What is up with the level of entitlement?

[sofla98]

I’m a seasoned nurse with a lot of years of experience. I work hard to take care of my patients and their basic needs, and then some. But what is up with these newer grads, like in their younger 20’s? The ones who started 2019-2020, bc something is way different. 

We’re all wondering what it is. 

They expect the charge nurses and other nurses to do their tasks/work for them and I’ve seen some actually whine, roll their eyes, etc. when they don’t get their way or they’re a little bit busy. 

It’s really starting to aggravate those of us over the age of 30, especially because if they don’t get their way they go to the manager and say “so and so didn’t help me enough” or “so and so wasn’t available and I couldn’t find them for an hour.”

I think it’s time I leave the hospital, to be honest. They are also incredibly hard to train. They don’t listen, get offended if you try to explain to them why something didn’t go well, or go complain to the manager. 

Our management is tired of it too. Is it the same personalities? Are they really that easily offended? Someone ELI5. Thanx. 

Don’t believe this is an issue? Just wait for the responses! LOL! 

[TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN]

I've observed this behavior in newer nurses of various ages not just those that are young. Many new nurses at my facility have been appalled at the fact that they too must work with COVID patients, or bariatric patients, or any sort of unpleasantness at all! Float to another unit, "I wasn't hired to float, it's not fair.". I have never had an inpatient job whether as a nurse or an aide where I didn't have to float somewhere when needed, I realized some people hate to float and I understand that and some level of complaining is acceptable but then you do it and take your turn, where as what I've seen is people demanding special treatment. So many complaints about assignment equity as well, complaining because they have one more patient than another person, complaining that they one less patient than the other person and will get the first admission, complaining that the acuity is too high, complaining that the acuity is too low, complaining that their rooms are too far apart from eachother, blah blah blah. I am fine if someone has a legitimate concern with their assignment but when every single shift you complain and demand it to be amended, that's just ridiculous. We all get tough assignments, it's a part of the job, deal with it. Sometimes I just get tired of people refusing to care for certain types of patients, refusing to float when it's their turn, refusing portions of their assignment, refusing to accept constructive criticism, and it's always coming from newer nurses and newer CNA's. Also have had several new nurses think it was acceptable to put off their charting until the next shift they return! ?

I realize that nursing programs prepare students for the NCLEX as opposed to reality, but I really wish they would at least tell students that nursing is hard and there is a degree of unpleasantness that goes along with the job. But most of these nurses plan on leaving the bedside in a year or two anyway.

I will say though, that I've had some really terrific new nurses as well, they've been a breath of fresh air and a joy to work with compared to their peers.

[JKL33]

I think it's best not to paint a whole group this way. There are hard workers and complainers in all demographics.

I'd imagine these new nurses were taught the same idealized version of nursing the rest of us were, and in my opinion things have gotten very bad in hospitals in recent years; like intolerable. So at least in my mind it makes sense that more recent grads would recognize an even bigger discrepancy between school vs. real world than maybe previous generations. I don't know, just thinking out loud. This year we've been hearing from people whose education has been shorted due to Covid, and no one seems to care too much except them. They're just expected to get out there and be the workers they were (partially) trained to be. It can't be easy.

As far as compromise and give-take employer-employee relationships, those days are going by the wayside. Big corps started it and employees got the message. I'm not sure why you would find it odd that they would be surprised to be told to float if they didn't sign a float position. We know that's normal but they're just learning how things roll. Do you think they see give-and-take, flexibility and cooperation and that sort of thing when they consider how their employer regards them? Doubtful.

On 12/24/2020 at 11:11 PM, sofla98 said:

It’s really starting to aggravate those of us over the age of 30, especially because if they don’t get their way they go to the manager and say “so and so didn’t help me enough” or “so and so wasn’t available and I couldn’t find them for an hour.”

Personally I'd ignore this. Not worth the aggravation.

As far as complaining about assignments, that's been going on, what--forever?? At my first nursing position whenever I was in charge I did my own little acuity calculations to get the fairest assignments I could possibly come up with and people would belly-ache until I showed them my math and said "have at it."

If you try to develop a rapport with these newer nurses you will get a lot farther. Even if they some of them do have a problem it certainly isn't worth your time to get frustrated about it. Let management worry about it. Just take good care of patients.

??

[TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN]

On 12/25/2020 at 1:54 AM, JKL33 said:

I think it's best not to paint a whole group this way. There are hard workers and complainers in all demographics.

I'd imagine these new nurses were taught the same idealized version of nursing the rest of us were, and in my opinion things have gotten very bad in hospitals in recent years; like intolerable. So at least in my mind it makes sense that more recent grads would recognize an even bigger discrepancy between school vs. real world than maybe previous generations. I don't know, just thinking out loud. This year we've been hearing from people whose education has been shorted due to Covid, and no one seems to care too much except them. They're just expected to get out there and be the workers they were (partially) trained to be. It can't be easy.

As far as compromise and give-take employer-employee relationships, those days are going by the wayside. Big corps started it and employees got the message. I'm not sure why you would find it odd that they would be surprised to be told to float if they didn't sign a float position. We know that's normal but they're just learning how things roll. Do you think they see give-and-take, flexibility and cooperation and that sort of thing when they consider how their employer regards them? Doubtful.

Personally I'd ignore this. Not worth the aggravation.

As far as complaining about assignments, that's been going on, what--forever?? At my first nursing position whenever I was in charge I did my own little acuity calculations to get the fairest assignments I could possibly come up with and people would belly-ache until I showed them my math and said "have at it."

If you try to develop a rapport with these newer nurses you will get a lot farther. Even if they some of them do have a problem it certainly isn't worth your time to get frustrated about it. Let management worry about it. Just take good care of patients.

??

You bring up some fair points, and I will say that perhaps my opinion is tainted by the fact that healthcare just sucks all around right now. I do try to develop a  rapport with newer staff and be supportive. But it is exhausting when staff are trying to pick a fight with everything that comes up in a shift because it "isn't fair". Not saying they're wrong, just saying that it's frustrating.

[EDNURSE20, BSN]

In my experience the worst new grads to work with are middle aged or older. They always seem entitled and unwilling to listen to younger nurses, even though they have years of experience. Whereas younger nurses have only ever worked in healthcare and are more receptive to what experience nurses say and are far more adaptable.

[CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN]

4 hours ago, JKL33 said:

...I'd imagine these new nurses were taught the same idealized version of nursing the rest of us were, and in my opinion things have gotten very bad in hospitals in recent years; like intolerable. So at least in my mind it makes sense that more recent grads would recognize an even bigger discrepancy between school vs. real world than maybe previous generations.

I think you've hit on a good point with this thought.  The reality of nursing vs the academic ideal hits hard once you start working in the real world.

[Wuzzie]

6 hours ago, JKL33 said:

I think it's best not to paint a whole group this way. There are hard workers and complainers in all demographics.

I'd imagine these new nurses were taught the same idealized version of nursing the rest of us were, and in my opinion things have gotten very bad in hospitals in recent years; like intolerable. So at least in my mind it makes sense that more recent grads would recognize an even bigger discrepancy between school vs. real world than maybe previous generations. I don't know, just thinking out loud. This year we've been hearing from people whose education has been shorted due to Covid, and no one seems to care too much except them. They're just expected to get out there and be the workers they were (partially) trained to be. It can't be easy.

^This about a thousand times. Add to that a lack of robust clinical education and a steady diet of “bedside nursing is beneath you” and “nurses eat their young” and you have a perfect storm 

1 hour ago, EDNURSE20 said:

In my experience the worst new grads to work with are middle aged or older. They always seem entitled and unwilling to listen to younger nurses, even though they have years of experience. Whereas younger nurses have only ever worked in healthcare and are more receptive to what experience nurses say and are far more adaptable.

Let’s not turn this into a “which generation is worse” discussion. It goes nowhere and serves no purpose. 

[trytounderstand]

Be a patient of one of the entitled ones(and it's not only the new grads)....although on the grand scale most our empathetic and caring and advocate for the patient....personal experience has shown me that some and granted they are few and far between think they know the patient's body better than the patient.  Get offended when the patient even dares to ask "why?" or asks for a different plan of care such as substituting a drug they have used before compared to what the doctor has ordered.  Possibly, especially in a hospital setting, the doctor has never cared for the patient or actually knows the patient's history.  

[CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN]

I've had plenty of older/experienced nurses complain about "unfair" assignments ("I had xyz patient LAST WEEK already").... Others complain about "punishing competence" (which is probably more realistic, where the sicker patients go to the nurses that will actually do their job well. People don't like to work hard overall.

[Davey Do]

Never mind.

[speedynurse, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

So I actually have seen this in all ages. I do think maybe it’s more common in the younger generation but I have also seen nurses in their 20s who are unbelievably hardworking and rarely ask for help. I think it goes back to work ethic, not always necessarily age. Like another poster said, same thing goes hand in hand with covid. I have seen nurses with absolutely no covid risk factors refusing to take covid patients or absolutely panicking over covid.....and others with true risk factors or family members with cancer, autoimmune diseases, etc simply take the covid crisis in stride.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

25 minutes ago, speedynurse said:

 I think it goes back to work ethic, not always necessarily age.

I wonder if it's at all tied in to fewer adolescents having jobs for various social and economic reasons? I had my first job when I was 11 (paper route) and had my first "official" tax-paying job when I was 15. It did teach some universal skills about the nature of work...