Wow, you new nurses !

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Is it just me , or does it seem that soooo many new nurses are posting questions about being stressed and overworked ? I understand that nursing is a stressful job but my goodness. I'm not complaining about them I'm just concerned about why their stress level seems to be to the point many of them want to leave nursing. Is it that they are not getting the proper training for what the job entails.(4 year and 2 year) I know that the nurses I precept come to the unit with little experience with pt care. It seems the little things stress them out because they have never done them. Therefore, somehting like a critical pt, completley discombobulates them. Many times they can't get past a simple procedure let alone critical thinking. I've done ER /ICU/OHRU for almost 30 years now. I'm " Old", and many days I feel busy and overworked but, I can still keep up with the best of them. Nursing is no more stressful now than it was in the 80's. Sometimes I just want to say , put your " I'm a nurse now, panties on" , stop whining and start learning.:cool: If you didn't learn it before you got to the hospital, you need to learn it sometime.

I am not a new nurse, but I know what you are experiencing. I left med-surg to go into Psy. nursing which is a lot easier, but the orientation period was ****-poor. Our nurse manager was not really a manager, name in only. I really think management has an "I don't care attitude". I was told I would learn it, and that was it. POOR POOR MANAGEMENT. Sometimes I think nurses and nurse managers want to just glide their way through effortlessly. It doesn't work that way.

I think one of the problems is that, with the nurse shortage, new nurses are taking positions that should be reserved for more experienced nurses such as ER and ICU. No wonder they are stressed!!!

I remember when I started nursing 6 years ago I was very stressed because it was a new career for me. It has since lessened in the stress level for me. however, nursing as a whole is a stressful career. I don't think it is wise to "eat our young" over this issue...they need time to learn as well. And nursing is busy and a lot of the nurses get very little (or no) orientation nowdays. If you don't feel the stress in stressful situations maybe you have hardened a little too much or your compassion has waned.

There are good and bad aspects to new nurses going into ICU and ED right from school. During the orientation process as they begin to relax you get the feel if they are going to become the nurse you want. Taking them right from school, there is no baggage to wade through and have them relearn correct behaviors. Taking those with experience there is many times so much baggage you almost wish they hadn't been hired.

The one's that have come to my unit are "experienced" nurses, and the absolute worst thing you can say is; "where I come from..." I'm sorry if where you came from was soooo great, why did you leave? I have even asked them that question without an answer usually. We have 2 new ones in the past 3 months: 1 thinks they know it all and doesn't ask appropriate questions until it is too late; the other one is very confrontational to several staff members but didn't come from an ICU...so really doesn't know what he/she is talking about.:banghead: I think the best way to decrease the stress level of the newbees is to have appropriate preceptors, many times new nurses are given preceptors that could care less or have no clue what they are doing. I also think preceptors and those thinking about being preceptors should have a class so that they know the appropriate way to help the new nurse. When I precept I ask/take the interesting pts so that my new nurse can see as much, and care for the most variety of pts. I also send my orientee in to see other procedures on pts that we don't have. I let the orientee know that when the dr comes in and they haven't seen/done a procedure to tell the dr and then the doc goes into "teach mode" so that the nurse will be more comfortable when the doc comes in and does the procedure again. Everything I can do to help the new nurse decrease their stress, unfortunately not everyone does that:(

Specializes in ED.

I like to tell new nurses to keep in mind that not only our they learning the floor they work on, but also learning how to be a nurse. Remember, passing the boards only means you are minimally competent. It takes at least a year to really feel comfortable with what you are doing. It is important for seasoned nurses to remember that also. On my unit, you really aren't expected to be completely proficient for the first year. We encourage the asking of questions and there is always a resource person available. Nobody knows everything.

I am a new graduate and totally agree with your point of view. The older nurses had the opportunity to ease into it gradually. Today you are expected to know it all in a short 3 week orientation. Clinical time in school is limited and not a true preparation for the "real nursing world". Nurses - Stop eating your young and start nurturing them.

New nurses don't have the luxury of picking any job they want, especially since since employers want experience, but don't want to train newbees. The fact is that orientation is short and nurses eat their young. That was the first message taught to us in school.

On my unit, you really aren't expected to be completely proficient for the first year.

And yet, when it comes to staffing, the new nurse and experienced nurse receive equal weighting. I think it's unfair to both.

In fields where the same people work together all of the time, the group will adjust to the various strengths of weaknesses of the members. But since most acute care nurses have variable shifts, they may not have the opportunity to anticipate and adapt to the differences of their colleagues. Each shift is just about getting through it and not allowing your colleagues' deficeits to trip you up too much. Newbies, of course, often create lots of extra problems for the experienced staff, and so it's understandable (though sad) that many (not all) experienced staff end up being short with and unwelcoming to newbies.

The fact is that orientation is short and nurses eat their young. That was the first message taught to us in school.

You mean they didn't tell you not to worry that you'd never started an IV or handled more than 3 patients at a time because the hospital would provide you with extensive orientation and that your colleagues will respect you for asking lots of questions and being very careful (=slow) as a newbie?

I graduated from nursing school in May 2008. We were prepped so well for the potential workload that I knew what I was getting into. Yes, it's a stressful job but be thankful that you have one. There are many new nurses that are having trouble even getting into a position in the acute care setting.

There are so many jobs out there that nurses can get into. If you don't like the hospital setting then consider moving on to another area of nursing and let other nurses in who want to be there. :nurse:

Specializes in psychiatric, UR analyst, fraud, DME,MedB.
Oh I also forgot to mention the one truth that will never change: there is no perfect working environment.

:bowingpur Amen to that! Not just in hospitals but also in other places such as offices or whatever. It has something to do as to who is running the place , what are their priorities, their virtues or morals and of course the politics...........is everywhere. If only people just drop this other things of the above , the production scale will definetely go up...this pettines is never productive. Most of our company run by these petty terms, do not last long or do not attract good workers. there are a lot of good hospitals , shop around , compare the turn overs and the retention numbers......this is the hospitals true report card. The money and other promises do not mean a thing , these are just advertisements .:smokin:

Specializes in psychiatric, UR analyst, fraud, DME,MedB.
I think one of the problems is that, with the nurse shortage, new nurses are taking positions that should be reserved for more experienced nurses such as ER and ICU. No wonder they are stressed!!!

:rolleyes:What kind of a hospital would hire a nurse to do an ER or ICU specialty without any training? No nurse should be desperate enough to take a position that they are not trained for? I would definitely be very careful of hospitals to do this just to satisfy staffing..............run far away from this hospital...they will lose their creditation and your license as well !

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