Okay, So I have learned very well that new nurses (wet behind the ears) are not the best company to have as friends. Yes, that is a bit harsh but considering my long term nurse friends from school or my first job, It seems that the probies honestly do not have a sense of humor at all.
We all go out for coffee or out to dinner. We share our own "war" stories (we've all done it people, don't lie). My aged co-workers and myself joke and laugh about certain situations.
Then comes the probie "Well I think its unprofessional to make those comments and laugh about a person pooping all over the bed" .
KILL JOY!
What the probie does not seem to understand is that (and I quote my mother here) "If we didn't laugh, we'd cry".
Or for example the probie calling me to to say he is going to call in sick from work that night for a headache. My joking response is to take a Lindsay Lohan milkshake (Milk of Mag, Norco, and 2 shots of Vodka).
Probie's response "How dare you assume I am a druggie - you have no clout or professionalism".
Really - I have no professionalism?
I my opinion, calling off sick for a headache is a sign of unprofessionalism.
My advise to probies under 1 year of bedside experience : Learn to laugh at yourself and the world as a whole. It not all textbook in the real world. Sometimes you have to go out for coffee and make jokes and laugh.
It's a firefighter term for a "probationer" or basically the new guy.
I fail to see how this is SO HORRIBLE. It's not a term I have used in the past to describe anyone ever, so I am not attempting to defend myself, but come on! How is this example of "eating our young". Did someone NOT tell the new guy that they are actually the new guy. Let's not feed into to this whole "eat the young" philosophy over something so minor.
I really think the OP's point is how some of us have a sick/dark humor in an attempt to help us cope with some of the gawd awful things we have to see/do/deal with each and every day. I'm really not sure the "new guy" gets that until they have walked a few hundred miles in our shoes.
I'd rather have a NEW RN take me to task for being insensitive (sometimes we do let our gallows humor get out of hand) than the know it all, I'm here to save the world types.
I've never heard the term "probie" outside of a Sue Barton book either! Waaay back, in our first rotation on bedside nursing we were just new and capless. Yeah, I know, I can see your collective eyes rolling! We had a capping ceremony when we survived the first 3 months. I'm a dinosaur, but never a probie!
Well, I think it depends on the certain "newbie." I am a new nurse, and I experienced what you were describing. Working in the ICU, there will be times when a person codes. The nurses, at shift change one morning, were recalling their most memorial codes. The old lady who coded; the nurse remembered with the first compression, the lady's whole thoracic cavity collapsing: "I could feel her backbone." The whole discussion was very casual, and some of the stories were just hysterically funny. I was not offended, because I felt this nursing team was very dedicated to being the best, and they did provide exceptional care. In addition, I am sure the old lady, and the other individuals who were the subjects in these stories, would have been laughing too if they were present. Maybe in time, the newbies will not see you as little devils , who just don't care enough about people.
Who in the world calls new nurses "probies?" That's straight out of those old books like "Sue Barton, Student Nurse." I have never heard anyone use that term IRL, and I've been out of school 25 years. It seems kind of disrespectful, if you ask me. New nurses are your colleagues, just as valuable as experienced nurses. Good grief, they're going to be taking the reins some day so we can retire. Give them a break.
Some new nurses do need to lighten up a bit, but I think you are overgeneralizing. We're all needed out there.
Actually, the "probies" have a term for the seasoned folks- something along the lines of "old farts" but not "farts".
It is important to let off steam, and I have seen very cohesive teams formed that can do that. However, I have seen the opposite, and laughing at the ailments of others has turned very negative, destroying the atmosphere of healing as well as ruining any shred of morale left.
The issue I have is not what the new people are called, it's (first) the fact that the OP feels any newbie has to observe and like his humor, or else they aren't good enough; and second, the attitude of disrespect that will inevitably follow towards patients.
Are you really sure that the little old lady would be laughing? Maybe... do you feel every patient would be laughing at their own misfortune? How about the head injured one? Does he think it's funny? Or the woman who was raped? Is she laughing too?
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Let's not feed into to this whole "eat the young" philosophy over something so minor. 
, who just don't care enough about people.
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klone, MSN, RN
14,857 Posts
What the hell is a probie ?