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.
Hey There Super Moderator and Micro. Thanks for the welcome (:
Re: caps. Yes, I have heard from some people that caps seem like yelling to some. I have never felt that way unless someone is clearly angry at me but I will do my best to not write in caps on this board (unless maybe I want to emphasize a word other than in bold print?). Moderator- you are correct that I do not love med-surg but primarily it is the meanness that I encounter that makes it maddening. The job is tough, too, but with support and the offer of basic human decency it is a whole lot better. And when I have a moment to really *be* with my patients that is really great. Aside from that, I am mainly in it to aquire skills that I believe will make me a better nurse when I move on to other areas of interest. One example? Home Care, Public/Community Health. I love service work and will volunteer down the road in this country and others in areas where people will need hands on medical care. So some med-surg, I think, is necessary. I did do the Red Cross Disaster Training and will put that to use someday, too. By the way (I am not their employee so I hope this does not seem like and ad) when I did the training they said they may need nurses through this year in the NYC area c/o longer term after affects and issues post 9-11. But they need people who are able to give two weeks at a time, minimum. So if anyone has a leaning towards community service and you can swing two weeks away from your regular job maybe check it out and see if this is still the case. Maybe someone out there has more current info than I do???....Will check in again soon. Great message board (:
Gerbil will eat it's young, and a seagull will eat their young, for energy to stay alive. Lions "kill" their young, like nurses, but don't eat them. To say "nurses kill their young" is better because I ain't heard no one talking about regurgitating. "the kill" in this case, is when a nurse leaves a place after being killed emotional. Its not a true kill, in the sense.
People say "eat their young" implying it is for survival. It isn't
It's not. Loins, and some other animals, kill for survival, but don't eat them.
It's wrong for people to eat their young, or nurses to commit emotional violence on new nurses without building them back up after scruitiny and "gaming"
Maybe, it's a new initiation, unspoken, Nurse Hazing.
Eating your young for survival, or is all this a hoax? I'm sorry :-(
You will run into a true 'young nurse eater' in time, Mario, but look at it this way: there are always a few bad seeds, but they needn't affect the whole crop....
Some nurses will start out a little impatient with youngsters, but will mellow out when they get to know and like ya...older nurses enjoy the fresh young faces of students, reminds us of our kids ....:)
And let's not forget it may not necessarily be an 'old' nurse who chews on ya either...I've met quite a few super *****y young nurses (a few years post grad and they are IT) out there! Or... a snarling doc may get ahold of you with his fangs too......:) (I'll pull him off you if I'm there)
The docs aren't picky at all tho, they'll chew on us stringy old tough nurses too...and don't worry...you 'll learn how to handle all the 'hazing'.:) We all did; it comes with the territory.....
Docs put the interns and residents through hell...my husband went through awful hazing in his tradeschool apprenticeship program...a ritual 'passage' or something.....and it is NOT unique to nursing...
I had heard this expression when I was in nursing school, from an instructor in fact, who warned us to beware!
I am not a new nurse, and came from a very busy very hi acuity position in another hospital, to a small quiet community hospital. My first day orienting to the floor I over heard my coworker say how much she hated orienting new people. How could I not overhear? She was standing right next to me, just not talking TO me. I just ignored her and have made a point not to work with her again. She is also the nurse who walks down the hallway yelling "I am leaving this place", threatening to quit in front of the patients. No wonder our press-ganey scores are so low!!!
I had heard this expression when I was in nursing school, from an instructor in fact, who warned us to beware!
I am not a new nurse, and came from a very busy very hi acuity position in another hospital, to a small quiet community hospital. My first day orienting to the floor I over heard my coworker say how much she hated orienting new people. How could I not overhear? She was standing right next to me, just not talking TO me. I just ignored her and have made a point not to work with her again. She is also the nurse who walks down the hallway yelling "I am leaving this place", threatening to quit in front of the patients. No wonder our press-ganey scores are so low!!!
This nasty nurse doesn't happen to work in Troy does she? She sounds like a peds nurse who threw charts at me as a CNA.:stone
Yes... it is a fact nurses eat their young. Some of you have commented that this happens in other fields. I have worked in other fields and nursing is by far the worst. As far as nursing school is concerned I have never seen such obnoxious people in my entire life. If I were to tell you how the nursing instructors acted you would never believe it. When we (students) walked out the hospital door after every clincical we rejoiced like we had won the lotto. The "eaters" are out there. Why do they eat their young?
I will give you the answer. The profile of the eater is almost always the same. The eaters are in their 40's (or older in some cases) never married and have no children. Generalizing? you say? Think for a while. I believe you will agree with me.
Pesonally, I have never eaten a young nurse, but I've certainly given birth to one. :chuckle My middle daughter is an LPN! :) The labor wasn't too terribly bad, but the raising of that nurse was a challenge unlike any other I've ever encountered in my life! :chuckle :kiss
Catlady's remark really struck me funny having once been in emmergency services where the clean utility room tends to look like a carry out place, but yes nurses are hard on other nurses. It seems as though there is no cohesiveness, and many of us tend to take ourselves way too seriously...sometines you just need to give someone a break (as long as they're not euthanizing anyone).
Seagulls do not eat THEIR young, but will swallow the babies chicks from other gull nests left unattended. Seagull won't eat it's own young, like a gerbil mother will actually eat it's own babies..
I'm not a coo-coo bird for looking at it this way. Other animal behaviors should be considered.
Male lions (and another animal in South America) just kill the young males, and don't eat them. They kill ultimately for their own survival (to an extend) by recognizing it is best to eliminate competition in the bud. Female lions don't do this, and they are the ones who kill the most. Also, a female lion won't get in the way of the male lion during these kills.
In many animal kingdoms, the women also make the kills, right? Women are more preditory then men, right? Maybe not in modern human kingdoms, but usually it's the female that makes the kills for survival of the species. Male Lions, for example, will kill babies, but the female won't do this. Nursing is predominately female at the moment, so I think it is genfer based behavior amongst women. It's some type of instinct for females to kill around other natural born killer females. Evolution has not caught up to nursing. :blushkiss
projectangel
2 Posts
Hey There Super Moderator and Micro. Thanks for the welcome (:
Re: caps. Yes, I have heard from some people that caps seem like yelling to some. I have never felt that way unless someone is clearly angry at me but I will do my best to not write in caps on this board (unless maybe I want to emphasize a word other than in bold print?). Moderator- you are correct that I do not love med-surg but primarily it is the meanness that I encounter that makes it maddening. The job is tough, too, but with support and the offer of basic human decency it is a whole lot better. And when I have a moment to really *be* with my patients that is really great. Aside from that, I am mainly in it to aquire skills that I believe will make me a better nurse when I move on to other areas of interest. One example? Home Care, Public/Community Health. I love service work and will volunteer down the road in this country and others in areas where people will need hands on medical care. So some med-surg, I think, is necessary. I did do the Red Cross Disaster Training and will put that to use someday, too. By the way (I am not their employee so I hope this does not seem like and ad) when I did the training they said they may need nurses through this year in the NYC area c/o longer term after affects and issues post 9-11. But they need people who are able to give two weeks at a time, minimum. So if anyone has a leaning towards community service and you can swing two weeks away from your regular job maybe check it out and see if this is still the case. Maybe someone out there has more current info than I do???....Will check in again soon. Great message board (:
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:blushkiss