“Throw her in the pool”
This is what was said to me by a charge nurse when I offered to stay and help a newer nurse do something she had never done before by herself. The poor girl was freaking out and it was assumed that if she were just thrown into the task, she would either sink or swim.
Why is this the mentality experienced nurses use to justify the unfair treatment of newer, less experienced nurses?
I don’t understand. Heaven forbid the nurse sinks, and then she’s at the mercy of the physician (who never makes mistakes *insert intense eye roll*), under scrutiny by the manager, and the topic of nasty gossip between coworkers. Nurses are cruel.
My biggest issue with this mentality is that not everybody learns this way. There are some people who thrive in situations like this. You give them a problem or put them in the middle of a situation and they will figure it out. There are three responses to a threat/situation – fight, flight, or freeze.
I am the type of person who tends to freeze. So if it were me thrown into a situation like this I would freak the f**k out! After a minute (or five) of freaking out I would snap out of it and do my job. Then afterwards I would beat myself up over all the things I did wrong. And the sad thing is – I have been thrown into situations like this multiple times and it’s really not a good look. It really makes you second guess your skill and ability as a nurse – at least that’s what it did to me.
I honestly didn’t write this post to come up with a answer for the problem; I really just wanted to bring awareness to the situation. Just to give some background into how much this situation bothered me – I started writing this post the night the incident happened TWO WEEKS AGO!!! But I’m just now finishing it and posting it because I was so upset that I had to step away and really gather my thoughts.
I agree that at some point as a new nurse you have to learn to do things on your own, but I don’t agree with setting someone up for failure especially when they’ve expressed their discomfort with a task. I know in this particular situation it wasn’t done out of spite, but I also know that that is not the case for everyone. Some people really do it to be mean as if watching someone fail proves a point. On this day at my job it could been addressed at the start of the shift and it wasn’t even after multiple experienced nurses expressed concern, and that’s what got under my skin.
For any new nurse who is reading this, these are the things I want you to take away from this post:
- Speak up for yourself. If you’re given an assignment that you truly believe is beyond your capability, say something!! If you’re uncomfortable with an assignment or task, say something. Who cares if the charge nurse or your coworkers don’t like it, they’re not the ones who matter – the patient does.
- Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to ask a more experienced nurse for help. Ideally you should still have access to your preceptor to ask questions and/or for added support.
- Try, try, and try again. Like I said before, eventually you will have to do it – whatever it is. So don’t be afraid to try. You’ll never learn if you don’t at least attempt. But here’s the thing – get someone to be there with you the first time you attempt. There’s no shame in that. There’s a lot of things you won’t get the opportunity to experience on orientation, and when that happens it’s okay to call on someone more experienced for guidance.
- Be honest. This goes along with speaking up. Be honest to your coworkers and be honest with yourself about your skill level. If you don’t know, you don’t know. Nursing is honestly not the career where you wanna “fake it til you make it”.
- Debrief. I think we as nurses have fallen out of the habit of debriefing. It’s overlooked way more than it should be and only seems to be a thing when something goes wrong. But maybe – and this is just me sharing my slightly professional opinion – if we debriefed the good outcomes/incidents more often we might not have as many bad outcomes. People underestimate the power of a simple “good job doing…” and how it can spark conversations between staff about how it was done, the thought process behind it, where it was learned, and if it could be applied to more than one patient situation. Debriefing is especially important for newer nurses because it gives them the opportunity to learn what they did right, what they did wrong, and how they can improve. It’s supposed to be a safe and objective conversation.
- Make sure you have a mentor. I cannot stress this enough for new nurses. It’s something that we’ve recently implemented on our unit and while I think it’s a good idea, I think it’s best done with nurses outside of your home unit. Preceptors are there to teach you the ins and outs of nursing on your unit. Mentors are there to help you develop the ins and outs of you as a nurse. One develops skill and the other develops character. Both are essential.
I hope this helps someone. I’m sorry if you’ve ever been thrown in and expected to sink or swim. My prayer is that you stick with it regardless of the outcome. See it through. Celebrate your wins and learn from your losses. Love you guys.
Xoxo,
Ash, RN