Please don't eat your young.

[Kiren]

as a nursing student i am having a hard time understanding why a good number of nurses are so nasty to nursing students. don't they realize that we are the people who will help fill the shortages in their facilities making their jobs easier? don't get me wrong, i have worked with some great nurses who have been very helpful to me during my clinical rotations. however, the nurses who "eat their young" should know that nursing students compare notes. we warn each other about facilities or units where the nurses have treated us poorly and do not apply for jobs in those places. if your facility has a staffing shortage, being nice to student nurses may help fill the gap later on.

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

A few thoughts from a new grad RN:

Your success in any profession - be it nursing, aviation, plumbing or politics - depends on the attitude you bring with you.

You can go to work everyday, fretting about "will I make it or not?" ... or you can go to work with the attitude of "come what may, I'm going to give it my best shot and nothing is going to stop me".

You've got to be willing to work you butt off ... and more! It doesn't sound "fair" - but whoever said life was fair?

It's nice to 'expect' that your colleagues should "respect you as a peer" - but respect is never given. It is earned. The biggest compliment I ever received was when one of my supervisors who has been riding my back from day one pulled me aside one morning and admitted that she never understood how I managed to stay so "cheerful and crack jokes" at the end of my shifts!

People can only affect you to the degree you let them affect you. This is work - not a high school popularity contest. I don't have to be 'well liked', nor do I have to 'like' everybody I work with. I just have to maintain a cohesive relationship to get the job done.

Letting yourself be intimidated is the first step towards failure. I wish I could tell you that every human being treats every other with decency and courtesy --- but guess what, they don't! What can you do to changetheir behavior? Not much. What can you do to change their attitude? Plenty!

Pick your battles. In my limited experience, most of the ones being "hard nosed" are simply 'testing' the waters. "Is this noob made of solid stuff or is s/he another waste of time?" They aren't "baiting" you - they are "challenging" you. These are typically your 20+ year veterans of the unit ... and the ones to whom you have to respond positively - run the gauntlet and prove yourself.

Then there are a few who are just indifferent. To these, stand up anyway and show them they you are different and that you won't be intimidated by them.

And lastly, there is the minority vicious ones - deriving pleasure from mutual antagonism. These are the ones you ignore. Show them they have no power over you - apathy is a huge "turn off".

When I started working, I was "given a hard time" - so to speak. Not so much through open hostility in as much as through a degree of skepticism and 'tough as nails' attitude. Was it the most productive environment to start working as a spanking new, "quaking in my boots as I sign my name each time on an order not knowing a sedation procedure flowsheet from a hill of beans" newbie nurse?

Certainly not!

But what could I do?

I personally chose to come out swinging. The harder the push, the greater my effort.

Today, some of those who pushed me the hardest - trust me the most. I have a long, long, long way to go yet ... but that their attitude about (and towards) me has changed is no longer a question.

I still have some who don't always co-operate. Who leave slack for me to pick up on - every single time I come into work. I follow procedure and make things known to management. I don't "accept it" as "the price I have to pay" - but I don't let it rule my environment either.

So far, it has worked. I slave like a dog every shift - but I go home knowing that I was challenged and I did my best. And with each new shift, it becomes that much easier. Attitudes change. Shucks! I even count on a couple as my "friends".

See, at the end of the day - that is all that can be expected of you ... you give it your best shot. If worst comes to worst and you truly face a toxic environment - you can at least quit with your head held high. That despite the odds, you showed up undetered and fought a good fight.

You may have "lost" - but actually, it was "they" who lost... not you!

Just my

cheers,

Roy

Noobie-nurse working a tough Ortho-Med-Surg-Tele floor!

[oneLoneNurse]

Great posts by Tweety and others. If there were more of you out there, nurses might not be most willing to quit the field so readily. I am one of those old nurses who like to give our future a chance as well.

Some of the posts here, deny nurses eat their young. I think we do. I don't know why. I would like to see it stop. I think the oldies like to lord it over the newbies. Something like "I know that and you don't." They must get some sort of emotional reward for doing so.

As some of you know I am taking an MLIS course. This was recently posted by a fellow student:

"Reading all of the postings reminds me of how generous librarians are, always willing to share their knowledge and experience. Maybe that has something to do with the history of librarianship as a field made up predominately of women."

I know I digress here, but I almost went off. I think that nursing is made up predominately of women and see "nurses eating their young" as related. And again I don't know why.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

A few thoughts from a new grad RN:

Your success in any profession - be it nursing, aviation, plumbing or politics - depends on the attitude you bring with you.

You can go to work everyday, fretting about "will I make it or not?" ... or you can go to work with the attitude of "come what may, I'm going to give it my best shot and nothing is going to stop me".

You've got to be willing to work you butt off ... and more! It doesn't sound "fair" - but whoever said life was fair?

It's nice to 'expect' that your colleagues should "respect you as a peer" - but respect is never given. It is earned. The biggest compliment I ever received was when one of my supervisors who has been riding my back from day one pulled me aside one morning and admitted that she never understood how I managed to stay so "cheerful and crack jokes" at the end of my shifts!

People can only affect you to the degree you let them affect you. This is work - not a high school popularity contest. I don't have to be 'well liked', nor do I have to 'like' everybody I work with. I just have to maintain a cohesive relationship to get the job done.

Letting yourself be intimidated is the first step towards failure. I wish I could tell you that every human being treats every other with decency and courtesy --- but guess what, they don't! What can you do to changetheir behavior? Not much. What can you do to change their attitude? Plenty!

Pick your battles. In my limited experience, most of the ones being "hard nosed" are simply 'testing' the waters. "Is this noob made of solid stuff or is s/he another waste of time?" They aren't "baiting" you - they are "challenging" you. These are typically your 20+ year veterans of the unit ... and the ones to whom you have to respond positively - run the gauntlet and prove yourself.

Then there are a few who are just indifferent. To these, stand up anyway and show them they you are different and that you won't be intimidated by them.

And lastly, there is the minority vicious ones - deriving pleasure from mutual antagonism. These are the ones you ignore. Show them they have no power over you - apathy is a huge "turn off".

When I started working, I was "given a hard time" - so to speak. Not so much through open hostility in as much as through a degree of skepticism and 'tough as nails' attitude. Was it the most productive environment to start working as a spanking new, "quaking in my boots as I sign my name each time on an order not knowing a sedation procedure flowsheet from a hill of beans" newbie nurse?

Certainly not!

But what could I do?

I personally chose to come out swinging. The harder the push, the greater my effort.

Today, some of those who pushed me the hardest - trust me the most. I have a long, long, long way to go yet ... but that their attitude about (and towards) me has changed is no longer a question.

I still have some who don't always co-operate. Who leave slack for me to pick up on - every single time I come into work. I follow procedure and make things known to management. I don't "accept it" as "the price I have to pay" - but I don't let it rule my environment either.

So far, it has worked. I slave like a dog every shift - but I go home knowing that I was challenged and I did my best. And with each new shift, it becomes that much easier. Attitudes change. Shucks! I even count on a couple as my "friends".

See, at the end of the day - that is all that can be expected of you ... you give it your best shot. If worst comes to worst and you truly face a toxic environment - you can at least quit with your head held high. That despite the odds, you showed up undetered and fought a good fight.

You may have "lost" - but actually, it was "they" who lost... not you!

Just my

cheers,

Roy

Noobie-nurse working a tough Ortho-Med-Surg-Tele floor!

I'm very proud of you "son".

steph (one of your moms here on allnurses)

[ZootRN]

Would be so nice to put matter to rest. Some people are jerks, and that's about it. Presenting nursing profession as a bunch of hateful witches does nothing to address real problems that we have.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Great posts by Tweety and others. If there were more of you out there, nurses might not be most willing to quit the field so readily. I am one of those old nurses who like to give our future a chance as well.

Some of the posts here, deny nurses eat their young. I think we do. I don't know why. I would like to see it stop. I think the oldies like to lord it over the newbies. Something like "I know that and you don't." They must get some sort of emotional reward for doing so.

Thanks for the compliment.

I'm one of those who advocate that nurses do not eat their young. It's an insult to our profession and an insult to me personally who bends over backwards for new grads and students. Just becasuse a nurse or two in your clinicals gives you the cold shoulder doesn't mean that the phrase "nurses eat their young" applies to our profession.

But I'm certainly not looking at life with rose-colored glasses either, and realize that there are nurses that eat their young. Or that nursing isn't a tough demanding profession, that is very very tough on the newbie. My hardest and most humbling year of nursing was my first. When orientation is over, in this climate, it's over, time to sink or swim, you're in the ocean with the big fish now. Yes, you got to watch out because if you're in the way the big fish might eat you. But somehow must of us survive, and I'd hate to think that we survive all of that only to turn around and eat our young.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I'm very proud of you "son".

steph (one of your moms here on allnurses)

I'm so proud of our Roy, we raised him right.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I'm so proud of our Roy, we raised him right.

steph

[SICU Queen]

Walking in with the attitude "I'm the almighty student here to make your life easier, do your work and fill in your shortages when I graduate, I'll pick and choose my own patients and what I will and will not do (which won't be your dirty work) and don't you forget you were a student once so be nice and roll out the red carpet" attitude doesn't fly with me.

I couldn't have said it any better. I am not disrespectful or mean to any student, but neither do I suffer fools lightly.

You reap what you sow - and that goes for BOTH sides!

[SICU Queen]

And Roy, AWESOME post!!

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

Don't let it bother you. If a nurse is rude to you, ignore it. You will deal with far worse problems than rude nurses........like rude family members, rude doctors, etc.

Stay focused on your goal - you are there to learn. Being nice is a bonus, but if the nurses are not nice you still have to learn.

Nurses have difficult jobs. I'm sure most of them would like to take the time and help you and explain things to you. But they are under a lot of pressure to get their work done on time. Don't take it personally.

It's hard at first, but you'll get a thick skin eventually. The sooner the better. In the meantime try and be as helpful as possible. If there is something you can do to help the nurse's day go a little more smoothly, even something as small as feeding a patient or taking vital signs, that will help a lot. Be proactive about looking for things to do. Answer a call bell now and then. They really appreciate that.

[Kiren]

i did not mean to insult anyone by using the phrase "nurses eat their young". please accept my apology if i have offended anyone. i'm sure many of you are very helpful to students. however, this semester in particular we have had several incidents with the nurses and students in my clinical group. just yesterday a charge nurse literally pushed a student who was "in her way" at the nurses station. it was not an emergency situation.

[color=#48d1cc]i usually do not have too many problems with nurses, i am very respectful and assertive as well. i do my work and i don't mind helping out when i can. i just can't help noticing that there are quite a few nurses who seem to resent student nurses. just an observation.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

i did not mean to insult anyone by using the phrase "nurses eat their young". please accept my apology if i have offended anyone. i'm sure many of you are very helpful to students. however, this semester in particular we have had several incidents with the nurses and students in my clinical group. just yesterday a charge nurse literally pushed a student who was "in her way" at the nurses station. it was not an emergency situation.

[color=#48d1cc]i usually do not have too many problems with nurses, i am very respectful and assertive as well. i do my work and i don't mind helping out when i can. i just can't help noticing that there are quite a few nurses who seem to resent student nurses. just an observation.

i apologize as well for going off on my rant.

as you say "i usually don't have problems with nurses", and i presume your other clinics went well, so please don't forget that.

i also realize that your situation needs to be addressed. it just would have sounded better if you brought up the instances "a charge nurse pushed a student out of the way"......."another nurse was rude......", how can i deal with these people.

when a nurse is rude don't think "nurses eat their young". think "that's a rude nurse". the same way as when you see a stereotype in real life.