Why does this stigma exist in relation to new nurses?

I am really confused by the stigma and negative attitude towards new nurses from experienced nurses as I am a new nurse and just plain do not understand? aren't we all new nurses at one time, so why are "some" nurses (as I do not think it is an all inclusive thing) forgetful that they were once the person whom they reject or whatever they do? I am unclear on the reality of what transpires in reality, I just know what I hear and what I have gone through myself.

I am really curious as what the stigma is all about from real nurses and not just rumors? I have heard that an experienced nurse will refuse to help a new nurse in a situation where the new nurse does not know what to do and the experienced nurse does??? I have been told this but really this actually happens in reality? plus, who is the one who suffers in the end of a situation like that? I have a really hard time believing that nurses would do that to their own, and for what purpose or reason does anyone justify doing something like that? it was clear to me that when I entered the field of nursing that I would always be a teacher once I possessed something to teach because it is a field that is based on a foundation of knowledge in addition to experience that cannot be acquired any other eay than to be taught on a situation basis.

are the experienced nurses tired of teaching new grads or they do not feel that teaching is part of what they signed up for? are there such an abundance of new grads with the shortage that experienced nurses are overwhelmed by the new grads and their needs? I am not a twenty something new young nurse. I am a early thirties starting my career after children new nurse. I can understand from the point of going to nursing school with younger people that it is easy to be rubbed the wrong way by younger people with less life experience, is that the issue?

I can see new nurses in relation to the above statement not acknowledging the proper respect in regard to an experienced nurse, and I can see that as a big problem is this the issue? I know in my clinical experience I had great experiences with nurses that other students had poor experiences with because of the attitude for which they approached their clinicals. I met my nurse at the beginning of clinicals introduced myself and followed them everywhere they went except the bathroom all day long. we were always assigned to just one of the nurses patients, but I never met a nurse that said no to a student observing and helping with all the patients and why would I sit around while I the oppurtunity to learn just because I was only assigned the one patient. I have seen students get totally ignored because they don't act or they just don't put forth any effort. my first goal was to find and learn to do things that would be helpful to the nurse I was working with. I understood that I rank low and I do what is needed to be done and thats that, whatever it may be. I had to be cognizant of the nurse I was working with and their comfort level with me handling whatever I would handle for them. I always did things no other student did, I was trusted with more after time worked with the nurse, and I had really positive experiences and was always the person the other students went to because they didn't know how to do much or work the computer software. I was eager to learn anything I was offered, as the nurses saw my eagerness to learn they began teaching all through the day. one day, I was paired with a nurse that had 30 years of experience. I would have liked to spend a year with her, she was like my own private encyclopedia of secret information. I love to learn new things, anything new and so that drives me too.

I did face complete rejection from a whole er of nurses. our clinical instructor did not know any of the er nurses, so she stood there trying to get "noticed" at the nurses station for more than 20 minutes. even the nurses ignored her. she addressed the nurses working and said she had nursing students, and only one nurse acknowledged her with a so what and turned and walked away. our clinical instructor told us follow some person who did not acknowledge that we even existed as a human being in the world. we stood at the nurses station and when the new nurses arrived we were paired up with another nurse. I tried to plant myself in, but I kept following her as she tried to find places to use her cell phone and she kept exiting the area of er. she was not happy about my stalking her when she was doing what she was. it was the longest day of my life, I cannot do nothing but was forced to. I finally exited the nurses station and learned from the residents, as they were willing to teach me. I felt unbelievably uncomfortable because all of these nurses where aware we were students and refused to even speak to us, to say a simple hello to us. I mean we basically treated lesser than a human being by people that I had such a high regard for before I decided to become one. I felt awful that day truthfully because if this is reality for me, I don't want to be a person that treats people poorly ever. one nurse said she takes the students and set us up with a nurse that found us invisible, so we took one set of vitals and returned to stand at the wall. finally, one nurse acknowledged us that we were assigned to but she just wanted to get rid of us. it was the best day when that day was over.

I also was treated poorly in relation to an interview I want to get some opinions but I am too detailed and my posts are too long. I really just want to understand this and try to make sure I do not do any of the things that have created this stigma most importantly.

my biggest question is, when if ever will I be treated like a deserving human being in the eyes of the nursing world? a nurse told me that she likes new grads (yeah) during an interview and stated that nurses eat their young but I from what I see in relation to how nurses treat one another they are not partial they eat each other too. why are nurses not supportive of our own, and unified as one large force?

this is a real serious question, I just don't get it?

98 Answers

Specializes in Med/Surg.

To answer some of your questions. Yes, some nurses do not like teaching, some of them do not believe it is part of their job description and some of them just suck at it and shouldn't be allowed to teach new nurses. The years of experience truly do not matter. You can be a bad teacher with 30 years of experience and still be a good nurse, but you should not ever be paired with a new grad/student. I truly feel that being able to precept and teach students and new grads/new hires is an honor and privilege and pride my self on having none of my preceptees quit :lol2: That being said, nursing students and new grads need to know that there is a time and place that want teaching and a time/place to observe. A lot of the nurses I find disgruntled with new grads/students is due to them already being overwhelmed and having someone ask a million questions and trying to do procedures but taking 10x as long. This is where it is your instructors job to step in and do the educating/do the procedure with you. If you're getting the cold shoulder from your nurse try something like "I'd really like to be able to help you and do something useful for our patients, is there something I could do with my instructor?" You'd be amazed at how quickly you'll make friends. Or offer to take vitals, update whiteboards, bed baths, etc. While a lot of nursing school seems to be teaching you skills you will get plenty of this on orientation once you are hired, use nursing school to increase your confidence and ability to be comfortable with patients.

Specializes in Ortho/trauma acute care/med surg.

I completely understand how you feel! I worked at a magnet status teaching hospital and even there I seen more experienced nurses treat the nursing students like that! It really made me sad!! The instructors didn't want to ask me to take students because I am a new nurse as well, but I found some students standing in the hall looking lost so I asked if they would assist in a procedure and they gladly accepted, needless to say from that day forward I was asked to take a student. I may not have had a lot of knowledge to share but I did have the respect and professionalism for them and they wanted and needed that. More experienced nurses need to remember they were not born with the knowledge of being a nurse, they too had to go to school and hone their nurturing skills just like the rest of us! I am going to be starting in the ER on September 15th and believe me if I get a chance to have a student I will jump on it! And the day I feel I'm too knowledgable or I don't have the time to mentor a nursing student I'm going to change professions!

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

If that long post is based, from my skimming it, on what you have heard, not what you have actually experienced, I have only one thing to say. Stop propagating generalizations and wait until you have enough experience to speak with authority on the subject yourself. Your questions are redundant and insulting to experienced nurses everywhere.

On the whole you tend to get what you look for in life. If you look for problems, you will have no trouble finding them.

Best of luck to you.

OK... You're right- it's not all nurses. And yes, we've all been new. Some nurses like teaching students better than others- like with anybody and anything- for some, it's just not something they like to do. Others might not mind it, but if a shift is going nuts, they have to shift to being in charge of their patients, and not worry about the students/newbies...hopefully, later, they let the newbie know what was going on. It's ALWAYS about the patients- I don't think new nurses always remember that because they're overwhelmed and need someone helping them (which is understandable- you aren't supposed to know everything - but in a bad situation, the patient comes first).

And, some students and new grads have serious attitudes about knowing SO much that some old hag nurse who was around during the Nixon administration must be too old to be any good (yet she's working STILL and doing the same things as the newbies because she was there when the rep came to show the new equipment- and knows how things used to be, so if something falls apart, they can come up with other solutions :)- and could recite the PDR and A&P textbooks without an "app for that".). Check out some posts here from SOME students, or new nurses- they have ALL of the answers (as if the problems haven't been rolling around for decades- THEY will save nursing....they have no clue; that gets really old).

Refusing to help someone is more likely "not willing to do it FOR them".... some newbies sit back and let anybody else do their work. They haven't learned that work is a verb....it shocks them that the people signing their paychecks expect something from them other than looking at the internet or parked with their phone glued to their head...

Look around this site- there is no shortage. Nurses are not able to find jobs.

Attitude is a LOT- from both sides :)

ER- not a great place for students when they are getting slammed with a lot of critical stuff. They don't have time to deal with a lot of questions when half of the place is coding, or about to, or psychotic, drugged, have family screaming hysterically, bad IV sticks, police, etc !!

Respect is earned. Period. Anywhere. Older nurses are cast aside by the younger ones who can't find the bathroom without a map. It goes both ways... From what I've seen, there is a better appreciation of having nurses orient newbies, who actually want to do it. In the past, newbies were assigned to the nurse who was the strongest clinically, whether or not she/he wanted the job. And it is a job added on to the already busy shift.

Wanna be respected- do your job. Ask questions with some indication you've done some of the legwork and don't expect to be spoon fed information. Don't make it all about you- it's always about the patient :)

And "stalking" anybody is not a good idea....just sayin'

You may get some heated replies to this...it's not necessarily personal- but this comes up a lot (and I haven't been on AN all that long:)). There are a lot of new nurses who think they're done learning- and those are nurses that nobody wants to be associated with. Those are the ones who kill people. Knowing what you don't know goes a long way :)

I hope I can help with understanding this. I used to work at a place where we get our good share of nursing students. Most of the time, they surprise us with the students-- with very little warning from administration or management that we will be teaching a big group. The unit I worked in was very toxic-- high acuity and high patient-nurse ratio. Needless to say, we were not happy with having students there because the job was hard enough to begin with. Having them come and surprise us just makes it worse!

It does not excuse the lack of professionalism. But really, sometimes it's more than just about the nurse to nursing student dynamics or the nurses eating our young.

As a general observation, the hospitals and units where nurses received a lot of support have been welcoming to me when I was a student. I also went on a few interviews where I got to meet nurses & go around units. Crabby nurses had crabby working environments whereas the pleasant and welcoming nurses I've met loved their units!

Hope this helps... :) don't get disheartened. You will meet happy, professional nurses who will want you to excel in our profession.

Specializes in Ortho/trauma acute care/med surg.
If that long post is based, from my skimming it, on what you have heard, not what you have actually experienced, I have only one thing to say. Stop propagating generalizations and wait until you have enough experience to speak with authority on the subject yourself. Your questions are redundant and insulting to experienced nurses everywhere.

On the whole you tend to get what you look for in life. If you look for problems, you will have no trouble finding them.

Best of luck to you.

She stated in there how the ER nurse treated her, so I understand that she has been treated badly as a nursing student. I'm happy you are having a good experience with your clinicals, are you in clinicals yet? I really don't think she meant to insult experienced nurses as I did not either but there are some really mean and arrogant experienced nurses and new nurses as well. I think she just needed to vent. Good luck to you in your studies and I sincerely hope you don't experience the more experienced nurse looking at you like you just asked the craziest question ever!

Specializes in ER,m/S,tele, stepdown.

The attitudes of experienced nurses are so random. It depends on the individual, the unit, and unfortunately a good deal of the times the new nurses age and looks. I have worked in a variety of units and definetly experienced the "eating of the young", but not just from Nurses I used to be mortal enemies with the unit secretary and this Nursing assistant that was there for a long time who dodnt like how I made the beds, and the secretary hated me because of my handwriting. Currently I am in the ER and the staff here are a different breed, for the most part young (40's and under) and we are very accomadating to new staff. I myself go out of my way to make new staff feel wanted and comfortable. I think the whole "eating the young thing" should be a thing of the past. Nursing is very different now and there is no place for that or taking abuse from doctors which doesnt really happen anymore because they get in trouble. I think being male I generally get along with most staff. I have seen women hate other new women just because they are young or attractive which is irritating, but does happen. So in short you can experience this from not just nurses but any disipline who feels they are more experienced than you and it is unfair and annoying but probably happens in all lines of work. You just need to be lucky enough to work with a group of good people. good luck

Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

Sorry, I couldn't read a post that long...but from the first couple paragraphs, I'm getting the impression that experienced nurses don't like helping new nurses.

If you ask for help and they refuse to help you and it results in a poor outcome for the pt, the experienced nurse could be in jeopardy.

You need to present yourself appropriately. You are a guest when you are a student or a new nurse observing and then working with a preceptor. Your experienced nurses priority is her/or his patients.

Most are very happy to share their knowledge when you show a sincere interest in learning the specialty. They look to see if you complete the tasks you are assigned and seek help and assistance for issues you are unsure of.

Today, nurses are under more stress than ever , so if you want respect you need to present with a respectful attitude.

Your experienced nurse will plan your day based on her evaluation of the needs of the patients, not your needs.

If there is something that you need more experience in state that up front.

You many not get the experience that day, but within that week that experience will be allowed if available.

To directly answer the why? about attitude of experience nurses-many nursing students disappear into the woodwork when the action starts.

I could not find my ns when getting a patient ready for preop even after asking another student to find her. She missed a good opportunity for giving preop meds in an emergency situation.

As I wheeled the stretcher down the hall with an intern and the transport aide, there she was near the nursing station, sitting in a wheelchair talking to another student...

After I returned, I asked if the other student went to inform her to report to this patients room she answered she was sitting down because she had finished her am care including this patient.

My response, in nursing things change fast. It's your nursing education.

Some nurses do not enjoy teaching, so ask for a reassignment if you feel it is not a good match..

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

I am not aware that there is any "stigma" and generalized "negative attitude" toward new nurses by experienced nurses. I'll grant you that some experienced nurses have a negative attitude toward some specific newer nurses . . . and usually not without reasons. there are the new nurses who think they know everything and someone who's been around for decades surely cannot know anything. there are new nurses who believe that all they need to do is show up, there are new nurses who seem to believe they should start at the top with every weekend and every holiday off. and there are some wonderful new nurses -- I know both kinds. very few of us seasoned nurses have actually forgotten what it is like to be new, but very few brand new nurses have any idea what it's like to be the experienced nurse suddenly responsible for a bunch of newbies (usually without being asked first or even warned).

the rumor about experienced nurses "not helping" new nurses seems to come mainly from new nurses who feel they should be spoon fed every bit of information they need to know to function on the unit without any effort on their part. that gets old after awhile. if I've told you how to do something three times, shown you where to find the policy or procedure on how to do it, and located an on-line reference for you and you still ask me how to do it, I'm unlikely to view that request favorably. I'm sure you understand.

in my job, there are lots, and lots of newbies, most of them on "the two year plan." they land a job in an ICU, knowing that they're not planning to stay any longer than it takes them to get into anesthesia school. they have no interest in actually being an ICU nurse and no stake in how our unit is managed beyond getting what they want when they want it. there are 7 of them in the last weeks of orientation now, and 9 starting in the next few weeks. that means that 21% of our staff is on orientation right now! less than 20% of our staff has been there longer than five years. when you consider that every newbie has two or three preceptors, that's an awful lot of precepting. some of us have been continually precepting since the clinton era. believe it or not, that gets old.

precepting, if you do it right, is a lot of work. it might take me 7 minutes to dash into my patient's room and do a full assessment and another four minutes or so to chart it. but if I have to teach someone how to do it, it's going to take 3 or 4 times as long. and that's an average. teaching a brand new grad to do a full assessment might take an hour; it may take half an hour to watch an orientee who is nearing the end of her orientation do the assessment, make sure she hasn't missed anything and then make sure she's charted it properly. when you get busy, the patient ultimately comes first, and I'm amazed at how many new grads don't get that. too many of them seem to believe that it's all about their orientation; the patient comes after that.

when I was a new grad -- and I remember it vividly -- new grads had a lot of respect for the experienced bedside nurse. that no longer seems to be true. too many new grads have their eyes on advanced degrees and see the seasoned nurse who is still at the bedside as a failure who has nothing to teach them. I graduated knowing I'd be working nights, weekends and holidays and expecting to pay my dues and accumulate some seniority before I'd get first dibs on the best schedules. too many new grads seem to be expecting to walk right into the hospital and have every weekend and holiday off, never to work night shift and have the managers and preceptors kowtow to their entitled demands. a few have had daddy call the nasty old preceptor or mean old manager and make threats and demands that their special snowflake be given the choice schedules right off the bat. one daddy called the president of the hospital, a golfing buddy of his, and demanded that he instruct our manager to take suzie snowflake off the schedule for the entire month of July because that's when his family was going to "the islands" for "a family vacation." (suzie doesn't work there anymore because daddy called the president of the university and demanded that suzie be given a spot in the anesthesia program after less than 8 months in the ICU, 6 months of which was spent orienting.)

gone is the idea that one has to earn respect. people seem to expect to walk right in off the street and be given the same respect as an experienced nurse who has been working at the bedside for decades and actually knows the job.

gone is the idea of accepting constructive criticism. criticism, no matter how well-intentioned, is viewed as "mean". if I step in to prevent nancy from killing her patient, I'd better do it tactfully and with a soft voice, or I'm going to be written up for "being mean to nancy and making her cry." (somehow it escapes me how the one who cries is always the one "in the right" in those situations. you'd think that learning to communicate with your peers without resorting to tears would be a valued skill.)

the reality is that some preceptors are not great preceptors and some nurses would rather not have to deal with all of the extra work that having a student or a new grad following them around entails. even some wonderful, gifted preceptors go through days when we'd rather not precept. or when we know we have to precept but our minds and hearts aren't in it because we're worried that the coming hurricane will take off our roof or sink our boat, or that our mother who is ill is deteriorating fast or that our husband is losing his job. some students and new nurses seem to take that distraction as being mean to them or treating them as less than a human being. some take anything less than jumping to our feet when they enter a room and expressing our undying gratitude that they've deigned to grace us with their presence as not treating them as a human being.

if you go into a situation looking to be mistreated, eaten or disrespected, you will find mistreatment and disrespect everywhere, whether it actually exists or not. might as well go into it expecting the best -- it increases the liklihood that you'll find it.

the attitudes of experienced nurses are so random. it depends on the individual, the unit, and unfortunately a good deal of the times the new nurses age and looks. i have worked in a variety of units and definetly experienced the "eating of the young", but not just from nurses i used to be mortal enemies with the unit secretary and this nursing assistant that was there for a long time who dodnt like how i made the beds, and the secretary hated me because of my handwriting. currently i am in the er and the staff here are a different breed, for the most part young (40's and under) and we are very accomadating to new staff. i myself go out of my way to make new staff feel wanted and comfortable. i think the whole "eating the young thing" should be a thing of the past. nursing is very different now and there is no place for that or taking abuse from doctors which doesnt really happen anymore because they get in trouble. i think being male i generally get along with most staff. i have seen women hate other new women just because they are young or attractive which is irritating, but does happen. so in short you can experience this from not just nurses but any disipline who feels they are more experienced than you and it is unfair and annoying but probably happens in all lines of work. you just need to be lucky enough to work with a group of good people. good luck

i'll take a traditionally plain looking nurse with good skills over a traditionally pretty one (whatever that is) who has average w/skills; it comes down to who is better at their job, not in the mirror :uhoh3:....

the secretary has to be able to read what you give her- duh... :confused:

you confirmed your "hate the pretty one' theory??? or just your opinions? you could probably get a govt grant to study that, with the nutty things that get subsidized :D

experience matters. as do a lot of things - people skills, education, ability to apply the education, etc.

good grief. and being male makes you easier to get along with??? have any women back that up? :D

wow. :smackingf

I hope I can help with understanding this. I used to work at a place where we get our good share of nursing students. Most of the time, they surprise us with the students-- with very little warning from administration or management that we will be teaching a big group. The unit I worked in was very toxic-- high acuity and high patient-nurse ratio. Needless to say, we were not happy with having students there because the job was hard enough to begin with. Having them come and surprise us just makes it worse!

It does not excuse the lack of professionalism. But really, sometimes it's more than just about the nurse to nursing student dynamics or the nurses eating our young.

As a general observation, the hospitals and units where nurses received a lot of support have been welcoming to me when I was a student. I also went on a few interviews where I got to meet nurses & go around units. Crabby nurses had crabby working environments whereas the pleasant and welcoming nurses I've met loved their units!

Hope this helps... :) don't get disheartened. You will meet happy, professional nurses who will want you to excel in our profession.

A high acuity unit with high ratios is not automatically toxic. A LOT of places run their buts off with crazy sick patients, and because they know and do their jobs and don't drag in personal drama, it's not toxic. Toxic does not mean "busy".

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