15 replies to this topic

[NawlinsGirl]

Personally, I think the expression "nurses eat their young" outlived it usefulness long ago. In reality ... it goes both ways. Ive worked with many seasoned nurses when I became a nurse and I had all positive experiences.. so if it happens, I have not experienced that behavior...

[mattsmom]

Personally I think the 'young eating' phrase is a woe-is-me created by spoiled young things who expect to be automatically given praise and kudos just because they're 'there'. LOL.

We work in a culture where we must prove ourselves and many today simply do not want to have to do that. I expected some flack as a newbie when I graduated. Most professions 'haze' their newbies to some extent and nursing is no exception.

New grads who are respectful, are 'sponges' and show a true interest in learning tend to do well in most settings if they are qualified (ie they paid attention in school and clinicals) A chip on the shoulder will not bode well for them. JMHO.

Of course there are bad apples and bullies in any group including nurses. But the good outweigh the bad in our profession IMO. A new grad can usually find at least ONE nice nurse to befriend him/her in any setting, and to be a mentor.

[LNDRN@RRMC]

I do believe that and have seen it happen unfortunately. It really is awful, give them (new nurses) a chance. We've all been there before.

[NawlinsGirl]

I AGREE LNDRN.. WE WERE ALL THERE ONCE.................

[3boyzmom]

Sometimes, these days, JUST SOMETIMES, I see a trend toward it being the other way around, which is something new. (don't get offended, new nurses, most of you are great). Some of the new nurses seem to be coming out of school with something of an "attitude." Attitudes like: "I don't need you to tell me what to do." or "I don't change linens, I'm an RN." Is it just me, or does anyone else know what I'm talking about?

Again, I almost hated to say it, because I am NOT talking about the majority of new grads. I think it depends on the reason a person went into nursing school in the first place. Those who do it because they care about people are the ones we have been used to all these years, and they're not the ones I'm referring to. But there seems to be a new breed infiltrating the ranks- those whose motivation for nursing was "how can I make the most money with the least amount of school- let's see I can be an RN in two years. I'll take that."

Can anyone identify with what I'm saying?

[NawlinsGirl]

YES MOM I HAVE ENCOUNTERED THAT ATTITUED ON OCCASION AS WELL BUT NOT THAT OFTEN.. MOST NEW NURSES ARE SO OPEN TO LEARNING ALL THAT THEY CAN AND THE ONES I HAVE EXPERIENCED REALLY APPRECIATED ME HELPING THEM... BUT YOU AND I BOTH KNOW, THERE IS ALWAYS THAT ONE ODD ONE OUT OF THE BUNCH THAT CAN BE DIFFICULT AND IT SEEMS THAT ATTITUED OF 'I KNOW IT ALL , YOU CANT TEACH ME ANYTHING " COMES BACK TO BITE THEM IN THE BUTT ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY GET THEIR FIRST CODE AND THEY ARE STANDING THERE IN SHOCK LOLLL..

I HAVE ALSO SEEN SEASONED NURSES WHO HAVE AN ATTITUDE AS WELL.. ESP WITH NEW NURSES.. IM LUCKY THAT IVE NEVER EXPERIENCED THAT IN MY CAREER BUT I DO KNOW THAT IT HAPPENS.. SO I THINK WE ALL JUST NEED TO BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER AND COME TOGETHER AS A SISTERHOOD.. WE ALL NEED TO REALIZE WE ARE THERE FOR A PURPOSE AND THATS TO HELP PPL WHO ARE ILL.....

[mattsmom]

I've seen young nurses eat seasoned nurses too....it all depends on what type personality one is and whether they've been indoctrinated in school (I know many BSN grads who look down on AD and diploma nurses for example). I believe we do waaay too much competing in this field and it is to our collective detriment. The hospitals benefit when nurses will not stick together, and if we cannot stick together we cannot effect our working conditions to make patient care safer.

We should all refuse to allow bullying to occur..that is, jump in and speak up against it immediately when you see it happening. One can do this quietly and still get your point across, and the bullied nurse feels less alone and singled out. Too many nurses will NOT go out on a limb like this for a coworker though and its sad.

[Abbeygirl]

A few of the nurses who have been in nursing for awhile will give new nurses a hard time. At one time I was on the end of being treated so badly by nurses who were so possessive of their department that I had to change departments. It was so bad I would go home crying at nights and dread going back to work. The days of being younger. Now I can give it back to them without any problems, or ignore them totally.

Now, I see more of a trend of the younger nurses being really mean mouth to other nurses. We have about 4 in our department that are in early thirties. They really treat people badly, unless you are in their "click". Guess what, they are the ones that were placed in the team leaders positions. Does that say anthing about management. It appears they think this is the correct attitude to have to get the job done. I do not feel this way. The directors turn their head the other way and do nothing when a nurse dares to complain about the treatment. We have lost alot of good nurses due to this.

One of our young team leaders does sneaky little things like placing as many elderly or nursing home patients who are brought to the ER for some reason or the other in our emergency cardiac area. She has even told EMT's to mention chest pain on their reports called in. Some of these patients can't talk due to CVA's or so confused from dementia they can't even tell you where they are hurting. Some of them are falls. She just does not want total care patients in her area. We have ask patients when we are admitting them how long they have been having chest pain and they deny chest pain at all.

I know she does this for sure now, because I over heard her the other day. She did not see me standing behind her. I walked around and took the chart and told her I would be glad to take the man with ABD pain, but please do not put false information on his triage sheet. He ended up being the light of my day. She missed out on a wonderful experience of getting to know this great man.

Some of the new nurses just starting out, no matter their age see this type behavior, or is treated in this way soon starts acting the same way. This is so sad to watch them form the bad attitude. Oh well, what comes around goes around and everyone will have their day.

[vkw]

I've seen it go both ways. I am a critical care nurse specialist in cardiac telemetry. (kind of a mouthful huh, ha ha!) I precept new grads, new RNs, transition students in their last semester of nursing school, and nurses that may have been RNs for a while but just starting on our floor. We have an extended preceptorship program and most of the time it is a joy to see the new nurses take the knowledge that I can give them and apply it appropriately. It gives them a sense of satisfaction as well as it gives me a sense of pride. Now on to the other side of it. In the past few years I have noticed a change in the students. They tend to be much more outspoken and demanding. I watched one the other day stand in the middle of the hall and scream at her instructor (whom I had to call because she just would not listen to anything I would tell her). I hated to do this as I generally feel that most issues can be worked out, but I could not work this issue out with her and she became belligerent with me. I do not get paid any more to share my knowledge with students, I only get the enjoyment of the process and watching the light come on when it all starts to make sense to them. There was no way I was going to take this child's abuse. And I say child because she was stomping her feet and screaming. A second instructor showed up and then security to escort her out. I found out later that this was not her first incident, and she was dismissed from school later that day. Sad, but probably necessary. I felt the need to speak to the other students at that point. The only thing I asked them was, "Would you want her to take care of your grandma or grandpa if they were here? Would you entrust your Mom, Dad, or children's care to her? Take the time to think about it, and then come see me." I later got apology notes from two students for her behavior.

[jpaige203]

[size=2]

This is definately sooo true! I am a student nurse, and I have eight more months to go. I am not the kind of person that needs kuodos when I do not deserve them or am I a slacker. I do, however, admit to being insecure from time to time in the clinical setting and I have to say that clinical instructors pick on that. I have had terrible experiences with two clincal instructors in particular. Had I not been a strong determined person, these instructors would have made me drop out. One in particular, that i have to face again this semster yelled at me for giving a IM shot with an 1/2 needle and then made me start giving the IM with TB needles. Now where is the logic in that. I was correct and she wasn't but she still made me feel so small and incompetent.

I also have to say though, that I have had many great instructors too but some people do seem to forget that they all started from where I am now.

[kj47]

Living over the other side of the atlantic i had never heard the phrase " Nurses eat their young" but after reading a few posts i understand what you mean by that and yes i agree it does happen here .I find as a male mature student people generally dont bother me too much , but ive seen younger female students in tears after being treated very badly by older qualified nurses .There seems to be an acceptance that young female students are fair game for this type of treatment ,personally i feel its totally unacceptable in 2006 and should be stamped out by nursing managers .

[3boyzmom]

I agree with you completely, but here's where I think the problem is. Nurse managers are NOT managers. They're nurses, who end up in positions they're not trained for, whether they actively seek the positions or whether they find the position "dumped" on them. (It happens).

They may be wonderful nurses and wonderful people, but there is a definate skill involved in management and it's not covered in nurses' training. In baccalaureate programs they take a stab at it but it's not adequate. There needs to be a plain old "business management 101" class required for nurse managers. Maybe not in nursing school, but at least hospitals should put all prospective nurse managers through a real training program. And I would say that while nurses need to do part of the teaching in this program, it should also include some top-level trained management personnel like CEO, COO, or CFO types.

A lot of people get into these positions and truly want to do a good job. But things get in the way such as "wanting all their staff to like them" (I've seen that one a lot), which prevents them from really doing anything, because they don't want to make anyone mad. And who would get madder than the "bullies", right? Nurse managers need to be trained in things like: Recognizing dysfunctional unit behaviors, Troubleshooting and putting a stop to these behaviors, and keeping their eye on the bottom line, which is patient care, and not spending all their time having to worry about problem staff (because they don't tolerate them), and not getting all wrapped up in their staff's personal lives and problems. Most managers I know, know all their staff's marriage and kid problems, financial troubles, and more. I don't think managers need to be mean at all. A manager can be pleasant and fair and still make it clear that everyone is there for one purpose- patient care- and not for arguing, competing, gossiping, and backstabbing.

[NursetillaTheHun]

I voted yes to "Nurses eat their young". I just started working in ICU. I have been an RN on the floor for 3 years before I took the challenge of ICU. I have never been made to feel more stupid over the silliest things. I will survive though and be extra careful that I don't do the same to any other collegue, more experienced or not.

I have a friend who wanted to do her PhD on this exact subject, to discover the source of the mindset and how to promote change towards more professional behaviour. The university refused the proposal.

[Tari]

Nurses don't just eat their young, they eat each other....they are rude and nasty and just plain mean to each other...and I'd love to know why. There's no reason for it. We are all on the same team here. We all have different strengths and weaknesses and we need to lean on each other and embrace each other. When we bash each other and complain about each shift and each nurse, especially in front of patients and family members, we undermine their trust in us...and make them wonder if we really know what we are doing! Only when we are respectful of each other, will the community give us the full respect that we deserve.

[mssandidge]

I just graduated from a BSN program in May 2007. I have to say that all my clinical instructors were great to us. They instilled confidence and the sense to know that we do not know everything. I feel like nursing should be a team effort. I met some really great nurses in the hospitals. And some that did not want students but I think they did not want students because they felt that they would be "shown up" by the student. I have also learned alot from the ER techs and the patient care techincians. The best nurses that I worked with was a very experienced LPN, I would never assume that I am better than another simply because I have a more advanced degree. My aunt is a nurse and she is the one who told me about the expression but I have not personally experienced it, but as a said, I had instructors who put us with great nurses. Maybe I will experience it when I get my first job but I hope that my attitude of gratitude will be reflected in my work and high appreciation for the preceptorship and knowledge of the more experienced nurses. To all the nurses out there: THANK YOU for a job well done and for the hours of thankless work that you put in to care for your patients. I will strive to be the best nurses that I can.