When I started my first nursing job in the late 1970s, I was the very first BSN graduate hired at that hospital. They had their own School of Nursing, you see, a diploma school, and they pretty much exclusively hired their own graduates. I'm not sure WHY I thought it would be a good idea to work at this hospital rather than the large university teaching hospital where I originally intended to work and where I'd been offered TWO jobs on two different floors.
Maybe because it was smaller and, despite my years of college I was still pretty much of a farm girl. Maybe it was because it was within walking distance of our new apartment in the city and my then-husband and I shared a car. Maybe it was because my aunts and uncles who lived in the city told me it was "a great hospital." And maybe it was because the head nurse seemed grandmotherly and comfortable when I interviewed.
Once I started my new job, it immediately became obvious that they had no idea what to do with me! A diploma graduate hit the floor running -- they were completely trained and their senior practicum had them doing charge on the floors. Me -- I'd had six hours of clinical a week (compared to their 8 hours a DAY) and I had not only mastered many of the skills of a registered nurse, I hadn't even SEEN them. About the umpteenth time the instruction "go put an NG in Mrs. Smith" or "Mr. Jones needs a catheter" were met with blank stares on my part, the charge nurses threw up their hands in frustration. It never occurred to any of them to SHOW me what to do or attempt to TEACH me. Orientation in those days was "throw the new nurse into the fray and hope for the best."
Finally, in frustration, the charge nurses decided to use me as a glorified aide -- one with a "GN" on her name tag -- and threw me into the fray at a level they hoped I could understand. I was greeted at the start of my 0700 shift with a small slip of paper with a list of room and bed numbers. "Go weigh these patients," I was told. "Then come back and we'll figure out what to do with you." ("And they say BSNs are the wave of the future," I could hear muttered under the breath. "Yeah, and they ALSO say someday they'll be running the hospitals." Raucous laughter ensued, and I slunk out of there clutching the list of numbers.)
I started my days out in a similar fashion for weeks. One morning, I entered the room of a particularly genteel looking woman, scale in tow, to find a fresh, steaming pile of poop in the corner. Catching the direction of my gaze, the patient lifted a shaking finger and pointed it in the direction of the door I'd just come through. "She did it! That crazy old lady just came into my room and squatted in the corner and did that! That crazy old lady!"
"Uh-HUH," I thought to myself. I hadn't seen any old ladies -- crazy or otherwise -- in the hallway and the only female patient on my list who could be called both old and crazy had been sound asleep when I dragged my scale into her room. I marked the I& O sheet with "large, formed brown stool" and went on my way, remembering to mention to the team leader what I'd found. The same thing happened the next day and the next. Always it was "I didn't do that! That crazy old lady did it!"On the fourth day, the genteel old lady asked for a laxative, because she hadn't moved her bowels in DAYS. "Confused? short-term memory deficits," I wrote down on my "brain sheet" and remembered to pass it on to the team leader.
On the fifth day, I happened to be out in the hall trying to decipher the handwriting of the night charge. Was it room 3, room 5 or room 8B that needed a weight? So that's why I happened to catch out of the corner of my eye, an elderly woman suffering from dementia sneaking out of her room at the end of the hall. Before I could react, she'd darted into the room of my genteel older lady. I arrived in the doorway just in time to see that crazy old lady squatting in the corner and leaving her fresh deposit of steaming poop!
It taught me a lesson -- one I've had to re-learn a few times over the years, unfortunately, but a lesson just the same. Before labeling anyone as confused or disoriented or hallucinating or suffering from dementia, it bears a little investigation. (Someday, I'll tell the story of the UFO and the little green men!) It also taught me that if someone says they're constipated, it's worth checking out.
I eventually passed my boards -- on my first try, unlike some of the diploma grads working in the hospital -- and graduated to more complicated tasks. Like putting down NGs and inserting Foley catheters. An experienced LPN nearing retirement took me under her wing and taught me those skills and many other skills I'd need to know.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
've been a nurse for about 16 years and can remember vividly how it was to be new on a unit. some nurses actually seem to enjoy seeing the fumblings and insecurities of a new gratuate, just to spite them i guess. they think it's funny to see how another person can feel embarressed and unsure of themselves.
i was fortunate enough to have the other type of nurse take me under her wing. she didn't forget what it was like to be fresh out of school. she had patience and showed me how things were routinly done on this unit. i remember never feeling stupid in her presence. i only felt inexperienced, which is nothing to be ashamed of. now i'm one of the older ones and gladly take the newbies in my care. they all like to work with me, too. i'm working together now with a new graduate. one of my coworkers worked with her for two days and said, "she just doesn't have a plan about anything". i would never judge anyone after such a short time. she has been working with me for just two weeks and is proving to be very smart and a fast learner. she feels comfortable in my presence because i want her to succeed, not fail. know what i mean?
i know exactly what you mean! i try my best with my orientees, too. i'll never forget the feeling of being left to sink or swim on my own. or my gratitude to that lpn for showing me as much as she could!
Yes, I always liked helping the new kid on the block too. I also worked for 23 years as a nurse aide and I didn't forget that either. Much to the disapproval of other nurses. Even after I was an RN, I never felt too good to give a bed pan (or take it away). I was there to take care of my patients,no matter what they needed... or whose job it was supposed to be!
Thanks to al of you for remembering what it was like being new. In my clinical experiences, I had nurses who gave me every opportunity to learn new skills not because they wanted to see me fail at the different tasks, but to teach me and I surely did not pass any up; by the way if I hadn't done the skill before my instructor was rigth along side me. Thanks guys.
I have learned many things from LPN's over the years. While you do learn everything while in school and may need to pass a competency, it is quite different to go out there in the real world and do these things.
Ruby Vee, BSN
17 Articles; 14,051 Posts
ugh! cookies in the toilet and bm in the sink! i have such a mental picture of that bm getting into the sink! thanks for making me laugh!