Why do some nurse's act like they have just ate some sour grapes?

Nurses General Nursing

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I am a nursing student and have noticed that some of the nurses look like they just ate sour grapes. Do they really hate their jobs to the point they look sour or are they just that stressed out? :confused:

Specializes in Operating Room.
I can understand the overall frustration when students post things like this, but this attitude is basically just as bad as the OP getting upset over facial expressions though. What ever happened to judging people on an individual basis? :idea: Another bright idea would be for everyone (from students to techs to nurses and docs) to just go to work and get their work done with a degree of civility and competency and not worry about the inter-unit BS. But that would make too much sense.

That would be wonderful if we could go to work and try to get our jobs done in a civil manner. I think the point of most people here is you can't really have a clue of how stressful nursing can be until you have that license of your own and don't have the luxury of making mistakes under someone else's. I'm not advocating widescale verbal abuse of nursing students, but the OP really just mentioned subjective perceptions of behavior. When you add that post to what most of us go through on a DAILY basis, people may get a little upset. And it's easy to say not to worry about "inter-unit BS" but that sort of stuff can wear on you..I just think it's easier to grasp once you are in those shoes. Give it a year or two and you'll see what we mean. Just my 2 cents...Hey, just noticed, where did the OP go? I think maybe we scared her away!!LOL-didn't mean to do that! Come back..really despite our hard edges, we mean well!

That would be wonderful if we could go to work and try to get our jobs done in a civil manner. I think the point of most people here is you can't really have a clue of how stressful nursing can be until you have that license of your own and don't have the luxury of making mistakes under someone else's. I'm not advocating widescale verbal abuse of nursing students, but the OP really just mentioned subjective perceptions of behavior. When you add that post to what most of us go through on a DAILY basis, people may get a little upset. And it's easy to say not to worry about "inter-unit BS" but that sort of stuff can wear on you..I just think it's easier to grasp once you are in those shoes. Give it a year or two and you'll see what we mean. Just my 2 cents...Hey, just noticed, where did the OP go? I think maybe we scared her away!!LOL-didn't mean to do that! Come back..really despite our hard edges, we mean well!

Again though I can understand the frustration of a stressful work enviornment, I personally as a student wouldn't have posted this thread, but just like the nurses don't like being judged by the students, don't paint us all with the same brush and refuse to interact with us. Not all students have jumped on the nurses eat their young/they're so mean bandwagon. Everyone is an individual. That's all I 'm saying.

Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.
I've been a nurse just about a year and already I know that you really can't win, especially when dealing with hospital administration. You're either callous or too emotionally involved, too new and enthusiastic, too old and burnt out, too cheerful, too cranky, ask too many questions, don't ask enough questions etc etc etc...you're basically at the whims of whatever sociopathic, maladjusted, paper pushing nitwit is around that day. Add to that patients(and doctors) who may not be the most stable people emotionally, and you get no support from your "higher-ups" when dealing with this stuff. I show compassion to my patients and they to me are the most important people there...but I'll be damned if I'm going to prance around with a fake smile glued to my face so I can win the "nursing student popularity award". Sorry, this sounds harsh-but maybe the OP would have been better off posting this on the student boards..trust me, I had no clue until after I started work as an RN. Despite all the nonsense we are expected to tolerate, I am still proud to be a nurse...and I think the profession NEEDS us to speak out despite how "grouchy" we appear to be. Saw this on someone else's sig but "well behaved women(and men!;) ) rarely make history." OK, rant over...I'm late for my Sour Grape Face Nurses support group.

Amen sister. I'll see you there!

Specializes in High Risk In Patient OB/GYN.
Actually, you can't as a coworker, either.

"Yo, what's with the bug up your butt today?"

Nah.

;)

Really? I've been called on bringing my attitude to work (politely) and it brought me back to where I was supposed to be--I hadn't realized that I was coming off that way.

Likewise, I've called people on theirs.

Sometimes they adjust it, sometimes not. That's on them.

Specializes in ED, ICU, Heme/Onc.
Again though I can understand the frustration of a stressful work enviornment, I personally as a student wouldn't have posted this thread, but just like the nurses don't like being judged by the students, don't paint us all with the same brush and refuse to interact with us. Not all students have jumped on the nurses eat their young/they're so mean bandwagon. Everyone is an individual. That's all I 'm saying.

For the most part, I've had positive experiences with students. I accept it as a given that my practice is up for discussion at post conference when I take a student on (or a student chooses a patient on my assignment), since I did the same thing as a student. I just hope that the critique remains professional, as my behavior is during the course of my shift. From the interactions with my coworkers, managment, patients and students, I do my best to behave as the professional I have grown to become.

I think that the idea of being picked apart in action and personality in post conference makes some of us shy away from student interaction.

Blee

Really? I've been called on bringing my attitude to work (politely) and it brought me back to where I was supposed to be--I hadn't realized that I was coming off that way.

Likewise, I've called people on theirs.

Sometimes they adjust it, sometimes not. That's on them.

Kell,

Humor alert. I was kidding.

Specializes in High Risk In Patient OB/GYN.
Kell,

Humor alert. I was kidding.

Okay. :) I wasn't being argumentive (if you think I was, you can call me on it jk;) ). I do know people who think it's inappropriate to ask people stuff like that.

Actually, I'm lucky with my (night) coworkers, I would get away with wording it that way too "what's with the bug up your butt?" lol. If I tried that with day shift, I'd probably get a look that'd turn me to stone!

I can understand the overall frustration when students post things like this, but this attitude is basically just as bad as the OP getting upset over facial expressions though. What ever happened to judging people on an individual basis? :idea: Another bright idea would be for everyone (from students to techs to nurses and docs) to just go to work and get their work done with a degree of civility and competency and not worry about the inter-unit BS. But that would make too much sense.

Over the last year, the students we have had have been so bad that I just do not have the patience for it anymore. I used to enjoy precepting and teaching. I did it for a long time. But now we are being judged for the most picayune things. And I don't have the time to worry about how good my smile looks, to be honest. I am pleasant to people, but there are days when yes, the stress does get to me and I don't smile as much as a student might think I should.

This was an example of the sort of "last straw" stressor that lead me to stop taking on students. It doesn't mean I judged the whole group based on that coment. But I did hear those sorts of judgemental comments coming from brand new students who had no clue; the same ones who came to clincial ill-prepared to work with patients then wondered why we were frustrated with them.

Hopefully they will mature and learn that nursing is a lot more than plastering on a cheerful visage for the benefit of passersby.

Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
She smiles at everyone, is consistently cheerful, and actually takes the moments to introduce ME, the student, to all her patients. Many of the nurses on this floor are SO professional that they smile often, even at me, the student. I saw them working in a rapid response and I've never seen such calm and reserve during a crisis. Most of them have been nurses for over 20 years and probably just have their jobs down so well, they have time to smile.

I've worked with a few nurses like that.

Interestingly, two of them got busted on drug tests, one was murdered by his abusive boyfriend. But the saddest was the one that went home after a shift....and blew her brains out with a gun. Another died suddenly...best intel was a deliberate OD, but not confirmed.

Which goes to show you that appearances mean little. Those smiles often hide A LOT of scary damage.

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My question to the OP is:

Why do some students look like THEY ate sour grapes? Or doctors? Or lawyers? Or telephone operators?

The answer is because they DO. It's called LIFE!

The question is not WHAT people look like, the question is how good a coworker they are. Not necessarily that they are the best IV stick, or the smartest person or the sweetest person. They have to be a balance of all of those things to be a good coworker.

I also trust my coworkers more when they DO occasionally vent - not continually whine, but vent in a reasonable way. The perpetual "MarySunshines" often have the more problematic behaviors and when they "break", it is ugly.

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As an oncology/hemo nurse, most of my patients have serious diagnoses. Some want me to smile, some want me cry, some want me to look serious. Like room temperature, it is all relative.

When I was in nursing school one thing some of my classmates did that was soooo annoying was pick apart everything they saw the nurses doing. They would come back from clinicals talking about how that nurse didn't wash her hands when she left out of that patient's room! and that nurse dropped a pill on the bedside table and PICKED IT UP AND GAVE IT TO THE PATIENT ANYWAY! and on and on and on. Yes, the nurses had a reputation for having "attutudes" but even as a student I understood why.

I work a job now where I don't have to worry about student's breathing down my neck but if I ever do have to go to a hospital job when I see nursing students I will run the other way.

Why do some students look like THEY ate sour grapes? Or doctors? Or lawyers? Or telephone operators?

The answer is because they DO. It's called LIFE!

The question is not WHAT people look like, the question is how good a coworker they are. Not necessarily that they are the best IV stick, or the smartest person or the sweetest person. They have to be a balance of all of those things to be a good coworker.

I also trust my coworkers more when they DO occasionally vent - not continually whine, but vent in a reasonable way. The perpetual "MarySunshines" often have the more problematic behaviors and when they "break", it is ugly.

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:trout: To the student that orignally started this post--

:uhoh3: Just wait, dear, you TOO will have that look of "Oh my Gawd-- What have I done now", the "sour-grape" face. My moma said that if I continue to frown my face will stick that way:madface: . Would you rather that, or :eek: this?

We try, really we do, but this is also caled NURSING.

And caroladybelle, you and I would work well together- if you don't vent occasionally :banghead: , you will blow up on day!

's RN

For the most part, I've had positive experiences with students. I accept it as a given that my practice is up for discussion at post conference when I take a student on (or a student chooses a patient on my assignment), since I did the same thing as a student. I just hope that the critique remains professional, as my behavior is during the course of my shift. From the interactions with my coworkers, managment, patients and students, I do my best to behave as the professional I have grown to become.

I think that the idea of being picked apart in action and personality in post conference makes some of us shy away from student interaction.

Blee

This is definitely something that happens. Some people are complainers by nature and some like to play the "oh my god I can't believe that nurse did _____, I'll NEVER do that" game. Now me personally, i am the one silently willing everybody to pipe down so we can go home on time. (I mean seriously, unless we are learning something, I want to go home and take a nap or get some work done rather than complain for an hour). I take the line that I may want to work on one of the units that I had clinical on, so I try to make a good impression and establish a good rapport with the staff. Students who don't do that aren't looking at the big picture and honestly I hae met very few truly nasty, horrible people so i go in with a positive attitude and hope for the best, if people aren't that friendly, oh well. I'm there to learn and work and get to go home to my family at the end of the day so I try not to let it get to me too much. I have to say that I have only had 2 nurses who were truly awful to me out of maybe 30. Not a bad ratio!

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