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.
I didn't compare terrorism to new graduates. I addressed the PP who said that the actions of a few do not affect the perception of an entire group. Both of my examples are a perfect representation of my point.
I'm not convinced that you've understood my reply to you correctly. I was discussing the effect of terrorism and the effect of an inept new graduate's mistake and how the two differ. You're the one who brought up terrorism in the first place and I actually think that both terrorism and pedophilia as comparative examples of mistakes made by new nurses, are logically flawed. Here's why;
The pedophile Priest:
INTENT: Yes
MOTIVE: Sexual gratification at a child's expense, regardless of the cost to the child.
The Terrorist:
INTENT: Yes
MOTIVE: To strike at the enemy and cause physical and psychological trauma/instill fear.
The new nurse who doesn't understand the meaning of NPO and withholds the wrong meds and administers others that will delay surgery.
INTENT: No
MOTIVE: None
You were by using these examples as I understand it, trying to make the point that:
An entire group can/will/has been judged by the actions of a few be it a profession, vocation, or even a race. To think that bad nurses don't lower the perceptions of nurses is naive'
First of all, I wasn't discussing bad nurses in general in my post, but specifically mistakes made by new graduates. Your response isn't really addressing the point I was making but making it a lot more broad and general.
As I've tried to illustrate above, your pedophile and terrorist examples are very different in nature from mistakes made by a new graduate, hence why I find them poor examples of how co-workers or the public's perception of/bias against/ stereotyping of a group might be affected.
The premeditated voluntary malicious act of a perpetrator has different psychological effects on the public compared to a mistake made due to inadequate training or inadequate critical thinking skills but done without malice.
Being a patient means being vulnerable and a mistake made by a nurse can of course shake a person's confidence in healthcare professionals, but it in no way makes you personally (as well as every other nurse) look like an idiot (which was the claim I originally responded to).
In my post that you originally quoted from you chose to bold parts of it. You didn't bold the part which was my main point:
I respectfully disagree. Other peoples' actions can't and don't make me look like an idiot. I'm the only one who can manage that feat.
You also didn't bold the last sentence of the paragraph you focused on, namely:
Personally, I don't think that's a very informed conclusion to draw.
This was me being diplomatic. I'll be more blunt now. With that paragraph including the last sentence I acknowledged that a person might look at the mistake of a new graduate nurse and surmise that because of this individual nurse's rookie mistake, all nurses are incompetent, regardless if they have twenty or thirty years experience and have provided excellent care to thousands. The person drawing this conclusion would be an idiot. (This would be the part where I was being diplomatic/vague). While idiots do exist, most people aren't idiots and can actually seperate a new nurses mistake from the rest of the nurse collective, and see it for what it is.
I still feel like making a new nurses' mistake about you, instead of about them, is an overreaction.
I read a news article today about two elementary school children who have been called gay and one even had his head smashed against a flag pole- simply because they are the children of a gay couple. That is true bullying.
That is battery.
The criminal act of battery can be a part of a bullying, but battery or physical violence isn't required to label behaviour as bullying.
The worst cases of bullying I've investigated didn't have a physical component at all, yet they led to people dying. I think that physical battery is easily spotted and almost universally condemned and the victim of it stands a better chance of receiving help. I think that the systematic emotional/psychological mistreatment of someone is much more insidious.
I think older nurses **** on people, including their preceptees, because they want to feel like they finally have power in the medical structure, which they don't... Nursing is not an empowered field which leads to frustration. Nursing has all the responsibility with none of the power. Ultimately, it's very unbalanced having physicians call all the shots, and nurses do all of the work. It ultimately is a sexist career field where men were docs and women nurses... hence the power hierarchy. Many people will point to the military influence in healthcare leading to its strict hierarchy, but the military even allows enlisted more feedback and better pay than nursing. I live and work in both realms.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I think older nurses **** on people, including their preceptees, because they want to feel like they finally have power in the medical structure, which they don't... Nursing is not an empowered field which leads to frustration. Nursing has all the responsibility with none of the power. Ultimately, it's very unbalanced having physicians call all the shots, and nurses do all of the work. It ultimately is a sexist career field where men were docs and women nurses... hence the power hierarchy. Many people will point to the military influence in healthcare leading to its strict hierarchy, but the military even allows enlisted more feedback and better pay than nursing. I live and work in both realms.
What a bunch of unenlightened, uninformed malarky!
What a bunch of unenlightened, uninformed malarky!
Nah, "joe" is totally on the mark: older nurses DO defecate all over people, as a means to demonstrate the power they have....apparently, to defecate on people.
I have found throughout my career that the most effective means of demonstrating authority is by pooping on nearby personnel. Totally makes them recognize my value as a superior being. Totally.
/sarcasm (for those that need the identifier in place....)
Nah, "joe" is totally on the mark: older nurses DO defecate all over people, as a means to demonstrate the power they have....apparently, to defecate on people.
I have found throughout my career that the most effective means of demonstrating authority is by pooping on nearby personnel. Totally makes them recognize my value as a superior being. Totally.
/sarcasm (for those that need the identifier in place....)
And on days we know we are precepting newbies we eat Fiber One for breakfast.
Regarding the 911 call, it brought from my memory banks a little ol' patient (completely and utterly demented) who would call 911 from time to time; he was a longer-stay patient on our med-surg, awaiting placement in a SNF. Why did he call? To report being held against his will in the basement of someone's home. Apparently that was his impression of our hospital, poor thing.
First time it happened, police did dutifully arrive to our unit, to inquire about said "captive". They were shown the patient, they made a note, and we all went on our way. After that, we'd occasionally get a call from the local dispatcher, letting us know he was at it again. We couldn't take away his phone, as his daughter and son-in-law wanted him to be able to call them, and to be able to call him "whenever they wanted". Never mind that they DIDN'T, that HE didn't call them either, they just wanted to be able to. And when they were told about the 911 calls? "That's your problem to figure out what to do about that. Just don't take away his phone". These were people who knew that Dad had to be placed in a nursing home, but didn't realize HOW demented he was since they never visited him once the sun went down. Yeah.....fun times.
I had a little old lady call 911 to report the male night nurse raped her. The cops came and the poor night nurse had to stay and do paperwork al day. Little old lady later recanted and said she was jealous because Bed 1 was being CODED all night and she wanted some ATTENTION. Oh, and Bed 1 died.
I had a patient once call 911 to tell them she had to go to the bathroom.
Then there was the guy who called to say we were breaking into his house. He was sneaky, he had told the CNA that he needed help calling his wife . She came out of the room frantic because he'd dialed 911. Hilarious now.
macawake, MSN
2,141 Posts
I'm not convinced that you've understood my reply to you correctly. I was discussing the effect of terrorism and the effect of an inept new graduate's mistake and how the two differ. You're the one who brought up terrorism in the first place and I actually think that both terrorism and pedophilia as comparative examples of mistakes made by new nurses, are logically flawed. Here's why;
The pedophile Priest:
INTENT: Yes
MOTIVE: Sexual gratification at a child's expense, regardless of the cost to the child.
The Terrorist:
INTENT: Yes
MOTIVE: To strike at the enemy and cause physical and psychological trauma/instill fear.
The new nurse who doesn't understand the meaning of NPO and withholds the wrong meds and administers others that will delay surgery.
INTENT: No
MOTIVE: None
You were by using these examples as I understand it, trying to make the point that:
First of all, I wasn't discussing bad nurses in general in my post, but specifically mistakes made by new graduates. Your response isn't really addressing the point I was making but making it a lot more broad and general.
As I've tried to illustrate above, your pedophile and terrorist examples are very different in nature from mistakes made by a new graduate, hence why I find them poor examples of how co-workers or the public's perception of/bias against/ stereotyping of a group might be affected.
The premeditated voluntary malicious act of a perpetrator has different psychological effects on the public compared to a mistake made due to inadequate training or inadequate critical thinking skills but done without malice.
Being a patient means being vulnerable and a mistake made by a nurse can of course shake a person's confidence in healthcare professionals, but it in no way makes you personally (as well as every other nurse) look like an idiot (which was the claim I originally responded to).
In my post that you originally quoted from you chose to bold parts of it. You didn't bold the part which was my main point:
You also didn't bold the last sentence of the paragraph you focused on, namely:
This was me being diplomatic. I'll be more blunt now. With that paragraph including the last sentence I acknowledged that a person might look at the mistake of a new graduate nurse and surmise that because of this individual nurse's rookie mistake, all nurses are incompetent, regardless if they have twenty or thirty years experience and have provided excellent care to thousands. The person drawing this conclusion would be an idiot. (This would be the part where I was being diplomatic/vague). While idiots do exist, most people aren't idiots and can actually seperate a new nurses mistake from the rest of the nurse collective, and see it for what it is.
I still feel like making a new nurses' mistake about you, instead of about them, is an overreaction.