As current times have shown, we're short staffed. Administration wants to make money. So cuts are made to equipment and man power. Who has your back? Who can you rely on? Your fellow nurses? I'm not so sure anymore. Why do we as nurses eat our own when we should be teaching them and guarding them as our own. The fact is as we age our young nurses are going to be taking care of us, but there are those all too eager beavers who will in fact burn you. This is my experience.
This is my own personal experience as to why nurses eat their own? I have been in nursing for 20+ years. I've watched a lot of nurses come and go and some trying to move up that corporate food chain leaving a path of destruction a mile wide in their path. It's a very sad thing to have witnessed nursing go from a caring environment to a volatile, stressful, "me" environment.
I personally have never thrown anyone under the bus but I have been thrown under the bus by a nurse trying to move up. I was shocked, not to be naive but how callus and calculating this nurse had become in such a short period of time. She was a new grad. I took her under my wing, taught her in a specialty area just to be told shortly thereafter that there were going to be cuts in this area, and I was one of the people being cut along with approximately 20 more nurses. I then found out that my underling I had taught was at the helm of helping administration make these cuts based on who had been there longest, made the most per hour and new grads or new hires would be cheaper. So it was done and my underling moved up to an office of ease while the rest of us were dispersed throughout the facility or some even let go destroying lives and careers.
Once moved to another area of the facility I witnessed a male nurse dating several other female nurses turning them against each other and ending up dating a charge nurse that was best friends with the manager of that department, so they were allowed to cuddle up at the nurses' station and pretty much did nothing else other than sneak outside. Yes all of this was reported by others than myself, however administration didn't care, bottom line was man hours not pt care.
I've since left that facility after many years. I am now at a new facility and have already picked up on the "eager" young nurses more than willing to talk behind other nurses' backs. This is disappointing. The nursing school and instructors of old that I had the privilege of going to and being taught by would be appalled and would not have tolerated for one moment. Is loyalty, character and earning your title without harming something taught in nursing schools? Should certain psychiatric characters be red flags for school administrators be implemented to prevent cannibalism within nursing?
I feel as if those great women who pioneered nursing to care for the sick, indigent and wounded would be so saddened by the "General Hospital", "Grays Anatomy"; "high school acting" nurses of today. On that note I don't want to diminish the fact that nurses have to be go-getters, usually type A, hungry for knowledge; however there's a professional line where we should have each other's back.
Nurses go to college to achieve a degree of higher learning along with all the nursing classes. You're professionals, intellectuals. Would you compromise your name, integrity and reputation for a easier schedule, a desk job, an office? All you have to do is help relocate or terminate 20 to 25 fellow nurses?
I am curious to the opinions of others, so please post. BTW this underling was moved back down the food chain and eventually out the door and with no friends or references to rely on now.
Before going down this road ask yourself. Why did I become a nurse? To help others who need it or to eat my young? If you answer or turn into the later, I fear you may be in the wrong profession...
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
You don't understand because you have no work experience as a nurse. So I can't really take your POV so seriously. Get some years as a practiced nurse under your belt and get back to us.
milesims said:
I don't understand how somebody can unethically "climb" over somebody, whether or not they mentored them. Unless, of course, they killed everyone that stood in their way, brought down competition's reputations, threatened their families, and slept with everyone to get there. You know, like they do in the movies.
If management hires them over you for lower pay, how is that their fault? If management thought they were better for the job and they tried really hard to "grab that promotion from you," how is that their fault again? Just because you mentored them, they should perform worse and not aim high in order for you to get above?
There is a lot of hypocrisy. It isn't unethical to aim high and take a promotion, and the very people who complain about this would do the same in a heartbeat.
Wow. I find it ironic that the posts with the nastiest tones are the ones decrying incivilty.
Is it because it's an election year? Is that why posters think it's OK to be nasty to each other? Or did this one make it onto Facebook?
I am sick of this self perpetuating situation. Stop treating each other like dirt. Stop "retaliating" for what you imagine is happening to you.
Get some perspective and focus on how you can help other people instead of how you've been slighted.
BTW - why does TMZ pop up every time I like a post? Now AN is turning into one of those clickbait sites, too? Next thing you know, each reply will be its own page and there will be links for hot Internet girls and ID theft sites everywhere.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
SOOOO based on this ONE woman, all "older" women are to be judged? For every sweet, pretty, young, attractive nurse I can find you an "old bat" who is better, more experienced and well-versed who is getting passed up, judged, unappreciated every day. Nursing is not unique. There was a LOT LOT LOT of young eating in the military, trust me. I did 10 years and saw it all the time. It's what you make of it that determines your success. Generalizations and whining get no one any place. Showing up, being honest, working hard and respecting people at face value will get you EVERYPLACE. That I know.
holisticallyminded said:
As nurses, we size people up every day (and have to) just as all humans do. Some of us are better than others at reading people, but we all come in to every interaction with personal bias and ideas of what makes a good nurse. We size others up within minutes and react according to our personal code of conduct.
Older nurses often feel threatened by younger nurses but I have also seen negative reactions based on the need to constantly "train" someone without having enough senior/experienced nurses to rely on when things get tough. This makes for some pretty negative attitude.........and can you honestly blame these folks? If you've never experienced being the only person who had worked as a nurse longer than a year (I'm at 7, and this has happened to me MANY times), you won't know what I mean. But does this excuse behavior? No, absolutely not.
As far as feeling threatened, there are many reasons for this. Aging nurses may just feel the aging process every time they look at younger folks (with more energy and positivism) coming in. Or as their pay scales max out, they may wonder how much the newbies are coming in at. They may just be plain tired (time to retire and I have met many nurses who simply can't afford that option and hold a grudge).
Then there's this story that I witnessed years ago when I did something else in healthcare:
I was working in an office with 4 women of varying ages (I was in the middle in my late 20s/early 30s). We were interviewing for a relief position. A young woman came in, cute as a button with a WONDERFUL personality, fully qualified for the position. All of us LOVED her. Except one. The oldest woman in our group had been going through a divorce, attempting to lose weight, battling depression and had a damn bad attitude (possibly menopausal to boot). As the interview proceeded, she was very flat affect and appeared angrier than usual. After the interview, we all chatted about the candidate. When this woman was asked what she thought, she initially couldn't respond, uttered something about her age and newness that the rest of us liked (she was just so damned enthusiastic- I wanted her on the spot), and finally came out with the fact that.........she was PRETTY. Yes, this bothered the woman intensely. And of course this was discussed behind her back later.........
The woman wasn't hired. Can you believe it? We got a heavy set girl instead. I'm not kidding.
And having been on other interview panels, I can tell you that things absolutely DO go this way sometimes. So what happens when you don't choose the candidates and you have to train attractive, new, young people with bright futures? Some people in ANY field hold this in and let it out in very mysterious ways.
I decided, after getting into the nursing program at Chaffey college, and seeing the kind of drama I would have to deal with in a predominantly female job, that I wasn't going to put up with it. So I decided to do something else. My first profession was law enforcement, and I personally think that keeping my head on a swivel to keep from getting shot is far less stressful that putting up with a bunch of snippy women who back stab their own to move up the ladder.
The OP's post was a description of a type of NETY, so the title is only a bit generalized. IMHO, nurses eat their young because we are an abused profession. We are told what to do by administrators, families, doctors, etc., and told what we should be able to do and with how little. Abused children frequently grow up to be abusers. Experienced nurses frequently say abusive comments to newer nurses, implying that the new nurse will never be "as good as" the experienced one. The cycle needs to stop.
What frightens me about your view is that this might be used as an excuse; ...not my fault, I was abused. How many times have we heard this from people charged with a crime? By using as an excuse, what I mean is if they bully (abuse) others (nurses, patients, etc.), they either justify it in their own minds (continue to do it), as a defense if they get caught doing it, or as reason NOT to report it if they witness it.
SmilingBluEyes said:
You don't understand because you have no work experience as a nurse. So I can't really take your POV so seriously.
milesims,
The only explanation that I can see for this line of thinking is the union mentality where seniority is more important than qualification. Nurses are one profession that still has a strong union presence.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Military is/was always predominantly male. The backbiting, cat calling, disrespect shown by the males toward female servicemembers was unreal. It happens in many places.
I just chose not to cave to it all. I was honest, respectful, kept my ears open and mouth shut in the beginning. Then I went about showing them my worth. It was a great career, but only a few years. Got out to raise the kids and go back to school....
I have been a waitress, hostess, cashier and military. I saw people "eating" each other in all those areas. Esp. being a waitress. Talk about cattiness. It's all over. I just have always chosen to rise above it and prove my mettle and get past it all. Worked for me.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Wrong. This line of thinking comes from simply years of work and life experience. I am not even in a union position, so you don't know my situation at all. But go on and believe what you want. It gets you nowhere to write it off as "union" mentality. For me, it's ridiculous to make generalizations and statements about a career in which a person has zero experience.
banterings said:
What frightens me about your view is that this might be used as an excuse; ...not my fault, I was abused. How many times have we heard this from people charged with a crime? By using as an excuse, what I mean is if they bully (abuse) others (nurses, patients, etc.), they either justify it in their own minds (continue to do it), as a defense if they get caught doing it, or as reason NOT to report it if they witness it.
milesims,
The only explanation that I can see for this line of thinking is the union mentality where seniority is more important than qualification. Nurses are one profession that still has a strong union presence.
A friend of mine is a police officer and she describes some of the most horrible hazing and cattiness I've ever heard of no matter what the gender. But I think she'd look at you weird if you suggested that Police Eat Their Young.
Like I said before, people are people no matter where you go, there are friendly and unfriendly co-workers and it doesn't do our profession any good at all by insisting that our PITA colleagues are worse than another profession's PITA colleagues! I'm a little embarrassed at the level of complaining I'm seeing from people who seem to really believe that nursing is the one place where this kind of thing is a reality, has no one ever worked in any other field before???
Ah Yes!!! The company's bottom line, and the co-worker politics. Been a nurse for 40 yrs and it has just gotten much worse. The competition for positions and shifts are immense and some will do anything possible to get to the head of the line. I now work in a clinic that accepts a prestigious university's nurse practitioner students and what I see is horrible. Even the students 'back bite' one another for the best rotations and clinical site. I refuse to get in the middle of the squabbles nor comment on other students clinical skills. What I am seeing is nursing programs are so focused on the courses and ATI scores, that the clinical skills have gone out the window. Sims labs are great for practicing skills such as IV lines, Pumps, Pics, etc but they do not provide the needed interaction between the patient and the student. Some students do great when in the lab, but throw in a patient that talks to them during a 'practiced' procedure and they lose all train of thought. Also facilities now want nurses to work 12 hr shifts. Young nurses may have more stamina but may lack the essential skills and background to problem solve in a situation. By the time I work with these NP students, they have already passed NCLEX but common sense is sorely lacking. I would be terrified to have some of them take care of me!!!!
I also think that today's society has changed drastically and it is all about taking care of 'yourself' and leaving whoever behind. Helping others is few and far between. If you help another student, they might get a better job review, a better grade, etc and it would leave you out of getting the job or lower in the class rank.
So I wish the young nurses luck. Don't stoop to the back biting etc. Try and treat others with kindness 'just watch your back and what you say. And always document what you do and don't be afraid to write comments on your performance review. Remember, it is part of your permanent record.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
There was, once upon a time, the notion that NPs had years of actual nursing experience. Those in the military were top-shelf. Nowadays, not so much. Sad. I always had such respect for all NPs at one time. Still some good ones around. But they are getting fewer. The schools, now, are laughing all the way to the bank. No one wins, especially the patients.
Graduate nursing degrees definitely have a cheapened feeling to them. It seems like every nurse who is a single mother out there is in grad school "getting her APRN" as they so crudely state. Do they just give away diplomas these days?
By the way, the fact that there are fully online NP schools was shocking to me. Only in nursing... there's no online med/pharmacy/PA school. Those professions still have respect for themselves.
I know I know this person is back LOL but i have to add my two cents here. When I was working on a graduate degree a pseudo mentor/ friend of mine who is a CEO of a large HCO told me something that literally changed my view/role in nursing. He said "I love nursing" I was sensing sarcasm so i asked him to elaborate, he said "when i am sitting in a meeting dealing with budgetary issues regarding our HCO, and cuts need to be made, nursing leadership immediately volunteers to kill their staff." He detailed the often detrimental and knee jerk decisions the nursing leadership would make to appease their HCO, and how easily he could freeze pay and eliminate raises for nursing staff altogether with little or no fuss. Essentially we nurses created a self-fulfilling pattern of shooting our selves in the foot. So a young nurse sees a toxic culture from the top down, and then she/he is underpaid, uses pto to cover low census, and works with bitter experienced nurses who have taken it on the chin for twenty years. Yeah thats why we are *******s, we are unwilling to be professionals who back each other, its easier to be mean and like a lemming walk off the cliff...Cheers:)
SmilingBluEyes
20,964 Posts
You don't understand because you have no work experience as a nurse. So I can't really take your POV so seriously. Get some years as a practiced nurse under your belt and get back to us.