Which nurse is easier to train in med surg?

[guest1171208]

Is it easier to train a new grad RN or an experienced 18 year RN that never worked in acute care to med surg?

Especially if the experienced RN worked her entire career working private duty through an agency and only has skills common to PDN such as working with  trachs, ventilator, and feeding tubes?

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

Apples and oranges. If you think home care is just “skills” like the ones you mention here, then you don’t know much about the real skills of assessment, collaboration, and priority-setting... which new grads are still barely beginning to grasp. 
 

I haven’t heard anybody talk about “training” a new hire for donkey’s years. Do you mean orienting to a new job, teaching a new psychomotor skill (like PICC insertion), or what?  Where does this question come from?

[guest1171208]

1 hour ago, Hannahbanana said:

Apples and oranges. If you think home care is just “skills” like the ones you mention here, then you don’t know much about the real skills of assessment, collaboration, and priority-setting... which new grads are still barely beginning to grasp. 
 

I haven’t heard anybody talk about “training” a new hire for donkey’s years. Do you mean orienting to a new job, teaching a new psychomotor skill (like PICC insertion), or what?  Where does this question come from?

I am just saying, if you have two prospective applicants,one a new grad and another an experienced nurse as described above, who would have an easier time adjusting to med surg?

I hear from some of the nurses on my floor that experienced nurses that never worked in a facility have a harder time adjusting than a new grad. One of the reasons given was that the experienced RN is "set in her ways" and might be overwhelmed with caring for 4 patients at a time when she is used to caring for 1 patient for eight to twelve hours a day. They also say she might not be up to date regarding the way we do things in the hospital.  Regarding the  new grad, well, I am sure you can figure that one out. The new grad has no experience at all. Did not even work as a CNA while in school.

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

I think that more of this is going to depend upon the individual people than whether they are a new grad or a seasoned nurse. The nurse with experience probably has some strong assessment skills after working in an environment with little resources available. And yes, he or she may have trouble adjusting to the new workflow, but they may also breeze right into it because they're very interested in coming to the acute care field and motivated to learn. And yes, a new nurse might not have any bad habits or ways to be set in, but they're also starting from scratch, and he or she may also be using a med surg position as a short term stepping stone to move on to something else. 

[Wuzzie]

28 minutes ago, Iluvnightshift said:

They also say she might not be up to date regarding the way we do things in the hospital. 

Or she could have been a rock star HH nurse who is more up to date on EBP than your hospital. Entirely depends on the person. Also HH is not for the faint of heart or mind. Unlike med-surg nurses,  they take care of complicated patients with absolutely no back up. You might need to re-frame your opinion of them as it does not come across well.

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

This discussion illustrates perfectly why “some people say” isn’t necessarily definitive, even if it confirms your own bias. 
The prospective employer should I nterview them both with an open mind, and after that make a decision as to which person will integrate more smoothly into this particular team. 
And if by any wild chance you are one of the other of these two hypotheticals, make your case and learn from the interviews and what you read here.

[DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN]

Personal maturity comes into this a lot. I have a colleague 6 months qualified who came into nursing late. Her maturity and experience of life gives her something over those who are several years qualified and still in their 20s. Nursing skills are far more than what we learn in school or on the job. 

[JKL33]

5 hours ago, Iluvnightshift said:

One of the reasons given was that the experienced RN is "set in her ways" and might be overwhelmed with caring for 4 patients at a time when she is used to caring for 1 patient for eight to twelve hours a day.

Well, the new grad is used to dabbling in the proctored care of a couple of patients until it's time to go to post-conference, which also isn't like the real world.  That "set in her ways" malarkey, based on my direct observation of those making the statements early-on, came from administrators looking to explain their sudden preference for nurses with zero working experience, whom they wanted to hire for their own reasons. Lame.* Keep in mind someone who checks 5Rs faithfully (for example) is also "set in her ways;" so is someone who has a concise and careful routine for examining a patient. Etc.

*Clarification: I'm not saying it's lame to give new nurses more opportunities in acute care (if the system is prepared to orient them properly). That is perfectly fine! It's just that inexperienced nurses seemingly became preferred over experienced nurses for not completely above-board reasons.

The best one for the job is the one most ready to expend effort to learn a whole bunch of new things and has the intellectual capacity to integrate the information and a good attitude about getting from point A to point B.

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

56 minutes ago, JKL33 said:

It's just that inexperienced nurses seemingly became preferred over experienced nurses for not completely above-board reasons.

They’re cheaper and easier to intimidate. 

[guest1171208]

I was the second nurse in the scenario before I got my current position in med surg six months ago. I love med surg btw. My pay is the same as when I worked in PDN,but the benefits are A1! Finally, I do not have to beg for health insurance and sick days! 

When I use to do  interviews at hospitals AND LTC facilities, it seemed to be a red flag that I never worked in a facility. One LTC DON looked at  my resume and application  during our interview, shook her head ,and stated "You do not have experience." She also stated that because I did not have any nursing experience, they could not hire me.

While looking through jobs on Indeed,I see many hospitals have new grad residencies but none for experienced nurses looking to work in acute care. 

[Wuzzie]

4 hours ago, Iluvnightshift said:

I was the second nurse in the scenario before I got my current position in med surg six months ago.

I really wish you had just said that in the first place. You probably would have gotten the same answers and arguably more support but when posters do this the members here kind of feel played.

[amoLucia]

^^^^^ this