Young nurses

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 3, 2012

i'm looking forward to seeing how far this thread goes and how long it lasts!

pkt00 · Jul 3, 2012

I would love to know what you mean by that. there are posts still being commented on from early 2000's. so whats your point ? :)

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Jul 3, 2012

Young versus old.

Experienced versus newbie.

New to the facility , unit, shift..

Age does not matter .

We all have to prove ourselves in the role we are currently in.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 3, 2012

i would love to know what you mean by that. there are posts still being commented on from early 2000's. so whats your point ? :)

"old vs. young" and "new vs. experienced" tend to become quite lively discussions and are often closed by the moderators due to the liveliness of some of the discussions.

pkt00 · Jul 3, 2012

yes you are right nurses have all over have to prove themselves but what I was implying younger nurses not even over 25 yrs old bareky have respect in the nursing field. I would think at such a young age taking such a serious career one would think hey they must have a gd head on their shoulders. I assumed that allnurses.com was a place that nurses could come and discuss all sorts but guess I gave too much credit

3ast3rnst4r · Jul 5, 2012

I graduated nursing school when I was 23 and also applied and was accepted to work my first job the same year. Ive almost been a nurse for about a year and honestly i must say that i truly feel that i have a bit of an advantage over an older nurse. It is true that in this line of work your body goes through changes rapidly and being on the work "floor" will take your body through the ringer. I have only been at it for about a year but i find myself coming home after my 2 twelve hour shifts (I work weekends only) and i soak my feet in Epsom salt to relieve the tension. I can only imagine what older nurses go through. I feel like my brain is a sponge right now and im eager to learn any new things that are thrown my way. many "older" nurses are set in there ways and it is quite difficult to get them to try new things. My supervisor commented the other day on how happy she was to have a new nurse on her staff because she said that I havent become as "set in my ways" as some of the other nurses....DO you all agree?

allnurses Guide · Jul 5, 2012

yes you are right nurses have all over have to prove themselves but what I was implying younger nurses not even over 25 yrs old bareky have respect in the nursing field. I would think at such a young age taking such a serious career one would think hey they must have a gd head on their shoulders. I assumed that allnurses.com was a place that nurses could come and discuss all sorts but guess I gave too much credit

They are discussing it. They may not be agreeing with it. I don't agree either. I started at age 19 in a pediatric hospital when I would sometimes have a 17 year old patient. Most of it depends on your professionalism and personal demeanor. If you are having specific issues at work, and you provide a bit more detail, maybe we can respond better to what you are wondering about.

Daisy_08, BSN, RN · Jul 5, 2012

When I was in school I had a few comments related to my youthful age from older pts - ''did you skip high school?''

But like the above poster said it has do with your level of professionalism and maturity. I have had students older then me and that is okay.

There are a few people who I think I have had to 'prove' myself to, but generally i think if you are professional and competent no one cares about your age.

Aeterna, BSN, RN · Jul 10, 2012

As others have said, I think a lot of it has to do with the level of professionalism and maturity one shows more than age.

Our floor is mostly comprised of young nurses, and it's a very complex and medically diverse floor. The learning curve is extremely steep. Although it's improving, we're one of the largest units in the hospital and have the same or less support staff than the other med-surg floors, so there is also a lot of time management involved. As a result, a lot of us younger nurses face a lot of challenges...and the older nurses watch us very carefully! They are honestly afraid we will make a critical mistake. It is a very possible reality, but we do our best.

For the most part, we do ok. There are a couple who were lost causes and have moved on to other fields for various reasons. The seasoned nurses have gotten pretty used to having a lot of younger staff on the floor now, and many of them can be relied upon to help and share their knowledge and experience. However, they will be very critical if you make a serious mistake. I've gotten comments from some patients, like, "Are you a nursing student?" or "There was a young nurse in here yesterday, too. There are a lot of you young ones, aren't there?"

But, then I end up earning their trust when I can pull off something with confidence and without mistakes (even if it's something relatively simple...I had one patient be impressed that I knew what I was doing when I was just priming blood tubing xD) or, otherwise, getting another nurse to come in and help me with something I'm unsure of.

rubylipstick1 · Jul 14, 2012

i am a relatively young nurse, in my early twenties. i currently only have 1+ yr experience compared to the many senior nurses i work with that have 25+ years of experience. i also look quite young (being 4'11" doesn't exactly help), so sometimes it seems like almost every shift i work i get a comment about my age from someone.

i definitely feel that i need to work hard to prove myself, sometimes to patients and sometimes to other nurses. patients will often ask how old i am or how long i have worked there and some of them seem to need reassurance that i am capable. fortunately, i almost always win them over by the time my shift ends. :) i find that other nurses are sometimes not so easy to win over. this is not to say that all of the nurses i work with underestimate me. in fact, i find the majority of them to be supportive and have confidence in my abilities, however, there's always the odd person that doesn't.

honestly, i find that since i make such an effort to be professional and mannerly, people usually come to see that i am, in fact, quite competent. but i've come to realize that some people just have the notion that "young people" in general have nothing to contribute or nothing worthwhile to say...because they are "young".

and i can't speak for what obstacles, judgements, criticisms and other negatives that older nurses face because i'm not at that point yet. i'm sure when i do get there, i'll find that there's a whole other plethora of issues and criticisms i'll have to endure.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 14, 2012

the majority of nurses where i work are in their early to mid 20s. we have a few old timers like myself, but the majority are young nurses with less than three years of experience. i've come to realize that many of those nurses have the notion that "older people" in general have nothing to contribute or worthwhile to say -- because they're "as old as my mother."