Comments on: Why Nurses Eat Their Young…

By: SM

SM — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:04:38 +0000

Gosh, I’m kind of dreading going to LPN school now.
I am so glad I read this thread entirely. Now I will be more aware of the way I will more than likely be treated as a new grad.
As a CNA, working in a long term care facility in the past, I did experience back stabbing among each other throughout the whole place, but it was nothing like the horror stories I’ve read here. I am the type of person who can’t function under negative circumstances for very long, to me it’s a sign that it’s not for me, and it’s time to move on, but I also know life is full of this kind of stuff.
I hope my classmates are mature but I somehow doubt they will be, and I hope my first job will be a pleasant learning experience. Thanks for this thread, it’s been an eye opener.
Also, any pointers on a new grad asking questions to a grouch nurse like I’m gona have to do will be very helpful. I’ll appreciate any help i can get here. Thanks!

By: angela

angela — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:16:11 +0000

I must agree with Gina, it’s a hard enough job anyway…it doesn’t help when you have the angry nurse whose been there for 20-30 years, hate the point that your so happy to be a nurse…I think a lot of them should have retired many years ago. These are women who hate their lives so much they try to make us feel unworthy of even having our jobs. They’ve mostly ran off their husband and children and we are the last ones standing for them to pick on.

By: Gina

Gina — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:21:25 +0000

To all you nurses who insist that it’s normal for “nurses eat their young,” you ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Take your displaced anger and frustration out on someone or something else. I don’t care what college program you went to, nursing school teaches all about the importance of treating all people with the respect and dignity we deserve as human beings. This goes back to your first nursing class. You wouldn’t treat your family, children, friends, or pets the way you treat new grads or nursing students. Then, you wonder why you’re operating short-staffed??? Think about it. If someone sh_t in your wheaties, don’t take it out on the weakest link because “you could.” Let’s put it another way. Suppose your daughter or son came home and told you what happened and how they were treated at work that day. Wouldn’t it ruffle your feathers a bit that someone would treat your “baby” like that? Remember what your parents taught you. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “It doesn’t cost anything to smile.” “Show your elders respect.” “Turn the other cheek.” “Don’t throw stones at glass houses.” “What Jesus would do?” You all are going to have to answer to your maker one day, and you had better have a good answer for treating a nurse like cr_p for no good reason when she/he is just trying to learn the job and be the nurse they always wanted to be

By: Mary

Mary — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:20:35 +0000

I also am an older new grad. I had a successful career in IT before going to nursing school. I went because I always wanted to be a nurse. I graduated first in my class. I also was an extern for 1 year before graduating. When I graduated I took a position on a Tele floor at a different hospital and from the first day of orientation have noticed how the learning environment is punitive. I have been off orientation for about a month and have experienced both the helpful and vindictive nurses. The nurse educator spends a large part of her time threatening us about completing assignments on time. I feel that I have no one to ask about decisions that I made on the floor. Because of the threat of being written up for any mistake that you make this is a real limiting factor for learning. I want to be an excellent nurse, but nursing schools and the preceptor orientation time covers about 10% of the situations that you encounter on the floor. You cannot possibly ask your fellow nurses about every situation. I try to make a judgement and ask about the ones that I feel are most critical but there is so much backstabbing and pettiness. I consider it a good day if I am not crying in the car on the way home. I have almost overwhelming anxiety and fear about causing harm to my patients. I really need a more experienced nurse that I can talk to about decisions I made on the floor and what I could have done better without the fear of being reported and written up. I have had long work history and have NEVER experienced anything like this before.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:48:08 +0000

As a 20-year corporate executive who chose to become a nurse practitioner at age 50, I was stunned, appalled and outraged by the bullying and intimidation directed at me and other “older” students by nursing school instructors at the University of Pennsylvania as well as staff nurses at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. With classes and clinical rotations designed to make confident, successful women fearful and paranoid, Penn’s nursing program reflects everything other commenters have written. After leaving that place ASAP and switching to a “less prestigious” school, I have learned the trade and will graduate with MSN/nurse practitioner degree in May 2010. I will NEVER work as a hospital staff nurse and wish my former tormentors the worst of health and luck as they live out what’s left of their miserable, small-minded lives.

By: Susie

Susie — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:15:11 +0000

I am a new nurse. I have been woking my first nursing job at a long term care facility. I have been there 9 months. I had wanted to be a nurse all my life. I did not get the opportunity until I was in my forties. Talk about nurses eating there young!! I am currently looking for other employment and at this point, I’ll take any job with any pay and I don’t care if it is even in nursing. I have one nurse who has been harassing me since the beginning. She literally brags about herself being a “Bitch”. She smarts off to me for any mistake I make, There are times I speak to her or ask her a question and she will look thru me and totally ignore me, she takes great pleasure in pointing out any mistake I make, with the nastiest attitude. She talks behind my back, spreading rumors and lies. I worked with her the other night and we never spoke two words to each other all night. I had not worked her floor for a few days, so there was nothing for her to jump me about. We never spoke that whole evening. Yet, the next night she comes to work she is telling everyone how she told me off about how I talked to a resident the night her and I worked together. She told them that I was talking to him like a baby and in a very demeaning manner. I do not speak to my resident that way and I have since spoken to the resident’s wife and she does not think that I speak to him in that manner. This nurse had nothing to bitch at me for, so she just made something up. If she would lie about that, what else has she or will she lie about to make me look bad? How does someone continue to work with a person you can no longer respect or trust? I have reported her behavior to management many times. Other staff members have gone to management in my defense. All we ever get from the Administrator and DON is: “Yes, she has been told and told about this, she apologizes and just keeps doing it. Just try to ignore it”. ” We will be hiring someone else, then she will probably take her focus off of you and concentrate on the new girl”. “Yes, Tracey is a bitch, Susie is just going to have to get used to it”. ” 3-11 would have no trouble telling Susie to F*** off, she needs to tell them to F*** off”. These are mostly comments made by the DON. How does any of these comments and suggestions help the situation? I can not believe that someone who is a professional and in a managerial position would even make these comments. None of this solves the problem and would only help it to continue or worsen. Also, I am not the first nurse that this girl has done this to. I had the opportunity to meet the last girl who quit because of this nurse. What she told me is exactly what I am going thru. She said she went right into the Administrators office and told her that she was quiting because of this nurse’s behavior. Family members have even begun to comment on how this nurse treats me. They hear how she talks to me and see how she behaves to me while they are visiting their loved ones. Management has done nothing to correct this situation and it appears they never will. I can not continue to go on like this. The stress and anxiety I feel over all this is taking its toll on me. I am so depressed and I am tired of dreading going to work. I love taking care of the residents in my charge. I am fond of each and everyone of them. I hate to leave them, but I can’t go on this way. If I had wanted to have my self esteem and self confidence beaten down on a regular basis, wanted smarted off to daily, to be given the silent treatment and to be ignored, and to basically made to feel as though I am less than nothing; I would have stayed with my alcoholic and abusive ex-husband and never have bothered going to nursing school. I wish there was some legal action I could take. No one should have to endure this behavior in the workplace. I feel so helpless.

By: Sylvia Foley

Sylvia Foley — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:08:39 +0000

I’m struck by the fact that the comments come from across the spectrum on this one. There is good research out there on bullying among nurses and its effects; it certainly exists, but people often don’t know how to address it effectively. Cheryl Dellasega, a professor at Penn State University and an expert in bullying, published an article last January in the American Journal of Nursing (I was the editor). She surveyed the literature and has talked to a lot of nurses; the article offers a sample survey and provides some concrete recommendations for dealing with nurse-nurse bullying. If anyone’s interested, here’s the link: http://bit.ly/2rL9l (open the PDF for the cleanest read).

By: Marla

Marla — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:50:50 +0000

To many places treat you like a lightbulb. If you burn out, no big deal, they just screw in another one. I am a DON now and I not only take new nurses under my wing, but encourage all my staff to do the same thing. I often say, ‘the day off you save may be your own.” Besides, we are all here for the residents, and if you’re not here for them, well, there is the door. Thanks for playing.

By: DianeJ

DianeJ — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:53:41 +0000

I have been a nurse since 1977 and I don’t think the blog is retarded and it is not outdated. It is a sad fact of life “Nurses Do Eat Their Young”.
Why? no clue but it happens. They eat you up and spit you out with a smile on their face. Not all nurses are like that but it does happen over and over again.

By: Alexandria

Alexandria — Tue, 19 May 2009 03:24:17 +0000

I agree with the many who think this blog is retarded. I feel it’s outdated. Nurses eat their young and old alike. From what I see, good nurses simply can’t stand lazy crappy nurses who talk a lot but get nothing done. I am a new nurse and I have been completely taken in by the very experienced amazing nurses, why is that? It’s because I am smart enough to know that there is a whole lot I don’t know and I am not afraid to ask questions or admit that I don’t know something. Experiencd nurses can’t stand the new grads who waltz in acting like they know everything because they passed the damn NCLEX or graduated top of the class. And as far as powerlessness, couldn’t be further from the truth. Nurses save doctors asses ALL THE TIME. Nurses are the core and backbone of healthcare. Bottom line. This is a hard field, very stressful and if you’re sensitive and can’t handle some heat, you need to get the hell out of the kitchen. Lick your wounds and move on.