Is there ANY reason for Experienced nurses to be Rude to New Nurses??

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I am a new nurse, graduated in September, passed board November 30th and started Orienting December 31st. I just finished my 7th week and until now have been very lucky as far as having most of the nurses I work with be very supportive and nice. I work on a very busy 32 bed Med-Surg/Ortho floor and have worked on this same floor for 3 years before becoming a nurse. I should also mention that I am an LVN, not an RN. Anyways, there is a nurse on Night shift, who has been working as a nurse about a year now. She is much younger than I am. I am 40. Friday was my second day with 5 patients on my own, with my preceptor watching over me. I had my hardest/busiest day yet this past Friday. I had 5 patients. One was a partial gastrectomy patient, one was a lap chole, one was a paraplegic with a flap closure for a decubitus, one was a total knee and the other a lumbar lami. So I had a good group. My patient with the gastrectomy was very busy. She was getting meds every few hours, she was on TPN and Lipids. Neither of which I have had to deal with yet. The patient with the knee replacement was going home, so was the Lami patient. I had critical lab values called to me, Another first. This day was FULL of first time things for me. I also received a PACU patient who had a bulging to the right side of his incision which the PACU nurse had said gotten bigger since he was in PACU. The Dr ordered a STAT MRI so I also had to do my first consent for MRI and all the paperwork. Then my gastrectomy patient got orders for remicade because of her crohns. So Even though I can't hang that I had to do all the pre-paperwork. Weigh her, do the questionnaire etc. My preceptor hung and monitored it because the rate needed to be increased every 15 mins. I also had 2 patients who needed accu checks. One patient required coverage twice. This patient also had a foley which was putting out bloody urine and the report I got from the night nurse was that the output wasn't good enough. Well I made him my priority at the beginning of the day and it just lasted till shift change. Long story short with him was that we scanned him because he was complaining and there was 253 mls of urine in his bladder. Got orders to flush, couldn't flush so we got orders to pull the foley out, wait an hour to see if he could void, he did, but it was just barely under 100. Scanned him again, 507. Got a coude catheter and put it in and a clot came through the tube, bloody urine and cloudy urine. BTW, the old cath had a clot in the tip when I removed it.

Well I guess my first mistake was that when I wrote the orders in the chart to flush, I wrote it a page back. My preceptor noticed and started writing it on the right page, but crossed it out when she saw my order. Ok the next morning when I came in, the night nurse YELLED at me that she had to call the Dr for an order to flush the catheter because there wasn't one written. I found my order and she still kept on going. I was apologizing profusely. But she would NOT let up. She just kept going on and on and on, and all the other nurses there said Oh she DID write the order! Then on her way out she says very rudely and loudly in passing by "OH and the Protonix (iv push) wasn't given and neither were the dulcolax suppositories" and she just walked away. My preceptor then jumped in. #1, I KNEW about the protonix and asked my preceptor to give it, and she said we could leave it for nights because she was doing the remicade which would be much more time consuming for this nurse to deal with at shift change since it needed to be increased every 15 mins. The protonix was due at 7PM. she still wouldn't let up and then stormed out and said "I DON'T CARE DON'T MAKE EXCUSES" OMG, I was mortified and humiliated! Yes, I am new, Yes I wrote the order in the wrong spot, but it was an empty spot. I guess I didn't think to move it up. I was having a bad day! As for the dulcolax, it was not in the emar before i left and wasn't put into the emar until 5AM the next morning. I have no clue why, the other meds that were there on the same order were put in and given at 6:30PM by me. So if all I did was write an order in the wrong place, well considering my day I am pretty ok with that.

My whole point of this is WHY do experienced nurses feel it's just ok to be RUDE. I mean, I can accept constructive criticism, but she was being rude, she was walking around just saying it in the middle of the station at shift change with ALL day and night shift nurses present. I can understand if she says to me hey, you wrote an order in the wrong spot, or she could have even called me at home, but she was just flat our RUDE. She is a NEW nurse her self. (1 year old) But I felt she handled it poorly.

Believe me I am humbled, I don't presume to know everything, I know where I came from. I am just really hurt. This nurse and I worked side by side for YEARS as CNA's before she became a nurse and it seems as though it went straight to her head. No one is perfect.

I know I can handle my job. I know I love my job and I know I still have a lot to learn, but I feel there is NO reason for people to be rude to new nurses, to reduce us to tears. Being rude won't help me learn, it has only made me not like this person very much!

Oh and by the way, this day that was very hectic for me, I was assigned a student nurse which only put more pressure on me. I don't feel ready to have a student with me, I am still new myself, but I can't help who the instructor assigns. I am not saying that in a bad way, but I want students to have someone who is REALLY good at what they do.

Oh well, sorry oto whine, but I am very hurt by this incident

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Specializes in ICU, nutrition.

Well, maybe she was rude because she's a rude person. All you can do is do the best you can during the shift. And too bad you didn't know about the Dulcolax supp, you could have given it right before she came on!

It's a twenty-four hour job! Don't sweat it.

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Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.

Experienced nurses are rude to new nurses. New nurses are rude to newer nurses. New nurses are rude to experienced nurses.

Your question should be how you can deal with a rude co-worker, not painting an entire group of nurses as being rude, particularly since you yourself noted that your preceptor and several other nurses spoke in your defense.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
Well, maybe she was rude because she's a rude person. All you can do is do the best you can during the shift. And too bad you didn't know about the Dulcolax supp, you could have given it right before she came on!

It's a twenty-four hour job! Don't sweat it.

LOL, Well she gave it to him at 6:50 the next morning and I joked with my preceptor that she gave it then because she thought I was going to have him, but my preceptor was made charge nurse and I had different patients!

Thanks for making me feel better :-)

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, MNICU.
LOL, Well she gave it to him at 6:50 the next morning and I joked with my preceptor that she gave it then because she thought I was going to have him, but my preceptor was made charge nurse and I had different patients!

Thanks for making me feel better :-)

Well obviously it was a tremendous priority since she waited almost 12 hours to give the med (sorry, can't find the "rolling eyes" smiley!).

There are rude people in every profession. I think we just take it to heart more than most. It sounds like you did a great job of prioritizing. Also, I would advise you to NOT apologize repeatedly. If you feel badly for something, apologize once. Some people see it as a sign of weakness and will pounce on it. Not saying that's right, just saying that it happens sometimes.

You say you used to work with this nurse as CNAs, and she now has more experience as a nurse. It sounds to me like she's trying to establish some sort of power structure with you. Don't let her get to you. Hold your ground, make sure to double check your work, and try to gain confidence. The people who try to hold you down are the ones who are worried about your abilities.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
Well obviously it was a tremendous priority since she waited almost 12 hours to give the med (sorry, can't find the "rolling eyes" smiley!).

There are rude people in every profession. I think we just take it to heart more than most. It sounds like you did a great job of prioritizing. Also, I would advise you to NOT apologize repeatedly. If you feel badly for something, apologize once. Some people see it as a sign of weakness and will pounce on it. Not saying that's right, just saying that it happens sometimes.

You say you used to work with this nurse as CNAs, and she now has more experience as a nurse. It sounds to me like she's trying to establish some sort of power structure with you. Don't let her get to you. Hold your ground, make sure to double check your work, and try to gain confidence. The people who try to hold you down are the ones who are worried about your abilities.

Good luck!

TEEHEE! Hey, I never thought of it that way! It never even crossed my mind that if the suppository was such a huge deal, why did she wait till shift change to give it! Hmmmmm,

Once again, thank you for making me feel better

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

There is just no excuse for unprofessional behavior in the work place. I have observed similar behavior in senior nurses (not directed at me, as a man I seem to get treated differently i.e. better) and I simply refuse to put up with it.

All that said it sounds to me like you are getting AWESOME experience for an LPN. Maybe it's different where you live but very few hospitals in Wisconsin, and no large hospitals hire LPNs to do the kind of patient care you are getting to do. Should you decide to go on to get your RN you will be at a HUGE advantage. That kind of experience might be worth tolerating less than ideal work environment, at least for a while.

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Specializes in Lie detection.

ms.pink2blue,

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[color=#483d8b]no matter what mistakes you make, nothing is so bad that you deserve to be embarassed in front of your coworkers by another staff member. that's just wrong.

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[color=#483d8b]if you're up to it and this is still bothering you, i think you should ask to speak with her alone. just tell her calmly that you have no problem with her letting you know if you forgot to do something, whatever. but, not to yell/scream or otherwise disrespect you like that in front of others. no one should be doing that to each other, it's just ridiculous.

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Specializes in Palliative Care, NICU/NNP.

I think you did good getting all the other stuff done! That's a big load even for experienced nurses.

This nurse maybe should be addressed by the manager or you and your preceptor. There's no excuse for this behavior. Sounds like she's on overload from nothing related to you.

I don't know of anyone dying from not getting Protonix or whatever else you were supposed to give.

I bet people feel really bad for you and that they are glad she wasn't yelling at them! Keep your chin up. She won't be the first or last...

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Specializes in TCU,ICU,OHRR,PACU,5Solid Organ Transplan.

I am a RN x 17 years. I want to apologize for all the rude, mean and nasty nurses out there. I do not know how "Eating our young" became tradition, but it has. I would like to ask you to do a few things for our profession.

1. Remember how this experience made you feel and never do it to anyone else.

2. Tuck this experience away some place safe.

3. Once you have a few years experience start your plan.

4. Lead by example. Encourage your team members to follow your lead.

We must change this attitude. Even if it is only 1 person at a time.

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Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.
I am a RN x 17 years. I want to apologize for all the rude, mean and nasty nurses out there. I do not know how "Eating our young" became tradition, but it has. I would like to ask you to do a few things for our profession.

1. Remember how this experience made you feel and never do it to anyone else.

2. Tuck this experience away some place safe.

3. Once you have a few years experience start your plan.

4. Lead by example. Encourage your team members to follow your lead.

We must change this attitude. Even if it is only 1 person at a time.

It is NOT a tradition. Why can't people see this issue for what it really is? That there are mean people in all workplaces, period. It has little, if anything, to do with experience level. There are plenty of nasty new nurses out there too.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
There is just no excuse for unprofessional behavior in the work place. I have observed similar behavior in senior nurses (not directed at me, as a man I seem to get treated differently i.e. better) and I simply refuse to put up with it.

All that said it sounds to me like you are getting AWESOME experience for an LPN. Maybe it's different where you live but very few hospitals in Wisconsin, and no large hospitals hire LPNs to do the kind of patient care you are getting to do. Should you decide to go on to get your RN you will be at a HUGE advantage. That kind of experience might be worth tolerating less than ideal work environment, at least for a while.

I am going on for my RN for sure. I went the LVN route because of the waiting lists in our state (I am in California). I only have 3 pre-reqs left and they will take me a year to complete. Then I can bridge. the timing was right for me to do the LVN program when I did because my husband had just sold his business and was staying home with the kids. I am starting back next semester.

As for me getting a job as an LVN, I know that if I hadn't already been employed as a CNA for over 4 years, they would have turned me away. We only have 4 LVN's total on my unit and a few others throughout the hospital.

Thanks for teh encouragement!

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