Experienced Nurses' Attitude Toward New Grad Nurses and Students

athena55, BSN, RN · Dec 29, 2009

Hello laynaER:

Sorry to hear about all your trials while attempting to intergrate onto a new unit or floor.

When I was a civilian I must say didn't run into what you describe. Perhaps because it was a teaching oncology-centric hospital?

Now I am working as an Army Nurse and, at least in my MEDCEN you don't find that kind of behavior or drama. Everyone has a rank (Military Nurses, that is) and respect is shown and given.

llg, PhD, RN · Dec 29, 2009

Why is their so much animosity?

Many experienced nurses are simply weary. They are weary after having answered hundreds of questions from students and new grads who come and go before they have contributed much to the unit. They started out all fresh and eager (as you are now), but have been worn down by years of bearing the burdens of their jobs -- of not only taking care of the increasingly complex patients, but of training the next generation of nurses for no extra compensation. The students pay the school ... the school dumps the students on the unit with too little supervision from an instructor who is not competent to work on that floor ... and the staff nurses have to keep it all together and teach while taking care of the patients. No one thanks them or compensates them for taking on this responsibility. The new grads come and the staff nurses are expected to teach them -- usually for no or very little extra compensation.

The students move on. Most of the orientees don't stay long when they realize how hard the job is. And the cycle continues. After a while, it just gets old ... and the nurses get tired ... and it starts to show.

Why don't they retire if they can't feel more "up beat" about their jobs? Where would they go? They need a job with decent pay -- and now that they have seniority, going somewhere else would mean a big pay cut and the loss of any seniority benefits. Also, they are too tired to start a whole new career -- and starting the climb up a different career ladder.

tango.in.paris · Dec 29, 2009

Im reading you laynaER! Im assuming you are in the US? We have the exact same problem in Australia, no doubt the same problem anywhere where there are new and not-so-new nurses grouped together. But I fully understand where llg is coming from too, having seen her scenarios first hand where I work. Having said that, some of these same seasoned, experienced, knowledgeble nurses must surely also have the knack of sensing when a new grad is intelligent, with promise and empathy, and a worthy subject to nuture? :mad:

laynaER · Dec 29, 2009

I get what you all are saying but i think over the years nursing has lost its compassion, which is what are widely known for. I think many nurses get sucked into the negativity (which is quite easy) and get into the mode of "i'm-doing-nothing-unless-i-get-paid-for-it". Which is quite sad and discouraging the fresh batch of new grad nurses. I also think it's a pretty crappy mentality have.

tango.in.paris · Dec 29, 2009

Unfortunately I think you will find the mode of "I'm-doing-nothing-unless-i-get-paid-for-it" in all professions ... but maybe its a bit harder to swallow in nursing? I dont know what the solution is except to say that when Ive done my 10 or 20 years of hard time I hope I still have it in me to spread some joy to students and grads ... :twocents:

llg, PhD, RN · Dec 30, 2009

I dont know what the solution is except to say that when Ive done my 10 or 20 years of hard time I hope I still have it in me to spread some joy to students and grads ...

I hope you still have it in you, too. I try to still have it -- and succeed most of the time, but not always.

But until you have done your 10-20 years of hard time ... don't forget to be compassionate to those who have. Compassion is needed on both sides in these situations.

guiltysins · Dec 30, 2009

I hope you still have it in you, too. I try to still have it -- and succeed most of the time, but not always.
But until you have done your 10-20 years of hard time ... don't forget to be compassionate to those who have. Compassion is needed on both sides in these situations.

I understand what you're saying llg but you have to admit it's a little unfair. It's not the student's fault that they get dumped on the nurses. They pay the school to be trained and educated, so to take frustrations out on them is plain unfair. Many nurses are overworked and have more patients do they have a right to have bad attitudes towards patients who are dumped on them? You make it sound like the students don't want to hang around which...I don't think is possible because I think the OP was referring to nurses during clinical rotations. They can only contribute what they know and can only stay for the time of the semester...

You know you're going into a profession where you may have to teach others, and I think every nurse should know that some of their job is to educate. Whether that be students or patients shouldn't really matter. I'm sure they remember going through nursing school and I'm sure they were upset when the nurses snubbed them.

Lilnurse0803, RN · Dec 30, 2009

Hello All and Happy Holidays!

I just want to add my :twocents: here because I can understand both sides of the coin, being both a newer nurse and an old pro in the corporate world.

What I find is that many new nurses/employees are overconfident and act as if they know it all. That can be what ticks many experienced staff members (in this case nurses) off. Being at the top of your class or having a higher college degree does not mean you always have a clue what you are doing, yet many novice, more formally educated nurses act as if they know what they are doing. No matter how idealistic and theory filled those pricey textbooks are, they don't really teach you the realistic aspects of what being a nurse day in and day out is. These more experienced nurses know cause they are in the trenches everyday. It's the result of what they see and do everyday that causes these strong emotions, in addition to a million other things that could be going on for them. I think this is true in most industries. It just so happens that in nursing, we have pressing life matters at hand in which teamwork is ideal.

Now, I am in no way defending any condescending or demeaning attitudes towards newer nurses like us since we too earned the right to be called professionals. I believe we all deserve a chance to prove ourselves and as professionals we should check our personal problems at the door, however, that is not the case most times and we just have to try to make due with what we have. I learned early on that being true to yourself, being kind and respectful to all while maintaining your dignity and respect can work. We have to learn to deal with many personalities, both good and bad, and try to benefit from both.

I hope this makes some sense since I can relate to both sides of the coin. I do wish we had more teamwork amongst nurses since our work is far more important than what most people do in a corporate setting. It would make life easier for us if we all give one another a chance to show that even though we are new, we may have a hell of a lot to offer; you can even learn from us.

Happy New Year to all!!

laynaER · Dec 30, 2009

I remember one day my best friend said she arrived at a hospital with her fellow classmates and their instructor prepared to work. Mind you, it's early November and they had been coming to this particular hospital since September. When they arrived one nurse (who they had never seen before) came up to them and was like "Um....you guys can't be here." So everyone's like "um..our school has a contract with this hospital, we've been coming here every week for the past 10 weeks" the nurse is like "well i'm calling the director of nursing.'' Director of nursing comes, listens to what the nurse says and tells everyone "yea, i'm sorry you can't be here." The instructor then explains to her that there is an outstanding contract between the school and this hospital and the hospital has an obligation to comply with the terms, when the instructor threatened to go over her head she said "Ok well, I guess you guys can stay here." The nurse didn't let the students do anything for the rest of the day.

Unbelievable.

llg, PhD, RN · Dec 30, 2009

I remember one day my best friend said she arrived at a hospital with her fellow classmates and their instructor prepared to work.
Unbelievable.

There are always at least 2 sides to every story. What was the "other side" to this story. There must have been some reason for the DON to say that the students were not supposed to be there that day. Was there a mix-up in the schedule or something? What was their reason?

roxie144 · Dec 30, 2009

Sorry to hear about your experience. I graduated in May and work in SDU with a ratio of 1:6. We have a lot of new grads on the night shift but it's balanced with experienced RN's. They have been so helpful to all of us and are so willing to teach and answer questions. I can understand where the exp. RN's are coming from but one of the great things or hospital does on night shift is having a Mentor on. The Mentor usually comes in for a few hours when there are more than 2-3 new grads on. This RN has no patients and is there to answer questions and help where needed. It's a wonderful resource for everyone. I can appreciate how tough it can be when your trying to get your work done and you have 3-4 new grads asking quesitons all night.