August 1- Happy Nurses' Day

When I left the cushy chair of journalism for the hurly-burly world of nursing, I know I have some adjusting to do.

But after 2 ½ years of school and hospital, I still cannot adjust to the uncaring ways this caring profession has for its newcomers. If there is a profession that is quick to condemn its young and slow to praise them, nursing is it.

I first heard of the phrase “nurses eat their young” from my lecturer in school, himself a former nurse. By then, I have already encountered this formidable species in my hospital stints.

Granted, most nurses do not prey on their young, but there are enough black sheep around to give the rest a bad name.

It is easy to spot them. They are the ones who run into a mental block when it comes to understanding what it means to be new on the job. This never fails to flummox me because weren’t they once, too, a beginner? Didn’t they once, too, fumble while setting up an IV line, giving an injection, or dressing a wound? Apparently not. They have conveniently forgotten their inglorious past.

Whatever it is, you are expected to be as fast and skilful as if you are already 30 years into the job, and not your first year, or month. And if you are not up to their arbitrary standards, you may be given a tongue-lashing, taken off the learning curve or banished indefinitely to the Siberia of nursing chores to clear bedpans and clean backsides.

Speaking of tongue-lashing, some nurses have made this their true speciality.
I know of one who is so good at it that she never fails to leave her victims close to, or in tears. She knows the exact words to fool them into thinking they are the most stupid people in the history of mankind.

Like the rest of her tribe, she believes that humiliating a person and hacking their self-esteem to pieces, preferably before a crowd, is the only way to make them learn.
I cannot see the merits of this method of instructing. I believe I speak for most when I say I learn better under humane, rather than harsh, conditions.

But there appear to be an unwritten rule in nursing that you do not need to be civil to the novices. Student nurses often remain a part of the wall furniture until a patient cries out for a bedpan or a urinal, and then they become visible again to the ward staff.

Some veteran nurses find it only possible to speak to their less experienced colleagues only in a scolding tone.
They are often quick to pounce on your mistakes, but when you do good, no word of praise passes their lips.

It has been a true test of my patience to work with this predatory group of nurses, more challenging than any nursing skills I have to pick up so far.

But even as I train my patience, I implore nursing leaders to make mentoring skills a must for their senior staff before they unleash them on the new ones. The truth is many nurses are not good teachers, but until the day schools and hospitals stop recruiting, teaching is an essential part of their job. This is because most learning for new nurses happens on the job, and not in the classroom.

Finally, I would like to appeal to my seniors to recall their own fumbling days as student nurses when they work with us rookies. If we make mistakes, give us a chance to learn from them. Even better, share tips on how to avoid such mistakes. Don’t just label us as failures just because we have done wrong once or twice. And if we have done well, hey, it won’t hurt to give us a pat or two on the shoulder.

Happy nurses’ day.