the quality of certain nurses

Nurses General Nursing

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im 4 semester graduatiing in may - i had my last day of clinical today! - however, this last rotation was horrible. one nurse that i worked with - i felt as tho she was intentionally trying to get me in trouble...at the cost of the pt! - we had just started FFP together - so i stayed in to monitor for the initial 15 mins. As the nurse walked out - she assured the pt "I will order you lunch. don't worry because I - I - I will take care of that for you". so i did the vitals for 15 mins and went on with the rest of the day....2 hours later, she yelled at me for not ordering the pt her lunch! Then the doctor did his rounds, and there were no new orders.....however, about an hour later - she asked me why i hadn't put in the new orders!! - trust me, they were not there when i checked...and rechecked...and rechecked!! why?? i guess i can understand trying to get the student used to tough situations, but not at the cost of the patient....right??

Slightly frustrating becuz i have had wonderful nurses that would take time to work with me and others that would see me as a burden. and trust me when i say that it must be very annoying to have a student and slow down everything, but C'MON - they were a student at one time too!! - has anyone seen this type of thing? - i have heard that some nurses do this as "hazing" or something. quite frankly it's ridiculous, immature and i don't think that any nurse that does these types of things should be allowed to hold a license:nono:

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Specializes in Telemetry, Med Surg, Pediatrics, ER.

I am really at a loss on what to say. It frustrates me to see preceptors behave this way towards students. There is absolutely no excuse for it. I want students to succeed. They may take care of me or my loved ones some day and I certainly would want better treatment. Just remember this experience when you are a preceptor. On a positive note, at least it was your last clinical day.

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I wish i could say that this was the only experience with foolish things at the pt's expense, but i can't. and my instructors did mention that nurses are the only profession where they eat their young. why?? i don't understand....i guess i can just learn from this and treat any student nurses much better then i have been treated and do my best to teach them along the way. i know how much i appreciated it and i will definitely do it for them

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Specializes in Telemetry, Med Surg, Pediatrics, ER.

I personally hate hearing "nurses eat their young." I understand why the phrase is uses, but this type of behavior happens in all professions, not just nursing. I do not understand treating others in that manner, but it does happen and will continue to happen. Just realize that this is not a problem isolated to the nursing field, but in society.

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Specializes in ER, PACU, Med-Surg, Hospice, LTC.
I personally hate hearing "nurses eat their young." I understand why the phrase is uses, but this type of behavior happens in all professions, not just nursing. I do not understand treating others in that manner, but it does happen and will continue to happen. Just realize that this is not a problem isolated to the nursing field, but in society.

Yes, it happens in other Professions, but for some reason, it IS worse in the field of Nursing......that's been my experience, unfortunately. Observing/experiencing "Eating their young" actually started when I was in Nursing School. I would even say that some of my 'educators' were a part of it.

Nothing really seems to be done about changing the treatment and the attitudes that seem to surround "new" nurses and "eating their young". Look back on this website and you will see posts from YEARS ago, stating the exact same problem. As others have mentioned, it is a form of bullying and horizontal violence.

Very sad and VERY depressing.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

i know that eating the young is common in all professions, but it is particularly nerve wracking in the medical field because there are lives involved, and the bottom line is that medicine on all levels is a practice...which means that anything can happen and there are no guarentees. a student/new nurse is usually scared out of their wits and to have to trust and depend on such people is frightening. no matter how you slice it, critical thinking takes time and experience to develop. no new person wants to have a death or harm to someone else on their conscience.

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Specializes in Telemetry, Med Surg, Pediatrics, ER.

I am not by any means disagreeing about the treatment in the nursing field. My point is that it does happen in other fields as well. I have personally experienced it in nursing and it truly is disheartening. I have yet to figure out what satisfaction people can possibly get out of making others miserable. I think they must be really miserable people and want to bring others down to their level.

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.

I have been an RN for 3 years (and a UAP before that) and have witnessed -and been subjected to- an incredible amt of *horizontal violence* in the workplace, as well as in nursing school. Honestly, I could write a book about this issue.

I guess the good thing about being a UAP before nursing school was that I built up a 'thick skin' to it. For example, as a new grad some nurses attempted to scare me off but their tactics hardly even affected me by then.

Kudos to the OP for recognizing the behaviour for what it is:yeah:

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Specializes in cardiac.
im 4 semester graduatiing in may - i had my last day of clinical today! - however, this last rotation was horrible. one nurse that i worked with - i felt as tho she was intentionally trying to get me in trouble...at the cost of the pt! - we had just started FFP together - so i stayed in to monitor for the initial 15 mins. As the nurse walked out - she assured the pt "I will order you lunch. don't worry because I - I - I will take care of that for you". so i did the vitals for 15 mins and went on with the rest of the day....2 hours later, she yelled at me for not ordering the pt her lunch! Then the doctor did his rounds, and there were no new orders.....however, about an hour later - she asked me why i hadn't put in the new orders!! - trust me, they were not there when i checked...and rechecked...and rechecked!! why?? i guess i can understand trying to get the student used to tough situations, but not at the cost of the patient....right??

Slightly frustrating becuz i have had wonderful nurses that would take time to work with me and others that would see me as a burden. and trust me when i say that it must be very annoying to have a student and slow down everything, but C'MON - they were a student at one time too!! - has anyone seen this type of thing? - i have heard that some nurses do this as "hazing" or something. quite frankly it's ridiculous, immature and i don't think that any nurse that does these types of things should be allowed to hold a license:nono:

Some people just shouldn't be preceptors. Plain and simple. Don't let it get to you. Just remember this experience and when you become a preceptor you'll remember what not to do. :wink2:
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im 4 semester graduatiing in may - i had my last day of clinical today! - however, this last rotation was horrible. one nurse that i worked with - i felt as tho she was intentionally trying to get me in trouble...at the cost of the pt! - we had just started FFP together - so i stayed in to monitor for the initial 15 mins. As the nurse walked out - she assured the pt "I will order you lunch. don't worry because I - I - I will take care of that for you". so i did the vitals for 15 mins and went on with the rest of the day....2 hours later, she yelled at me for not ordering the pt her lunch! Then the doctor did his rounds, and there were no new orders.....however, about an hour later - she asked me why i hadn't put in the new orders!! - trust me, they were not there when i checked...and rechecked...and rechecked!! why?? i guess i can understand trying to get the student used to tough situations, but not at the cost of the patient....right??

Slightly frustrating becuz i have had wonderful nurses that would take time to work with me and others that would see me as a burden. and trust me when i say that it must be very annoying to have a student and slow down everything, but C'MON - they were a student at one time too!! - has anyone seen this type of thing? - i have heard that some nurses do this as "hazing" or something. quite frankly it's ridiculous, immature and i don't think that any nurse that does these types of things should be allowed to hold a license:nono:

I had a preceptor like this when I did my pharmacy rotations, and I understand it's almost universal to do things like this with medical students.

It's called pi mping (don't know if the whole word would get deleted) and it does not improve job performance. It's demeaning and humiliating and all it does is make you not respect the preceptor.

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This really happened everywhere. It is really stressful to work with this type of people. I encountered a lot of them when I was a nursing student. And you couldn't control it, as a student. But as I graduated and started working, I found that it was really waste of time and energy to mad over such matter. Those frustration and dissatisfaction only slow you down.

So wipe your tear, get your gear ready and move forward. Years later you will find yourself foolish to get mad over such a indecent people.

Know what you are doing and be able to answer it. And always stand for what is right. I had seen some nursing student got blame over some incidence but the fact was it was the negligence of the staff nurse. If you didn't do it, DONT take the blame.

As a Christian, I always pray for protection and favor and it works in those nasty situation :)

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