Why are Newbies Such Whiners?

Nurses General Nursing

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  • Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

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Ruby Vee, BSN

17 Articles; 14,030 Posts

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

for those nurses on orientation who are sure they don't have time to go and look up an unfamiliar drug -- do you think that time magically stretches once you're off orientation? you are always going to encounter drugs that are unfamiliar. even after nearly three decades, i'm still running into drugs i've never heard of before. (dang pharmaceutical companies just keep crankin' 'em out!) no matter how busy, you have to take time out to look them up! how else are you going to know that benicar is an antihypertensive that mrs. youngblood should absolutely not be getting with her systolic pressure of 78? how else are you going to know that the correct dose is 20 mg, not 200 mg as the resident wrote? sometimes your peers won't have heard of the drug, either. besides -- are you going to trust your license to your co-worker's fuzzy memory of giving that drug once a year ago?

i've always suggested that my orientees look things up on their own -- as long as there was time to do so. not, obviously, as the patient is coding. go and look stuff up now, when your preceptor suggests it. whether it be new and unfamiliar meds, procedures you haven't done since 1982 or a hospital policy you're unsure of, just go look it up! you'll get faster at looking stuff up, and you'll automatically go do it in the future rather than risk harming a patient and losing your license! besides -- you'll soon become the go-to girl for obscure questions -- and you can either regale others with your knowlege or suggest that they go look it up!

nurseinlimbo

262 Posts

This has turned into a very interesting thread. I guess from my perspective as a newer nurse (grad '03) and recent student in the OR, I just wish that nurses with more experience could put themselves back in a students shoes at times. School does not prepare us for everything that we will encounter in real life, it couldn't possibly, or a nursing program would take 10 yrs to complete. I've often thought that nursing should be approached like a trade apprenticeship: Go to school for a year, get a job as a PCA (nurse aide), put in X number of hours, if you still like it, go back to school for another year, get a job as an LPN, if you still like it, go back to school for a year, get a job as a diploma nurse, put in X amount of hours, and if you still like it, go to school for a specialty or degree. This way fewer of us would come out of school with thousands of dollars of debt only to find that we don't like it. And, it solves the nursing shortage by putting more NA's and LPNs on floors to help out. Also, you could probably pay your way through without loans, or at least substantially lower ones.

I am just very disallusioned right now, because I've been busting my butt for the past 3 yrs, working more than full time, with rare weekends off, no OT pay and no vacation, and all I hear from colleagues is what I did wrong on the days that I took so that they could go on vacation or have a weekend off. I think sometimes nurses are so attached to their work that they can't leave it behind, and they can't stand to let someone else do it.

I am very smart, good with my patients, understand nursing theory, but I simply can't stand the politics. If I stay in this career, I hope to be a better teacher when my time comes. Right now I am going to be helping a 2nd year student to write a paper about this exact topic, there are tonnes of journal articles about it and loads of info on the internet, so don't tell me that the problem doesn't exist, I truly think it is one of the most prevalent issues in nursing, because it perpetuates the shortage. When we get new recruits we need to appreciate their efforts and foster their growth and learning.

1OldDinosaurRN

39 Posts

i just really think it all boils down to:

"do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

the first thing i told my students was that there are no stupid questions. i really believe that the educational preparation needs tremendous amounts more practical hands-on teaching. theory is great, we all need to know the why's of what it is we are doing. but...graduating from nursing school in this day and age without ever having started an iv, put down an ng, anchored a f/c, or given lots and lots and lots of meds...that is ridiculously negilent of the educational system.

maybe we should all take the popular bumper sticker's advice and "luv a nurse". take the nastiest acting nurse you know and compliment them, say something nice to them, do something nice for them, and eventually (hopefully) the goodness will take hold.

new grads, hang in there!

K98

453 Posts

Specializes in He who hesitates is probably right....
catchy title, eh? right up there with "why are nurses such backstabbers" (assuming that all nurses are backstabbers) and "nurses eat their young" and "why are nurses so mean?" i don't know about the rest of us "seasoned nurses", but i'm getting rather tired of all the threads busting on us for being "mean" to new nurses, students, etc. it seems to be an underlying assumption on most of the threads of the ilk that nurses are mean, evil backstabbers who live to humiliate someone with less experience.

i've had the opportunity lately to observe some newbies and their preceptors from the patient's perspective. granted, i've been a nurse for 29 years and have been both an orientee and a preceptor -- most recently an orientee. so i do have some experience from pretty much all sides now.

i was a patient, flat in bed after my spinal surgery. the orientee and preceptor introduced themselves, outlined the plan for the day, and then the preceptor left for a short while to sort out another patient who was screaming the screams of the totally demented, leaving the orientee to do my assessment and am care. the orientee was supposed to be almost ready to be on her own -- and she scared me to death! wanted to give my antihypertensives when my bp was 82/50, wanted to give my hctz when i was dehydrated from vomiting, npo, and my iv rate was only 50cc/hour and a few other things indicating (to me, anyway) poor judgment. when i refused to take the meds and outlined my rationale, she ordered me to take them anyway so she wouldn't get into trouble. i asked her how long she'd been in this job, and was it her first nursing job, or where had she worked before. the floodgates opened, and she started complaining about what a terrible place it was to work, the lousy pay, the horrible hours and how all the experienced staff were mean to her. (the preceptor came back into the room in time to hear that.) totally unprofessional! the preceptor didn't say anything in front of me, and calmly took her off to "plan the rest of our day."

later that day, i overheard the orientee telling someone (i'm assuming on her cellphone) how totally mean her preceptor was, and how the preceptor was "out to get her." she said "all i was doing was bonding with my patient who is a nurse, too, and the ***** (preceptor) just totally humiliated me. she told me i was unprofessional! i thought you were supposed to be nice to your patients."

nurse eating her young? or totally out of line and unprofessional newbie whining about being justifiably corrected?

another time, i heard a preceptor tell her orientee not to give my antihypertensives if my bp was less than 100/systolic. (it was.) newbie comes in to give my antihypertensives anyway. (different newbie.) i refuse. newbie goes to get preceptor. preceptor and i discuss my bp and agree not to give antihypertensives. later, i hear preceptor calmly explaining to newbie that giving an antihypertensive to a hypotensive patient can cause problems. (they're out in the hall, evidently close to my room, and i didn't hear anyone else around, so i'm assuming there was at least an illusion of privacy for this discussion.) newbie got defensive and started lying. preceptor remained calm and reiterated her position. newbie continued to be defensive, escalating the volume. later, i hear the two newbies commisserating about how mean their respective preceptors are.

i have to admit that when i hear a new nurse complaining about how "nurses eat their young", especially after those recent experiences, i always wonder what a preceptor could possibly do to try to correct some of these blatent mistakes without being accused of being "mean." and i wonder if that new nurse was as ridiculously in the wrong as those two were, and if she was, did she have any clue that her problems weren't all someone else's fault!

precepting is a tough enough job without being accused of being evil everytime you try to help someone to do better! being a new person is difficult, too -- but please try to look at what you contribute to the problem rather than just blaming the seasoned nurses you work with!

whiners, eh? all the whining i hear on my unit comes from the "seasoned" nurses. they are too experienced to be saddled with what they consider "distasteful" assignments, so they moan and groan until the less desirable assignments are dumped on the "whining newbies". then they sit on their big wide butts around a computer surfing for purses while the poor dumb "newbies" wear their shoes out running the halls. i had the assignment from hell for the past five 12 hour nights. i didn't complain, i just took care of my patients. i was relieved by another rookie every morning, and everything was fine. yesterday i was relieved by a "seasoned" nurse. she huffed and puffed in disbelief that someone as experienced and knowlegable as her her would be saddled with such as disgusting task. she immediately ran to the charge looking to get her assignment changed. it didn't happen, so she spent report bitching about the way i had charted, etc.. i finished report and left. it's been my experience, ruby dear, that the "newbies" have plenty to gripe about. i worked for several decades before becoming a nurse. i have never seen so much politicking, griping, and backstabbing. it's no wonder that nurses can't unite on anything.

nurseinlimbo

262 Posts

Whiners, eh? All the whining I hear on my unit comes from the "seasoned" nurses. They are too experienced to be saddled with what they consider "distasteful" assignments, so they moan and groan until the less desirable assignments are dumped on the "whining newbies". Then they sit on their big wide butts around a computer surfing for purses while the poor dumb "newbies" wear their shoes out running the halls. I had the assignment from hell for the past five 12 hour nights. I didn't complain, I just took care of my patients. I was relieved by another rookie every morning, and everything was fine. Yesterday I was relieved by a "seasoned" nurse. She huffed and puffed in disbelief that someone as experienced and knowlegable as her her would be saddled with such as disgusting task. She immediately ran to the charge looking to get her assignment changed. It didn't happen, so she spent report bitching about the way I had charted, etc.. I finished report and left. It's been my experience, Ruby Dear, that the "newbies" have plenty to gripe about. I worked for several decades before becoming a nurse. I have never seen so much politicking, griping, and backstabbing. It's no wonder that nurses can't unite on anything.

I just about snorted my coffee! Thank you for saying what I've been too polite to put into words.:lol2: :devil:

Mulan

2,228 Posts

i just really think it all boils down to:

"do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

the first thing i told my students was that there are no stupid questions. i really believe that the educational preparation needs tremendous amounts more practical hands-on teaching. theory is great, we all need to know the why's of what it is we are doing. but...graduating from nursing school in this day and age without ever having started an iv, put down an ng, anchored a f/c, or given lots and lots and lots of meds...that is ridiculously negilent of the educational system.

maybe we should all take the popular bumper sticker's advice and "luv a nurse". take the nastiest acting nurse you know and compliment them, say something nice to them, do something nice for them, and eventually (hopefully) the goodness will take hold.

new grads, hang in there!

what is f/c? is that an approved abbreviation?

twantland

23 Posts

I graduated in may of 2006, but I am still considered a new grad. I am 42 and this is a second career for me. I previously ran a cleaning business for 16 years and worked as a medical assistant for 7 years. During school I did meet nurses that treated students like we were the scum of the earth, however many of them were very nice. I started working at one hospital for 6 months but due to poor staffing(usually we had 7-8 pts) on a high acuity floor(oncology,hospice, orthopedic, ect) and the night shift was absolutely terrible to follow(never gave pain meds, never hung new IV bags, never did am CS ect)I just moved to a new hospital. I have found my fellow nurses to be very friendly, although sometimes whiny. I agree with that nursing is what you make of it. No job is ever going to be absolutely wonderful. There are always going to be moments and days that are worse than others, but for the most part, nursing gives me a sense of good will, I make decent money, and I have many opportunities to travel nurse. My husband is now attending nursing school and we plan on doing just that when he is done. I unfortunately met many nursing students in school who did not have very much common sense especially when it came to nursing. I hope that new grads will realize that nursing is a job as any other job, it is not easy and if we make mistakes its patients lives who we risk. It has its rewards but with rewards comes much responsibility.

interleukin

382 Posts

Specializes in Mixed Level-1 ICU.

Re: am just very disallusioned right now, because I've been busting my butt for the past 3 yrs, working more than full time, with rare weekends off, no OT pay and no vacation, and all I hear from colleagues is what I did wrong on the days that I took so that they could go on vacation or have a weekend off.

C'mon...at what point do you become accountable for your having to work, "more than full time?"

Nurses find themselves saddled with all this because, usually, they haven't the courage to say, or haven't practiced saying, "No, I can't work that(day/week/weekend/shift/schedule/etc). But thanks for considering me."

Now let's open the flood gates.

How many of you think that if more men occupied the ranks that most of this whining and backstabbing would disappear?

Sugar9486

40 Posts

Now let's open the flood gates.

How many of you think that if more men occupied the ranks that most of this whining and backstabbing would disappear?

Why would you make a comment like that? I am a woman, and I can say no if I cannot or do not wish to work on the days that someone needs off. Yes, as women we are more supportive and emotionally attached to our jobs and co-workers, but I hardly think that makes us unable to answer a question with a simple "no". :idea:

Tweety, BSN, RN

34,218 Posts

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
Re: am just very disallusioned right now, because I've been busting my butt for the past 3 yrs, working more than full time, with rare weekends off, no OT pay and no vacation, and all I hear from colleagues is what I did wrong on the days that I took so that they could go on vacation or have a weekend off.

C'mon...at what point do you become accountable for your having to work, "more than full time?"

Nurses find themselves saddled with all this because, usually, they haven't the courage to say, or haven't practiced saying, "No, I can't work that(day/week/weekend/shift/schedule/etc). But thanks for considering me."

Now let's open the flood gates.

How many of you think that if more men occupied the ranks that most of this whining and backstabbing would disappear?

I agree. We get as much crap as we are willing to take.

However I seriously doubt that men in nursing would change things. It would be "different" but like men in the "dog eat dog" world, things might not change.

Why don't we just change ourselves and not worrry about getting more men in nursing.

Floodgates open.............:monkeydance:

crackerjack

115 Posts

I am a new grad as of May and just completed my orientation in the OR. I had a variety of preceptors, all different, of course, and I can honestly say that I don't think I had a *mean* one. There was one where we've both come to the conclusion that we communicate on different wavelengths. We had so many miscommunications it became almost comical for both of us. However, my only beef with her was that while under her preceptorship, my employer was also sending me to the AORN periop 101 course and we were being taught the newest standards but my preceptor would correct me on my technique, question the rationales, then finally make the statement that she didn't agree with the new practice/didn't care what that said that *this* is how she does things and is how I'll do it while I was with her. Then on my 3 mo eval her one beef with me was that I wasn't open to input. I'm also one to ask a lot of questions, want to know why this, why not that, etc. and I do know that she took that as being argumentative from her reactions, despite me explaining that I just wanted to understand the full picture of what I was being taught to do...I just don't want to do things blindly, I want to know why I'm doing it and much of the time her response was that she didn't know, that's just the way she's always done it, etc.

Anyway, I had good preceptors, each with their own positive qualities that contributed to my advancement as well as each having negatives that taught me just as much. I also had many STs who were great in helping me understand all the new devices and instruments I had to learn. I only had problems with two of those, one who is a control freak and both being know-it-alls.

I think it's what you make of it as well as 'luck-o-the draw' with personalities. People are who they are before they are professionals and it bleeds through. Sometimes I've found that there is a weird phenomenon of attraction of like kind that create a challenging environment and not just in healthcare, anywhere.

CHATSDALE

4,177 Posts

i think that is is sexist to believe that men are more open to new ideas/people i have seen differences in people but i never found it to be based on gender

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