Older nurses jealous of new young nurses?

tntrn, ASN, RN · May 29, 2006

Jealous? Hardly. If anything I have a bit of sadness that they may never know the real bedside nursing as I learned it 30 years ago, without computers, without having to be anything but a nurse. I do marvel at their energy at times, but even the young ones are dragging at the end of those "wonderful" 12 hour shifts.

I am joyful that I am looking at retiring in the next 2 years at the most and maybe sooner. They, on the other hand, have 30 more years to do, and many will bail for another profession.

I know some young nurses who are wonderful nurses, and wonderful people, too. I think those two characteristics may just go hand in hand. I've known other young nurses who were neither, juggling lots of personal problems, addictions, lying. I feel sorry that they have such problems, but when they fail to step to the plate and admit the problem in order to get help, at some point, you can't be there any more listening to yet another excuse.

I do hope that there will be some good nurses, who aren't burned out totally, and who haven't been brainwashed into believing that all nursing can be done on a laptop or PDA, will still be around when I'm old and feeble. But then, that may depend on hospital administrations and all the other powers that be who make all those great decisions.

grentea · May 29, 2006

A majority of the more experienced nurses I've met have been helpful and kind; however, there are always a few that aren't. Once a very experienced (and unhappy) nurse asked me to my face how much I got paid, and when I didn't really respond, she said, "Oh I bet you get paid just as much as me. That's how it works now. Hurumph." I don't believe that all nurses think like that, but I don't think it's fair that some very experienced nurses don't get adequately compensated for all fo their experience. I had another comment to the same effect made to me once. Funny thing is, I chose a hospital that didn't give me a sign-on bonus, and I took a bit of a pay cut when I switched hosptials. Additionally, I have no idea where all of these wonderful federal/state nursing loan forgiveness programs are. Really, I'm not rolling in it. I'm just trying to pay off my large amount of student loans and bills.

NurseyTonyaLPN · May 29, 2006

I have heard more experienced nurses complaining about how new nurses have it made, and get paid just as much as they do after doing x amount of years on the job, I don't know if this is true or not, but I don't see how any nurse would trade her years of experience and want to go back to being new again. I consider myself a new nurse (graduated a year and a half ago), I don't know how long I'll consider myself "new" to the profession, but I ask any questions I have to more experienced nurses and they're usually

happy to share their wisdom with me. Books, hands-on experience, and working with other nurses all contribute to your nursing education. I've had some experienced nurses say things to me that have proven to be right on when I've experienced it myself. Tonya

Tweety, BSN, RN · May 29, 2006

Are younger new grads full of arrogance, false self-assurance that feel that they know it all and older nurses experiences are meaningless to them?

Blanket statements about older or younger nurses only divides, and are 99% false. 1% they are true. I've seen both sides of the fence. However, 99% of the time we get along respectfully. Key word..........respect. And it works both ways.

PANurseRN1 · May 29, 2006

The sad truth is that often there isn't much difference in pay between a new nurse and one with years of experience.

I've decided that every time I see one of these threads/posts, I am going to rebut with a "nasty new nurse" story. It seems that asking people to see bad behavior as an issue with an individual, not a group, just isn't working.

llg, PhD, RN · May 29, 2006

Are older nurses intimidated by new younger nurses? What do you think

Not everyone who treats you badly is jealous of you. As other posters have pointed out, some people are not nice for other reasons. They may simply have unpleasant personalities and/or be coping with all sorts of problems about which you are clueless. Some may actually be terrific people who are having a bad day. Others may be critical of you because they are trying to help you to learn.

I can't think of any experienced nurses that I know who are jealous of the new grads they work with.

llg

SharonH, RN · May 29, 2006

I swear to you I laughed until I cried when I read the topic of this thread.

Thank you. I needed a good belly laugh.

nursesarah · Jun 5, 2006

I swear to you I laughed until I cried when I read the topic of this thread.
Thank you. I needed a good belly laugh.

:uhoh3:

the fact is...whether people want to admit it, the opinions and knowledge of younger nurses is not respected by some older nurses. and its just as true on this board as it is in the workplace. i have run across posts where a nurse with X years experience has told a nursing student to share when they are a "Real" nurse or when they have more experience. and i have seen people being told they dont really know what its all about, yadda yadda yadda. jealousy? probably not. but rivalry? yes for sure. why? who knows! again...not saying its all older nurses...but i have witnessed it alot. and if a nurse with only a few years of experience contradicts sometihng a nurse with 30+ the new nurse is seen as being a "know it all" or "over confident".

personally i respect all the advice and the knowledge of nurses that have been working in the field for 30+ years. but it doesnt mean i'll necessarily use it if its not the best practice. and im sorry if i seem over confident or like a know it all.

zahryia, LPN · Jun 5, 2006

It's interesting the attitudes regarding this question. And remember it was a question, not a statement.

I'm merely a student nurse, so I don't know the answer to the question, but I've certainly seen this phenomon in many industries (i.e. banking, health departments, retail, etc) Why wouldn't it or couldn't be the case with nursing?

The fact that this type of thing happens in many industries clearly demonstrates this is a human issue and not a nursing issue, per se. But this is a nursing forum. And the poster has the right to ask a question without getting rolling eyes.

That's just rude.

nursemike, ASN, RN · Jun 6, 2006

I do think newcomers ought to have the opportunity to debate issues others may find played out. It's no big trick to skip a forum that doesn't interest you. Some may find the OP's initial question and subsequent remarks insolent, but I think a more charitable, nurselike response would be to look upon it as an opportunity to educate. I hope I've offered a new nurse some useful advice about relating to older, more experienced co-workers. Like many professions, nursing places value on "paying dues." Haven't we all heard sneers about nursing administrators with maybe six months of direct patient care experience?

For those who've forgotten, it isn't an easy thing to be a newbie. You want to look sharp and competent, but how to do that without looking cocky? I have had nights when I'd have liked to lock myself in the med room and let the "grown-ups" handle things, but I've been lucky enough to have learned from experience, and to have had mentors who also understood, that sometimes getting "in over your head" is the best way to learn--as long as you have someone handy to correct any serious mistakes.

Kymmi · Jun 6, 2006

This topic will continue to exist as long as nurses exist. It goes right along with the old CNA vs LPN vs RN issue. Truth is as long as people exist so will comparsion. New nurses come out of school with all the latest info and thinking they can handle the clinical setting. Dont get me wrong...that is the right attitude to have...however eventually there is that time when something that wasnt taught in school arises because we all know that clinical nursing is NOT the same as text book nursing...not all of our patients present as the classroom says they should. It is at this time that hopefully the newer nurse can feel comfortable enough to go to her more experienced peers to find out how to handle whatever has arisen. Hopefully the more experienced nurse will not follow the old saying that we "eat our young" and some more learning can develop.

I've worked with newer nurses to ICU and I can honestly say that when I really talk to them about why they do something other than the way I do it I have learned something new also.

We are all in the profession together and if we actually realize that and work as a team and view each other as our extended family the shifts go alot smoother.....face it...we spend alot of time with our co-workers (sometimes more than we do with our families) so therefore instead of debating who is jealous, better, yada yada yada we'd survive much better if we all valued each persons attributes.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jun 6, 2006

nursemike said:

I do think newcomers ought to have the opportunity to debate issues others may find played out. it's no big trick to skip a forum that doesn't interest you. some may find the op's initial question and subsequent remarks insolent, but I think a more charitable, nurselike response would be to look upon it as an opportunity to educate. I hope I've offered a new nurse some useful advice about relating to older, more experienced co-workers. like many professions, nursing places value on "paying dues." haven't we all heard sneers about nursing administrators with maybe six months of direct patient care experience?
for those who've forgotten, it isn't an easy thing to be a newbie. you want to look sharp and competent, but how to do that without looking cocky? I have had nights when I'd have liked to lock myself in the med room and let the "grown-ups" handle things, but I've been lucky enough to have learned from experience, and to have had mentors who also understood, that sometimes getting "in over your head" is the best way to learn--as long as you have someone handy to correct any serious mistakes.

here's some education for the newbies. . .your complaining about this is just as bad as the old bags who may be giving you a hard time. it's all about negative attitudes. the old biddies are handing it out, and some of you newbies are falling right into their trap, sucking it up and spitting out more of your own here. it's all game playing and psychological one-upmanship. ignore these old crones! spend your time in more creative, educational and postivie endeavors! I was unlucky enough to have terrible mentors and a whole bunch of old biddies around me who liked nothing more than to point out every little mistake or flaw I made when I was starting out. I've made it a personal quest to help others going through that same thing learn to deal with it. you are not helping yourself by trashing on these awful people--only making your own pain worse. ignore them and move on. it's very likely that those of you who are the complainers of being on the end of abuse today will be the abusers of the newbies of tomorrow and that's a fact because that is how the cycle of abuse works. think about that.