Why Do Some Nurses Eat Their Young?
As you bravely jump back into the educational pool to advance your degree and license, please know that you have an opportunity to make more of a difference than originally anticipated. You can promise yourself to commit to a new tradition (if you do not practice it already) of dealing with new nurses in a positive way that will affect their careers, home life, general attitude, work satisfaction, and ultimately patient care.
You can mentor a nurse beyond orientation and procedural training, and abolish figurative filial cannibalism (nurses eating their young) one nurse at a time; there is no benefit to that behavior.
In years past nurses experienced a psychological rite of passage as they meekly entered the world of work with fear and trepidation, knowing any mistakes might buy them a metaphorical rap on the knuckles. However, has nursing really changed? "New" is not limited to recent nursing school graduates anymore; new also includes veteran nurses who are fresh additions to any established organization.
Nursing is demanding, and though we complain, we love what we do. We rely on each other in crises, so we want assurance that our coworker’s skills are top notch, a reasonable expectation. Do we give new nurses adequate time to adapt to their new surroundings, rules, and culture? If the ‘newbie’ does not fit the personality of the dominant pride (of lions and lionesses), the older nurses may throw the new nurse to the wolves, chanting "Sink or Swim … Trial by Fire!" Do we give them an honest chance to function at the level we expect of them?
If we take a moment to consider causality, we may view a side of nursing that does not focus on nursing skills, critical thinking, or competency. Nurses form bonds and associations in the workplace that spill over into their personal lives. We meet for dinner, shop together, and visit each other’s homes. We are one of those groups that do not leave our professions at work; we bring our coworkers (and our jobs) home with us. For nurses, social networks are more than dinner and a movie; they supply the peer support component that keeps us from burning out.
Are some nurses leaving professionalism behind to make social networking a priority? Does this social connection contribute to an arbitrary and harsh review of the new nurse attempting integration? Will nurses continue to watch generations pass along verbal abuses of coworkers in the name of “paying dues,” or hear coworkers justify themselves with, "When you’ve been a nurse as long as I have …"
Whether it has to do with culture, social engagement, personal preference, or old habits, some nurses continue to promote throwing a newbie into the midst of chaos while expecting her to swim out of the mire relatively unscathed. Can you find a nurse that will admit to treating a new nurse poorly? Probably not, but I’ve seen new folks suffer ill-treatment by nurses who infuse the orientation process with sporadic whip-cracking and feel justified in so doing.
The mention of nurses eating their young makes many nurses bristle and quickly deny that the unkind treatment of a new nurse exists today. I have recently mentioned my observations to an ER director who stiffened and said, "Not in my ER. That does not happen. It used to, but it doesn’t anymore." If we do not recognize and acknowledge the problem, how can we solve it?
The few bad apples (or bad barrels that infect good apples) catch our attention. Most nurses are kind and caring, and take great pride in nurturing and guiding new nurses into a place of confidence and proficiency. Preceptors revel in leading nurses toward excellence as patient advocates, caregivers, and teachers. I have mentored many medics and nurses, hoping to spare them the pain of that maddening and outdated cracking whip still found in some nurse’s lockers. So what do we do about the old-school nurses who continue to badger novices?
Speak to them privately, and if that does not work, take your concerns up the chain of command in a productive and professional (not emotional) manner. If you do not feel comfortable utilizing your employer’s process for conflict resolution, approach the situation from another angle, but please do not tolerate bad behavior from "otherwise good people".
You can encourage and guide the neophyte nurse without taking sides against the older nurse; cheer her on and praise her accomplishments. Give her your home phone number for after-hours support. Nurture, teach, advise, guide, and coach as her mentor if you are not her preceptor. With your guidance, the new nurse will learn that most nurses are kind, caring, and interested in her success. Promote professionalism and be an advocate for the new nurse, and for yourselves, because most nurses don’t eat their young. We need to put a stop to those who do.
