Do you in nursing land find that old time nurses, those with many years in the career, dont want to learn new things?- like learning to care for a new kind of patient than they are used to, for instance going from LTC to a more acute setting or rotating from a geriatric unit to a unit with younger, more alert residents, which would require learning new skills?
Ive spoken to a few old timers, and they seem only to want to coast until retirement.
They dont seem to feel obligated to stretch themselves, to maintain and update there skills- wouldnt they feel better about themselves as nurses if they did take on new responsibilities?
Is this the normal course of evolution in the career of nurses?
hmm, I didn't see any "eating of young" here. Where I do see it is not from preceptors but administration, they do not see the orientee and preceptor as 1/2 a staff member but 2 and when staffing is short very inappropriate things happen like just having the orientee follow the seasoned nurse who gets the assignment from H- - -, or gives the orientee their own "light" load, or pulls the preceptor to another unit etc. I have seen entrenched staff do 'eating' behaviors and after a conversation they did not precept any more.
Yes I fit into the "old dog" category with 34 years of nursing experience. My knees may not like going to work but the rest of me learns something new every day, at times every hour.
I have been an LPN for 35 years. I understand where you are coming from too. The new grads are so eager to tell there stories of how it should be by gospel of their teachings. i remember when i was new, yes I was the same way and got a few pegs knocked down too. It would be wonderful to work together with a balance of sharing knowledge with each other. The 'Nurse" shortage is getting larger. I have learned alot along the journey and wish to obtain as much knowlege as I can, but most of the times it is really nice to stick to the basis of care quality verses quanity. Yes I am an old time nurse myself. I still love to give back rubs...
I, myself, want to say i respect the nurses that have years of experience. Being a soon to be grad of June 2006, and i'll be the first to admit i don't know everything, there is so much to learn when it comes to nursing and it's a never ending learning experience. I have also worked as a CNA first, so i do also have the bedside manners and believe thats more important than certifications. On the flip side though, my experience with "old school" nurses, I have came across some that really make you feel that you are the dirt they walk on, it's not trying to know everything, but the fact you might ask them a question or two and either it offends them or they just simply don't have the time of day for you, but rather have their face in a Avon book or gossip about homelife. I'm not saying that pertaining to every "old school" nurse, i have also worked with some that actually enjoy showing you the ropes and enjoy sharing their own knowledge. Also in clinical sites, the nurses look like they just cringe when we appear on the floor, i don't know if it's because we will ask to much or just plainly be in their way. I don't know why because us as the students try or do that nurses work for the day. So the bottom line is this, I do appreicate all nurses, i feel we have a gift to give to others otherwise why are we doing what we are?? Yes, there are nursing students who act like they know it all and their fecal don't stink, usually those are the ones who have never experienced direct care of an CNA or have never worked around nurses. I ask this, to all nurses new and "old" next time a new grad or a student comes to you, try to think back when you were a student or a new grad. They will appreciate and so will you.
Well pointed issue because it really depends on the person.I am young and I am really eager to know more and get more experience.But in my practice I met older nurses who didn't want to pick up new tricks because they thought that they are experienced enough.And new fresh nurses who thought that they are really smart coz just graduated from they colleges.So I cannot stay clearly .I think if the person wants to get some new experience it doesn't really matter how old she/he is
To the OP...I am sorry that you have encountered a "few" nurses at YOUR facility that are this way. The private sectors of business also have folks like this...and you do not need to be old to not want to deal with work any longer.
I am a student nurse who will be graduating VERY soon :yelclap:. I am from a school that teaches skills such as IV's on each other, procedures on dummies, and practice during clinicals. I can assure you that I know NOTHING...sure I have practiced placing an NG tube into a dummy countless times but since when did a dummy have a deviated septum or inserting a cath on a perfectly firm and anatomically correct dummy v.s. a person in the winter of life or IV sticks on a 92 year old women who is so dehydrated that you are afraid you will never find a vein. Thank you experienced nurses for being wiser and more experienced then I and showing me the methods you have learned through the years.
Hurricane Katrina tought us a number of new things as well as re-emphasizing the importance of what older nurses know and newer nurses need to learn. Calculating IV gtts via a roller clamp comes to mind. What do you do when the power goes out...for days, and days? What about all the folks on oxygen? What about all the meds that need to be kept cold during that time? There are so many things to be shared and to be learned.
OP, perhaps the next time you need help with a procedure you walk directly up to one of these "few" nurses and say "hey, do you have a minute? I have an xyz procedure that needs to be done and I would love to see how you would approach it." Just might wake up their inner reason for being a nurse that somewhere along the way might have gotten lost.
I am respectful and APPRECIATIVE of experienced nurses who can teach me something. My preceptor is the best on the floor. I am a knowledge thief - always wanting to tricks of the trade not taught in books. So yes, experience is invaluable. Additionally, I showed her the definition of a marked variability on a fetal heart tracing, which she wasn't aware. I didn't do it to be better than her. I did it because I believe in uniform documentation, and if she wasn't going to do it, I would want to know why. I am after knowledge and excellence, whomever it comes from.
Im not an old nurse niether a new;however, one thing I can say is thanks to all those experience long timer nurses,because today I can see what the nursing field is all about in 3 D, not like I did when I started.and even today Im still learning from those ,20,+years and I appreciate the time that they have put away from thier responsibilities to teach and open my eyes to the world of nursing today.. Thanks MartRN
It's sad to me that there are new and younger nurses out there who think that a nurse with lots of history = a nurse with no drive. In my 24 years experience, I can truthfully say that this is the exception and not the rule. So much depends on your area of practice and the type of facility one works in. Most states require CEU's to maintain licensure and recertification for things like CPR,NRP, ACLS, etc is done Q2 years. This means staying current.
I am constantly stretching myself. and do not view myself as the exception. I spent 16+ years in critical care and then the last two in post partum and have recently oriented to NICU . I am beginning the process of becoming a CLNC and it is my many years experience that will help me sell myself.
I would advise new and younger nurses to look at most of us "seasoned" nurses as a potential fount of knowledge and a resource to gaining a greater pespective on nursing care in a chosen specialty. There will be those who seem to be stuck in a time warp but my experience tells me they are few and far between. Remember, we are in a field of work where there are constant changes and some take a little longer to move with the times. If you approach each person you work with as a potential source of information, you can't help but find that there is something that they can teach you...humility is a great attribute.
Hi all...as you can see by my name, I belong to the "old dogs"!!! The postings I've read make me feel very sad!!! We are a profession that seems to have a hard time supporting each other no matter where we are in the "timeline" of our life work in this profession. I started as an RN student who left school because of pregnancy (you couldn't stay in nursing school i "the olden days" if you were pregnant) became an LPN, went back to school after 4 children for my RN. With this license I worked Med/Surg, OB, Peds, ER, CCU, and received permanent teaching certification. I earned a B.S. in Health Education, became a nationally certified Nurse Practitioner, challenged national certification for Physician Assistant and am certified in both areas.
as an NP I have worked for the Department of Medicine of a large teaching hospital, been the Director of College Health Centers for 17 years and during that time earned a Master's Degree in Education focusing on curriculum design and development...all this while raising and educating seven children, all of whom also have college degrees. I'm telling you all this because currently, after 40 years in the profession, I am teaching student nurses. My students tell me that my "stories" illustrating their learning are among the most valuable of their learning. HOWEVER...I learn as much or more from them some days than I could ever teach them.
The bottom line is that we can learn so very much from each other if we, nurses, stop being defensive and open ourselves to that learning. I'll stop here and thank you for allowing me to expound on this topic.
I've only been a nurse for 8 years so I dont really qualify as an old timer....but..... I work now in a busy ER for the last 3 years or so. Before that I was a med/surg nurse who frequently floated to the LTC unit and to rehab and ICU on the rare occasion. Also frequently float to the tele unit when needed and ER is slow. Every single nurse i've come across has had his/her own special skills and knowledge base, long timers and new grads alike. I've seen new grads come to precept in ER or on the floors with the attitude that orientation is just a vacation because they already know everything they need but I've also seen even more come eager and willing to learn anything and everything. Some of the best nurses I've ever seen learn from everyone including our precious techs and CNA's. Unfortunately i've also seen old timers who have forgotten more than most of us will ever know who refuse to share that knowledge and do tend to "eat the young". I think it is a two way street with room for improvement on both sides. I love nursing and I still believe that we are a special bunch of people and we should appreciate each other better.
I guess I am getting "old" although many new grads are older than me. I have been a nurse for 19 years. I am in school for my MSN, but I have to say I learn more on the job every day than I have in my "formal" (beyond my basic ADN) schooling thus far. I love to go to CE programs and network w/ other nurses. I also enjoy online CE's as well as my online program for my MSN. There are rigid "old timers" for sure. They never go to CE programs and feel threatened by anyone w/ more education than them. There are also rigid new grads who "know it all" and are not willing to think something may not be the way it was taught in school. If you keep your eyes open, you can't help but learn something new just about every day, often from the patients, not just other professionals. I don't think new grads or old nurses have the market cornered on rigidity or "omnipotence". It is just human nature that some of us are very set in our ways, but most of us aren't thankfully. I think as a group nurses are far more adaptable to changes than many other groups.
and have recently oriented to NICU 
. I am beginning the process of becoming a CLNC and it is my many years experience that will help me sell myself.
janpilot
2 Posts
hmm, I didn't see any "eating of young" here. Where I do see it is not from preceptors but administration, they do not see the orientee and preceptor as 1/2 a staff member but 2 and when staffing is short very inappropriate things happen like just having the orientee follow the seasoned nurse who gets the assignment from H- - -, or gives the orientee their own "light" load, or pulls the preceptor to another unit etc. I have seen entrenched staff do 'eating' behaviors and after a conversation they did not precept any more.
Yes I fit into the "old dog" category with 34 years of nursing experience. My knees may not like going to work but the rest of me learns something new every day, at times every hour.