Following the Research- Do No Harm

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I have been having some ethical issues as a new graduate nurse. I see a lot of nurses doing things they shouldn't be doing - even though they are small things. I have seen nurses not scrubbing the hubs when hooking up lines, not washing their hands when walking in and out of rooms, running KVOs that are not ordered(which is considered administering an un-ordered medication), etc.... I understand that scrubbing the hubs for 15 seconds and then waiting for them to dry for 15 seconds seems like an eternity when it's 0800 and you need to see your other patients... but if research shows that scrubbing for that amount of time works, then why are we not doing it??? Why is it that some nurses feel their opinion is more accurate than research and evidence-based practice?

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Your gripes are common ones for those fresh out of school who think they know more than the experienced nurse and who assumes the experienced nurse is bogged down in bad habits. Are there bad habits out there? To be sure, there are. HOWEVER....

You are a new grad. You have far far FAR more to learn than you will ever observe being done wrong by other, experienced nurses. I suggest you brush up on what you think is the most recent EBP, put it into use in your own practice and quit worrying about others. Maybe in time you will become an educator, which would be great. I am one and I love it. At this moment in time you are nowhere near qualified to be one.

The bottom line is that the only practice you can effectively impact is your own. As a new grad, your focus right now should be on becoming competent, developing critical thinking skills and learning good time management. The idealism you hold is valuable. Feel free to suggest or support education campaigns that forward good patient care, but I would tread lightly on criticizing the experienced nurse and definitely back off on the accusations of willfully endangering patients by not doing what you think is the most recent EBP. They have cared for more patients and intervened in more situations than you have even conceptualized yet.

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Specializes in CVICU, MICU, Burn ICU.
Your gripes are common ones for those fresh out of school who think they know more than the experienced nurse and who assumes the experienced nurse is bogged down in bad habits. Are there bad habits out there? To be sure, there are. HOWEVER....

You are a new grad. You have far far FAR more to learn than you will ever observe being done wrong by other, experienced nurses. I suggest you brush up on what you think is the most recent EBP, put it into use in your own practice and quit worrying about others. Maybe in time you will become an educator, which would be great. I am one and I love it. At this moment in time you are nowhere near qualified to be one.

The bottom line is that the only practice you can effectively impact is your own. As a new grad, your focus right now should be on becoming competent, developing critical thinking skills and learning good time management. The idealism you hold is valuable. Feel free to suggest or support education campaigns that forward good patient care, but I would tread lightly on criticizing the experienced nurse and definitely back off on the accusations of willfully endangering patients by not doing what you think is the most recent EBP. They have cared for more patients and intervened in more situations than you have even conceptualized yet.

This. A thousand times... this ^^^

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Your gripes are common ones for those fresh out of school who think they know more than the experienced nurse and who assumes the experienced nurse is bogged down in bad habits. Are there bad habits out there? To be sure, there are. HOWEVER....

You are a new grad. You have far far FAR more to learn than you will ever observe being done wrong by other, experienced nurses. I suggest you brush up on what you think is the most recent EBP, put it into use in your own practice and quit worrying about others. Maybe in time you will become an educator, which would be great. I am one and I love it. At this moment in time you are nowhere near qualified to be one.

The bottom line is that the only practice you can effectively impact is your own. As a new grad, your focus right now should be on becoming competent, developing critical thinking skills and learning good time management. The idealism you hold is valuable. Feel free to suggest or support education campaigns that forward good patient care, but I would tread lightly on criticizing the experienced nurse and definitely back off on the accusations of willfully endangering patients by not doing what you think is the most recent EBP. They have cared for more patients and intervened in more situations than you have even conceptualized yet.

Can't really say it any better than this ^^^^

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