New nurse stigma

[donb76]

So here I am, having just gotten my RN license in January of 2010, with a job in a rural hospital. I'm wondering, about how long does it take for a new nurse to shed the stigma of "new nurse" to all the experienced nurses they work with? I, by no means, feel I have as much experience or knowledge as I need to have to call myself "experienced;" but, on the other hand, I do feel, after having worked full-time as an LPN for over a year before getting my RN, I'm not totally green, either. I'm very careful, ask questions when in doubt, and will quickly give over the reins to someone else if I'm in a situation I can't/don't know how to handle. Yet, sometimes I do feel that I'm excluded from situations because of my "new nurse" status just because they feel I would just be in the way. For me, I look at everything as a learning experience. Perhaps I would not be able to help as much as an experienced nurse, but I certainly could help some and could certainly learn something. How can I fight this feeling of being stigmatized?

[nursel56]

It sounds to me like you're doing everything right. Nurses can be a a clannish lot, but it doesn't really mean they are stigmatizing you deliberately. 2 months in nurse time is honestly not very long-- Do they know you worked as an LPN before?

All I can say is hang in there, and continue to do your best. The situations you refer to, not knowing exactly what you were being excluded from, try to be pro-active and zero in on something you can do, fetch something you know they will need but haven't asked for yet, and make sure in a polite way they know you are trying to broaden your experience base.

We had a nurse here a few weeks back who had the same basic complaint about the lack of recognition by the other nurses that he was part of the team. Three days later he came back and related a story about the DON heaping praise on him. Sometimes it happens that way! Best of success in your RN job! :)

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

i know the feeling. to me "new nurse" or "new grad" is a curse word. those titles are made even worse if you started off on the wrong footing with the experienced nurses (maybe made a mistake in judgment, were too slow in catching on, not organized in the beginning, asked too many questions while other new nurses did not have too, etc.) because first impressions are hard to overcome. on a positive note, there are ways to change impressions but you have to actively do so through marketing.

in order to market yourself you must continue to do your job well and be able to handle your assignments consistently well. also, even if you do not have the time, make sure to help out others who are struggling so people can see that you are managing to assist others (this is always a good excuse to get behind). plus it is very important to have regular discussions with your charge nurses, nurse managers, and dons regarding your progress so they can give you feedback and you have an opportunity to discuss the things they have not noticed. everybody seems to focus on negatives, so if you have examples to point to that are positive then it can help to change impressions. further, be sure to find an advocate and/or a mentor!!! find a nurse who has influence with the others that notices you are doing well. that nurse can talk to others when they gossip negatively about you to assist in facilitating a different impression. lastly, there are nurses that no matter what you do or say, they feel more comfortable with the nurses they knew forever! those nurses may never change their minds so do not take it personally. just keep doing your job well and helping out when you can so that someday they may feel the same about you too.