Nursing now vs. then

[SweetheartRN]

I had a hard time figuring out what specific search criteria to use to search for this topic to give me results of discussions I was looking for so forgive me if this has been discussed many times before. Anyway I am a new grad RN and I keep seeing topics popping up on new grads having a hard time adapting to being a nurse. I understand that this is normal and I know I have experienced it as an LPN in a nursing home and I know I will experience it again as a new RN on the med surg floor I will be starting on next week. But from what I can tell it seems that nurses now more than ever are responsible for knowing and doing so much more than what nurses in the past had to be responsible for. Please please correct me if I'm wrong. That is exactly why I'm positing this question because I want to know if there is a difference or not. Is it really that surprising that new grads have a hard time adapting to the real world of nursing when it seems that patients are sicker than ever before, technology and advances in medicine ofcourse has changed and improved, etc. making nurses responsible for more and more but all of these changes seem to have occurred still with the same amount/length of education....especially diploma and ADN nurses.

Just the other day this nurse who has 20+ years experience was telling me when she worked on the floor as a new grad there were only 3 doctors to call for patients. Now just the system for paging a doctor i.e. attending, hospitalist, surgeon, some other speciality doc on one patient is insane!

All the nuances that nurses seem to have to go through nowadays...has it always been this way? If it hasn't its no wonder new grads today have such a hard time.

Please give me your opinions!

[DogWmn]

Oh how I love a walk down memory lane...1972 grad here:rckn: Glass IV bottles, needing really good math skills to count drips and drops, anyone remember the old 2 glass jug suctions? I worked an Ortho floor where we still had a mens and womans ward that was full to the brim always of lower back pain patients in traction for months on end with weights and pullys, charting in blue green and red for shifts, wearing ALL white - nylons (pre-panty hose), dresses (pre-pants allowed), caps (catching them on EVERYTHING). I even remember old "re-usable" needles:eek: and glass syringes, thankfully they went out quickly. However, as previous posters stated, the visitors were respectful, the doctors not so much. There were real visiting hours and they were strickly enforced (except for peds). I loved those older nurses and they were a wealth of knowledge, most were the old diploma school nurses and a few old army nurses - the army nurses could be somewhat scary due to their military demeanor but by god the jumped in when ever needed no matter if it was a code brown or what. I will say my little old rural hospital I worked in was very well staffed with all nurses, no aids of any kind, just RN's and LPN's, there was never a problem about getting your meal breaks and one time even our shift super came to help relieve on our floor because we had a few admissions. Real team nursing at it's best and I really loved it - we were a band of sisters working together (sorry guys there just weren't any male nurses at the time). If one of us got swamped we all pitched in so we all went home late or we all went home on time and very rarely did we work past our shifts. We gave real patient care and were staffed well enough to spend time with our patients and I worked 2nd shift and actually performed PM care - anyone remember back rubs? LOL.

New grads expecting days no nights weekends and holidays :rotfl: as a new grad we thought we were lucky if we got 2nd shift and it was expected that for the first several years we would be working the holidays and it was ALWAYS every other weekend. It was just part of being a nurse.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

Yep- remember glass syringes (but only had to use them for rectal paraldehyde). And the teamwork- YES- wow, I'd forgotten about that....nobody left until all walked out together. :) I remember a few glass IVs...and dial-a-flows were even a big deal :) I had to autoclave stuff myself at a LTC (don't remember what, but it wasn't all that big- maybe 1/2 the size of a 'utility' table...

Working nights was just part of paying dues as a newbie. And yep- all holidays (maybe got some goofy one off), our schedule was 7-2, 7-2, 6-3, 5-3 (seven on 2 off, repeat, six on tree off, 5 on 3 off...and repeat).... so seven in a row was just part of having a job

It frustrates me to hear about how "tough" things are now with the technology.....like the care didn't get done before :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: WE were the technology

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

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My second issue is the idea that some of the new nurses went to school with the idea that nursing is a money mine. It kills me when every day of the week i will see some nurses sitting on the computer planning those Hawaii vacations, that new car or that new set of furniture. And to make matters worse they will have the guts to complain that they are broke. When i talk to some about savings, retirement accounts i get that look of "who cares". I'm 30 so probably i am the wrong person to talk to talk to them about money but i have seen many things in my life and don't mind sharing whats on my mind. I hate to see people living from pay check to pay check when they have a choice to make better decisions. I love it when that new grad starts working and in less than a month has that $ 50,000 BMW and has to work every day to make payments and complains when they can't get an extra shift. One new grad even bought a $117,000 car...yes..no typo...he is 32 and lives at home with dad and mom and the car payments are over $ 1500. With such financial responsibilities nursing is just a paycheck not a career. Or the cheeky ones who tell me "they don't care" and are in for the money; luckily i haven't slapped anyone.

This is more of a vent and should not be taken as a posting against new grads. There are good and bad fruits but we need to show compassion and care. And for those who have been doing this longer always push the younger by instilling your knowledge. Sometimes its not "eating your young" rather its training someone who will take care of you tommorow and you will know you are in perfect hands

What is wrong with that? Nursing is a paycheck. Almost every single career is a paycheck. The reason people work is for money. It was either this or something else. IF the BMW is what gets that person through it -so be it. If my surgeon is only in it for his $1million house and flashy clothes, I wouldn't care either. Just because money is the top motivator doesn't mean someone is a bad or incompetend nurse. What do they tell you they "don't care about"?I care about making sure my patients get the care they deserve even if it is just a job for me and not some higher calling from a mystical being..........

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

I think it was referring to not planning for the future, and not really about having nice things :) Definitely, people need to enjoy their earnings, but then, don't complain about being broke if things weren't planned well.....jmo.