RNs tell your hospitals to hire new grads

OCNRN63, RN · Mar 10, 2011

did i not have anything positive to say about them? if you read my posts you would see that i do have positive things to say about htem. but not every 60+ year old nurse is like your 60+ year old nurses. so great for them if they can still do the lifting and what is required of them...but if they cannot do it, then its time to leave.
i don't care if your 20 years old. if you can't do it, then its not the job for you!! the only time i find it acceptable is the nurses who are pregnant, because its temporary. even then sometimes i think its a little ridiculous...like "you can't push a wheelchair? really?" but hey, i understand! but it's not fair to the people who can do it because we are then required to pick up the extra workload for them. i have enough to deal with, i don't need to be doing everything for another nurses patients as well. our hospital goes by "every patient is your patient"-- yes i know that, but i can't take care of every patient in my unit.

i walk with a limp sue to a severe orthopedic injury, so i am not as fast as you youngsters, but i do keep up. i just can't run. i guess in your world, like a horse, i would be taken out back and shot. hey! the upside is it frees up a spot for a new grad! oh, no, wait it doesn't. you need two years exp. to get on my unit. bummer.

allnurses Guide · Mar 10, 2011

What I find most disturbing about this thread is the attitude that only evaluates an older nurse based on her value as a pack animal or something. Nobody talks about the far more important years of experience, spirit, respect, history etc. It's all about whether or not you can still perform as a beast of burden. How sad.

Jenni811, RN · Mar 10, 2011

i walk with a limp sue to a severe orthopedic injury, so i am not as fast as you youngsters, but i do keep up. i just can't run. i guess in your world, like a horse, i would be taken out back and shot. hey! the upside is it frees up a spot for a new grad! oh, no, wait it doesn't. you need two years exp. to get on my unit. bummer.

i'm not expecting them to run, and i could care less if you walk with a limp. im missing my left thumb, i lost it in an accident when i was 17. you think its easy for me to do easy tasks such as drawing up insulin? or drawing up medications for an iv push?? try holding the insulin without your thumb next time. but i can still do it...it just takes me a few seconds longer, the accident is still fairly new (within a few years) so im still trying to learn to do things without it, it's not as easy doing things without a thumb. but what i'm saying is i can still complete the task. unlike these nurses who can't do the task at all. now if i were missing my whole left hand, and everytime i needed to do something that required 2 hands, i would have to ask the help of a pct or another rn, then maybe i need to do something else with my degree. not saying i can't be an rn, but use it somewhere else.

so just because you walk with a limp doesnt mean that you would be "shot out back" on our unit, of course not.

you can still complete the task. and other than a patient coding, why on earth would you have to run?? it's not like i go taking off running when i see a call light go on. i walk like any normal person would. so i have really no idea what your getting at thinking my unit would take you out back and shoot you. they havent shot me yet with my missing thumb.

and yes, alot of units require a 2 year experience, and in my first post on this thread- i agree that is totally fine! some units i think experience is a must. it's up to us as new grads to work our way up to that point. my dream and i mean, my whole life i have wanted to be a flight nurse. would they take me as a new grad? um...no! and i was fine with that, but what can i do in the mean time to work up to that point?? that's what im working on. i was blessed to find someone to give me an opportunity to learn on a floor and gain experience. was it my dream job? nope...but im learning. and i'm learning from the experienced nurses on the floor. so i'm in no way saying that old nurses should back down and give jobs to new grads. because they earned their spot on the floor and earned their job. so yes, i agree its up to us to find them and do things that make us stand out from the experienced nurses.

i do get where others are coming from. it is frustrating when you can't even apply for a job that has experience required. all we are asking is to just look at our application. some new grads can really surprise you at what they have done.

Music in My Heart · Mar 10, 2011

You retire her, give her a good package deal and bennies, and call it a day.

In what fantasy world is that? Some of the state employees - for now - are getting that deal but it's rapidly coming to an end.

At my hospital they kick in $75/month to a 401(k) and that's that.

They'll have to drag me out kicking and screaming...

joanna73, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

BTW....I'm curious Jenni811, what's the deal about offering a nurse "bennies." Is that supposed to be cute? I don't get it?

Jenni811, RN · Mar 10, 2011

bennies??

I never said anything about that. You got the wrong person my dear.

redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN · Mar 10, 2011

Also seems it's needed to point out to CNAs that nobody will see you as anything but a CNA who, is to do the duties of a CNA while employed as a CNA. You will never whine someone into doing your job for you. Nobody cares what your appraisal is unless it is related to you and your own job performance.
Same goes for RNs, NPs, MDs.

Yep, and nobody cares if you're "more educated than half the nurses" as backatit mentioned....he/she is a CNA at their job. I am an RN at my job and nobody gives a rat's behind that I was a lawyer for eight years before nursing school, nor do I expect them to defer to me on anything because I am "more educated than them."

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

This is so typical of the worse of nursing and the most self harmful. Here we are all arguing amongst ourselves when the real issue is this:

That after years of dedicated service and after screwing up their backs the older nurses are just tossed away like garbage. What should happen is that they be trained for jobs like IV teams, Case management, Precepting......

things they can do well that are not as physically demanding.

However, the reality is that if you hurt your back on the job and cannot perform well enough due to that or getting older the hospital will toss you out on your keester.

It is really naive thinking that the hospital will offer a retirement deal or any type of accommodations.

That is the sad reality until nurses quit chewing on each other and band together and demand change from a position of strength.

I never expect to see that day, but maybe these young social networking new fresh nurses will do this. I hope so. Just remember that your fellow nurse is not your enemy, but that it is the corporate owners that are dividing and conquering and laughing all the way to the bank. :smokin:

Jenni811, RN · Mar 10, 2011

this is so typical of the worse of nursing and the most self harmful. here we are all arguing amongst ourselves when the real issue is this:
that after years of dedicated service and after screwing up their backs the older nurses are just tossed away like garbage. what should happen is that they be trained for jobs like iv teams, case management, precepting......
things they can do well that are not as physically demanding.
however, the reality is that if you hurt your back on the job and cannot perform well enough due to that or getting older the hospital will toss you out on your keester.
it is really naive thinking that the hospital will offer a retirement deal or any type of accommodations.
that is the sad reality until nurses quit chewing on each other and band together and demand change from a position of strength.
i never expect to see that day, but maybe these young social networking new fresh nurses will do this. i hope so. just remember that your fellow nurse is not your enemy, but that it is the corporate owners that are dividing and conquering and laughing all the way to the bank.

i agree with you on this. but i think people are not reading what im saying, they are being selective at certain things. i did say that i do not think these nurses should be fired, or forgotten about. i said that these nurses need to go to another job that is more suited for them, and leave the physical demanding work to the nurses who can do it, which will in turn open up some jobs. all im sayin...

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

I agree with that, but there needs to be some kind of training for new less physical jobs for nurses that have ruined there backs through work. Otherwise they do not have a dream of getting those types of jobs and are stuck at the bedside causing more of a burden for the rest.

Of course, there are a small percentage of nurses of every age that are just laaaaaaaaaazy. But that is a whole nother subject...... :smokin:

Old.Timer · Mar 10, 2011

.
you might want to encourage your hospital to give new grads a chance instead of requiring experience for every job posting they have. maybe be a little more enthusiastic about helping to train them.

this thread is actually pretty comical. it starts out with a very sincere request from a new grad asking established nurses to encourage their hospitals to invest the time and resources to help train them. but then it takes a detour and becomes a thread suggesting that older nurses with diminished physical strength should move out of the way. the overriding theme from the younger nurses seems to be "nope, we're not going out of our way to cover for you if you can't pull your own weight 100%".

it seems like the younger nurses are, understandably, asking for someone to please give them a break. but they don't seem quite so willing to do the same.

i learned a long time ago that score keeping in life and making sure everyone does their fair share will generally make you pretty miserable and crazy. life is not an instant tit-for-tat. the goal is not to start and end each day with a zero balance. at different times and in different situations i will possess the talent or strength needed for the task at hand; other times i will rely on another's unique abilities.

mama_d, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

This is a touchy subject for me right now...

Please no flames...

We just had a mass exodus of nurses with an average of 10+ years of experience several months ago. All were replaced by new grads. And it sucks. The best preceptors left, newbies are not getting a good enough orientation, and it has been overall a recipe for disaster. I'm on a busy tele floor, and it's just not the place for a passel of new grads to work. One of my co-workers commented the other night that it's to the point that he's just happy none of his pts have been killed by anyone yet. Having just had a rapid response that should have ended with transfer to higher level of care (but we were out of beds) that was the direct result of a stupid mistake by a rookie nurse, I couldn't really disagree.

Yes, we have a couple of new grads who are outstanding that I'm glad to have on our team. But for the love of Pete, replacing any significant number of "old" nurses with all new grads is SO not the way to go.

It's making it worse for our techs as well, since the new grads are so lacking in time management skills (in gemeral). Most can barely manage to complete their nursing responsibilities in a minimally competent manner, much less have time to help with the more mundane pt care tasks.

So there is no way, even if I had any kind of influence to use, that I would recommend the wholesale replacement of experienced nurses with new grads. There needs to be a balance...like one new grad hired for every three open positions.

I remember what it was like to be a new grad and be applying for any and all positions I could find. Ended up in a job I hated, but which gave me the connections I needed to eventually get the job I love. (Because even with all the crap going on on my floor now, I still love it.)