I notice some students or others seem to think that because they've heard about a nursing shortage, that means that they will get a day position in their dream unit, and be welcomed with open arms as if they are the reserve troops come to save the day.
I don't think that's really the case. You still have to take the less desirable shifts, prove yourself, be accepted by your co-workers, and earn respect. Yes, there are toxic units, and those ones are probably more in need of extra help, so you might be more likely to get a job there.
If you are a newbie, you still have to 'pay your dues' in some way, that's usually the way life works in many arenas.
I'm a new grad who doesn't have a sense of entitlement, but I did go out and get what I wanted. I'm a second career/second BS student, and I talked up my customer service experience in my interviews. I wanted to get into a specific critical care internship program, and I did everything I could to make sure I got it - but I also applied for med-surg jobs elsewhere in case it didn't work out. I knew I was going up against nurses with experience and that they could only hire so many, so I kept my options open. I got the job, and I don't see any reason to work med-surg instead (especially when I get a 6 month orientation here) just to "pay my dues."
That being said - I fully expect to work nights, and that's OK, because I don't function very well when I have to wake up in the AM. When I was asked in my interview, "how do you feel about working holidays?" I laughed, and said that I wouldn't have gone into nursing if I expected to have them all off. The NM said, "well, you wouldn't believe how many people waltz in here and say they expect to work M-F days with holidays off! Obviously, we don't hire them!" Although I'd rather not work all weekend every weekend (unless my hospital starts doing the Baylor plan and pays me for it), I also expect that I'll probably have a weekend shift every week.
I don't think I'm better than anyone - in fact, I know that I basically get to start from scratch in my education - but I also don't need to act like a doormat. I'm not going to volunteer to work every holiday just because I'm new, but I'll work the ones I'm assigned without complaint. Of course, I've never had a job that didn't require me to work holidays and weekends, and I expect to continue to work them as long as I'm a nurse.
If you mean that by 'paying one's due's' they have to work their way up from the bottom, just like with any other profession, then I agree with you. That is just the typical learning curve one must go through.
If you mean something like hazing, or that high school/sorority/fraternity mentality of beng less than another human being because they new, then I totally disagree with you.
In general, I feel that a person is worthy of respect until proven otherwise-they do not have to earn it, but they can certainly lose it very quickly. Although many may come in with a sense of entitlement nowadays, there are equal numbers that hold superiority complexes & have that eating your young attitude. Truthfully, this type of thinking, from both sides, is a form of envy/jealousy & perpetuates making nursing a profession that many just leave or endure, rather than look forward to doing it for the rest of their working life.
As another has said, cooperation is the key. Start worrying about yourselves and what can YOU do to make the work environment better. Resenting another because they may have been better at negotiations than you (re: prime shift, better pay..) has no place in any work environment. If you don't like what someone else was able to negotiate, don't take it out on them because they have a better skill than you have-just learn that skill for yourself (maybe that person may actually help you if you take a different attitude.)
For those that think they can come into nursing 'hitting the ground running,' you're dead wrong. You WILL need the help of those with more experience. There is not a single profession out there where you can walk into work after schooling and be able to function at full speed. If you cannot grasp that people's lives are in your hands and you don't show show some give and take to those with more experience, (so that you may grow in your skills,) you WILL be eaten alive by those that know you are a danger to your patients.
Enough of my rant.
I just wanted to show that there are different ways to look at the same subject. It just seems to be a matter of perspective, doesn't it?
if you have a preference of a certain part of nursing you want to go into hone your skills toward that end and apply for jobs in that area that is a responsibile way going about it
but don't go thru day orientation and then tell the people that you have decided that you will not accept any job except one that fits your own specific needs
acknowledge that other people have worked, have seniority and are more proficient because of experience and they have a right to expect the employer to advance them first
once we had a new nurse who had been hired for night shift, she came in to report and placed pictures of her children on the table and told the other nurses that she would appreciate one of them to take the night shift so she could be with her children at night, like a mommy shuld, [her words]
prepare yourself for the job that you want, learn everything you can where ever you are, if you find the perfect niche after graduation then that is wonderful but you may find yourself a better nurse and a more valuable employee if you don't it is called SERENDIPITY
acknowledge that other people have worked, have seniority and are more proficient because of experience and they have a right to expect the employer to advance them first
once we had a new nurse who had been hired for night shift, she came in to report and placed pictures of her children on the table and told the other nurses that she would appreciate one of them to take the night shift so she could be with her children at night, like a mommy shuld, [her words]
How did the other employees respond to this one? What happened to her? As a mom who also works night shift, I think I would be too shocked for words if someone said that to me...
If that means doing a fair share of holidays, then yes I agree. However, if that means night shift in med-surg, then I disagree.
I don't see anything wrong with a new grad going for a day position in a specialty area; if management is willing to spend the money it takes to extensively train a new grad in a specialty area and day shift is open. . .go get it newbie!
Completely missed the point.
The POINT is that in any industry, trade, profession, there is a certain amount of time in which one should EXPECT to not be first in line for whatever the 'best' is perceived to be. Meaning, the 'best' shifts, money, position, department, etc. Absolutely NO ONE is suggesting that a newbie shouldn't try to get the 'best' for themselves, that would be STUPID.
What IS the point of this thread is that there is an alarming trend (and I agree with whoever posted it, it's NOT just nursing!) that newbies should be embraced so happily that they should get whatever they want, simply because they are THERE. It doesn't work that way, nor should it.
So, the POINT, again, is that while everyone can and should try to get the best deals out of life possible (duh!), the whining and foot stomping that we keep seeing suggest that there's entirely too many people who think that once they graduate school they are now worth a million bucks. And they simply aren't.
Does any of this mean I haven't had to "pay my dues"? No way. I worked full time as a CNA then as an LPN during nursing school. I worked my behind off. In my first year as a nurse (LPN), I cried my fair share. Just because I got the shift I wanted, a pattern I like, in the specialty that I wanted, right out of nursing school, does in no way, shape, or form, mean that I have not and am still not currently, paying my dues, thankyouverymuch.
Your ideology isn't the target of the OP's post. There's not a thing wrong with how you view things regarding your shift, your "dues", etc. The original sentiment was directed at those who whine incessantly that they should get everything they want how they want it simply BECAUSE they want it--and they now have a nursing license. They don't seem to get that they ARE expected to start at the bottom of the ladder like any other career path, and that simply because there's a nursing shortage doesn't mean we give away the farm to everyone who managed to pass the NCLEX.
Experience, dedication to the job, having proven yourself competent and trustworthy as an employee have significant value, and the newbie who doesn't seem to get that are the ones being discussed.
By the way, I also think day shift is "less than desirable", LOL! :)
I guess I've "paid my dues" after 16 years. I've gotta tell you too that as an APN, yes, I get paid quite a bit more than an RN but I have the responsibility to go with the pay! It's not always easier, neater, cooler, less "yucky" at the top.
It's NOT? Someone LIED to me! I want compensation for my emotional pain at discovering it's not "less yucky" at the top, LOL....
Seriously, one of our new grads stunned the break room recently by announcing that she was going to become a nurse practitioner so she wouldn't have to TOUCH A PATIENT again! ROFL....
ScorpioStudent: your post is a good one. I do see two thread thoughts emerging (actually, three, the third one being "so screw you I got what I wanted", rather lovely).
I am in total agreement with the thoughts of the OP: there is a sense of entitlement that is borne on the shoulders of far too many new graduates and it's irksome at best to those of us who have a clue how the real world of nursing works. Yes, there's truth to the idea that they will eventually figure it out, but still--why must I listen to it while they do it? Time was, when a new grad didn't engage in the rant "but they NEED me, WHY can't they give me M-F, no weekends, no holidays, TOP pay, and put me in the management training program next week??"
Newbies in any field should expect to not have all their first requests granted simply because they have arrived. That's the point of the OP, I believe.
Beyond that, I don't know anyone personally who actually resents a new grad for getting what he or she wants in terms of assignment, etc, because WE have those same options, if not better. The new grad at our facility (any in the region, actually) comes in at a set rate of pay; they aren't worth more than that, period. Now, as to what unit, what shifts, that's up to the needs of the unit, isn't it? And if *I* wanted that job, well....I'd have it. I don't understand the thinking that we'd be resentful of someone who worked a somehow "better" arrangement, because WE COULD have those same arrangements, and ahead of the newbie, to be sure.
Thing is, I'm seeing WAY too many people here taking the position that we (more experienced staff) must simply be jealous of their formidable negotiating skills and ambitions because we aren't excited to see them coming. Rather, it's that we are tired of HEARING them coming, orienting them, training them....and having them stomp away in search of the pot of gold (that isn't really there) because no one recognizes their incredible worth. It's tiresome.
Seriously, one of our new grads stunned the break room recently by announcing that she was going to become a nurse practitioner so she wouldn't have to TOUCH A PATIENT again! ROFL....
Wow, she actually graduated and passed the NCLEX with that kind of ignorance? I guess she's psychic and will be able to diagnose/treat her patients (as an NP) just by looking at them! You must be so lucky to have a nurse that can read patient's minds working with you...
Sorry, the formaldehyde from my lab today must've gone to my head...
That said I don't have a sense of entitlement, but I do feel that the transferable skills I have should be considered when applying for my first nursing job.
Of course, and anyone who would deny you that is foolish. MANY of us had lives and careers before going into nursing, and of course we brought those skill sets and experiences onto resumes and into the interview room. And you should expect them to give you an advantage where applicable. And also to recognize where they are NOT applicable, as is the case of the huge majority of first-year bedside nursing assignments. Your prior business experiences have no bearing there, but I think you know that. They will be most useful once you have actually learned the job of being an RN, at the bedside, and THEN those skills might come more into play. I can tell you, as someone who also brought a considerable skill set with me into my 'later in life' career, that none of that mattered in the first year of learning my nursing practice. It's something to tuck away for other times, negotiating on committees, with administration, etc. Positions later on, once your abilities as a plain old nurse have been demonstrated and accepted as valid. My prior experiences and skills have absolutely given me an edge in my current employment--but not so much when I was just being considered for a new grad program. They saw that stuff on my resume, and knew that when and if I could make it as a NURSE, they could access those other skills :)
Perhaps perusing the threads of the 19 or 20 year olds who have decided that they will guarantee themselves a six figure career (just read the ads!) and later whine that they aren't being given priority over pretty much everyone else will shed light on the vents :)
Wow, she actually graduated and passed the NCLEX with that kind of ignorance? I guess she's psychic and will be able to diagnose/treat her patients (as an NP) just by looking at them! You must be so lucky to have a nurse that can read patient's minds working with you...
Sorry, the formaldehyde from my lab today must've gone to my head...
LOL, you ain't kidding. Nope, she got through all of school and such and somehow had the idea that once she became an NP, she could just look at them, poke them with a gloved finger, and diagnose away.
And yes, we're all feeling quite special to be in her presence. She, and others like her, typically last six months or less. This one, I give three months. But don't worry, I'm sure she'll be taking her special self to the next job interview with the same "I'm VERY important" attitude she did on this one. Unfortunately, she had a pulse, a license, and yep: we were shortstaffed. Sigh.
I think what a lot of us "newbies" see is grumpy old veteran nurses who DO resent when new grads get good shifts. The point of my post was to tell other newbies to ignore the whiny melo-drama and push on without feeling guilt for not paying as many dues as nurses did years ago.
MB37
1,714 Posts
I'm a new grad who doesn't have a sense of entitlement, but I did go out and get what I wanted. I'm a second career/second BS student, and I talked up my customer service experience in my interviews. I wanted to get into a specific critical care internship program, and I did everything I could to make sure I got it - but I also applied for med-surg jobs elsewhere in case it didn't work out. I knew I was going up against nurses with experience and that they could only hire so many, so I kept my options open. I got the job, and I don't see any reason to work med-surg instead (especially when I get a 6 month orientation here) just to "pay my dues."
That being said - I fully expect to work nights, and that's OK, because I don't function very well when I have to wake up in the AM. When I was asked in my interview, "how do you feel about working holidays?" I laughed, and said that I wouldn't have gone into nursing if I expected to have them all off. The NM said, "well, you wouldn't believe how many people waltz in here and say they expect to work M-F days with holidays off! Obviously, we don't hire them!" Although I'd rather not work all weekend every weekend (unless my hospital starts doing the Baylor plan and pays me for it), I also expect that I'll probably have a weekend shift every week.
I don't think I'm better than anyone - in fact, I know that I basically get to start from scratch in my education - but I also don't need to act like a doormat. I'm not going to volunteer to work every holiday just because I'm new, but I'll work the ones I'm assigned without complaint. Of course, I've never had a job that didn't require me to work holidays and weekends, and I expect to continue to work them as long as I'm a nurse.