Not liking my new job so well after all!! :o(

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

First day of orientation on my shift and the NM has me shadowing the PCA. Not a big deal as I think I should know what their routine is and what they can and can't do etc. I am a newly graduated LPN and this is my first nursing job however I am not new to the nursing profession. I have worked as an aide for 18 years so I know what a stressful and hard job it is. Well, it seems that the only point this PCA wanted to get DRILLED into my head was "Don't get lazy once you get behind the med cart, that is the fasted way to get on our **** list!!" EXCUSE ME??? I understand how hard nursing is, I understand that team work is important. She harped on this subject all night long. The next night wasn't any better. None of the aides really care for me (WHY i don't know??) Maybe just because I am the "new" one, but they really seem to be testing my patience and like trying to make me look stupid!! As I see it respect is a 2 way street and they certainly aren't showing me any, but yet expect me to kiss the ground they walk on. I am moving onto the med cart next week so hopefully things will be better. So far there has only been one RN who has been willing to show me stuff and be patient with me while i take all this in. It is alot to learn and the charting is just crazy!! I don't think there isn't anything there that I can't do if I am just SHOWN how to do it. There are a lot of things that we just didn't learn in school but the nurses are expecting me to know it anyways!! I am begining to think I made a mistake choosing to go to a hospital and should have just gone to a nursing home instead!!

Thanks for letting me vent, hopefully tonight will go better!!

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Specializes in Almost everywhere.

hopefully things will go better for you...that is soooo disappointing!:(

i remember all too well going through the same thing because i was a cna at the same place where i then worked as a lpn. it was a rough crowd!

i used to think as a cna that nurses were "lazy" too, until i became one, then i was wishing at times i was a cna!!! so, go figure!

chin up, hang in there...show them what you do know and for what you don't know...ask. i know it is hard. you're the new person...and that will wear off in time. show em your stuff!!!!

take care...you have my support!!!! :icon_hug:

beary

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If this keeps up, get a new job! As a RN in her first year, plenty of people told me things I already knew, I just grinned and beared it. RNs with 10, 20 yrs of experience deserve my respect. But my peers all treated me with respect in return and now value my "up-to-date" knowledge. If you treat them the way you want to be treated and they don't reciprocate, move on honey. There are lots of jobs out there. Good luck and welcome to the profession!

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Specializes in Case Management.

The biggest problem with some CNA's is their insistance (and hospital admin goes along with it) that they are the most important people on the team, and everyone needs to wait on them! You should not let them bait you. The lesson they need to learn is that you do what they cannot do and if you have time to help them, that is your option, but it is not required. Your job as the LPN entails the things that they as CNA's can't do. Their job as CNA's is to help and support the NURSING team.

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Specializes in LTC and MED-SURG.

I can really empathize with the OP. I will (hopefullly) be working on my first LPN assignment soon, but I've already run into the attitudes you described during some of my clinicals. I've been thinking that my reply to nurses or others who think I should know something that I don't is, "no, I don't know how to do that. No I wasn't shown that in nursing school.or I was trained, but I don't quite remember the procedure, can you please tell me (show me)again". I've determined that as a new nurse, there are just some things I'm going to have to endure while I'm gaining experience.

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I am a month from graduating and I worked as a tech in a busy emergency room this past summer. I know what its like to run without stopping.

This semester in clinical almost all the techs are awesome and really willing to work with us students. Almost all.

On one of the first nights on the floor for clinical I saw two techs who were talking "Oh goodie the pretend nurses are here tonight. We don't have to work so hard" These also manage to totally disappear when Im looking for them.

Now its true that we students do the vitals, clean, turn the pt etc. We do just about everything that the techs do but Bg's, so it is easier for them. But the snarky tone of voice really bothered me.

I decided to try to make friends. One of them was not into it but I managed to chit chat with the other one and found out he is a nursing student too.

Pretty confusing that he'd make a comment like that. I figure that we are about to graduate and he has another year left. (and it might be he is feeling the bsn vs adn controversy.) Maybe he is anxious to be done with school and it comes out that way?

And maybe the techs/cna's that you are working with are in school? Or they feel somehow threatened or disgruntled knowing that right now they know more about how the floor works, but in a week or two, you'll have caught on and will be somehow in a different position then? Just a guess.

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Specializes in Peds - playing with the kids.

hi,

i am sorry that you are having such a rough time. i don't understand why you are shadowing a cna. that doesn't make any sense to me. i was young when i finished nursing school, and it took a while for me to earn respect. maybe they know that you used to be a nursing assistant, and now think that you are "too good" for that work:uhoh21: ?? i don't know.

just try to hang in there.

hugs to you!!!:icon_hug:

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).
I can really empathize with the OP. I will (hopefullly) be working on my first LPN assignment soon, but I've already run into the attitudes you described during some of my clinicals. I've been thinking that my reply to nurses or others who think I should know something that I don't is, "no, I don't know how to do that. No I wasn't shown that in nursing school.or I was trained, but I don't quite remember the procedure, can you please tell me (show me)again". I've determined that as a new nurse, there are just some things I'm going to have to endure while I'm gaining experience.

Very true! The rule of thumb seems to be that the first six months are the scariest, and that's been the case for me. I don't mean to say it's easy after nine months, but one does seem to get a bit more comfortable. Thank goodness!

Several of my mentors told me they don't worry nearly as much about new nurses who ask lots of questions as those who think they know a lot. School really is a preparation to learn. OJT is what makes book-knowledge real.

I can tell you, though, it's a great feeling when it finally starts coming together for you. Although, it does get a little unnerving when charge nurses start trusting you with more complicated patients.

As far as the aides go, it's important to realize that you aren't being paid nurses' wages to do aides' work. It is important to be a team player, but also to realize that the nurse isn't just another member of the team. You lead the team, and if you remember that, they will, too.

In the end, you'll know whether you're doing your best. If you were good enough to graduate, chances are excellent that doing your best on the job will eventually be good enough, even when it doesn't seem like it.

A lot has been written about the hostility in nursing, but in reality, I don't think there are many units that can't find a place for a careful nurse who works hard.

Best of luck to all newbies, from a battle-scarred veteran with months of hard-won experience!

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