Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.
i'm a new rn and have been working for two months and i couldn't agree more with you. i'm already deciding what to do as a different profession. i can't believe the way new nurses get treated, i could never in a million years imagine myself treating people the way i'm being treated as a new nurse.
work life as a nurse can be bad because of the complications of high acuity patients and the environment. however, life as a new grad can be worse due to everything else! for example, many new grads are made to figure things out on his/her own while a hateful few sit back and make mock of his/her efforts. please join us on the first year after nursing licensure forum. you are not alone: https://allnurses.com/first-year-after/
It is VERY stressful, anyone who doesn't agree must work in an environment where all somehow all their patients get better and serve rainbows for lunch. You sort of have to love working under time and pressure, not everyone is like that.
As far as nurses eating their young? I've learned that some of them just like to eat everybody.... I've been in for two years now as an RN, and there are some that just attack each other. I work with this one....who's only got a year experience, and she loves to find ways to verbally attack other nurses, she's already been talked to several times about it. Overall though, it's usually just a few very bad behaved people who ruin it for everyone else. They usually either have true burnout or don't like their job.
Since I really like my job, I figure I'll probably be around longer than they will, hopefully they will eventually find something that is more appropriate for them (criminal lawyer?).
Don't agree. It's the same everywhere. I started as a new grad in a competitve ICU and had a great experience there before I moved and started a new ICU job. I don't even remember seeing instances of bullying and "eating the young" and if they happened it was rarely. I find a lot of the times I hear people say that they are the ones creating drama in the unit. In my experience if you work hard and care about your patients and are a team player, people accept you with open arms. Especially with the fact we are short staffed all the time. Prinicples before personalities my boss says, you ain't got to like them just work with them. My best friend is a teacher and she has drama at her workplace, as do all my friends with their respective jobs.
Some of the new nurses I know who are hanging on for dear life are only doing it to pay off student loans and because the economy is in the toilet. I would be willing to bet once a new/different/better door comes available they will run like the wind. They say that senior nurses are horrible to deal with and that it is very stressful even on good days because of this.
OP- I agree with your post from what I have seen. But for me, as a student and with my experiences, I personally love nursing. I hope you can work through the problems and stay in the field.
as a preceptor in my hospital, i find some new grads really working too slow in the hospital setting. i would test them and raise my voice if they do something stupid. i feel bad inside but if i don't do that they wont learn really fast at the med surge unit. most important thing is you learn something from a preceptor and pick up the pace in the hospital. most nurses gossip behind orientee back but i would tell them in the face. most orientees do better once they know our expectation in the unit.
Nursing is very stressful but don't kid yourself that it's somehow unique in that regard. This is my second profession (and the first was quite varied in scope, setting, and practice) and I can tell you that some of my nursing days are walks in the park by comparision. Some aren't however.
Regarding the "eating", I've seen some of it but (thankfully) not too much... and frankly, some of the gnawing has been done of some folks that have really brought it on themselves. That said, there is a funky vibe to the hospital setting that is unlike anything I've ever experienced elsewhere and I do sense more negativity and female-dogginess (to spare the poor censor) in the hospital setting - some people seem to have been beaten down by the system and respond with lateral and vertical negativity.
Overall, though, nursing's not a bad gig (though it has its moments, like anything).
SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN
3,376 Posts
work life as a nurse can be bad because of the complications of high acuity patients and the environment. however, life as a new grad can be worse due to everything else! for example, many new grads are made to figure things out on his/her own while a hateful few sit back and make mock of his/her efforts. please join us on the first year after nursing licensure forum. you are not alone: https://allnurses.com/first-year-after/