I feel stupid- just venting out

SaoirseRN · Aug 31, 2012

It's hard not to let it get to you, so I'm not going to say that. But remember, that nurse was the one being inappropriate, singling you out in front of everyone. Also think about the fact that while he may have been quick to point out your possible errors (and this seems minor in the grand scheme of things) you can be assured that he has made his own share of errors. We all do, we are human. Learn from it and remember for next time. There will always be people who do this kind of thing, and personally, I find them to be the type I would rather not work with. I love helping new nurses get into the swing of things, and it sounds like your night shift coworkers are supportive. Focus on that. Let day shift say what they want. They don't really know you.

westieluv · Aug 31, 2012

Anyone who uses picking on a new nurse in front of other staff members as a way to boost his/her ego is an insecure jerk, and it sounds like that's what he was doing. Really, why would anyone go out of their way to make someone feel stupid or inadequate unless they had a much deeper problem with feeling inadequate themself?

Try to put this incident behind you and remind yourself as often as you need to that you are a competent nurse and every nurse in the world had the exact same learning curve when they were new. The NCLEX is HARD, don't kid yourself. If you were stupid you would not be a nurse at all right now. Believe in yourself and your ability to make the world a better place with your skills and talents and try as hard as you can to disregard jerks like this who want to make other people feel as badly about themselves as they do. As far as the nursing assistant smirking, he/she is probably just jealous because you are a nurse and he/she isn't. Jealousy can make people act really stupid sometimes.

I have been an RN for 22 years, and I still feel stupid taping report! I was so glad when our facility went to bedside reporting and I could stop using that stupid, intimidating tape recorder, but since you have to for the time being, try to look at it like this: when you listen to report, whether it's from a new nurse or an old nurse who's been around since the Reagan administration, you're really just listening to the information that they're giving, not the way that they're giving it, right? The day shift is probably not making fun of your report at all, just gathering the info like you do. Try not to let them intimidate you, because every one of them was once a new nurse who felt the exact same way that you do.

Hang in there, it will get better and don't beat yourself up! You sound like a caring person who only wants to do a good job, and you will be fine, I know it. :up:

newnewnurse · Sep 1, 2012

Thank you very very much for your kind words.. it really made me feel much better.. I guess i was just trying to hold it in thinking how much of being a baby i am, but i think it's about time i vent it out because i think i am starting to feel discouraged due to the fact that last night i felt that i really checked in on all my patients' needs and finally am getting into a good time management, and come morning i had that incident and felt stupid all over again.. i just felt that my patients deserve a nurse who is not feeling discouraged and i thank both of you for the encouragement before i go back to work tonight :)

newnewnurse · Sep 1, 2012

thank you very very much for taking the time to reply to my post; it is very helpful and i will remember your advise when i work back tonight. I have been told about how I will meet different personalities in nursing, and I was preparing myself for it. It feels good to meet the good personalities like you who love helping new nurses, because they really do make up for the ones that sometimes discourage me. Thank you again for your time :)

wanderlust99 · Sep 1, 2012

There will always be the occasional nurse who is rude during report. I always run into one on occasion, I try not to let it get to me but sometimes it does and other times I can just brush it off. Sorry and don't let it discourage you!

anotherone, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2012

I don't always think asking you a question in front of everyone is inappropriate. He did ask you an important question. It is important. Maybe they do make fun of you or maybe not. Let the aide smirk all he/she wants. i had this feeling as a new grad too and I know the nurses who had been there longer made fun of me and other new grads for stuff like this. The way around it was to treat them the same way or to become better at your job. I hate when I have questions about someone's report and he/she gets defensive about it. Look all i want is better information or accurate information at least, I am not questioning you but I need to know if it is a active dvt or hx ( which why I always try to get there early enough to read the chart) some people become extremily DEFENSIVE about any criticism or interpret any question as badgering etc. We have a couple of new grads on our unit and one in particular seems to get very upset if you tell her anything. She seems to interpret it as critiquing or us assuming she is an idiot. Well , if I see you doing something incorrectly when you are new and I don't know if you are just cutting corners or whether you have no idea what you are doing, i am going to point it out and sometimes that CAN NOT be done in private.

nurseelmo · Sep 1, 2012

I too, am new (6mths) only do nightshift & have to constantly adjust from day to night and remember all that I learnt when studying. When your brain is crying out from lack of sleep, you have a patient who is trying to die on you in one bed and another in the bed across from some other disease you can feel very overwhelmed with so little backup.

I find in most of the hospitals I work in (I am an agency nurse) morning staff are mostly pleasant but you can have the odd staff member who will make you feel like an ant because your defenses are so worn out after a busy night. Whoever said patients sleep at night obviously haven't done too many nights..

I've learnt not to take the comments to heart, learn and understand what they point out and be accepting of the comments but remembering you are supported by the people that you work with. However, I find that the tone of the person who points the issue out may irritate me far more then what I couldn't do or remember.

It takes time but you will be surprised in the way you learn different things about your patients compared to what the day/afternoon staff know. I do like to learn new things and often ask depending on what ward I am in nights can be amazing time to learn new skills. The longer you nurse the better you get but none of us know or remember everything all of the time.

Hope you are getting some decent sleep!

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2012

Welcome to AN! The largest online nursing community!

This nurse was just being mean. There are ways you say things and ways you don't. There are times that you may ask someone to stop what they are doing and pull them aside, but you don't have to humiliate them.

The Homan's sign has definitely fell out of favor as an assessment tool. In my day we were reprimanded if we didn't document that the patient had a negative homans. There have been some anecdotal reports of P.E. developing from possible dislodging of the DVT but has never been studied and proven to be true. It fell out of favor because of the unreliability and false negative for predicting the presence of a DVT.

Your first year (at least) actually practicing is the hardest and the day crew is hardest on the night crew. This nurse was just strutting their stuff for the new girl. Nursing is a learning curve. You'll be fine.

Good Luck!!!! Welcome to nursing.....:hug:

KaeliF · Sep 1, 2012

I'm a new grad that started working in july so I am right there with you! Trust me, if this is the worst thing that has happened to you thus far you are doing fine. There was one morning in particular a couple weeks ago I got so upset because it felt like each pt I reported on, the oncoming nurse would ask a ton of questions that I could not answer, I felt so stupid. But the thing was, I gave them everything I had gotten in report at the beginning of my shift, so really I had received poor reports as well. Now I just make sure I do really thorough chart checks because I've found that even the most experienced of nurses leave stuff out. However, I have found this puts me behind at the beginning of the night so I still have to find some kind of balance there.

I've just kind of accepted the idea that the more experienced nurses probably make fun of me. They at least have the courtesy to do it behind my back (well most of them anyway, there was one guy last night that doesn't usually work on our floor who was very condescending) But I'm sure when I've been a nurse 20+ years I'll find new grads kind of funny too. Just remember it's not that you're not incapable, just inexperienced. I keep on hearing that it takes about a year to really start getting comfortable, so only 10 months to go!

westieluv · Sep 1, 2012

Well, I have been a nurse for 22 years, and I still do not laugh at new grads. There's nothing funny about someone being humiliated because they are still learning, and if any of us forgets that we were once there too then shame on us. I do get a little frustrated with new grads who pretend to know everything, have a cocky attitude, and make it a point to tell everyone that they are only "doing this kind of nursing" until they can further their education and "move up the ladder". I think that is condescending to those of us who have spent our careers "doing this kind of nursing".

mindlor · Sep 1, 2012

It comes with age, but, the day that changed my life was the day that I learned to laugh at myself as others laughed at me. Its usually in fun. I do not mind if people make sport of me. If that is a way to make people smile and brighten their day, so be it. A lot of times this is a testing...

To be a nurse requires that one has thick skin. There are of course limits but do not sweat the small stuff.

I too am new and what I do is head it off at the pass. When I am giving report to the night nurse I thank them in advance for pointing out any mistakes that I may have made on my shift. I thank them for being a part of my learning process and defer to their greater level of experience. I do this sincerely and they know that I am truly interested in learning from them....

For me, this seems to work very well. I have good shifts and bad shifts but I feel like I learn a lot every day....

Be kind to yourself. Be patient with yourself. Celebrate your victories.