Personally, I look for non-judgemental nurses and management, and friendly professional guidance. Unfortunately, I have found quite the contrary, and I have moved around a fair amount. The staff tend to view you with critical skepticism, and judge your every move rather than help you to learn. As for older more experienced and confident "new" nurses they are merciless to you. What I have frequently felt like is a sorority pledge who gets treated horribly, and once the test is over and they are ready to accept me, I am so disgusted I no longer really want it. My observation is that those who can find a balance between looking self-depricating and incredible grateful, and still manage to look competent do the best in those early days of orientation and the trial by fire, but I am probably a cynic by now.

I work as a travel nurse and it's tough sometimes to get along with the staff because I'm not permanent. I appreciate when the other nurses are patient and helpful when I have questions. After all, we're all on the same team. I need to feel encouraged by other nurses or else I can feel discouraged and useless.

Sorority Nurse
You took the thoughts right out of my head! It is absolutely disgusting how the majority of nurses treat you as a new nurse. It IS as if everyone is watching while you learn to ice skate - and having a grand time watching you fall. Once you've made it through the fire - then they act as though they've been with you all along. I've decided the real cause of the "nursing shortage" is mean nurses. How can a profession devoted to helping people be so cruel to one another?

Talk about nursing school being taking out every breath from your body...
a new nurse goes through hell so to speak. I will never forget two years ago working as a new nurse. I would ask questions and most of the nurses would treat me as a dog. I will say though that the traveling nurses could relate so we could relate well together. I would go to a traveling nurse for help way before I would go to my charge nurse!
They treated me with respect unlike the nurses on the floor.
Shame on nurses for treating new nurses like DUMMIES. They will have to answer for their actions sooner or later.

You are absolutely right about nursing school establishing the abuse in the field. It sets the groundwork by its pedagogy of nit picking nonsense and colloborates in our own oppression by training nurses to be judgmental creeps to each other, rather than to teach unity and empowerment!! I had an inservice once when I worked for a local hospice that had grown to be be the second largest in the country. Our caseloads went from 12 to 25. The management, who I am sorry to say were mainly nurses, had some of the highest salaries in the industry. The company was making money hand over fist, and we were salaried and worked 50 hours per week for the lowest nursing salaries in the area. Well, they gave an inservice by a local psychologist on stress managment in the workplace. She said we have no control over many things, such as our caseloads and workplace. The only cotrol we have is in our response to it...She suggested giving ourselves positive feedback as a means to feel better, and to recognize we couldn't control our jobs. I rose my hand and said how about teaching us to identify our stressors on the job and empowering us to work with management to try and fix them, that would lower my stress level. As far as I was concerned, pulling over and blowing kisses to myself in the 7-11 bathroom mirror when ever I had 10 patients beeping me becasue their pain was out of control and it was physically impossible to help all of them, did little for me. Needless to say, I am rarely liked by my managers!

OMG Steller....
I am rolling over here in laugher! I don't think kissing myself in the mirror will help my stress level either! You crack me up girl!!! LOL

I currently left the Telemetry floor at our hospital to go to a Dialysis Unit in our town. OMG talk about feeling and being treated like an oursider!
The nurses at this unit have been here for over 15 years... most of them.
My Preceptor is putting me through pure hell as of right now!
If I ask her a question her favorite answer and only answer to me is
"I have already told you". I need to get the balls and say back to her, yes I know you have, however your job is a Preceptor and that means "teaching" me no matter how many times I ask you something... DUH
I really wake up each morning at 3:30 sick to my stomach having to go back there each day. She had the nerve to tell me the other day this.....
Debbie, even though you learn this job doesn't mean you will have a job. Our patients don't want new people sticking them. That means you will have to get the new people. If we get no new people then you wont' have a job will you!" I could not believe the nerve this "fellow" nurse had talking to me in such a way!
After 3 and 1/2 years of nursing school only to be put down by fellow nurses! This is as Sad as it comes!
However, let me say it is not all nurses. My sister is a great nurse and has compassion like you would not believe. Then like I said before the "travel nurses" are the ones to help you most of the time.

Dang, it's sure is nice to hear someone sticking up the traveling nurses for once. I travel with Access Nurses and I really felt like an outsider for awhile. The other nurses sure didn't treat me with respect...more like I was in their way at times. It's better now for sure. I'm sorry that you receive the same treatment as a perm nurse. I think you should make a stand for yourself...you're just as valuable as the other nurses on the floor...after all, aren't we all here for the same purpose? It makes me so mad when charge nurses don't treat the newbies with respect. Don't they remember what it's like to be new?

Well Kmarshall.... I believe in giving credit where credit is due. There was these three traveling nurses I worked with at one time on the Telemetry floor, that were my "angels"!!! Where the rest of the staff treated me horribly then looked out for me as a new nurse. I will never ever forget those women.
You couldn't be more right about us looking after one another instead of tearing each other apart. I too thought we were all in this for the "Patients"
I've always been sort of a passive person, however nursing is changing me. You are right, I need to start sticking up for myself. It's just hard when all your life you have been a people pleaser. However, I am learning!

Nurses eat their young! Don't know how many times I've heard that. I'm a relatively new nurse with about 6 yrs. experience, but found a DON who trusts me and my work ethic, and I'm weekend supervisor of a 70-bed nursing home, and also do pain management, restraint management, infection control, and education nurse. Full-time job? You bet it is, I have overtime on nearly every check, but we win awards and everyone is happy.