Why is it... (nurses constantly throw jabs at physicans)

leslie :-D · Jun 4, 2004

What I always find fascinating are stagnant, crisped out nurses who like to state:"Go be a nurse for [insert # of qualifying years here - totally subjective] and THEN see if your attitude is the same" ie: you'll become bitter, old, cranky, rude and unprofessional like me.
God, I hope not.
Being realistic means we must do what we can amidst chaos which is not caused by us...this is the reality of nursing today. If a nurse is bitter, cranky...well perhaps they are having a bad day/month/year/life...stop personalizing so much is my advice. It's their problem.
Personally I am past the point of needing to compete with others, thank God. I try to stay away (as much as possible) from these types as they are an energy drain. We are responsibile for our happiness and success...those around us owe us precious little.
Mature people don't feel the need to critique and compete; and to me that is what the OP was doing. Thus the responses from real nurses.. who tire of being critiqued particularly by those who haven't walked a mile in our duty shoes.
It's amazing to ME how judgmental so many new grads intitially; are and how quickly they learn how different 'real world' nursing is and how poorly their school prepared them.
Good luck to all students and new grads: but remember your attitudes translate to your seasoned coworkers too. A little understanding of our shared human condition goes a long way in nursing.
clap clap clap applause, applause and big standing ovation.

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Jun 4, 2004

What I always find fascinating are stagnant, crisped out nurses who like to state:"Go be a nurse for [insert # of qualifying years here - totally subjective] and THEN see if your attitude is the same" ie: you'll become bitter, old, cranky, rude and unprofessional like me.
God, I hope not.
Being realistic means we must do what we can amidst chaos which is not caused by us...this is the reality of nursing today. If a nurse is bitter, cranky...well perhaps they are having a bad day/month/year/life...stop personalizing so much is my advice. It's their problem after all; don't take it on.
Personally I am past the point of needing to compete with others, thank God. I try to stay away (as much as possible) from these types as they are an energy drain. We are ultimately responsibile for our happiness and success...those around us owe us precious little.
Mature people don't feel such a need to critique and compete; and to me that is what the OP was doing. Thus the responses from real nurses; those who tire of being critiqued particularly by those who haven't walked a mile in our duty shoes.
It's amazing to ME how judgmental so many new grads are intitially; but how quickly they learn how different 'real world' nursing is and how poorly their school prepared them.
Good luck to all students and new grads: but remember YOUR attitudes translate to your seasoned coworkers too. A little understanding of our shared human condition goes a long way in nursing, where there are mostly good people trying their best in my experience.
Excellent Post. I agree with you completely.And the old cranks were the ones I was referring to earlier. (The ones who are there only to collect their paychecks. I've met some of them when I was in the hospital. In fact, one of em nearly caused me some serious permanent brain injury by taking on her own to decrease my oxygen flow by a litre each time she entered the room. When I woke up I was incapable of reading writing, or even understanding anything. When my doctor asked me why I didn't tell him I had an episode during the night, I didn't remember I had one. I had just been taken to the acute care floor from the CCU the day earlier. I had been on a ventilator for 3 weeks. It wasn't long after my doc left that my oxygen was turned back up tp 7.5 litres, and I remained on it for the next two weeks.