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!
It’s a bit perplexing with how you mention how you “flip out” when a student calls a patient by a first name - please be aware that some patients ASK for nurses to call them by their first name. I am one that I would be baffled if someone called me anything other than my first name.
It's true that someone observing may not have known that a nurse/student had been invited to call them by their first name, BUT it's also true that some nurses start off that way.
I ALWAYS ask someone to call me by my first name but that's AFTER I've met them. They should start off with the last name. It's infuriating for someone young enough to be my daughter or son to start off that familiar with me.
Conversely, any patient I take care of that's over 18 gets a "Mr." or "Ms." from me until I hear otherwise.
That is one of the most interesting childhood preoccupations I have heard of! As regard to the males with the biggest testicles, I've always called that testicular toxicity and wondered if men with that condition were led to prison more often than men without toxic levels. But the world crowding, IMHO, has influenced our lives tremendously for the worst which has influenced how people behave at work. Since food and housing have become so expensive people have to work harder to pay for subsistence and I don't have to explain to You how that contributes to people feeling more oppressed by having to tolerate hostile work environments which don't really care about their budget sucking employees. It's not like the past when we worked for an individual hospital who valued their team. I know it's not like that everywhere but generally, we have become corporate widgets instead of people of value to the an administrator who has no patient care experience. I feel sorry for the nurses just starting out.
I thought politicians call it testicular fortitude LOL. You are right, if you have animals including humans in a given circumference competing for finite resources, it is only a matter of time before they resort to diabolical survival tactics. Capitalism with all of its benefits compounds wickedness too. As Darwin noted, it is survival for the fittest and doom for the least fit.
15 minutes ago, Jedrnurse said:
It's true that someone observing may not have known that a nurse/student had been invited to call them by their first name, BUT it's also true that some nurses start off that way.
I ALWAYS ask someone to call me by my first name but that's AFTER I've met them. They should start off with the last name. It's infuriating for someone young enough to be my daughter or son to start off that familiar with me.
Conversely, any patient I take care of that's over 18 gets a "Mr." or "Ms." from me until I hear otherwise.
Even if I'm old enough to be their parent...
We are learning that gender is not binary. Careful calling these young people Mr. or Ms. or you might be on the end of an outrage stick.
I thought politicians call it testicular fortitude LOL. You are right, if you have animals including humans in a given circumference competing for finite resources, it is only a matter of time before they resort to diabolical survival tactics. Capitalism with all of its benefits compounds wickedness too. As Darwin noted, it is survival for the fittest and doom for the least fit.
We are learning that gender is not binary. Careful calling these young people Mr. or Ms. or you might be on the end of an outrage stick.
The odds are on my side for making a correct call, but, yes, one could also start off with "Hello, my name is Jedrnurse and I'll be your nurse today, how do you like to be called/addressed?"
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
43 minutes ago, subee said:
That is one of the most interesting childhood preoccupations I have heard of! As regard to the males with the biggest testicles, I've always called that testicular toxicity and wondered if men with that condition were led to prison more often than men without toxic levels.
Thank you, subee! My parents were very patient with my off the beaten path endeavors. Mom once said, "Dave, if you won't be good, at least be interesting!"
"Testicular toxicity" is an interesting point to ponder. There were some other things I learned and made several drawings pertaining to those things like why the mice would run on their wire wheel. At some point in my life I realized the exercise released endorphins,, but couldn't sat when.
On 1/1/2021 at 4:56 PM, Davey Do said:
I built cages for them that were like high-rise apartment buildings with three rooms in each apartment.
I found a sketch of the four story five foot high cages where many of the mice lived:
I echo your comment about feeling sorry for nurses just starting out.
Thank you, subee! My parents were very patient with my off the beaten path endeavors. Mom once said, "Dave, if you won't be good, at least be interesting!"
"Testicular toxicity" is an interesting point to ponder. There were some other things I learned and made several drawings pertaining to those things like why the mice would run on their wire wheel. At some point in my life I realized the exercise released endorphins,, but couldn't sat when.
I found a sketch of the four story five foot high cages where many of the mice lived:
I echo your comment about feeling sorry for nurses just starting out.
You make me feel ashamed for having a mere Chemistry set! Behavior is a fascinating thing to study.
The odds are on my side for making a correct call, but, yes, one could also start off with "Hello, my name is Jedrnurse and I'll be your nurse today, how do you like to be called/addressed?"
Indeed odds are on your side. In fact, I agree with your overall sentiment as I find these changes confusing, but one must adapt to the times. Not too long ago, words like imbecile and retard were used formally and medically. Today, their connotations have superseded their original meaning that one would be remiss to use them to describe a human. The odds are shifting gradually with gender titles as well. Once the boomers are no longer in existence in the not-too-distant future, it will be interesting to see what the world becomes.
29 minutes ago, Davey Do said:
Interesting that you should mention this, cynicalRN. On a little search that I did on Boomers yesterday, I found this cartoon:
Hahahaha! Much gratitude for the morning laughter, Sir.
Oops, do you mind the title? LOL. Practice makes perfect.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
19 minutes ago, subee said:
You make me feel ashamed for having a mere Chemistry set! Behavior is a fascinating thing to study.
I think I'm falling in love with you, subee.
Of course, it could just be the fact that you're stimulating my endorphins with your posts that say good things about me.
I too wanted a Chemistry set as a young adolescent. But my Dad had his friend/co worker's older son talk me into getting a microscope.
His selling point was, "Once you've used all the chemicals, you have to go buy some more! With a microscope, you can always find something to look at!"
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.
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Yup, some of the biggest princesses I’ve seen are the long haulers. They aren’t ready to retire but don’t want to work anymore. So, they just skate by..and talk about whining. If anyone is “running to management”, it’s been the older ones in my experience.
We have two new grads in my department and they are eager to learn and work very hard. Give me more employees like them any day.
I will accept the fact that a large part of this is their nursing education. My first semester teaching in a clinical setting students were using an automated blood pressure cuff. I cut that out immediately. When they complained I said what if you don’t have one or it’s during a code and the automated BP is not picking up an accurate reading and you have to take it manually. If you do not practice manuals outside the lab you won’t be able to do it in a crisis situation. So my students always took manual blood pressure’s. I also caught them using patient care assistant to do glucose checks, change the sheets, bathing, denture care, etc and I stopped that nonsense immediately. When they complained that nurses don’t do that stuff I laughed. Many times PCA’s are short staffed or the unit may not have any that shift. This semester the students only have two patients at this point, and students need to learn total patient care. If a PCA is not there for a shift does that mean the patient does not get a bath, oral hygiene, or their sheets changed? No it means the nurse needs to pick up the slack. All of my students always thank me at graduation and the floor nurses or more willing to help the students when they saw the work they were doing. The PCAs are more helpful to nurses who help them. They have 10 patients and if a nurse offers to do total patient care on one or two it makes their life easier and they do not get paid near enough. Unfortunately, nursing schools have a faculty shortage and use a lot of adjunct faculty. This means the person has a full-time nursing job and works one day a week for the college to do a 12 hour clinical group. There is a combination of not having the training to be an educator, and just collecting a big paycheck but very few of them demand the same expectations from student nurses. Some students go all the way through nursing school only having adjunct faculty as a clinical instructors. When they get to the real world, they are whining because they are being asked to do some thing they should have done in nursing school but did not. There are some students that just feel that it is beneath them, and I tell these students the first day during orientation a nurse is expected to give total patient care and if they are not ready to be vomited on, clean up diarrhea, and do oral care or the non-glamorous jobs of a nurse they do not need to be in nursing. In summary, I wanted to be a nurse...my mom was a nurse...I felt the calling to be empathetic, compassionate, and provide excellent care. The very first day I always ask the incoming students in orientation how many are in this program because a family member is a nurse and probably 40% of the class raises their hand. Then I ask how many of you are in the nursing school because a loved one battled a chronic illness and you saw the difference a nurse made and want to give back? Again another 40%. That 80% the students are going into nursing for the right reasons. My final question is how many of you are here going through nursing school because it’s a recession proof job and make good money and that is 20% of the class. They do not have the compassion and they lack complete empathy and they are the ones that are complaining constantly. You also have very smart textbook students that are able to get into nursing but have terrible bedside skills and communication skills and that probably makes 10% of new grads. So basically 30% of new grads are not capable of showing compassion and are not capable of putting themselves in the patient’s shoes and treating them with the respect, and have poor to non existent communication skills. When one of my students would call a patient by their first name I would flip out. After we got out of the room I said you will address them by Mr. or Mrs. or their appropriate title unless they specifically ask you to call them by their first name. And do not ever call them sweetie, honey or any pet names. These 30% of new graduates are dangerous because they think they know everything and will not ask for clarification. These are the ones that make huge mistakes and are the ones that have the entitlement attitude.
How about the people that went into nursing for all three reasons? I mean, I like taking care of people and I believe being compassionate is important.
However, if nursing paid terribly, I wouldn’t be doing it. The fact that it’s recession proof is a bonus too. What in the heck is wrong with wanting to make good money? This is why nurses traditionally have gotten crap treatment and pay, the martyr complex is still rampant.
I'm a charge nurse and I don't notice that they expect me to do their work, but that they do need a lot of support, ask a lot of questions, and haven't developed critical thinking. This is a new grad thing, not an age thing. New grads need more help because they are new not because they are "entitled".
Off topic, but as a boomer, I'm dismayed at the entitlement that I see in boomer patients. They want you there Johnny on the spot, can't handle any pain or discomfort, want you do to everything for them, and want everything free.
Yes! Some are great but when I worked screening patients during the beginning of the pandemic ( when surgeries were canceled) the Boomers were the ones getting us grief about not allowing visitors up or asking them to wear their mask correctly, or asking them to take off those stank gloves they’ve been wearing for a week. I found many people talk a great game on social media and amongst their friends about “keeping others safe”..but when these new rules apply directly to them, there’s always an excuse.
That job was horrendous. I was more mentally exhausted after a day of screening than I ever was after a shift of surgeries!
Jedrnurse, BSN, RN
2,776 Posts
It's true that someone observing may not have known that a nurse/student had been invited to call them by their first name, BUT it's also true that some nurses start off that way.
I ALWAYS ask someone to call me by my first name but that's AFTER I've met them. They should start off with the last name. It's infuriating for someone young enough to be my daughter or son to start off that familiar with me.
Conversely, any patient I take care of that's over 18 gets a "Mr." or "Ms." from me until I hear otherwise.
Even if I'm old enough to be their parent...