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.
It is a bit scary to read these---especially as pre-nursing student. The majority of the threads I have come across have been by younger folks. I think management of stress can improve with age and life experiences--particularly if you have children! Ha! I say CAN because I know many who have gone from Type B to Type A--so it can work both ways. I think that people also put great pressure upon themselves. If there is any job where this is warranted, I'd say the medical field is it--people's lives ARE at stake--however, it's important to keep things in perspective and BREATHE! :) Now, I just have to remember my words.
I think you have a pretty reasonable perspective. If you aren't a little scared, you aren't paying attention, but it usually isn't quite as bad as it can sound on these boards.
Nursing school made a Type A personality out of me. I've always been pretty laid back, but starting school at 46 y.o., I was driven. Less than an A just wasn't acceptable. I had to learn to prioritize, though, when I was making straight A's in classroom and in danger of failing clinicals. Wound up settling for a B in Pharmacology so I could spend more time on my careplans, but it was worth it.
Some of that has carried over into my practice. I'm still pretty driven, although I probably tend to internalize stress more than a true Type A would. Lot's of GI problems during my first year working, but not so much, now.
As far as the whining, I'm lucky to know several nurses with >20 years, and to work with some of them. They gripe and grumble just like the rest of us--it's part of the bonding process! Some even talk about getting out of nursing, though it seems like after 5-10 years, you get sort of institutionalized (like The Shawshank Redemption).
In my fourth year of working as a nurse, I often joke about learning to drive big rigs, and there have been times I've seriously wondered what else I might do. This is a hard gig, and while the pay is better, overall, than I've ever made in my life, it ain't like I'm getting rich. But I think I may be getting institutionalized, myself, because a lot of the time I think it's kinda special having a job that's worth all the stress and strain. Digging a ditch is physically harder, but not nearly as taxing. It's not without a sense of accomplishment, either. But as satisfying as a well-dug ditch can be, it doesn't matter on nearly the same level as a good night's work as a nurse does.
After one particularly hairy shift in my first year, I told my charge nurse that if I came back the next night, I'd call myself a nurse. I did, I do, and a lot of how I define a real nurse is someone who comes back for more.
My criteria for a good nurse is a bit more demanding than that, but if you don't cross that first hurdle, anything else is academic.
Yes, that is what I'm saying. Things were no less stressful back then. It wasn't Flo Nightengale days for goodness sake. We had PDR's a big as the PDR's now ... no difference. The one difference is that we both had the experience back in the 80's and we are nurses now. So I guess we kinda both feel the same way, nursing is stressful , always has been and always will be. I'm always glad to help a new nurse learn how to organize and become a good critical thinker but, sometimes I have to be honest and say " stop whining and get on with it for gosh sakes ."
As a student I fully expect my first couple of years out of nursing school to be stressful. I've worked in stressful environments in the past and expect nursing to be at least as stressful, if not more so.
From what I have seen new nurses have a lot to adjust to. They may be adjusting to shift working, which takes a huge toll on the body and from what I have seen takes at least a year to get used to. They are also dealing with changes in responsibility and patient loads (although I'm kind of glad I study here in Australia where from my first placement I had 8 patients).
While I'm sure these are things that haven't changed they are causes of stress and that's just to do with the job! The other thing I have observed over my working career is that it appears that most people working today, in any field, have more responsibilities outside of work or are working multiple jobs... Really, is it any wonder new nurses are stressed?
The other thing I think has some bearing on how new nurses are perceived and the stress levels that they are under is that it has become more acceptable to be open about stress and there is less of an expectation to 'suck it all up'. I don't doubt nursing always has and always will be stressful, but isn't it better being able to express those feelings and experiences than keep pretending everything is okay until you burn out?
While I find a great deal to admire and emulate in the more experienced, "old school" nurses I know, I imagine there were plenty of nurses who entered the field 20-30 years ago and left after a year or two or three. Then, as now, not everyone was cut out to be a nurse. I've also found that older nurses have no monopoly on guts. A lot of the nurses I work with are half my age or not much more than that. Some have been nurses longer than I have, and others are new, like me. More than a few times, I have been mightily impressed by the fortitude of these "girls." I don't think I've ever seen a newbie who didn't feel overwhelmed, at some point, with the possible exception of one or two who weren't competent enough to feel overwhelmed. But I have seen nurse who were in tears or near to it who kept coming back and learning as they went. Having felt many of the same feelings, myself, I can't help but respect those who've fought through it. The first year or two of nursing can be a lot like combat. I was lucky to work with experienced nurses who've been there/done that, and also with fellow newbies who were going through what I was and willing to share my occassional rants about how much being a nurse sucks.
One huge advantage I enjoyed was starting out on a nurse on the unit where I worked before nursing school. I had a pretty good idea from the start which nurses I could trust and go to with questions and concerns, and even gripes. I can only guess what it would be like to go through all that among strangers, and not even knowing where things are kept. So, now that I'm an old pro (er...um...heh-heh) I try to be as supportive as possible to newer nurses. I think I owe it to my profession to pay it forward, even if all I can sometimes tell them is "Let's ask ______. She/He is smart!"
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're right, nursing is no more stressful now than it was in the 80's or the early 90s when I started it. The difference is that we didn't have a forum such as this one to come to vent, ask questions and advice and seek support. For so many years, I thought I was the only one who felt the way I did as a new, fairly new and then experienced nurse. Now I know better thanks to this forum. Good for the newbies.
When I was a young whipper-snapper aide 20 years ago (oh! did I mention I was an aide at age 6? LOL) it was my observation then that I never heard a nurse complain about ANYTHING (whether they were a new nurse or old nurse).
LOL! Maybe you just weren't listening. I was an aide 20 years ago also, (to be more precise a nurse tech since I was a nursing student at the time) and believe you me, those nurses complained, whined, dodged work and everything else you observe in the newer nurses today. Things haven't changed that much.
I wonder how much society in general has become "wimpy". I haven't read all 6 pages of the thread so what I have to say may have already been said.
I had to take a leadership course years ago in the Navy, we were baited in to bad mouthing the young guys, "New recruits suck ...", "They couldn't handle what we had to ...", "The quality of recruit is substandard, kids today have no discipline ...","We've lost all tradition ...". At any rate, the point was then raised that military men had been raising this complaint since the days of the Greeks and Romans ... yeah Ceasar's Army had the same complaints as soldiers and sailors 75 years ago, 50 years ago, 20 years ago, and still today.
The point of my ramble is that the "old guard" always had it tougher, the newbies are substandard and illprepared. This, in my opinion, is a problem of management and more specifically leadership. Leaders are the mentors preceptors, instructors, and senior nurses on the floor(s).
My apologies if I've offended anyone, or duplicated someone else's message.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
new nurses have always been stressed over learning their new jobs. what's new, however, is all the other folks chiming in about how "you should be more compassionate" or "the seasoned nurses should be more supportive." i think the op was right in some respects: put on your big girl panties, suck it up, and deal. nursing is too stressful to have a full assignment, be responsible for orienting a newbie and be told that you're not being compassionate or supportive enough while you're doing it. if the "seasoned nurse" wants to vent about it now and again, we should be compassionate to her and let her vent!
put on your big girl panties, suck it up, and deal. nursing is too stressful to have a full assignment, be responsible for orienting a newbie and be told that you're not being compassionate or supportive enough while you're doing it. if the "seasoned nurse" wants to vent about it now and again, we should be compassionate to her and let her vent!
double standard here: new nurses are to "put on big girl panties and suck it up"; seasoned nurse must be allowed to "vent".
Maybe we all just need to invite each other out for a beer (or chocolate) after work!
That is an excellent idea. Informal exchanges in a social atmosphere are much less threatening. Probably every new nurse needs guidance or correction for some part of the work of being a nurse. There is rarely time in the shift to explain the what and why.
I know in my previous profession, I learned a pretty fair amount over a beer after work. Not always stuff that was directly related to my job, but broader knowledge that will all of a sudden act as a catalyst that focuses thinking on a specific task at hand.
I'll get my fanny into some trouble, here, but I truly believe the "old school" nurses are a different breed than most of those starting out today.
When I was a young whipper-snapper aide 20 years ago (oh! did I mention I was an aide at age 6? LOL) it was my observation then that I never heard a nurse complain about ANYTHING (whether they were a new nurse or old nurse).
Part of their demeanor was GUTS. They knew what they had to do and just did it. The world could fall apart and those were the coolest and most outwardly confident nurses you ever did see. They could be s****ing bricks inwardly, but they weren't about to let anyone know it.
If the work was hard or disgusting, hey, you were a NURSE made of stern strong stuff. You did it because that's what you chose to do and that was the job. They did not play "princess" nor did they tolerate it from anyone else.
Those "old school" nurses are still out there and there are even a few new nurses out there with that same mentality... but I DO hear so much whining nowadays.... I swear it makes me crazy.
I love those strong nurses. Nurses that lose it or whine, undermine other's perceptions and trust in their abilities.
I may sound harsh, but I was trained to shove steel down my spine by those nurses... and if I couldn't do the shoving myself, they jammed it in!
There is no difference in the native abilities of young people today--the majority of new nurses--and those who were young 25 or 30 years ago.
IMHO, there is a difference in what young people are taught to expect from the workplace and society in general. They (lots of generalization here, I know) expect more support, etc. and that's not at all a bad thing. The downside is that parents, schools and society seem to me to have failed to demand as much accountability and attention to detail, and not just from the young.
And guess what! Whatever you think of how young nurses are prepared by nursing school and life in general, it's those of us in our 40s and 50s that have shaped the preparation, views and expectations the 20-somethings have.
Not trying to be cynical or anything I just don't understand what is considered "whining". I'm not a newbie yet but I will be after Dec 19th at 6pm(but whose counting...). When I read some of the issues that the newbies are dealing with, having to do all kinds of procedures and things that you only read about in school and not having someone to go to when you don't understand, doesn't sound like whining to me. Having a few weeks of orientation on how to deal with every system in the body, drugs, doctors, staff, delegation, laws, customer service and documentation all while protecting your license and maintaining your cool and having a preceptor who is not around to have or back nor management, does not sound like whining to me. I don't expect anyone to hold my hand when it is my turn but I do expect that if I don't understand something that someone would take the time to explain it to me. Now if after they explain it and I keep asking the same question over and over and then get mad when they don't have time to keep answering over and over then I consider that whining. I bet one things for certain and two things for sure, people thirty years ago were not so "lawsuit happy" as they are today. I think the ultimate fear of any newbie is hurting someone, losing your license, going to jail and never being able to practice nursing. We are truly living in scary times.....
If you didn't learn it before you got to the hospital, you need to learn it sometime.
Things were no less stressful back then. It wasn't Flo Nightengale days for goodness sake. We had PDR's a big as the PDR's now ... no difference. The one difference is that we both had the experience back in the 80's and we are nurses now. So I guess we kinda both feel the same way, nursing is stressful , always has been and always will be. I'm always glad to help a new nurse learn how to organize and become a good critical thinker but, sometimes I have to be honest and say " stop whining and get on with it for gosh sakes ."
nursemike, ASN, RN
1 Article; 2,362 Posts
I think you have a pretty reasonable perspective. If you aren't a little scared, you aren't paying attention, but it usually isn't quite as bad as it can sound on these boards.
Nursing school made a Type A personality out of me. I've always been pretty laid back, but starting school at 46 y.o., I was driven. Less than an A just wasn't acceptable. I had to learn to prioritize, though, when I was making straight A's in classroom and in danger of failing clinicals. Wound up settling for a B in Pharmacology so I could spend more time on my careplans, but it was worth it.
Some of that has carried over into my practice. I'm still pretty driven, although I probably tend to internalize stress more than a true Type A would. Lot's of GI problems during my first year working, but not so much, now.
As far as the whining, I'm lucky to know several nurses with >20 years, and to work with some of them. They gripe and grumble just like the rest of us--it's part of the bonding process! Some even talk about getting out of nursing, though it seems like after 5-10 years, you get sort of institutionalized (like The Shawshank Redemption).
In my fourth year of working as a nurse, I often joke about learning to drive big rigs, and there have been times I've seriously wondered what else I might do. This is a hard gig, and while the pay is better, overall, than I've ever made in my life, it ain't like I'm getting rich. But I think I may be getting institutionalized, myself, because a lot of the time I think it's kinda special having a job that's worth all the stress and strain. Digging a ditch is physically harder, but not nearly as taxing. It's not without a sense of accomplishment, either. But as satisfying as a well-dug ditch can be, it doesn't matter on nearly the same level as a good night's work as a nurse does.
After one particularly hairy shift in my first year, I told my charge nurse that if I came back the next night, I'd call myself a nurse. I did, I do, and a lot of how I define a real nurse is someone who comes back for more.
My criteria for a good nurse is a bit more demanding than that, but if you don't cross that first hurdle, anything else is academic.