New nurses wanted.

Well done, GrnTea.Thank you.

OHhh, i am so so saving this article somewhere in my favorites list. Oh, thank you thank you for saying these words, GrnTea, oh it is a wonderful thing to read. This should be mandatory reading for anyone who posts "Nursing eats it's young."I have always objected to the word "young".This old worn out, not true statement, comes closer to the truth, (if/when it does happen)if we reword it to read "Nursing eats the new employee"It doesnt' matter the nurse's age.This is not "just" nursing either. Many many other high-intensity or competitve professionals experience sometimes not being warmly welcomed aboard.another point, is, many people---of any age----just do NOT easily warm up to new people, strangers, as quickly as others do. It is not the age of the nurse arriving, nor the age of the nurse welcoming new employee.Young nurses AND old nurses both can be unwelcoming, even petty and nasty or uppity. A person's character really is not locked in by one's age.I've moved extensively, from coast to coast, and was often the "new" nurse. Occasionally, i am not much welcomed, yet, i stand there with a stripe of gray hair and decades of experience, i am not young,and i am not a new grad, either,it is just i am new to them. It's not just *me*, i've witnessed this happen to other new employees, it happens sometimes, that some people just don't take to strangers right off the bat. I suspect, it might be possible that a very needy person who is insecure and/or not yet confident about nursing, might feel it even MORE, and blame that on her "age"than a nurse who knows her stuff might.still, overall, what i've seen and experienced, is, most nurses do help each other, they really do, regardless of age. I've been taught tons of stuff by other nurses,and i have tried to always help out a nurse in need.Like GrnTea says, it really is far far more common, that nurses DO help each other. Probably none of us would have made it, without other nurses teaching us and helping us.

Is this an "article"? if so, i will vote for THIS one next time we are supposed to pick favorite article.

I roll my eyes every time I see a post about someone's "dream job". How can you know it's your dream job when you haven't even worked one day yet? And, if it turns out you don't like it, is it then your "nightmare job"? I've seen quite a few posts on here by people who've gotten their (perceived) dream job & ended up hating the specialty/area. Apparently, then, your dreams are fantasy & not based in reality. Stop worrying about getting your dream job & just absorb all the knowledge you can from the more seasoned nurses in whatever area you're working.

[QUOTE=GrnTea;7171135]We, better than they, have a clearer vision of being in those beds rather than beside them; we, better than they, have a larger perspective on the world of nursing care. We have already been new nurses. We have already been managers. We have already taken the responsibility of being charge nurses. We have been years at bedsides.We are scared of what will happen to us and our loved ones when the self-esteem movement leaves us with caregivers that need more validation from their patients than they have the fortitude to learn to give them.[QUOTE]Wow... those are two excellent points that are so often overlooked in this friendly-fire debate between experienced RNs and those of us newbies who are just cutting our teeth on patient care.It always strikes me as ironic when a new nurse comes on AN to gripe about their treatment from an experienced nurse, classifying the experienced nurse's attitude as "unfair", "mean", or "rude", and several of AN's experienced members try to gently tell the OP that the anecdotal experienced nurse may have a point. Cue the orchestra and rosin up your bows, because the time to pull out the Kleenex is NOW!You'd think someone had insulted their mother or kicked a puppy. The truth of the matter is that this reaction is (sadly) more and more the norm, which I suppose can only be expected from a culture that so desperately values youth and beauty that it is quick to dismiss/discredit experience of any kind as "irrelevant" or "old school", having no place in current practice or modern conversation. The conversation then devolves into the new nurse accusing the experienced nurses of all kinds of crimes against the new nurse's self esteem/perceived expertise. And on and on it goes.The second point is stunning in both its honesty and bluntness. I have met many a nurse who is disenchanted with the way they have found nursing to actually be versus the image they had in their minds. Sadly, interpersonal interaction (in ANY setting) is not always going to be rosey, happy, healthy rapport between a caregiver and the patient. To assume anything else is dangerously deceiving.Sometimes at the end of the day, you will leave shift with half of your patients mad at you and the physicians distributing dartboards with your face on them. All you have to feel good about yourself is that you did your best for your patients given the circumstances, and that should be sufficient, because if you're looking for anything else out of nursing, beware!I am far from an experienced nurse by any means, but I have already been accused of being "mean", "rude" and "heartless" on several occasions...for refusing to do someone's homework/job for them. This is the kind of immature, unprofessional conduct that can ruin a profession, both from the point of view of the public, for the nurses, and most importantly, for the patients.To GrnTea and all the other experienced RNs on this board who so willingly give of themselves to nurses like myself, thank you!!

Quote from KarenfRNI roll my eyes every time I see a post about someone's "dream job". How can you know it's your dream job when you haven't even worked one day yet? And, if it turns out you don't like it, is it then your "nightmare job"? I've seen quite a few posts on here by people who've gotten their (perceived) dream job & ended up hating the specialty/area. Apparently, then, your dreams are fantasy & not based in reality. Stop worrying about getting your dream job & just absorb all the knowledge you can from the more seasoned nurses in whatever area you're working.

I work with a wonderful nurse who has been such an exemplary unofficial mentor and I'm wondering if I'm reading her words. Well said.We welcome whole-heartedly, unreservedly, new nurses who are willing to put their education in its proper place, planning and providing competent care. We love the one who doesn't come in and say, "I'm just working here for a year so I can go to ICU and then go to CRNA / NP school." We want good nurses; we are willing to help new nurses who want to work wherever there is a need even if it's not their dreeeeaammmm job, and work hard, to grow. We want to work with people who don't have such a twitchy trigger finger, ready to go off with a bang over the least perceived slight. We want colleagues who believe this: Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. (~Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Holy hell! Where have you been hiding my whole life?This!This!!!So brilliant. So marvelous.Might I stalk you a little? Follow you around murmuring bits of poetry in your ear and spreading banquets of chocolate chip cookies before you? May I mention my cunning ability to sprinkle ekg dots (fresh out of flower petals....sorry. Plus, you know, seasonal and all that.) at your croc covered feet?And should you hear Peter Gabriel echo over your facility speakers, be assured that I am out on the lawn with a boom box (that's like a big ass iPod with speakers, kids) held aloft over my head.

I am a new nurse and I have a remarkable preceptor.She is knowledgeable. She is dedicated to teaching me how to function to the facility’s standards without encouraging shortcuts that may cost me my job, if not my integrity. She is able to intuit when to “hover” and when to loosen the reins and let me fly on my own. She has never been “unavailable” for or disinterested in any question I have had. She doesn’t speak to me like a child. She communicates with me like an equal and treats me with the respect that she would expect from me. She involves me in decisions on how to progress through my training, she gauges my comfort/confidence level and doesn’t make plans for me based on arbitrary standards and yet she keeps me challenged by adding to my responsibilities in appropriate ways. She’s not afraid to correct me if I do something wrong and she does so in ways that allow me to keep my dignity. I have a REMARKABLE preceptor and our nurse manager knows it – because I took my very first opportunity to let her know it. I leave work most days physically exhausted, but mentally amped. It is because of her that I am happy to be there and it is because of the commitment and respect that she has shown to me that I would do pretty much anything she asked. She has earned my respect and loyalty without question.There are a few nurses on my unit who have started to get catty. I quietly watched as it started with one. I quietly watched that one spread it to as many others as would listen. Fortunately for me, my skin is leather-thick and it doesn’t bother me in the least if someone doesn’t like me. If it gets to the point of interfering with my livelihood, I will respond in a very direct and calculated manner. Hopefully it won’t ever get to that point. She’s young and I believe she underestimates my capacity for tenacity. I’ll take apart a wall brick by brick if I have to. She may not be so patient.But I will say this…My preceptor is the saving grace. I have a feeling that the kindness she has bestowed on me will be what keeps this transition from being so steep an uphill battle that I consider whether or not it would be more advantageous to cut sling load and take my chances somewhere else.

Are you kidding me? A Nicki Minaj quote? That is awful haha. But in all seriousness, I think the older ******* nurses only discourage the new ones because it makes them feel better. If they are still on the floor at age whatever 50 or 60. They have probably applied and not gotten a few management positions. Those are my thoughts after 5 months in as a new grad on a med surg floor.

Quote from nisteberAre you kidding me? A Nicki Minaj quote? That is awful haha.

GrnTea, thank you so much for this! Having been on AN for just a few months, I find myself really struggling with discouragement, fairly regularly. It just seems so BAD out there, what with the no jobs and killer patient loads and vicious colleagues. Is this effort even worth the sacrifice? Nursing is not my dream job, my dream job is laying in bed with a book eating chocolate and potato chips without suffering any of those pesky consequences like weight gain or heart problems. It is a job I find fascinating, that I think I can do. Maybe I'm wrong - I won't know until I get there and try. But if I'm right, I can promise my future preceptor that I will watch closely, listen carefully, and think quickly to the best of my ability every day. I hope I get one who is as dedicated as you.