i feel dumb

mustlovepoodles, RN · Mar 7, 2010

You're not dumb, you were set up. While it is perfectly acceptable for the other nurse to ask the question,and even to check for himself, it is also acceptable for you to answer "I don't know, but I'll find out." That is always the correct answer, if indeed you do not know. Nobody knows everything, not even Mr. Know-It All-Smarty-Pants. He simply used the situation to rub your nose in some poo. Shame on him. He could have made it a teachable moment. Instead, he chose humiliation.

EVerybody feels like a dunce the first year. When you get out of school you reallize how much you don't know. But the basics are in there, buried under a ton of superfluous info (nursing theory comes to mind. :rolleyes: ) You just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Eventually you will be an experienced nurse. But you will never stop making mistakes(surprise!) and you will never stop learning (especially, from your mistakes.) We just try not to make too many life-altering mistakes. :clown:

Orange Tree · Mar 10, 2010

I agree with the first response. Just learn what you can from it and realize that the "smart" nurse must have his own "dumb" moments. And remember that you won't be new forever!

savasgun · Mar 16, 2010

From a different view in the case you learned something new and he did not :) You can not know everything. When I was a computer technician I remember learning new things from kids. When I said "wow thats cool I didnt know that" they gave me the stare :) This probably gave them encouragement to become hackers you would think lol.

studentnurse2175 · Mar 20, 2010

There are many good nurses out there with 1-30 years of expereince who are always happy to help, always happy to teach, who remember what it was like to be a new nurse and cut you a lot of slack. And then.....there are the b***ches.

There are nurses out there that go out of there way to make you feel stupid. To make you question your intelligence, and during report ask questions that no one would even think of asking and lecturing your when you dont know the answer. Heaven forbid you should say let me check the chart. No, you should know the chart back to front with 8 patients on a Med Surg. There are nurses out there that take pleasure in making you feel small because it makes them feel big.

Being a good nurse does not equal being a good person. Ignore them they are bullies and they are mean. Do your work, take care of your patients and continue to learn and grow as a RN.

boogeysmomRN · Mar 21, 2010

OMG, I cannot thank you for posting this on here. :) And thank you to you experienced nurses for the words of encouragement and confirmation of how we new grads sometimes feel. I should print out your posts and put it in my pocket and read it on the floor when I feel the same way that Lissacheer87 felt. I feel for ya sister! I'm right there with you! We can do it!!!!

southernbelle08 · Mar 21, 2010

I agree with everyone else on this one! None of us know every single thing!

I have been at this for almost 2 years and I learn new things all the time. I've also been in 3 different areas, so that also contributes to my learning experience, lol.

As someone else pointed out, in this field, you will always find those that take pleasure in making things harder for someone else. It is like they thrive on looking like they know more than the next. The reality is they do not. I can think of two co-workers I have had in these 2 years that were like that. No matter what I did/said, every conversation with them ended up taking a condescending tone on their part. I finally got over it and would throw it right back at them. No, I may not have known what they were asking/telling me at the time, but I learned. Nobody ever suffered because I didn't know the correct answer when they asked it. Some people are just crappy....you have to remember that. :)

I'm sure you are doing great and just don't let them get to you. Also, never forget how they made you feel and do the best you can to be different to new grads. There was a time I couldn't imagine someone coming to me with a question or for advice, but it happens all the time now. I try to think back and it makes teaching/being nice to them as easy as anything else I do.

Blackheartednurse · Mar 21, 2010

Haha count me in please....I always thought I was a good critical thinker well until I started my first hospital job with a preceptor who has 6 years of experience ahead of me.I question my critical thinking daily and just pray I dont sound completely dumb.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 22, 2010

OP: you're not alone! I just had two of those dumb moments tonight, and I probably looked just like the deer in the headlights--basically, two patients went into crisis at the exact same time (of course), and I'm the only nurse around. I managed to pull myself together and get the job done, and at least I was smart enough to realize that I couldn't handle it all on my own and called for reinforcements. At the same time, I was disappointed in myself that I felt like a deer even for one moment: I feel like I should have handled things much better immediately, instead of trying to find my brain and wake up the hamster inside of it.

Live and learn :)

NurseHotFlash · Mar 31, 2010

I have been an RN since November as well. I think there are a lot of insecure nurses out there that enjoy catching new nurses, or experienced nurses for that matter, with the one thing they do not know about a patient. We have one that I dread giving report to because it is somewhat like going through the Spanish inquisition. After several bad experiences with her, I had had enough. When she said "Well, I guess I will have to handle it" I replied "yes, you will because I am going home." May not sound like much, but I had a smile on my face the rest of the day. Standing up for yourself is a good thing.

LifelongDream · Apr 1, 2010

Wow.... It's amazing how God places things in just the right places for you to find them. I graduated from an ABSN program in August. I graduated at the top of my class, but I was aware that I still had a lot to learn.

Two weeks after graduation, I started in Pediatrics and I was very eager to learn. I feel like I have done well, but I have one nurse that goes out of her way to make me look stupid during report. I've been tolerating it up to this point because in most cases she would ask questions which weren't significant (what kind of formula is the patient drinking? I know it's Similac, but is it Advanced or Sensitive.... ). My response was always I'm not sure, but I can check for you. Last Thursday, she continued with her condesending tone and hateful remarks. After I finished report, I went to finish my charting. This nurse went to go see one of my patients. She steps out into the hallway and says I thought you said this patient was under a croup tent and that if he wasn't under it, he desaturates. I said that's right. She says then why is the patient now out of the tent and his O2 saturation is 88? My response was that the RT had just been in the room and that maybe she was attempting to WEAN the patient, but that he was under the tent as I reported during my last assessment. She goes onto yell down the hallway to the charge nurse that not only was my report incorrect, but that the assessment that I had performed was inaccurate. Anyone familiar with Pedi knows that the majority of our patients during Fall/Winter are respiratory patients. You learn the respiratory sounds rather quickly. The nurse never stopped to consider the fact that the patient had received a SVN treatment since my last assessment. I was so angry that I left that morning without addressing that nurse for fear that I might say something I would later regret. I tend to cry when I'm irrate. I will not have the opportunity to see her again until next week. I look forward to the opportunity to talk to her now that I've had time to contemplate my response.

My response is going to go something like this.... Nancy Nurse, I wanted to talk to you. As a new nurse I know I still have a lot to learn. I know that you have years of experience and I realize that you have so much that you can teach me. I think that we both come to work with the intention of helping our patients get better. If there is something that I say during report that you disagree with, please take the time to talk to me about it so I can learn from it or so that we can resolve our disagreement. By the same token, I would like for you to remember that you and I are both professionals and as such I expect for our communication to be handled in a professional manner.

I'm hoping that this corrects the situation. Thank you for letting me know I'm not alone.