NEW RNs!!!!

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2008

I'm thankful that I'm older (in age & experience) than most new grads. Although most people think I'm much younger than I am, I still think it gives me a considerable edge.
The frustrating "age" thing is the difference between nurses though. The newer ones are in their 20's mostly, some 30's. Most of the nurses are in their 40's or 50's though. Being both a new grad and looking young, though, I feel biased against so often. It makes the comraderie difficult at times, too.

I know what you mean about camaraderie. I'm 34, have no children, and get carded if I want a drink (seriously - it just happened to me tonight!). I'm married (eight years in April) but my husband works overseas. I just graduated in December, and while I LOVE my unit and the staff, sometimes I feel like one of those round pegs when it comes to some things.

Having friends in their twenties is fine (my friends have always been either several years older or a few years younger) but I can't relate to 22 and 23 year olds who still go out clubbing and talk about guys all the time. No offense meant - hey, I did it too! - but it's not what 34 year olds generally do, you know? (Sometimes I still wish I had the energy for it!) Nor can I relate to the mothers on the floor, because my husband and I not decided to have children yet. So I'm somewhere in the middle, and there aren't many of us.

I don't feel any bias against me - except when folks think I'm so much younger than I am (and being told it's a compliment is really starting to wear on my nerves - I'm nearly 35 and I don't really see it that way). Then they dismiss me with a flip of their hand as though I couldn't POSSIBLY know about "x" - until I look at them and say, "I think I'm a bit older than you think I am"...

ahenry1 · Mar 11, 2008

please, please, please, don't work 60 hours a week for the money, you will be so burned out by age 25 that you will move on to another career. the nursing profession needs you!!!! the disadvantages of you being young far outway the advantages if you pace yourself in this career. ps...if you want to look older (more mature) real fast... drink lots of beer and smoke cigarettes when you get off your shifts (even if you don't smoke, just suck them down) and try to fit in as much housework and other chores inbetween shifts. Don't rest for 24 for hours OR MORE after a 3 day shift will also help. Keep your phones turned on during your "rest" period and be available to all your friends and family during the same times they are. Socialize the night before you go into work. Keep your house and car as clean as it was before you became a nurse. Don't vent to other nurses OUTSIDE the facility you work at. Start taking prescription drugs to regulate your sleep/wake cycle. Drink more beer when you've had a rough night to ease the the pain of hurt feelings and the "i should have known better" blues. You will look, feel, and act older in no time!!! Good luck!