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.
"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. "
Could it be the above attitude from older, more experienced nurses that is driving so many new grads to leave nursing??? It really is time to stop eating the young. If they dont get what they need in school, we need to orient them to the reality of nursing and be mentors, not parole officers.
Wow. A little compassion please. I have noticed, as a nursing student, that nurses tend to "eat their young." I am making straight A's in my classes & am an experienced PCT. I know a lot of stuff for my years of experience, but I still feel inadequate at times. I have had an instructor tell my classmate that she should "dye her hair so people would take her more seriously." I've also noticed that nurses with a lot of experience expect the new nurse to automatically know how to handle a situation...well, we don't know automatically know. I would caution experienced nurses to think back to when they first started before they judge the new nurse on the floor. I'm sure you didn't automatically know the answer either...it takes experience....
Specializes in Day Surgery, Agency, Cath Lab, LTC/Psych.
I have noticed, as a nursing student, that nurses tend to "eat their young."
Remember how it feels when someone overgeneralizes about all new nurses are whiners? Its the exact same to overgeneralize and say nurse's eat their young.
This overused, broadly-applied expression needs to be banned, thrown in the dumpster and lit on fire.
(p.s. I'm guilty of having said it in the past, too).
Specializes in Critical care, neuroscience, telemetry,.
We have new grads in the ICU where I work. They are, without exception, very bright, hard working young nurses. Frankly, they're picking it up a lot faster than I did as a new grad in 1987 when I was put in charge of a neuro floor on my first night off orientation, only to earn my first QVR by the next morning! (Did you know that if you give haldol and another new grad gives the same amount on the next shift because you didn't chart it correctly,that the patient will sleep for two days? Just thought I'd share....)
I think in many ways it is harder now. I remember having 6-10 patients and working my butt off, sure, but most of the decision making was left to the physicians, at least in the teaching hospital in which I started. Guess what? We expect our new grads to have good clinical judgment now. Unfortunately, much of that judgment comes from experience, and that you can't rush. I've been telling our educator for some time now that we need to go to a residency model because it's asinine to expect new grads to assimilate the knowledge and skills they need to adequately do their jobs with only a 3 month orientation. The documentation alone is behemoth - thank goodness, all of them are faster than me on the computer! I've spent a fair amount of time mentoring young nurses, and many of them feel inadequate. I try to reassure them that despite what some of the books say, they probably won't feel comfortable for a few years. I finally decided after 10 years in ICU that, ok, maybe I could actually do the job. Now I enjoy it, but it was a long time coming.
We expect our new grads to have good clinical judgment now. Unfortunately, much of that judgment comes from experience, and that you can't rush. I've been telling our educator for some time now that we need to go to a residency model because it's asinine to expect new grads to assimilate the knowledge and skills they need to adequately do their jobs with only a 3 month orientation.
I appreciate that you recognize the unrealistic expectations often foisted upon newbies. You put it into words well!!
Wow. A little compassion please. I have noticed, as a nursing student, that nurses tend to "eat their young." I am making straight A's in my classes & am an experienced PCT. I know a lot of stuff for my years of experience, but I still feel inadequate at times. I have had an instructor tell my classmate that she should "dye her hair so people would take her more seriously." I've also noticed that nurses with a lot of experience expect the new nurse to automatically know how to handle a situation...well, we don't know automatically know. I would caution experienced nurses to think back to when they first started before they judge the new nurse on the floor. I'm sure you didn't automatically know the answer either...it takes experience....
I do have to agree with what you have said, but we also need to remember attitudes are quiite different, when I trained years ago I had a lot of respect for some of my older colleagues and tutors. But now this isn't always offerred.
All of us "seasoned nurses" need to remember that nursing school only teaches the basics, and that as a new nurse ~80% of what you will learn is on the job training. Please stop telling the "older nurse" to remember what it was like when they were new....that could be exactly what they are remembering (as per my lasat post), and figure "tit for tat, pay back time, etc." I personally don't agree with that philosophy but know that some do. I also work with some that are those "stand offish" nurses, it is because they aren't comfortable with percepting or mentoring...what I challenge all of you that are in nursing school and just starting out...when you come across that nurse ask them who they would go to if they had a question or procedure they didn't know how to do or weren't comfortable with doing, then seek out that nurse. I wholeheartedly agree with all of you in regards to the lack of clinical time, most schools are focused on their passing rate of their graduates...unfortunately:madface: This is due to the States Board of Nursing closely watching how the schools perform and their passing rates, if they don't maintain at least the national average for passing then the school is put on probation.:bowingpur
I think back to the days of being a new nurse. It is quite a daunting task. Everything is thrown at you at once, and the pace is fast, and you are expected to be a quick learner. I know, myself and others that you are really nervous and being nervous makes it twice as hard to learn critical thinking skills and the job in general. It is not till you calm down and learn the ropes that the job becomes easier.
I'm gonna hazard a guess that it is because new nurses get NO HELP from the staff they are working with to ease them into nursing. I know I didn't. In fact, I had an older nurse activly amused by how much she could mess with me. It so turned me off of nursing that I swore off nursing with someone else and went into home care. To this day I get an anxiety attack when I have to go into a nursing home. It was the very worst year of my life. If I had not had previous experience as a CNA/HHA I would have been sunk. I got called into the DON's office every couple of weeks for a mistake I had made the first few months before I figured out I was being set up. When I asked the DON about it, all I got was I should have been more on top of it. I got no training and it left a very bad taste in my mouth. If the new nurses are having half as bad a time as I am, then that explains everything. The ONLY reason I stayed in nursing was that I had alot of home care experience and had good memories of that and connections that I could use to get back into that environ.
If you didn't learn it before you got to the hospital, you need to learn it sometime.
Remember how it feels when someone overgeneralizes about all new nurses are whiners? Its the exact same to overgeneralize and say nurse's eat their young. 
I wholeheartedly agree with all of you in regards to the lack of clinical time, most schools are focused on their passing rate of their graduates...unfortunately:madface: This is due to the States Board of Nursing closely watching how the schools perform and their passing rates, if they don't maintain at least the national average for passing then the school is put on probation.:bowingpur
Bortaz, MSN, RN
2,628 Posts
Nursing students today are being taught by nurses who were trained in the 70s, 80s, and earlier.