Your young, you should do it all!

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Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

Yep this is a vent thread.

I work with plenty of older nurses who are hard workers. But there is a definite group of them at my work who are lazy, think they can get away with doing less work, take longer meal breaks, refuse to work anything but a day shift, give all the heavier tasks to the younger nurses and justify this behaviour through this sense of self entitlement that because they are older the young ones should be doing all the work because 'we have more stamina'.

Is it just me or does anyone else here get so irritated with this? I had a heated discussion yesterday with a nurse who tried force me to scrub for the entire day's operating list because she is lazy and thought I should do it because 'your young'. I put my foot down and told her that if she's thinks too old to scrub for a case then she's too old to work here.

I see this happen all too often. Yes we're younger but I checked my employment contract last night and I'm pretty sure it doesn't state that because I'm young I should be doing the heavier tasks so the older nurses can sit down and do minimal work.

So if any nurses out there in this group I'm complaining about are reading this well maybe you should seriously think about working somewhere that doesn't require you to bully younger nurses into exhaustion and burnout. If you can't handle the pace then you can't handle the area.

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Specializes in neurotrauma ICU.

I bet they were lazy nurses when they were younger too. Then they probably said to the older nurses, "you should do it because you have more experience!" lol

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This is just plain wrong. I can see some bennies based on seniority like first choice of vacation time or steady shifts. After all if steel workers and auto workers get these things based on seniority why should a nurse. BUT they should pull their own work load when they are there. You are off to a good start, if you refuse to accept the abuse they will soon stop it.

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Specializes in ER.

This happens at my facility too. I also agree that they were probably young(er) lazy nurses. If you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen.

We have lazy charge nurses that think they can take hour lunch breaks, leave the unit, let the nurses drown with work, etc. I'm not saying it's just the charge nurses or older nurses who are lazy; there are nurses who have still have wet ink on their license that are lazy too. It just seems that the longer the nurse has worked on the unit the more likely they are to think they don't have to work like everyone else.

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Specializes in Licensed Practical Nurse.

you tell em scrubby... ah, i remember the days when i was just a baby faced new grad... still baby faced, and running the unit too!! if nurses can't eat their young, they sure find a way to taunt em, what's up with that??!

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

I totally feel you. Sometimes I also want to tell them off. But being that I'm new I just bit my tongue. lol

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Specializes in Cardiac ICU.

I know the feeling all too well. I don't care if the senior rn's have dibs on vacations, but giving all the 'busy' work to new nurses day-to-day? Okay, in some cases it helps with skills, but for the most part it should just not happen to the new nurse. I'm trying to protect my license too. No I don't want to have 4 TOTAL CARE patients: 3 as contact precautions, and two of them with NG tubes, while you take care of 4 independent, walking and talking, pre-op patients." I'm not saying I want easy work. But please make the workload as close to 'fair' as much as possible.

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Specializes in Peds Hem, Onc, Med/Surg.

Yeah I get that alot. I'm tired or oh my knee hurts so go do this and this. Well I have health problems too! Plus I am tired all that time and if that excuses me from work then I should be excused all the time.

Nurses.......... :D

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Specializes in Step-Down NICU/PICU.

Im am so glad someone posted something like this!...lol..I am up to my head with this excuse..I fell your pain.i hear that EVERYWHERE i go...when they tell me they're too old to do this or that..I simply tell them well then that is an "old excuse" that has been banned to say..if you can't handle your job then.....leave...It absolutely boils my blood when they use that excuse of "oh your young"...please whatever...and the sad thing is sometimes you dont even have to be a "younglet" you can be 40y/o and just be new at the job they'll still slam you with work..my other favorite one is "Oh you have to PAY your dues"...like earn your stripes type thing..thats up to mgt not your co-worker...your actions should speak for themselves not have to "prove" to the unit your DoDo Nurse who will take on ALL assignments for 36-40hrs/wk

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