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.
I think some people need to lighten up. I also think that a lot of things that people think are funny...are so NOT funny. Not in an offensive way, but in the "Are you working hard or hardly working" way. Who the heck thinks that is worthy of actually laughing out loud? I refuse to laugh at someone who thinks they are hilarious just for the sake of not hurting their ego.
To clarify, the Lindsey Lohan joke in the original post...not funny.
Well I'm a "probie" and I laugh for probably an hour or more of my shift everday...Grumpy, no-sense-of-humor people do come in all ages, stages, shapes, and sizes..but try taking it easy on us and I'm sure we would loosen up real quick!
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
I came out of a very prim and proper nursing program. However, I cannot ever recall not being able to laugh at the "dark sense of humor" that surrounded me when I first became a nurse. It actually helped me to be able to deal with the horribly sad situations I was faced with.
Yeah, I hated to be referred to as a "newbie", but I dealt with it and moved on.
I am a fairly new nurse, its been a little over a year for me and since day 1 ive been the jokster/prankster on my floor. I'm always the goof who is making everyone laugh. Theres a couple of the older seasoned nurses who get a little annoyed at times.....so its not true that all new nurses have no sense of humor and are too serious. In my case, I could say its the older seasoned nurses who are too uptight. I know when to be serious but I also know how to make things fun at work.
i know what your saying... but unfortunately i have seen this kind of uptightness in seasoned nurses, too....i find that generally, nurses are a "funny" group-- myself included... lots of emotional/psychosocial issues in this field
Couldn't help but think of this scene from Wierd Science. 
Amy10BSN
19 Posts
...maybe this is why we newbies are told nurses eat their young OP.... just saying