Love the experienced nurses!

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Specializes in Rehab, critical care.

Just another post to say that I love the experienced nurses on my unit! (need to have these posts here to show nursing students and prospectives that not all nurses "eat their young")...

They are knowledgeable and very helpful. I pretty much owe the abilities I have gained as a new ICU nurse to experienced nurses (as those are the ones that trained me).

I think some new nurses that believe that experienced nurses are awful and too critical are probably just too sensitive. (not always, there are exceptions), but when an experienced nurse told me the other night..."you need to set limits with that patient. You can't be going in there every 5 minutes", she wasn't being mean. (She has also given me a pat on the back when I've had my "firsts" with very critical patients on my own and handled the situation well).

She was right, and made me aware of my weakness (probably b/c she used to do the same thing lol) and so I learned from her because I was receptive to what she said. Some people may have taken that the wrong way, and come on here whining. "that nurse yelled at me lol" (not saying that lateral violence is never the case....that does happen unfortunately to some people).

But, with ears open, I learn, and still ask questions obviously. I'll continue to do that until one day, I'll be the experienced one (and still learn and strive for improvement always).

So, nursing students, don't be scared! There are great nurses out there that you will be working with when you are done with school. And, even if there are a few that don't give you the time of day, big deal. Grow up, and deal with it. There are people that are difficult to work with in any job. Do your best, be a good nurse, don't gossip, help other nurses, and you won't have any problems. :)

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Yep, There are some very good experienced nurses on my floor. A couple only. The staff is actually mostly inexperienced. About 75% of the staff has less than 5 years of experience.With about 60% of those having less than 3 years experience. I often wished there more more experienced nurses on my floor. If anyone gave me tips or critiques I did not have a problem with that. I really do not like when nurses refrain from doing so and instead bad mouth the other nurse to co-workers. If i am doing soemthing wrong I want to be told to my face as soon as possible not have the situation discussed with my co workers.

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Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.

certainly, i would like to thank you for your compliments on behalf of all us experienced nurses. unquestionably, it's not often when someone comes back and let us know their gratitude. :cool:

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This is so nice to hear. You see a lot of negativity and hear a lot about nurses "eating their young", and being just terrible to each other. I'm a future nurse, and mean underhanded behavior is one of the things I am a bit worried about (particularly having experienced it first hand working in a veterinary hospital) It is a relief to know that there are people who are trying to help and not hurt, and they deserve the recognition you are giving them!

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Specializes in Rehab, critical care.

@Anotherone, those numbers are very similar to my floor, as well. I think that's pretty common especially on night shift. I know day shift has a greater number of very experienced nurses, but that makes sense since most nurses start out on night shift. We have a handful with about 20-30 years of experience, but the majority have about 2-5 years of experience.

I do find, though, that those even with just 1-2 years of ICU experience still know quite a bit, especially if they've worked elsewhere prior to coming to ICU. I wouldn't be so quick to discount the ones with only 2 years of experience, but obviously, if there's a nurse there with 20 yrs, I'm going to ask her a question first lol. We can all learn from each other :). Badmouthing=not cool, but just hang around the good ones, and start saying good things about other nurses to try to turn things around....like when you're introducing them to the pt during bedside report..."this is sarah...she's a great nurse", etc. Just do the right thing, and don't hope that you'll change someone's negative behavior, but if it happens, it's a bonus.

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I am also grateful to those experienced nurses who helped me when I was a new nurse. I had a very hard time in the beginning, but thanks to some pretty special nurses, I made it. They helped give me the confidence that I needed. Now that I am an experienced older nurse, I always take the time to help a new nurse. I love to teach and pass on what I have learned. And I also learn quite a bit from the new nurses.

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Specializes in ICU/CCU (PCCN); Heme/Onc/BMT.

I feel quite lucky to have had a supportive staff and nurse manager when I started nursing 20 years ago. Yes, there were the angry and lost souls who "ate their young" on that unit. But they were the minority, thank goodness. One of those nurses was actually fired for being so negative towards the new staff. "Eating the Young" has absolutely no place in any profession. At the same time, managment and administration needs to be held accountable in providing the resources needed to help support the new staff. . . and help support the staff that has faithfully worked for any given facility for 10, 20, 30 years. My current hospital of employment actually empowers the staff to evaluate the effectiveness of administration and mangement. Those evaluations are taken seriously. Bottom line, for me anyway, is that we all need to support each other. Sharing those moments of positive support is always a good thing. :)

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Specializes in ICU, ER, PACU.

I have had some wonderful mentors too! The main thing is (for students): be open to constructive criticism! It will only help you!

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Specializes in Med Surg.

I, too, work with some amazing experienced nurses. The other night I had a patient go bad. I felt pretty comfortable with handling things, I got the ball rolling on helping the person. I then called my charge nurse and she came down with more advice. It was through her teaching before that I was able to handle the situation and her support that we had a good outcome. She's just one of the many great nurses I work with.

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Good for you. I to work with a bunch of people who pitch in to help and offer constructive advice and I too accept it graciously. Even the most experienced nurse will learn something new along the way if she is open to it, so it can be a two way street. Good advice for those starting out.

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Just another post to say that I love the experienced nurses on my unit! (need to have these posts here to show nursing students and prospectives that not all nurses "eat their young")...They are knowledgeable and very helpful. I pretty much owe the abilities I have gained as a new ICU nurse to experienced nurses (as those are the ones that trained me). I think some new nurses that believe that experienced nurses are awful and too critical are probably just too sensitive. (not always, there are exceptions), but when an experienced nurse told me the other night..."you need to set limits with that patient. You can't be going in there every 5 minutes", she wasn't being mean. (She has also given me a pat on the back when I've had my "firsts" with very critical patients on my own and handled the situation well). She was right, and made me aware of my weakness (probably b/c she used to do the same thing lol) and so I learned from her because I was receptive to what she said. Some people may have taken that the wrong way, and come on here whining. "that nurse yelled at me lol" (not saying that lateral violence is never the case....that does happen unfortunately to some people).But, with ears open, I learn, and still ask questions obviously. I'll continue to do that until one day, I'll be the experienced one (and still learn and strive for improvement always). So, nursing students, don't be scared! There are great nurses out there that you will be working with when you are done with school. And, even if there are a few that don't give you the time of day, big deal. Grow up, and deal with it. There are people that are difficult to work with in any job. Do your best, be a good nurse, don't gossip, help other nurses, and you won't have any problems. :)
Well said!!!
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