I'm just wondering if anyone else has or has had this problem, and can give me any advice!
I'm young (22) and look ever younger (people tell me I'll appreciate it later). I'm an RN, and I get a mix of emotions from patients and their families when I tell them that. At LEAST once a week I get asked how old I am. Last week, I walked into a room, and the patient's family said "Oh!! The aide!!!", and I said "Well, no, actually, I am the nurse."
I've had a couple of families look terrified that I will be caring for their loved one, while others congratulate me on becoming an RN so young (I didn't think I was THAT young!).
I always go in and stand tall and feel I have good communication skills, but my young looks hold me back a lot.
Any suggestions, or witty responses when I get asked for the 4th time in a row how old I am?
ah yes i feel your pain, i became a nurse when i was 18 and the first facility i worked at the staff gave me those looks, you know the how old are you??, your to young to give me orders, i'm not gonna listen to you looks, but now i work at this facility where i have none of those issues, the staff is very respectful, and yes at times some of the other nurses ask me my age, but the thing is at this facility there are like 10-12 of us young nurses, the oldest being 22 and the youngest is me at 19! (our h.s had a nrsg program) but anyway the key is mantaining a professional attitude!, being so young we can be discriminated against because people will think we dont know what we're doing but going thru nrsg school and passing boards speaks volumes in terms of our maturity! there is nothing that you can do about how old you look, its for them to accept you, make sure you know your stuff and mantain professional conduct at work! you dont want anyone to try to say you're not a good nurse because of your age!!
you have two more years to go till youre an rn and youre 19? im graduating nursing school in 3 months and ill be a rn at 19! thats where accelerated programs and starting at 17 take you!!!
I am 27, but I appear much younger. Even my father who is in his early 50s is often mistaken for being in his mid 30's (thanks for those genes Dad!!). It's a blessing and a curse. I'm 27 and I've been told I appear 20....when I was 18 I looked like I was 12 or 13.
I usually tell the 40-60 year old people that I suffer from "Paul McCartney Syndrome." Then I explain how Paul looked the same age until he hit about 60 and it was all downhill from there. For the 60-70 year old age group I substitute, "Dick Clark syndrome"
It gets a smile out of them. It's kind of a canned response but I hear it so often. You're 22 so you ARE young. Tell them you have "Doogie Howseritis" or something
ok, so i am not alone. i am 26 and look like i just got out of high school. i am kind of nervous because i am meeting the people at the office of my potential new job. its more of a supervisory position and i am scared they are going to either eat me alive or ignore me because of my looks.
I started working in the lab right after I turned 18. Almost everyone of my patients would ask my how old I was, how long I have been doing it, where I went to school. Well I had no experience and was doing on the job training...that instilled a lot of confidence in my ability. Finally as a last resort I grew a goatee to help cover up my baby face. I haven't been asked how old I was for almost 4 years now...so in short...ladies, if your tired of patients asking your age...grow some facial hair!
Since WHEN did looking 20 something become a problem???
Try looking/being 45 and being a new grad -- everyone thinks I'm an experienced nurse -- boy, the joke is on them!
Please enjoy being 20 something. Your skin hasn't started to sag, you have no unwanted facial hair, no wrinkes, no bumps, no gray -- and you've got ENERGY!! Play it up for all it's worth! Geez, if I could only go back ...
Specializes in CTICU, Interventional Cardiology, CCU.
I am 27 and get this all the time. Pt's look at me and think I am the Aid. I always introduce my self and say, "Hi My name is Angie, I am going to be your nurse tonight"..if they still look at me funny I always follow it up with "I am your Registered Nurse tonight" and good thing that my hospital gives us these supplemental badges that hang vertical that say RN in BIG BOLD letters and they hang under our regular name badges with our picture on them that also say RN next to our name. but i have had pt's say, "what are you like 18 y.o., how do I know YOU know what you are doing"..I say I am 27 y.o. and begin to do my assessment. After my assessment is over the pt. usually calms down and realizes that I know what I am doing. I work interventional cardiology so some of my pt's freak out when they see a young nurse or a young MD..but I gain their trust. The worst are MD's that during a code say "hey aid, get this or that"..then they see that I am the RN and usually we laugh about it and they apologize..hey be happy that people thing you look young..I would hate for a pt. or MD to say to me .."you are, what, like -- y.o"...and it's alot older then your actual age.
I'm 21 and have been a nurse for over a year now... I get this A LOT ( I look even younger)
Plus, I started a new job, and I will be floating, so I'm doing 2 wks of orienting on each floor (working but haveing another nurse to help with diff equipment, etc)... I really have to assure pts/families I can do things on my own "without the other nurse" because I'm not a new grad...
I just smile, act professional, and do everything "by the book" right now.
I'm almost 28 and look 18! I know I'll appreciate it in 50 years, but it's funny when people thing I'm sooo young. Just yesterday, a veteran nurse was talking to the spouse of one of my patients -- a congenial conversation. She made a comment about me being a "young" nurse. I stopped and said, "Hey! I may look young, but I have 2 degrees and a career prior to this one!" She was just teasing me, said she knew, and said she meant "young" in the sense that I'm younger than she is, you know, a newbie? I laughed it off with her, but I still feel like I always have to make sure people know I'm not as young (or naive, or inexperienced) as most people think I am, nor as most of my fellow recent graduates! I may not have years of nursing behind me, but I have been in the "real" world, so I do know a thing or two about how things work -- even if I have to ask for help on entering an order in the computer!
I had that same problem, but found a cure! Work night shift! Yep, all of those flabbergasted responses to my age (36) "I thought you were 22" have now, after a year of nights, turned into "How many Geritol do you take a day?" I have started to find lots of grey hairs, and my eye lids are drooping....And I NEVER get carded anymore. About months ago I
stood at the check out with my id ready and was a bit sad when nobody asked me for it anymore. The upside is that I now get offers of help when I use my front wheeled walker to get back to the mini bus from the assisted living facility...
ps
I really felt old when I watched American Idol and they had to sing songs from the year they were born..Oh my God. Billie Jean? I was in junior high when that hit...I am old.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has or has had this problem, and can give me any advice!
...I always go in and stand tall and feel I have good communication skills, but my young looks hold me back a lot.
Any suggestions, or witty responses when I get asked for the 4th time in a row how old I am?
Could you say something along the lines as, "Well the hospital is VERY short staffed so they ran a contest on the back of my Cheerios box and I WON! I get to play nurse for a week. I was hoping to win the trip to meet Hannah Montanna but this is fun too... Now, how about that IV??" :chuckle
Specializes in CTICU, Interventional Cardiology, CCU.
Could you say something along the lines as, "Well the hospital is VERY short staffed so they ran a contest on the back of my Cheerios box and I WON! I get to play nurse for a week. I was hoping to win the trip to meet Hannah Montanna but this is fun too... Now, how about that IV??" :chuckle
jilliebean729
3 Posts
you have two more years to go till youre an rn and youre 19? im graduating nursing school in 3 months and ill be a rn at 19! thats where accelerated programs and starting at 17 take you!!!