Received this email today and I am steamed!!!

Nurses General Nursing

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I received the following email today from a RN/friend that I worked with and I am ticked! I cannot believe that this is making its way around the world wide web. At first I thought that they had just misused the word experienced and graduate. Or that perhaps they should substitute "experienced" for "burned out" or "incompetent" and "graduate" for "competent". Then I thought this email serves absolutely NO good purpose. It is just another symptom of the bigger problems in Nursing (have you seen one of these for drs? firefighters? police officers? etc?)

The email::angryfire

>Are You a Graduate Nurse or an Experienced Nurse?

>

>A Graduate Nurse throws up when the patient does.

>An experienced nurse calls housekeeping when a patient throws up

>

>A Graduate Nurse wears so many pins on their name badge you can't read it.

>An experienced nurse doesn't wear a name badge for liability reasons

>

>A Graduate Nurse charts too much.

>An experienced nurse doesn't chart enough.

>

>A Graduate Nurse loves to run to codes.

>An experienced nurse makes graduate nurses run to codes.

>

>A Graduate Nurse wants everyone to know they are a nurse.

>An experienced nurse doesn't want anyone to know they are a nurse.

>

>A Graduate Nurse keeps detailed notes on a pad.

>An experienced nurse writes on the back of their hand, paper scraps,

>napkins, etc.

>

>A Graduate Nurse will spend all day trying to reorient a patient.

>An experienced nurse will chart the patient is disoriented and restrain

>them.

>

>A Graduate Nurse can hear a beeping I-med at 50 yards.

>An experienced nurse can't hear any alarms at any distance.

>

>A Graduate Nurse loves to hear abnormal heart and breath sounds.

>An experienced nurse doesn't want to know about them unless the patient is

>symptomatic.

>

>A Graduate Nurse spends 2 hours giving a patient a bath.

>An experienced nurse lets the CNA give the patient a bath.

>

>A Graduate Nurse thinks people respect Nurses.

>An experienced nurse knows everybody blames everything on the nurse.

>

>A Graduate Nurse looks for blood on a bandage hoping they will get to

>change

>it.

>An experienced nurse knows a little blood never hurt anybody.

>

>A Graduate Nurse looks for a chance "to work with the family."

>An experienced nurse avoids the family.

>

>A Graduate Nurse expects meds and supplies to be delivered on time.

>An experienced nurse expects them to never be delivered at all.

>

>A Graduate Nurse will spend days bladder training an incontinent patient.

>An experienced nurse will insert a Foley catheter.

>

>A Graduate Nurse always answers their phone.

>An experienced nurse checks their caller ID before answering the phone.

>

>A Graduate Nurse thinks psych patients are interesting.

>An experienced nurse thinks psych patients are crazy.

>

>A Graduate Nurse carries reference books in their bag.

>An experienced nurse carries magazines, lunch, and some "cough syrup" in

>their bag.

>

>A Graduate Nurse doesn't find this funny.

>An experienced nurse does

Specializes in ob, med surg.

Just because this is being sent to laypeople, dosen't mean that they don't understand a joke when they see it! Its not like this came out of someone's research paper!

The last line says it all:

A Graduate Nurse doesn't find this funny.

>An experienced nurse does

It's too bad that most of it's true!

:roll

Specializes in ER, IICU, PCU, PACU, EMS.
It is just another symptom of the bigger problems in Nursing (have you seen one of these for drs? firefighters? police officers? etc?)

LOL, take heart....Yes, there are definitely jokes like this for firefighters and police officers!!! We call our "new grads" rookies though.

Specializes in LTC and Critical/Acute Care/Homehealth.

I am a graduate/experienced nurse. I found it funny due to the fact that I saw myself and my mentor in it.

Lighten up. I was funny.

Specializes in renal,peritoneal dialysis, medicine.

well i always thought that one of the qualities you need to have to be a nurse is a good sense of humour-otherwise the job will just get you down.:lol2:

i thought it was brilliant, really funny and ive emailed it to all my nurse friends

Specializes in Rehab.
It's not just you, i'm beyond sick of that phrase as well.

As a new Nurse who is being "eatten alive" by the more experienced nurses in my LTC unit, I can say I am sick of the term and the actions, but I won't give in to them. I saw myself in many of those situations. Had to laugh, scared that someday I too will become "experienced".

I'm still laughing.

Specializes in private duty, nursing home, corrections.

I thought it was great. Matter of fact, after being in nursing over 25 yrs, I could relate to it almost entirely, if not entirely. Its funny, and it has more than one grain of truth in it. Don't let a little joke upset you, lighten up, you'll need humor to get you through!!

Specializes in Counseling Service, Children's Pastor.

:uhoh21: Do you know any exp nurses? If you did, you would think it was funny. "Old" nurses are awesome. My ambition one day is to be an "old" nurse. They know everything!

Ahh, the contrast between the fresh-faced idealist and the jaded realist. And to think that in some cases the transition can take place by the end of orientation.

Seriously, though, I thought it was a hoot. But that could just be the "cough syrup" talking.

Specializes in ICU-Stepdown.
I received the following email today from a RN/friend that I worked with and I am ticked! I cannot believe that this is making its way around the world wide web. At

>A Graduate Nurse doesn't find this funny.

>An experienced nurse does

Its a shame you can't laugh at this one. I have only been an RN for a year and a half, but spent quite a few as a Paramedic/firefighter, and years ago, I saw this (but geared toward Paramedics, not Nurses) and laughed at it then, too. Its a joke. I thought it had a bit of humor in it (this one as well as the other version that I knew of). What is the point in trying to let others know how good our profession is, and how professional we can be, if we can't laugh at ourselves from time to time? Anyone outside of the profession who would REALLY take this seriously, and not read it for what it was, isn't really someone I'd expect would be interested in joining us anyway.

Life cannot be all 'seriousness and grim' -it HAS to be fun too, there should be a time to enjoy it -otherwise whats the point in living it?

i think it is funny and i am not even a nurse at all yet. not even a nursing student. I just go to the hospital a good amount

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