

as director of nursing at a skilled nursing facility.. i frequently hire new grads.. they are wonderful to teach and are like sponges.. my "older" nurses.. and i use this term lightly as older can be only in the field a yr or two.. forget what it is like to be new and expect that once orientation is over.. and in our facility it is 1 month.. that the new nurses know everything there is to know!!.. how wrong they are!!.. they even think so when the orientee is still on orientation!... ie.. the other day.. a new nurse on the med cart on her own.. 2nd day... my other 2 nurses.. one of 30+ yrs.. one of 4 or 5 mo.. didn't think they should have to split the treatments for the new nurse!!.. there was just no way she could do meds for 30+ residents.. and charting.. and do tx after 2 days!!.. the one nurse of 30+ yrs had to stay and do the tx.. we have to remember that it takes a min of 6 mo to feel comfortable and a yr until they really get it all together!!.. so.. yes.. we do eat our young.. whether we want to admit it or not.. many of us forget that we were once young...

I don't think it is fair to compare the two though because in a rural hospital you just have more time and staff to do more personal care.

steph

Exactly! That's the thing about stereotypes...they aren't real, only we seek to reinforce the biases we already hold...back to the nasty side of human behavior...:o

As I said, though, it frightens me, because such a negative place unfortunately will figure largely in my nursing education, and possibly my work experience as well. :o

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