Other Side of Coin---Less than Humble New Grads

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We hear a lot about 'eating our young', something which I personally experienced myself, btw, but what about the other side of the coin? How do we handle 'know it all' new grads who overstep their bounds? I've also run into this.

What about the new grad who is so full of her/him self, and who shows a lack of understanding and/or respect for the established members of the unit? Any thoughts???

As a nursing student who has suffered one humiliation after another I can't understand how anyone could come out of nursing school overconfident (or even all that confident at all) -- they would have to be totally dense and insensitive. I have seen these kinds of nurses and it is pretty frightening -- why are they doing this? I can't imagine myself feeling sure of anything for at least a year, probably longer, maybe never given how easy it can be to screw up.

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leopold---You'll do fine, I'm sure. I was pretty intimidated by nursing school myself, and I'm fine now. Just keep asking questions of friendly nurses, and steer clear of the mean ones...:)

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I had one new grad that was acting very aggressively to myself and others. Since I'm the type that doesn't like confrontations, I wrote her a note, telling her not to try and take charge of decisions, not to push my shoulder when she talked to me, not to make belittling comments to me, etc. I guess she was furious at getting my note and showed it to everyone she could grab, most of whom were also annoyed with her but not saying anything.

My manager ended up mediating a meeting with us, with this new nurse who came on so strong turning in a bowl of jelly and crying how I was the "one nurse who was so good to her" and other maudlin BS. It was a very interesting experience. That woman really toned down her behaviour after that, and I hear she just got a job in a doctor's office, since she wasn't able to obtain an FTE at our hospital.

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Specializes in LTC/Behavioral/ Hospice.

I go to school with one student who seems kind of cocky. She doesn't want to listen to instructions and sometimes ignores our instructor or rolls her eyes at her. The rest of us are really excited about learning and I think we realize that the real learning won't happen until we are on the job! There is just too much to know and we can't possibly learn it all in such a short time! We are just in the introductory phase! :chuckle I absolutely love working with the nurses who are so patient with us and willing to answer our questions. I can understand how frustrating it would be to work with a newbie who thinks they know it all already! YIKES!

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Specializes in LTC.

Well I too am a student. Know it all......NOT. Self assured maybe but not to the point that I would "question" a seasoned nurse. If I didn't agree w/something I would look it up or ask someone else w/out pointing out who I disagreed with. And I am sure there has been another thread about the pushy floor nurses. I find that if you give respect you usually get it in return.

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I currently work w/ an LPN who is an RN-to-be. She typically tells her patients that she is one of the best nurses on our unit and that the rest of us are intimidated by her and her knowledge and skill! Burns my butt every time I hear this!:angryfire

Now if she was even a good nurse I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with any of it. But she is one of those nurses we just really dread following because there are so many loose ends! I wish there was an emoticon pulling their hair out! LOLOLOLOLOL

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I currently work w/ an LPN who is an RN-to-be. She typically tells her patients that she is one of the best nurses on our unit and that the rest of us are intimidated by her and her knowledge and skill! Burns my butt every time I hear this!:angryfire

Now if she was even a good nurse I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with any of it. But she is one of those nurses we just really dread following because there are so many loose ends! I wish there was an emoticon pulling their hair out! LOLOLOLOLOL

Ugh, I can't stand people who toot their own horns...:rolleyes: It's so transparent. :no:

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Specializes in LTC.

Oh yeah. Just the other day in clinicals myself and another student were discussing something about school when a "nurse" (that graduated just last Aug.) was standing next to us and all of a sudden said "shut up" and then proceeded to pretend to listen to something over the intercom. I kept my cool and kept my mouth shut but gave her "the look". Needless to say she had this look of shame on her face then and started talking to someone else. Don't know what her problem was. Could it be that she wanted to be superior to us? Or did she want us to say something so she could get us in trouble? What is it with people like that?? Sorry didn't mean to hijack the thread.

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Just finished clinicals for CNA....had a resident who told me she felt sick, needed to vomit, and that her legs were cramping. I had been with this resident for only 4 days and I could tell that something was wrong with her. Immediately I told the head nurse at the nursing station. Told me to just get her up for breakfast, and that she was just confused and gave me this look. I left and told the next nurse that passed as I was getting towels and proceded back to my resident. Soon as I walked in her room she vomited everywhere and all I could do was place the towels under her chin to catch her vomit. The nurse came in 3 min. later to see what was taking me so long and saw that my resident was still vomiting. She immediately said she would get her vitals and asked me about her eating habbits and bm's for the past couple of days. I told her that I wrote it on the report that she had 100% breakfast and lunch and between480cc to 700cc of liquids. I told her that I also wrote that she hadn't had a bm the day before. Needless to say, they called emergency as I was giving her a bed bath as best as I could and when emergency came, they were asking me her symptoms for the past couple of days. The nurse was not there with me.

Point is, first, I was not taken seriously, 2nd I was scared, 3rd somehow I get this feeling this could have been prevented.

I hope I can get in to a nursing home, hospitals, or private practice with Nurses and CNA's with passionate attitudes. My next step in my journey is to become an LPN and hopefully, a RN if my life permits it.

Oh yeah. Just the other day in

clinicals myself and another student were discussing something about school when a "nurse" (that graduated just last Aug.) was standing next to us and all of a sudden said "shut up" and then proceeded to pretend to listen to something over the intercom. I kept my cool and kept my mouth shut but gave her "the look". Needless to say she had this look of shame on her face then and started talking to someone else. Don't know what her problem was. Could it be that she wanted to be superior to us? Or did she want us to say something so she could get us in trouble? What is it with people like that?? Sorry didn't mean to hijack the thread.

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Specializes in NICU.
Im a nursing student and just want to say...no know it all here! Im scared to death for my first clincals.....coming up in 3 weeks! I am so afraid I will come off looking like an idiot...Im very book smart, but I have never been to clinicals and I hope that im hands on smart too...

You'll do fine!! I was scared too about messing up and not doing stuff right. I would ask SO MANY questions I thought I was driving the nurses nuts, but I found that for the most part the nurses didn't mind. Some of the nurses loved answering questions and teaching. I asked questions when I needed to and I didn't care if people thought they were stupid questions .... I needed them answered so I could care for my patient. I'm extremely meticulous and thought it would hinder my clinical performance or drive the nurses crazy, but I ended up getting great clinical reviews from the nurses. You'll be fine, just know it's ok to ask questions!

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As a nursing student who has suffered one humiliation after another I can't understand how anyone could come out of nursing school overconfident (or even all that confident at all) -- they would have to be totally dense and insensitive. I have seen these kinds of nurses and it is pretty frightening -- why are they doing this? I can't imagine myself feeling sure of anything for at least a year, probably longer, maybe never given how easy it can be to screw up.

Hmm...right here with ya leopold!

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Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
Point is, first, I was not taken seriously, 2nd I was scared, 3rd somehow I get this feeling this could have been prevented.

I hope I can get in to a nursing home, hospitals, or private practice with Nurses and CNA's with passionate attitudes. My next step in my journey is to become an LPN and hopefully, a RN if my life permits it.

Sounds like you did an excellent job dealing with that situation!! You know what kind of nurse you aren't going to be! I think you will find far more nurses and CNAs with positive, passionate attitudes than not. You just have to scope them out and stick with them.

Good luck on your journey!!

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