The NEW Nurse (Not the ones AOL speak of)

[walk6miles]

Here is my take on the new nurses today. Not all new nurses do this but, at the facility where I work - 80 percent have the following behaviour:

Consistently late to take report (20 minutes average).

Bring their "luggage" to work - fight with kids, husband, lover, married lover, most of the shift - don't these people sleep??

Show no respect to the patient, the experienced nurse and/or doctor.

Spend 90 percent of their time on the computer - and - as soon as the day shift leaves, the IPod or MP comes on either with or without earphones.... so they NEVER hear call lights, telephones, telemetry alarms.

Discuss their business or another staff member's business in the patient's room.

Hold the experienced nurse to public ridicule.

Make fun of this disabled nurse's disability (just happened this past weekend) AND the hospital is sweeping it under the rug.

Text message all night long.

[momsrn]

Reading all this makes me think that most of the people posting are just off of 4 or 5 12 hour shifts in a row!!! :yawn:I've worked with seasoned nurses that are tired and don't put forth much effort. I've worked with newbies who just aren't that smart yet. I've been a nurse for 10 years now...Some nights I don't do much beyond the bare minimum (embarrassing to say, but the truth.) Others nights, I wear my skates and keep things rolling, not just for my patients, but for others.

Gotta say, tho, it's not usually the new RNs who now how to bend the rules, leave IVs out for the next shift, etc... I've been very lucky, we've averaged 2 new nurses a year where I work. They're not burned out and they remember all that weird stuff from school that the rest of us forget. Our newest nurse was the one who recognized that one of our moms had postpartum cardiomyopathy the other night. A lot of the others I work with didn't even know what it is!! Remember,us "oldies" can help shape the attitudes of the newbies.

[Serendipity318]

I am also a new nurse and I would NEVER even think of behaving in such unprofessional and rude behavior. My graduating class was around 80 people, both young and older (a few were in their 50's) and those that I had clinicals with then or now work with have never acted that way either. As a student where I went to school, if you behaved that way, they would definitely kick you out. Your place of employment may have 80% of new grads acting this way but I don't believe that is true for most places (I had clinicals in 6 different places and also witnessed nursing students from other schools and they all behaving appropriately).

And if you look at the other side: while completing my clinicals I did witness a few experienced nurses that sat on their tush more than 50% of the time I was present (8 to 12 hour shifts). I think inappropriate behavior and laziness has no age preference; there are some young and old that do injustice to the field of nursing. Like some of the people that responded above, I agree that if I did witness someone acting this way, I would not "put up" with it and would have to say something, preferably my supervisor. I hope your bad experiences don't cause you to think that all new grads or young nurses behave badly.

[S1XGUNS]

I am a relatively new nurse, however I have over 20 years experience in business ownership in a health related field. You may sale me on the fact that many of our gen x'ers do not have the work ethic, pride and respect that our parents taught us. This is not a nursing school problem, it is a cultural dilemma. I have valued the knowledge and expertise of many of my seasoned colleagues, but I also have found many nurses with years of experience that were cynical, lazy, rude and poor role models for new nurses. I have also seen a few seasoned nurses on my unit passed up for promotion as younger less experienced nurses made head nurse and charge position's. I had to chuckle while over hearing them blame beauty and brown nosing for reasons of being overlooked and their unwillingness to see their own shortcomings.

[Kevin RN08]

I'm retired from the Navy and years ago in a leadership course we were having a similar conversation about the new recruit's lack of professionalism, understanding, and their unwillingness to learn. One of the instructors brought out research that showed the Greeks and Romans had the same complaints, he then brought out several old editorials from various professional magazines (military, business, engineering, medical) that all had the same complaints.

Since then I have seen this as more of a "deck-plate" leadership (not management) issue, not a teaching/recruiting issue. As we grow our experiences shape who and how we are so rather than blame the schools, parents and HR, "adopt" these young professionals and teach them just as someone did to you. Just like your "generation" of nurses, some will take the guidance and others will forge ahead doing it their own way. They are your replacements, those that you will be managing as you too move up the chain of command, make it easier and better for everyone and be a mentor not just when assigned to precept but every day because we (I'm still in school) are watching and listening whether you know it or not.

[dorovia]

Dear nurses

This does not sound real because I have been tried being a new nurse not once three times b/c of preseptors or experinced nurse act the same way you explain the new nurses now a days act. I believe I am not saying all nurses are like that most nurses do not teach the new nurses easy way they just want them to be like them the next morning. My experince is if the new nurse don't know something they think easy for them they make fun with the co-worker arround by saying I don't know now adays how they graduated with out knowing this and that. If the new nurses act the way this experinced nurse explain how come there is no solution with in the job place because I heard that this kind of manner does not fit for professional nurse and I know that can be solved easy way by reporting the situation to clinical manager or by following chain of comand if not solved with in the unit. Please, please, please do not try to make it big deal.

[miss81, BSN, RN]

You have to be kidding me! I work on a med/surg floor (in canada) where the ratio is 10:1, where would I find the time to use an Ipod. There is no real divide between the experienced RN's and new RN's...we don't have the time for that!

[miss81, BSN, RN]

In university we had an assignment. We had to write an essay on the statement "Nurses eat their young". I never really understood it until I was a RN. Now, I totally get it! Some experienced RN's love to make themselves look good by embarassing the New Nurse. Where I'm from they phased out the RN program and collaborated with the University to make a BN program. Therefore the new nurses education is usually the center of the joke. I'm a BN and a great nurse! Just think of how much better healthcare would be if the experienced RN would stop pointing out the faults of a few new nurses and concentrate on helping shape the skills of the rest of us that are great and love to learn! But I guess teaching and mentoring takes a lot more energy than scrutinizing and complaining!

[embarrasingfield]

Its not part of my belief system to degrade other people.

What is there possibly to gain by keeping a new, or veteran nurse from succeeding?

I like win/win.

[walk6miles]

An update.

Administration (supervisor? - unit manager?) has now written up a nurse for walking around with an IPOD blasting through ear pieces. They also wrote her up for wrong patient - wrong med. I am just shocked about the med error but I give her credit for owning the mistake.

We will wait and see what happens. Prayer helps too. God bless.

[oncnursemsn]

As both an educator and a still practicing nurse, I see both sides of this issue. The "young" (I believe the term is "millennial") students learned differently then most of us "old timers". As nursing faculty, we had an inservice on the technology that our students are immersed in- and they have remarkedly shorter attention spans then we did. That being said, I have seen some of the behaviors described- the nursing assistant who is eating dinner, texting on her phone and reading a trashy magazine. Yes, it is her break, but when dinner's over, the technology needs to be put away. In some of my students, I have seen attitudes that would likely have gotten me disciplined had I tried them. :argue: I admonished a student for not reviewing my feedback on her clinical work. She glared at me. When I repeated how important it is to help her not repeat the same errors, she fired back, "I know! You already told me!" WOW! I would never have had the chutzpah to do that!

But, it really varies, some of my techs/students are very conscientious and diligent. I think that we who have experience need to model the behavior that is expected- that's how I learned. I "grew up" as a new grad in a culture that expected excellent and compassionate care. If you didn't provide it, you didn't receive support- nothing mean, but it was an environment where we took pride in the care we ALL provided. Just my

[Kevin RN08]

This is a bit of a rant, but it supports some of the "teaching" that goes on from a student/new nurse perspective:

Here is an synopsis of one night (Sunday) of my externship ... 1845- My preceptor and I recieved our assignments, took turnover, and started doing assessments. At 2000 she got a CELL PHONE call from a family member and sat at the Nurse's Station yapping until the battery went dead. My patients had 2100 meds, but I couldn't get into Pyxis and couldn't find the preceptor, not in the break room, not at either station on the floor, no note, the other nurse didn't know where to find her either. At 2130, she shows up with the meds and wants to play 20 questions-I did alright, not great, in answering questions about the meds and looked up the ones that I was weak on. I delivered the meds came back and she was again gone.

Now normally I'd do my charting, but can't because I don't have access to the computer. So I started helping the nurse who was doing an admission and had needy patients (our patients were quiet and content). Meanwhile, the preceptor returns and jumps me about helping the other nurse when the charting isn't done! I bit my tongue, shouldn't have but I was PO'd to the point that I'd have over-stepped my bounds and it would have become personal vice professional. She then got me into the computer to chart, and started her evening of internet surfing.

Then there is the issue of appearance, wearing ill fitting uniforms, dingy looking white, with your crack showing when you bend or lean forward. General appearance goes MILES in setting the tone for professional acceptance by patients, families, and other staff; and no matter how good you are, if you look sloppy you will not be seen as competant.

In defense, I think my preceptor is stressed. She obviously has larger family and financial issues, but in my opinion she should then excuse herself from precepting which is hard work (with license on the line) on top of an already challenging job. I've been around the block once or twice, and can see she's good, but seems to be lacking the extra "it" to be an effective preceptor at this time.

So as I said in my earlier post, be the example of professional whether you're precepting or not, adopt the student/new nurse whether precepting or not, address precepting issues with the preceptor on behalf of the student/new nurse who may not want to make waves. This isn't saying be "easy", but be more constructive than critical.

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

Generalizations are always dangerous!

New nurse

Everyone carries their cells. Ipods are allowed to be docked at the station on the lowest settings. Camraderie is encouraged-WE NEED TO DEPEND ON EACH OTHER.

There is no age group, experience level, or certification that gossips or complains less than another. Their focus is different: young-dating, fights with SO, getting married, breaking up.....older-kids, bills, SO, breaking up, dating again....YOU GET THE PICTURE.

The problem as I see it, is that we are older and sometimes forget our youth. I find it funny and difficult to believe when I hear my same aged peers complain about the younger ones(those new grads)....they forget I am new too! They also forget they were young women who had boyfriends, got married and gossiped! I am happy to remind them. I have two college aged kids....worse than that, I am precepting a young woman who graduated HS with my son:no:! SHE'S GREAT!

I am sure the OP has issues in her work environment...I'd have no problem telling someone to get the buds out of the ears, and get off the phone if needed. That's the beauty of being older, however, I get and send text messages to my kids(they won't text unless they need me), I have my phone on vibrate, and I occasionally grumble about my personal life to my co-workers(as they do to me)

We all need to be tolerant of each other, and all have things to offer. Youth is not the same as immaturity, immaturity is usually the cause of problems-too bad you can be 40 and still immature.

JMHO and

Maisy