So Sick Of This Nurses Eat The Young Crap

[annmariern]

Every time I log on here see such a thread. Well let me see. My hospital has recently decided to hire only new grads or people who were new grads and worked in nursing homes etc. I have been amazed at the attitudes. Some signed contracts and got sent to an area that's apparently low rent. Med/Surg is not sexy enough apparently. Just this months some of the fun the "nasty nurses" have to fix. The heparin drip that gets shut off because the patient wanted a shower. The nurse who called the doc several times overnight for a patient with a low bp, bolused fluids and gave 40 mg of lisinopril at 6am "because its was ordered". The patient with an NG tube clamped, who spent 12 hours pucking and it didn't occur to them the hook him up to suction. The trach pt gurgling, in distress, because the nurse didn't know she was supposed to suction him and then criticized the day nurse for her technique in suctioning. Holding IV antibiotics because the pt was NPO, but continuing the PEG tube feed, so surgery was delayed and I had to explain to the surgeon. OK we all had to learn but really? We have the new grads coming up stating they don't have time and you have to start their IV, pass their meds, you have to do it. Meanwhile holding their lunch they had time to go get on the other side of the hospital at 11am and leaving at 7.30pm while your there till 9.30. It's a if they are still students and the other nurses are their assistants. You go to help and never get so much as a thank you. Just complaints if you so much as try and point out what they need to do to take care of the patients. The word Entitled comes to kind. Not all of them we have some new grads that are willing to learn, grateful for the information. And then this this whole new breed. Is it me? I remember my new nurse days, the crusty nurses who were hard on me but to whom I owe so much. I became a much better nurse because of it. Yes it was hard at the time, but I would never have behaved the way I am seeing now. Generational thing no doubt. But as the as one who is cleaning up the mess, enough. This job is hard enough.

[VANurse2010]

Being neither a newbie nor a crusty old bat - both "sides" are ridiculous at times.

[dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN]

And everrrrryone comes up sounding ridiculously bitter and angry. There are no winners in this fight.

[annmariern]

Not bitter or angry. I hate having to be embarrassed to be a nurse. A career I have given 30 years to.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I'm sick of the "Nurses eat their young" malarky as well. I'm especially sick of hearing about it when the "young" involved has just demonstrated a failure in critical thinking similar to the ones described above and doesn't want to hear about it. What used to be known as "negative feedback" or "learning opportunity" is now called "bullying." I remember how tough my first year of nursing felt -- but I'm ever so grateful for the negative feedback I got back then because I learned.

We all rant at times. Annmarie is just as entitled to her rant as any of the "NETY" or "Bullied" rants we read.

[Susie2310]

From reading on this forum it appears that a number of newly graduated nurses have not received sufficient training in nursing school to enable them to practice safely at the level of a beginning nurse. This problem is compounded, in my opinion, by a lack of adequate training opportunities for new grads, such as new grad programs.

It appears to me that new grad nurses who have not received adequate preparation in nursing school are often not aware of this fact. Or, if they are, some appear to have the expectation that the facility should meet all their learning needs and provide remedial training that should have been provided in nursing school. Unfortunately, it is not the facility's job, once a nurse is licensed, to provide basic nursing education.

I think it would be beneficial for new grads, upon graduating and passing the licensing exam, to take a hard look at the training they have received in nursing school, and learn from the facilities they are interested in seeking employment at what the job descriptions are for new nurses, and compare their level of competence with the potential employer's stated expectations. If one observes a deficit in one's training/experience, and there is no new grad program or other extended support system in place for new nurses, then it seems to me that the sensible thing to do is to not apply for such a position, as one may well find oneself in a position where one is not able to provide safe patient care and is not even aware of this, as described in the OP.

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

It appears to me that new grad nurses who have not received adequate preparation in nursing school are often not aware of this fact. Or, if they are, some appear to have the expectation that the facility should meet all their learning needs and provide remedial training that should have been provided in nursing school. Unfortunately, it is not the facility's job, once a nurse is licensed, to provide basic nursing education.

The best lesson I ever learnt was not in nursing but on my first day volunteering on the ambulance as a fresh Emt. My preceptor who taught me more about critical thinking than any nursing school ever did, said "sit down, shut up, and watch. I'm going to ask you questions, and your not going to know the answers. It's not because your not smart, or your school sucked. It's because you don't even know what you don't know. If you stick with it and think your way through the next few weeks, you might be ok"

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

While I agree that there are nursing schools that do not adequately prepare students for their first nursing job, some of the blame must fall on the student. You can have a clinical group in which a student seeks out every opportunity to practice skills and another that tries to do the bare minimum in clinical, then graduate and not realize that once they got a job that they are not going to hold their hand for the next 3 months while they learn the skills that they needed to learn in nursing school.

[macawake, MSN]

There have been quite a few threads on this topic. To be honest I don't understand the highly emotional response I see from some nurses whenever someone mentions "nurses eat their young" or bullying. If you know that you treat co-workers and other people in a fair, decent and mature fashion then there's no need to take these allegations to heart and become defensive.

Not bitter or angry. I hate having to be embarrassed to be a nurse. A career I have given 30 years to.

The only behaviour that you have control over is your own. Other people are responsible for their actions, there's really no need for you to feel embarrassed

on their behalf.

OP, some of the situations that you describe are quite bad. The NPO example is weird. I have to wonder about the quality/standard of the school that has allowed a student to graduate without understanding the difference between enteral and parenteral routes and how that relates to a "nil per os" order.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

So sick of THREADS devoted to NETY.

And reading threads by nurses that don't seem to understand the importance of paragraphs

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

Honestly, at this point what bugs me most about NETY is simply how much of a tired cliché it is. Especially when people trot it out and think they're being clever or insightful.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I'm sure this will be followed by a rash of "Every nurse younger or less experienced than me is spoiled, incompetent, and entitled."

Why do so many people get so defensive when other people complain about being mistreated at work?