Yep. Nurses do "eat their young"

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Having started posting here after I graduated, I've seen it first hand. Its not just a "say". Its the truth.

Maybe it's a blessing in disguise, to know what awaits us on the floor. But neverthelsss, extremely unprofessional of some, who think GNs or new floor nurses deserve "no respect" or that "the respect should be earned".

On edit: do patients need to "earn your respect" as well???

SMH!

No it is not. It's a real situation. Why would mods close the topic?? Because you don't like it?

I want to feel respected and guided as a new GN, not told I know nothing, and shouldn't participate in certain topics , even though I've spent months hands on in clinicals and practicum :(

No newbie, anywhere ..in any field.. is respected from the beginning. I did agency and travel nursing with 25 years of experience. I had to prove myself every single time.

Can you give concrete examples of "some, who think GNs or new floor nurses deserve "no respect" or that "the respect should be earned". ?

We all come aboard with "months hands on in clinicals and practicum ".

Now is the time to have someone teach you how to apply that knowledge.

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I have never understood why some patients believe that being nasty to us is going to make us want to go the extra mile for them, break the rules and give them something extra that we shouldn't or go above and beyond in any way. Yet clearly, so many of them DO believe that.

Because many of us are women and they think they can intimidate us?

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By the same token, we Crusty Old Bats aren't here to respect anyone, either. Our patients get our care, our advocacy and the best knowledge and expertise we can bring to bear. Our teammates get our respect and our support. (And by teammates, I mean everyone from the attending physician to the housekeeper and CNAs who have our backs and work hard with us to promote good patient outcomes.). And newbies, who know very little when they start, get pretty much the respect that they've earned. Telling a COB that "you should mentor us" comes across as arrogant and entitled and isn't going to lead to you being "taken under wing" or mentored. It's probably going to lead to the modicum of respect you started with being slowly eroded as you alienate your preceptors, managers and colleagues. And that, my dear, will ultimate lead to one those "Fired for NO Reason" threads that we all enjoy so much.

Come down off your high horse. You will find that the way to GET respect is to start by GIVING it. And you're not doing that.

I highly doubt that this poster is telling anyone in person that "they should mentor us". lol Naturally, they're venting here. I think what they're saying is that if you're told that someone is assigned to precept you, then that's what you'd expect to experience, right? Someone doing just that. Maybe it's entitlement. But why does that have so much of a bad connotation anyways? That's the image that's being painted when someone says, "This is your preceptor for the next so many months." It's like when you interview for a job and they tell you that as an ICU nurse you will get 1-2 patients max, with this amount of pay. Imagine how surprised you'd be if you show up and suddenly you discover that you have 3 patients, and that they've decided to cut your pay. Is it "entitlement" to have expected something different? Yeah maybe. But wrong? I'd say no. You were told that you'd be getting something different than what was actually presented.

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Specializes in Hospice.
I highly doubt that this poster is telling anyone in person that "they should mentor us". lol Naturally, they're venting here. I think what they're saying is that if you're told that someone is assigned to precept you, then that's what you'd expect to experience, right? Someone doing just that. Maybe it's entitlement. But why does that have so much of a bad connotation anyways? That's the image that's being painted when someone says, "This is your preceptor for the next so many months." It's like when you interview for a job and they tell you that as an ICU nurse you will get 1-2 patients max, with this amount of pay. Imagine how surprised you'd be if you show up and suddenly you discover that you have 3 patients, and that they've decided to cut your pay. Is it "entitlement" to have expected something different? Yeah maybe. But wrong? I'd say no. You were told that you'd be getting something different than what was actually presented.

You make a good point. I just want to point out, though, that the OP never mentioned problems with a preceptor. All we got was NETY and a blanket indightment of all her co-workers.

So, OP, what do you plan to do?

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(my bold)

I can really relate to this. This has happened to me on more than one occasion. Not the MRI scenario specifically of course, but rather situations where I've shown an avid interest in learning more and increasing my knowledge/understanding about various different areas/topics related to my nursing duties, but which aren't expressly included in my job reponsibilities.

FTR Mac, I have a metric ton of respect for you:yes: ,however, there is a time and a place for learning extra stuff (and I'm all for learning about everything) I just don't think during orientation is that time (especially if you are still in the observation phase). There is just so much information that is needed to do the actual job anything else might get in the way. After orientation I'd say go for it and have yourself an educational free-for-all! Personally, as a preceptor I work really hard to tailor the experience to the person and I might be a little frustrated with an orientee who seemed more interested in learning things essentially unrelated to the task at hand. But my being frustrated still isn't the same as young-eating unless I retaliated.

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Specializes in Hospice.
FTR Mac, I have a metric ton of respect for you:yes: ,however, there is a time and a place for learning extra stuff (and I'm all for learning about everything) I just don't think during orientation is that time (especially if you are still in the observation phase). There is just so much information that is needed to do the actual job anything else might get in the way. After orientation I'd say go for it and have yourself an educational free-for-all! Personally, as a preceptor I work really hard to tailor the experience to the person and I might be a little frustrated with an orientee who seemed more interested in learning things essentially unrelated to the task at hand. But my being frustrated still isn't the same as young-eating unless I retaliated.

I agree with this - as a charge nurse I get pretty peeved when a caregiver is supposed to be monitoring a patient and winds up schmoozing with co-workers instead.

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I've been at this 4 years. Do I get to do the eating now? Is there a middle ground where you both eat and are eaten? I prefer ranch to hot sauce, but I'll take what I can get. Pass the bottle, please.

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It starts in nursing school. Where basically you are self taught. That was my experience anyway. Oh, and did I mention the bullying by the clinical instructors who are waiting with baited breath to dock you in your evaluation.

I have a bachelor of science degree in another field. I have never seen such unprofessionalism as I did in nursing school.

My respect for the profession in general has dropped significantly.

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But my being frustrated still isn't the same as young-eating unless I retaliated.

I absolutely agree.

Personally, as a preceptor I work really hard to tailor the experience to the person and I might be a little frustrated with an orientee who seemed more interested in learning things essentially unrelated to the task at hand.

I agree. Again :) I think it would be disrespectful (not to mention unsound strategy, professionally speaking) to not give my preceptor my full attention when they are giving me their time and the benefit of their experience. As a student I was supremely appreciative of the preceptors that I had who had a the pedagogic talent and will to take the trouble of tailoring their teachings to fit the student.

But would you be frustrated if I as a student used the time that you weren't spending with me and during which you hadn't assigned me with a task that required all of my attention to perform and instead attempted to further my own knowledge during that time? Providing that I was performing up to your expectations and the standards required by the school and/or medical facility, would you mind if I used my own time learning other things in addition to what you've taught me?

I was actually told by a coworker (years after I graduated, so I was no longer a new nurse) that I should just do and not think. Since I didn't have a brainectomy scheduled in the then-near future, I didn't take her advice to heart. I consider her completely professionally stagnated but I never gave her a hard time about her lack of ambition. With that in mind I can't really understand why my desire to learn and understand annoyed her to such an extent (it didn't affect her workday in the slightest), but it really got on her nerves. (I was working in an ER at the time and we had some down-time and we were all caught up. I had a long discussion with one of the attendings and spent some time on PubMed and google, trying to learn more about a rare and rather fascinating condition which one of my patient's had presented with earlier that shift).

Anyway, those are the types of incidents I had in mind, not instances of failing to pay attention when a preceptor makes an effort to help you learn your new profession. That said, I have to admit that if I was given a task to watch a monitor and I realized that I could safely perform that task and at the same time ask questions about a topic that I want to learn more about, I probably would have.

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I was eaten by my first nursing job.. the struggle is real

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Work hard, make good choices, try your best, don't complain and you will find veteran nurses more than happy to help!

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
FTR Mac, I have a metric ton of respect for you:yes: ,however, there is a time and a place for learning extra stuff (and I'm all for learning about everything) I just don't think during orientation is that time (especially if you are still in the observation phase). There is just so much information that is needed to do the actual job anything else might get in the way. After orientation I'd say go for it and have yourself an educational free-for-all! Personally, as a preceptor I work really hard to tailor the experience to the person and I might be a little frustrated with an orientee who seemed more interested in learning things essentially unrelated to the task at hand. But my being frustrated still isn't the same as young-eating unless I retaliated.

I agree. I've had to redirect eager young things who had all kinds of questions not pertinent to the matter at hand. One of the most important things I try to teach orientees is time-management. Schools do an abysmal job of teaching this and it is a make-or-break skill in most work places. So while I admire their curiosity I sometimes have to insist on staying focused and on track.

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