How to tell the difference between a Graduate Nurse and an Experienced Nurse:

20 posts · started Sep 6, 2006

kimmiejs Sep 6, 2006, 2:06 PM
How to tell the difference between a Graduate Nurse and an Experienced Nurse:

A Graduate Nurse throws up when the patient does.
An Experienced Nurse calls housekeeping when a patient throws up

A Graduate Nurse wears so many pins on their name badge you can't read it.
An Experienced Nurse doesn't wear a name badge for liability reasons.

A Graduate Nurse charts too much.
An Experienced Nurse doesn't chart enough.

A Graduate Nurse loves to run to codes.
An Experienced Nurse makes graduate nurses run to codes.

A Graduate Nurse wants everyone to know they are a nurse.
An Experienced Nurse doesn't want anyone to know they are a nurse.

A Graduate Nurse keeps detailed notes on a pad.
An Experienced Nurse writes on the back of their hand, paper scraps, napkins, etc.

A Graduate Nurse will spend all day trying to reorient a patient.
An Experienced Nurse will chart the patient is disoriented and restrain them.

A Graduate Nurse can hear a beeping I-med at 50 yards.
An Experienced Nurse can't hear any alarms at any distance.

A Graduate Nurse loves to hear abnormal heart and breath sounds.
An Experienced Nurse doesn't want to know about them unless the patient is symptomatic.

A Graduate Nurse spends 2 hours giving a patient a bath.
An Experienced Nurse lets the CNA give the patient a bath.

A Graduate Nurse thinks people respect Nurses.
An Experienced Nurse knows everybody blames everything on the nurse.

A Graduate Nurse looks for blood on a bandage hoping they will get to change it.
An Experienced Nurse knows a little blood never hurt anybody.

A Graduate Nurse looks for a chance "to work with the family."
An Experienced Nurse avoids the family.

A Graduate Nurse expects meds and supplies to be delivered on time.
An Experienced Nurse expects them to never be delivered at all.

A Graduate Nurse will spend days bladder training an incontinent patient.
An Experienced Nurse will insert a Foley catheter.

A Graduate Nurse always answers their phone.
An Experienced Nurse checks their caller ID before answering the phone.

A Graduate Nurse thinks psych patients are interesting.
An Experienced Nurse thinks psych patients are crazy.

A Graduate Nurse carries reference books in their bag.
An Experienced Nurse carries magazines, lunch, and some "cough syrup" in their bag.

A Graduate Nurse doesn't find this funny.
An Experienced Nurse does ;)
Mom-n-More Jan 8, 2007, 1:25 AM
Hahaha! ROFL! I remember when I fit into the graduate nurse category. It's amazing how well I've adapted to being an "Experienced Nurse."
FrIgHtNiGhT Jan 21, 2007, 10:44 PM
Mom-n-More wrote:Hahaha! ROFL! I remember when I fit into the graduate nurse category. It's amazing how well I've adapted to being an "Experienced Nurse."


Yeah, me too! (It happened when I stopped giving a crap...)
SoldierNurse Jan 22, 2007, 8:17 PM
FrIgHtNiGhT wrote:Yeah, me too! (It happened when I stopped giving a crap...)
If you have stopped caring about your patient's, then why are you still in the nursing profession?
sleeplessrn2003 Feb 5, 2007, 4:21 AM
:houra: I officially proclaim myself an experienced nurse!!! But, contrary to some of the lines in the post, I really do give a damn.

Jessica
TeleNurse4986 Jun 6, 2007, 11:19 PM
Job well done to whoever wrote that comparison list! I'm fairly new and am not ashamed to say that I still carry my med book with me! It never fails that a paitent will want to know the nitty gritty side effects and contraindications of a med I don't know about...and I'm not experienced enough to make it up as some more experienced nurses might ;o) I'll be honest though, I stopped hearing the IV machines beep after 3 weeks.
bystander here Jun 24, 2007, 10:27 PM
MagRedC5 wrote:If you have stopped caring about your patient's, then why are you still in the nursing profession?

It's not that we don't care.....it's that we get less 'excited' as before (speaking for myself only).
sykaaa80 Aug 30, 2007, 3:21 AM
I almost died laughing when I saw these, I'm currently a nursing student and couldn't believe how many of them I was like... yup, that's me, and I haven't even graduated yet... very nice! :D
MRS. ERNURSE Sep 8, 2007, 12:35 AM
ravenpaperdoll wrote:I know its nursing humor but is it really like that? :)

:rolleyes:hmmmm. let me think.........um yep. 4th year here. Hope I didn't cross over toooo soon. It's not such a bad thing, it comes from confidence and experience. It is all too true.

Mrs. ERNurse
ERMonkey Sep 18, 2007, 6:45 AM
The only one I still fit in the GN category is the beeping IMED because in the ED we only use it for a few meds like vanco and propofol. I sure as heck don't want the propofol to stop on a vented pt
Jessie7473 Oct 10, 2007, 4:04 AM
Hularious.. i can relate to many of them as an experienced nurse....I once asked someone in my family who called me saying they were bleeding if there was a puddle ..if not i was going to take a shower..lol
tedsbaby Oct 10, 2007, 4:15 AM
I've been in nursing for 14 years, so I fall into the experienced category.
It's not that you don't care about your patients, you just learn to relax and not go so crazy over every little thing.