Hazing

[blugreeneyez]

hello all....top of the morning to you well for me anyway. i just started nightshift in l & d. now we all know that nights can be a lot different than days. i am new to l & d anyway, but i have been an rn for 4 years and have a lot of med surg and peds experience. i feel like i am not gonna fit in very well. why do nurses do other nurses like this? my nurse that i was orienting with last night didn't think that i knew that i could mix demerol and phenergan together and that i didn't know to give it slow push. these are common meds. i do have questions about methergan, labetlol (probably not spelled correctly) and i am very cautious with pitocin, but i am not new to nursing. i don't like to be made to feel like i am not competent. as i said before i have lots of med surg including vents and trachs even on the peds patients vents and trachs. there are rumors already that i am quitting (not true) after i get my training. i hardly call orientation a full training. i love l & d and i am working at one of the best teaching hospitals in the state. i want experience. what do you do in these situations? yesterday my manager came to me and said that she had heard that i was only going to get my training there and then i was planning on leaving. i drive 1hour & 30 min to get to work. what i had said was that if the hospitals close to home wanted experienced nurses in l & d instead of training them that i would go where they have to send thier high risk patients. i meant this as a compliment. i have no plans to leave. also, the other nurses on nights have been very evasive with me as if i don't fit into thier click. i don't understand how they can worry about everyone else i am too busy worrying about my patients to pay attention to what someone else is doing. i have made a promise to myself that i will not treat another nurse new or not like that. i guess that nurses will always eat thier young and that discourages alot of nurses when they get out of school and start thier careers. i am courious about how other hospitals conduct thier orientation of new l & d nurses, not new to nursing but just new to l & d. i guess i just needed to blow off some steam today too, so forgive the long post please.

bg:chair:

[JaneyW]

Personally, I have not had this experience. I have worked at three hospitals in OB and have had good experiences at all three--especially with the night crew. I have found the nights where I have been to be more relaxed and tolerant and easy-going. Please don't paint L&D nurses with such broad strokes. Maybe you do need to find another place for your own well-being. Or maybe you just haven't worked with the right combo of people yet? I know there are different combos I have better days or nights with than others.

Now that I am at a teaching hospital, I know that it is a different practice with its own issues. I was an experienced L&D nurse coming in and was also sometimes treated like I knew nothing. I have smiled and nodded and moved on. Things have gotten better. Do your own thing, ask lots of questions--OB can be very different from med/surg and the appraoch to patients is different. Keep that in mind. Go to classes and read some books--join AWHONN. Knowledge is power.

[RaeT,RN]

Ok, back to the original subject, here . . .

I agree with what one of the other posters said (as far as already knowing something when they try to teach it to you): smile and nod. Chances are, they are only trying to help you. And you never know - you may learn a new technique one day?

However, I also do need to counter that and say the following:

I am new to nursing and to L&D. There are some nurses (both days and night shift) that will say things like, "Can I show you a trick I learned?" And then there are others that will be very belligerent and say "you shoulda done ___" and go into your patient rooms and belittle you and treat you like you're an idiot. I think it boils down to insecurities on their part and they must try to assert their place in the pecking order. You know females are very territorial in general; I don't think that can be acredited to nursing only.

Bottom line, if you're happy where you are BG, then stick it out and see what happens. If not, as you know, experienced nurses are always in demand. Keep your chin up, and good luck.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Self-assertion is key in any area of nursing, I have learned. OB is no different. Units do differ, some are more "cliquey" than others. I have found if I keep my focus on my job, have impecable integrity and do things right---and stay out of the gossip mill----I have no problems fitting in any place I choose to work. Also, try never to take criticisms personally, simply learn from them and move on. Stay FOCUSED and quit worrying what they may be saying about you. If you are assertive, hard-working, have integrity and stay focused on the job, you will be ok in most places.

If a place is truly toxic, having severe problems you can't overcome,in all likelihood, you need a new job, because you won't be able to fix a truly toxic environment single-handedly. For your preservation, dont' work in toxic workplaces, if you can at all help it.

Good luck to you.

[SmilingBluEyes]

And yes, let's keep this topic in focus and refrain from using inflammatory words/language, please.

[ladylabor]

As a newer night labor nurse, I will have to agree that there is a certine extent of "abuse". I never expeienced these things being described. I was made to feel like I didn't know anything. If this is a true issue of nurses eating thier young, then the cultural comments are non factoral. I suggest you roll with the punches, I realize you do have experience but there are things to be learned that you won't want learn alone (hopefully) Don't let them run you down, but do allow them to teach you. Sometimes that means bitting your tounge and saying thank you instead of I already knew that. When I am orienting a new ob nurse I feel like it is my utmost responsibility to the pateint to ensure that the nurse is competent to care for them, depsite the nurses' feelings. sorry if that is eating your young. Just hang in there, you will do fine.