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. If you didn't learn it before you got to the hospital, you need to learn it sometime.
You can go back and forth all day about who has or had it worse, but it all comes down to all new jobs are stressful. It is all in how the person handles the stress. Some people whine, yell, get depressed, sleeps too much or not enough, well you get my point. Nursing students where trained differently 30 years ago, but it was a different ball game 30 years ago.
Now the schools are more concerned about whether or not their students can pass the NCLEX. They do not give a flip whether the new grads are prepared for the "real world nursing". When I was in nursing school I worked night shift at a local hospital and when things were quiet I would talk to some of the "old" diploma nurses. We would compare how nursing school was then to how it is now. I came to the conclusion that the nursing schools were more concerned then with putting out compatant nurses. That was their number one goal. I am sure not all nursing schools were that way then, but the nurses I talked to had very good clinical training and could "hit the floor runnning". Now it seems that the hospitals have to give that final bit of training that the nursing student would get in the clinicals of old.
On a final note, I think pts and families are more sue happy than in the past. At least you hear more about it than in the past. When I got out of nursing school I lived in fear of someone sueing me or losing my lincense.
By the way, I am not whinning at this time. I am only stating the facts.
I love new nurses. I learn so much from them. I expect respect and I will get it. In return I give respect. But new nurses know to not whine to me. In the past we dealt with whining in a different way. Not better, different. Don't believe it, read the article I wrote this month. We learned to laugh rather than fuss continuously. I agree there are big nurse panties available, put them on.
:yeah:I love your attitude and I would love to meet more people like this. i just couldnt agree more
You can go back and forth all day about who has or had it worse, but it all comes down to all new jobs are stressful. It is all in how the person handles the stress. Some people whine, yell, get depressed, sleeps too much or not enough, well you get my point. Nursing students where trained differently 30 years ago, but it was a different ball game 30 years ago.
Now the schools are more concerned about whether or not their students can pass the NCLEX. They do not give a flip whether the new grads are prepared for the "real world nursing". When I was in nursing school I worked night shift at a local hospital and when things were quiet I would talk to some of the "old" diploma nurses. We would compare how nursing school was then to how it is now. I came to the conclusion that the nursing schools were more concerned then with putting out compatant nurses. That was their number one goal. I am sure not all nursing schools were that way then, but the nurses I talked to had very good clinical training and could "hit the floor runnning". Now it seems that the hospitals have to give that final bit of training that the nursing student would get in the clinicals of old.
On a final note, I think pts and families are more sue happy than in the past. At least you hear more about it than in the past. When I got out of nursing school I lived in fear of someone sueing me or losing my lincense.
By the way, I am not whinning at this time. I am only stating the facts.
I do not think you are whining I think you have stated some good facts and IO agree we hit the floor running. it was my generation who said Enough is enough and we have to change the way student nurses are trained. However this is turned out soem of it good some of it bad-students are now no longer used as CNA's or aides they actually get some education and are free to view tests and procedures without fear of returning to the floor and picking up where they left off because nobody would have done their work whilst they were gone. What we have lost however is the nurses who do have some amount of knowledge how to actually look after a pt but they are good at explaining tests
are more concerned about whether or not their students can pass the nclex """"""
.....yup....i hear ya there.....while at school thats all i heard from the instructors,how hard the nclex was...how they have to teach to past the nclex,how they have to maintain a certain pass rate or no fundings.......
they did have a 100% pass rate tho.....
i love the poster who said she loved new nurses.....i love the old nurses too...hehe.....as long as they are patient with all my questions.....
I consider myself athletic and thankfully, in excellent condition. I'm a long distance runner, and work out almost daily.
I'm doing 12h clinicals, and find myself exhausted at the end of the shift. This really bothered me at first since I think of myself as active. I've come to the conclusion that it's the mental stress of finally being in the environment I've worked so hard for, and trying to apply the vast amount of information in a way that is smoothe and appropriate though I'm not real sure of myself.
I believe I have a strong work ethic, and value this in others, so I see your point there. That's something that isn't determined by the amount of experience one has, though. Just as there are some younger nurses who could amp it up a little, there are a number of experienced ones who could, too.
Can we take a look at this idea...when the "older" or "seasoned" nurses started in nursing the internet was not a tool to be used (pre 1995 or so how many of us even knew what the "web" or the "internet" was?)
Now, we are able to come to a forum like this and vent/moan/groan about things. We can expess our stress levels and things like that.
When the more seasoned nurses think about it, I am sure you were stressed out with your first job too. Anyone starting a new career has to have even a little bit of stress or anxiety or nervousness. I think you are perceiving it as the "new" nurses are all stressed out because now you are able to come to a place where THOUSANDS of nurses come each day. Thats a whole lot more than the older nurses probably dealt with in their beginning days of nursing. So it could appear that us "newbie" nurses are just a bunch of stressed out whiners. Its very possible there were just as many stressed out newbie nurses in your day too, you just didn't have the opportunity to "read" everyones stories. So it just appears that there are more now than in your day.
Just sayin...
Oh BTW, I love all the seasoned nurses, I love to pick their brains for ways to do things..ways that weren't taught in school, or ways to make things easier, faster, etc. I've had nothing but good experiences with more seasoned nurses than myself. I want to add that these seasoned nurses aren't just older nurses..a lot of my seasoned coworkers aren't much older than I am, they started nursing right out of high school..so in nursing experience they are the "wise ones" but in age, they are just like most of us.
Could it be that in nursing school you're responsible for one or two patients with an instructor to go to and once you're off orientation, you get four, five or six patients and they don't know how to prioritize?
I really get annoyed when nurses who have been in the field for many many years constantly make students and new nurses feel so unwelcomed, unappreciated, stupid and incompetant. Im a senior in nursing school and even during my clinicals there are those nurses on the unit that completely discourage you and are just plain nasty acting because they feel we dont know enough or we are just "in their way". It literally makes me ill sometimes how quickly experienced nurses forget what its like to be new. Its scary as heck to know that you have 3-5 peoples lives in your hands for 12 hours. One wrong move or one thing overlooked could be fatal and thats scary. Between making sure you are getting your skills right and you're critical thinking correctly..its enough to be overwhelming for people fresh out of school. Sometimes im overwhelmed and im still in school. It seems really hard now days to find experienced nurses who are understanding and show compassion to new nurses. And its really sad IMO.
I really get annoyed when nurses who have been in the field for many many years constantly make students and new nurses feel so unwelcomed, unappreciated, stupid and incompetant. Im a senior in nursing school and even during my clinicals there are those nurses on the unit that completely discourage you and are just plain nasty acting because they feel we dont know enough or we are just "in their way". It literally makes me ill sometimes how quickly experienced nurses forget what its like to be new. Its scary as heck to know that you have 3-5 peoples lives in your hands for 12 hours. One wrong move or one thing overlooked could be fatal and thats scary. Between making sure you are getting your skills right and you're critical thinking correctly..its enough to be overwhelming for people fresh out of school. Sometimes im overwhelmed and im still in school. It seems really hard now days to find experienced nurses who are understanding and show compassion to new nurses. And its really sad IMO.
I agree 100% with you. You are "still in the nest" and need to be fed well. I see both sides of this issue but have to come down firmly on the side of the student. If you are not embraced as a student, how will you have the tools you need to survive? If this is the cause of new nurses not having skill sets they need to make it, then shame on us older, or more experienced nurses.
Talk to your clinical instructors. They have the ability to discuss your problems with the manager and perhaps remind the nurses on the floor of their realities in relation to yours.
To all students and new nurses, look for the best of yourself and find it in others. Don't let those "bad apples" control your future. You are very important to the future of health care and you can and will make a difference.
Thanks alot aknottedyarn, and hearing from people like you makes me feel better to know there are still experienced nurses out there who genuinely care about our future. You would think that since nursing has came so far as a profession and even looked at as sort of "prestigious" by some..that these experienced nurses would wanna encourage those entering the field rather than deter them with their nasty attitudes and lack of compassion.
So you mean way back in the olden days before us newbs got to see how hard nursing really is, man I wish I coulda been there. Can you tell us the stories of how it all used to be. Nowadays it's way too easy for us newbs, what with all the new-fangled technology and stuff. I know when I come home from a 12 I kinda wanna race right back and do it all over again-heck this time for no pay!! (instead let's laugh at ourselves)
If you didn't learn it before you got to the hospital, you need to learn it sometime.
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(instead let's laugh at ourselves)
JB2007, ASN, RN
554 Posts
You can go back and forth all day about who has or had it worse, but it all comes down to all new jobs are stressful. It is all in how the person handles the stress. Some people whine, yell, get depressed, sleeps too much or not enough, well you get my point. Nursing students where trained differently 30 years ago, but it was a different ball game 30 years ago.
Now the schools are more concerned about whether or not their students can pass the NCLEX. They do not give a flip whether the new grads are prepared for the "real world nursing". When I was in nursing school I worked night shift at a local hospital and when things were quiet I would talk to some of the "old" diploma nurses. We would compare how nursing school was then to how it is now. I came to the conclusion that the nursing schools were more concerned then with putting out compatant nurses. That was their number one goal. I am sure not all nursing schools were that way then, but the nurses I talked to had very good clinical training and could "hit the floor runnning". Now it seems that the hospitals have to give that final bit of training that the nursing student would get in the clinicals of old.
On a final note, I think pts and families are more sue happy than in the past. At least you hear more about it than in the past. When I got out of nursing school I lived in fear of someone sueing me or losing my lincense.
By the way, I am not whinning at this time. I am only stating the facts.