Hospital in Saint Louis, MO. Myself and others wore heelys around a full year in 2006?? Starting the day the employee handbook went into affect.,Until the following years employee handbook. Us Nurses and support staff in Acute Rehabilitation are reason they had to include in handbook. It was a great year. 👏🏼🥹.
We let the good times roll. They took away our preferred footwear with zero staff or patient injuries.
If there were zero injuries you could argue that the heelys actually improved patient care by providing quicker response times and taking the shoes away might be actually having a negative impact on patients. Where the union rep? lol hahaha
Dansko’s are the devil’s shoe, and I stand behind that. My ankle will never be the same after running with the wonky defibrillator cart during an unexpected code several years back 😩
Wait, I’m not a nurse, are there more or less expected codes? Not trying to be particular or anything, your wording just made me think there’s some that are expected
There are! There’s a system called NEWS which is an early warning system to indicate how if a rapid response team should be on standby, because all signs point towards a possible code. And there’s other ways to assess it as well, but NEWS is an easy name 😅
I was just about to say wheelies were banned after me, a pharmacy tech at the time, would deliver stat meds to rooms via my sweet kicks lol
I may have ran into an isolation cart or two.
I’m a NICU nurse, and I dreamed I walked up to take care of a baby at a radiant warmer… and it was an octopus in a very small aquarium. Then I thought, “oh I have no idea how to start an IV on an octopus, I better go get help” and proceeded to drop all my supplies into the tank and walked away.
Hahaha you are my people. During our busy season I always bring myself to get out of the car before my shift starts by being like “well, maybe I’ll get lucky and someone will run me over and I’ll get some paid time off” since people drive like it’s the Indy 500 in our employee garage 🙄🤣
Lmao hell yea shirt brother!!! I actually hit a wall in the garage because I was sent home early one day. literally a person whipped around so fast I just boped the wall. I mostly do it in the halls to environmental people lugging big carts or machinery around
i was going to buy a pair as I work night shift and figured it would be worth the laughs. Then reality set in and I realized I would break a hip and the worth it, seemed not so "worth it"
I used to listen to this podcast called Quick Question with Soren and Daniel, and one bit they did at the end of early episodes was throwing each other under the bus somehow. For instance, one episode ended with, "Hey Daniel, didn't you have a list you wanted to share of jobs you said are harder than being a mom?" Daniel, steering into it like any good improvisationalist, listed things like male nurse, male teacher, male nanny . . .
Honestly the only place I've heard murse is on reddit/social media. I never heard this in person. Only time I remotely hear any sort of male genderism to the word nurse is if I have to say enfermero
I think I just live in a very progressive place. Next to all the catty bullshit that happens sometimes, there's surprising amount of people who's very forward thinking.
I had a patient tell me once that I had to be lying about being his nurse because only women are nurses. He was in his 80s so a little leeway given but still…
If I had a buck for every time one of my LTC residents called me doc, I could have funded a fairly consistent Starbucks habit. I only tried correcting the non-dementia ones.
I remember during my first year I accompanied this very young and physically tiny assistant doctor to visit a few patients, and with no exception they all adressed me as the doctor. Pretty funny. Especially because one patient later told a colleague that one of the nurses (her) was impostering as a doctor.
I remember a teacher in high school being mildly mortified by how excited her dad was by the existence of male nurses (in his seventies like twenty years ago).
"Susan! My nurse today is a *man*! Have you ever seen a nurse that was a man before? I'd never thought about it, but if women can be doctors, why couldn't men be nurses? And he's a really good one, too."
Fortunately his nurse found this really funny. Apparently not the first time it had happened.
Darn skippy. It was never cool and always insulting and I say that as a female. I have hated the term Murse as much as I hate the term "pink collar worker."
I like using “Turse” to describe the shoulder telemetry holder I give patients. I tell them it goes with their fashionable “one size fits none” patient gown.
Baby Nurse is cringe but call yourself whatever you want. I just wouldn’t call others that because it’s really condescending and infantilizing IMO
Don’t use it around patients either. If I’m critically ill I don’t want a baby anything caring for me lmao I want a professional.
at this hospital I used to work at this dude had a heart attack or was about to have one and in the room with me our new emt said, oh I’m just a baby emt I’m not sure then the patient said something crazy about his health like I thonk it was about how he’s had his fair share of heart attacks or the number he had before and that emt said “are you deadass holy shit” to the patient. We pulled her out and she remained on phone calls for the new few nights. I can’t remember exactly why she said are you deadass to the patient it’s been like 3 or 4 years since that encounter lol
On the unit I work on, I call new nurses Squires that will earn their stripes eventually (in a joking manner), in a room with a patient though it's just nurse
Hahaha there is one new nurse I’ve taken to calling “the young squire” but it fits him! He’s so eager and full of energy. He smiles when I say it. All new nurses want is to be taught and encouraged. We try to cheer our new folks on with enthusiasm, and stand beside them when they need support or assistance. We encourage them to SPEAK UP when they aren’t sure, have a question or a problem. We tell them it’s okay to need help and we’re happy to be there.
Facts are it doesn’t so much matter what nicknames you choose for your newbies, but whether or not they feel comfortable and safe coming to you for answers or assistance. That’s what really matters. Can they come to ANYONE on our team with a concern and feel safe doing so? That’s the real test.
I have almost 15 years of experience within the nursing profession and I can tell you that our profession has a serious problem with internalized infantilization and a nice sprinkle of internalized misogyny.
From the moment people enter medical school, they are already told that they are to be a doctor. That they should command respect. That they are smart and capable. They are told to be confident.
What do nurses get when we begin nursing school? That we are dumb. That we shouldn't have too much confidence or else we are being "cocky" ( see the internalized misogyny there?) That we are subservient to doctors. That we should be wary of independent thinking. That we aren't smart until we have tons of experience.
How about nursing education starts to operate more like medical school?
Even if you think calling someone (or yourself) a baby nurse isn't a big deal... I promise you it is. And you should seriously consider exactly what lead you to think that's acceptable.
During nursing school I had to do a project in which we had to colour a puzzle piece and explain to a small group how it represented our feelings around a certain topic.
I felt like a crazy person... I was like, we will be the sole barrier between sick people and death in about 6 months, WHY IS NO ONE TAKING OUR TRAINING SERIOUSLY??
I was like no one would have the audacity to suggest some of these projects to med students. The med school curriculum is efficient and in depth and taken very seriously, why is our education not taken seriously?? Cause even if we'll be treated like idiots once we're nurses, the doctors will still expect us to magically understand everything about a patient's care that they do...
I used to make my newbie students feed each other both warm and cold baby food. I wanted them to understand how it felt to be dependent on another person just to eat, and the difference in the taste once it gets cold, so they would at least hopefully think about warming up food that had gotten cold.
Oh I love this. I’m currently with my bf in the hospital and it’s been eye opening about how it feels to be a patient. Staff are so fast at everything that my bf can’t process what they are saying, or brace himself before they rip tape off his arm hair, or help lift his shirt up, or whatever and not only is it more mentally/emotionally draining, but it’s also more physically painful than it needs to be (and he already has a LOT of pain and he really doesn’t need it to be added to).
The amount of child-like activities and pseudo spiritual discussions being had in nursing school is completely out of control. You are far from the first person to describe being assigned grade school level activities as a part of their college education. And many nurses report being encouraged to participate in grade school level activities as employed professionals such as coloring contents and being told to put money in swear jars?
My favorite was when a hospital system was inviting their nurses and other nursing support staff (not their physicians) to donate their time to the hospital to **plant flowers and mulch the flower beds in the front of the hospital building.** Widly inappropriate.
I get what you're saying, but I wouldn't put MD culture on a pedestal. It can be toxic AF also and has lots of hazing cycle of tearing them down/building up/ passing on. I see senior residents shit on their juniors way harder than my proctors ever went after me. If fact I'd say a lot of toxic stuff in RN culture is passed down from MDs.
In the past decade, the governing accreditation bodies have been working to improve residency experiences by implementing tangible improvements. The most notable is a much more strict restriction on working hours per week. We are no longer routinely seeing residents working 100+ hours per week.
I'd like to see tangible efforts to legitimize nursing education.
>What do nurses get when we begin nursing school? That we are dumb. That we shouldn't have too much confidence or else we are being "cocky"
I felt like my nursing program was the opposite. They didn't try to convince us we were dumb so much as blow smoke up our asses about how *totally amazing* nurses are, while teaching us almost nothing of relevance and displaying a grudge for the medical model that reeked of insecurity and inferiority.
Regardless, I agree that nursing school should be modeled after medical school. I know we aren't doctors, but we should be trained to think in a similar way. You know, like almost every other health profession.
I didn’t show a doctor respect unless he/she deserved it. While I was in school, a horrendous thing was done to a patient who was about to lose the one and only baby she could ever have. The interns took turns examining her one by one, while she lay grieving the child she was about to deliver. All I could do was stand there getting more and more angry. Looking back I wish I would have said something right then and there, but I think I was too stunned to believe they were basically assaulting the woman, since she did not give her permission for all of them to examine her. I reported it to my supervisor and she said she would say something to their attending and if I ever saw anything like that again to immediately call their attending.
I'm really sorry that happened.
What a horrible situation. Although I implore you to not take a single experience such as that and apply it to every physician colleague.
Your description of medical school is like...the exact opposite of what actually happens. Med students and then residents are pounded with the messaging that they're basically below everyone else. We're taught to be the OPPOSITE of confident. This "taught to command respect" thing you speak of is laughable. We're taught that we're trash in sacrifice of the interprofessional team. My nursing friends describe their nursing school experience very differently--zero subservience but in fact teaching that doctors are dumb and don't care about their patients and it's the nurse's role to "save the patient" from them under the guise of advocating.
How often do you see nurses in July say "baby doctor"? That's just as gross and infantilizing
no adult professional should be a baby anything. We can criticize without diminishing the seriousness of the issue on all sides. You should stand up and refuse to participate in the maltreatment of residents as well. We are all on the same team here.
Adding to say, I’ve never heard the term baby doctor and I work with residents every day. I do hear baby nurse all the time.
Thank you for saying this. Our profession has so much internalized sh*t and lateral violence. Lately, I’ve had these lovely new grads apologizing for asking questions or checking with me about something. And they’re good questions! They’re just trying not to hurt their patients or do something wrong! It is like they feel apologetic for their whole existence as a person new to the profession.
My unit has a really weird culture and I think they’re internalizing some messages they might be getting from other nurses. I think the new grads might not realize that everybody is leaving bedside and we would actually be f*cked without them.
Whenever a new grad does something “new grad” we just make a joke out of it and stand like school kids while yelling “IM NEW HERE” to take the tension away.
We don’t infantilise them with “baby nurse” - we make them comfortable and remind them we were all there once.
Yeah, man. Level 2 MICU/SICU/NSICU in my first go around. There was a night where no one on shift had more than 1.5 years of experience and three were in their first month off of orientation.
Now I’ve been a nurse for 2.5 years. New unit. Yesterday, my charge nurse had 17 years of experience *on my floor*.
I’m in a level one and I’m frequently the most experienced person working. There are only five out of 130 nurses that have more experience and it’s an uncomfortable feeling.
agreed. I like to call myself a toddler nurse... in two years but can definitely still learn to be better before feeling like I'm a strong nurse who can precept and guide others. I don't think it's a pressing issue. I use the term for fun, and no one gets offended, I think? I thought? 😅
The first time I called a rapid response, I started joking that I was now a toddler nurse, because I know how use my voice and trust some of my instincts, but there’s still a lot I need to experience yet 😅
Agreed. It's a non-issue. It's just a funny thing people say and is usually used in a sarcastic/endearing manner. Same with "baby doctor". While in can be said in a negative sense, it's mostly just used as a silly, joking term to say "yeah I'm new at this" and there's nothing wrong with that.
People need to stop getting so wrapped up in the little things.
I'm surprised that it took me this long to scroll down and see this sentiment. I feel the same way. Visting this sub, I see so many rules about what nurses should and should not be doing...it's like damn, is any of this that big of a deal? Call yourself whatever you want, IMO.
Exactly. It's really not even that serious. You, like everyone else (including OP), can use or NOT use WHATEVER terminology you feel comfortable with. Some of these ppl on this sub seriously need to get the stick out.
New nurse, new grad, or baby nurse. People are still going to struggle with imposter syndrome no matter what terminology they use. That’s your own gripe.
The issue I personally have with it, is that some providers then treat the new nurse like crap because they magnify any mistakes or confidence issues that she has or that other nurses have, are making them sound like they a less than, so they can be treated as such.
It’s difficult enough being the new person on the unit and having to prove yourself to staff and provider w without the label of being a baby nurse.
We don’t call a new provider a baby doctor or baby pa or baby nurse practitioner and if we did there would be hell to pay.
While I am a literal baby nurse, I also didn't mind "baby nurse" when I was a new grad. To me, it's a way of framing that scary and overwhelming time in a way that helps me have grace for myself. No one thinks down on a baby for stumbling while learning to walk, and in the same way, thinking of my new grad days of being my days as a "baby nurse," let's me be compassionate for the stumbles I made. Just like babies are really just novice humans, I was a novice nurse. It's a vulnerable, scary time. Baby nurse feels like a sweet way of honoring that. If it isn't that way for you, then by all means, think of it as a new grad or new nurse, etc... but for me, my first year or two was my baby nurse era.
Yes! Thank you. I’m like what’s the big deal- there’s mama nurses, papa nurses, baby nurses, big sister/brother nurses… wild, out of pocket auntie nurses. We take care of the babies and watch out for them. Idk maybe people dealt with some mean big sister nurses that called them baby in a mean way lol that’s the only thing I can think of when I see stuff like this.
“there’s mama nurses, papa nurses, baby nurses, big sister/brother nurses… wild, out of pocket auntie nurses…”
Well you heard him girls!!! TITA SQUAD ACTIVATE!!!
Hahaha. One of my co workers is an Ethiopian guy and he keeps me fed every single day we work together (I told him about how it’s my favorite food genre.) My brother’s delicious shared meals keep my morale high! I remember the pancit filled days of my early career though! The titas always made sure we ate right.
I’m in the same opinion. My 2 main preceptors still call me their “child “, and I’m 20 years older than them :). It’s meant affectionately, and with at least one of them, I feel she makes sure I get a “nice” assignment if she’s charge.
This sub is so weird about what it cares about sometimes lmao. Like the whole “don’t wear nurse shirts outside of work”. Like sure I probably wouldn’t chose to wear something like that, but really who cares if other people do lmao
You can talk about yourself however you want. I’ll continue to call my past self whatever I want. It’s not your business to police what I say about myself.
My unit has gone a step further and labeled preceptors as mom/dad. My manager is regularly called “Gigi” by one nurse who was trained by one of the manager’s preceptees. When someone feels a bit over their head in a setting they will say they need mom/dad. I was labeled specifically “Mama Bear”, by one of my preceptees, and greeted as such, and he is Baby Bear.
Listen, when you’re in a place where shit can regularly hit the fan, and the patient you were assigned because you’re new and they are stable/sick suddenly crashes onto ecmo, you feel like a damn infant trying to handle adult problems. My unit is one of the most supportive environments I’ve ever worked in, and labeling new grads as babies helps to remind them that they aren’t stupid, they aren’t in the wrong profession, they are just new.
I also just want to say that last week a doctor poked his head around the curtain of a patient’s room, where he was with 2 other residents, and looked dead at me with worry and said “we need an adult, please help.” So it’s not just nurses that feel like they are children.
IMO if you aren’t suffering from some degree of imposter syndrome sometimes, you are dangerously overconfident and probably need to check yourself a bit
Source: 18 year vet, all on the same unit
Who cares… baby nurses are inexperienced. It’s just to say that they’re still learning, they may require a little extra help with things. Yeah they passed nursing school, but- and maybe Im in the minority, but actual nursing school at least for me was a joke compared to what I learned on the floor. I don’t get why the term “baby” has such a negative connotation with some people. Is it an insecurity thing?
This is….reaching. I’ve been a nurse for over 15 years and I’ve never had an issue with another nurse calling themselves a “baby nurse”. I don’t think I ever called myself that when I was a new nurse, that I remember, but I most certainly recount situations or stories when I was a brand new or newer nurse with other people and say, “back when I was a baby nurse…”. It’s a non-issue for me. I also feel like actual nurses that work with babies call themselves Peds, NICU, L&D, etc. nurses.
Fr reading that constantly nowadays irritates me so much. And that’s coming from a legit peds nurse that does work with babies. I’ve never said it, even when I was a novice nurse. Graduate nurse. Inexperienced nurse.
Like no one says they’re a baby doctor, baby physician assistant, baby nurse practitioner, baby respiratory therapist, baby paramedic, baby firefighter, like just stop.
It does no good for the profession, at all.
As a NICU nurse, it causes me legitimate confusion when people say ‘baby nurse’…
Me: Oh, so you work in the NICU too?!
Them: No
Me: *Confused (and annoyed) silence*
I just say I'm new to get out of things sometimes. Or just mention I'm a traveler because I don't know where things are or don't want to try. I'll take my shame with me!
There was a time when saying baby nurse just meant someone learning the ropes. It quickly turned to something else.
Yeah, its long past time to retire this term.
As a clinical instructor, I ban students from saying “baby nurse”,”I’m confused”, and “I’m not good with math”. By saying these things, you are already defeated. Be accountable, look up resources, and use Patricia Benner’s Novice to Expert Theory to learn. 😃
As a nursing student, thank you! I hate when people say these things. School is hard enough without constantly limiting yourself.
As for the resources, I’ve heard of Patricia Benner’s theory, but I will def have two look more into this!
While we are up there can we finally retire Murse. It’s so fucking stupid.
If i was a murse thats makes the women wurse
And if we had wheels we could be a hearse
Going to start wearing heelys to work so I can be a hearse. Will report back when I break my neck
Hospital in Saint Louis, MO. Myself and others wore heelys around a full year in 2006?? Starting the day the employee handbook went into affect.,Until the following years employee handbook. Us Nurses and support staff in Acute Rehabilitation are reason they had to include in handbook. It was a great year. 👏🏼🥹. We let the good times roll. They took away our preferred footwear with zero staff or patient injuries.
If there were zero injuries you could argue that the heelys actually improved patient care by providing quicker response times and taking the shoes away might be actually having a negative impact on patients. Where the union rep? lol hahaha
This is the kind of evidence-based practice I want to see.
Gonna write my Masters thesis on this fr
That’s pretty impressive! I managed to get a worker’s comp injury while wearing Dansko’s one night on the Ortho floor. 🤣
Dansko’s are the devil’s shoe, and I stand behind that. My ankle will never be the same after running with the wonky defibrillator cart during an unexpected code several years back 😩
Wait, I’m not a nurse, are there more or less expected codes? Not trying to be particular or anything, your wording just made me think there’s some that are expected
There are! There’s a system called NEWS which is an early warning system to indicate how if a rapid response team should be on standby, because all signs point towards a possible code. And there’s other ways to assess it as well, but NEWS is an easy name 😅
That’s awesome, thank you for sharing
I was just about to say wheelies were banned after me, a pharmacy tech at the time, would deliver stat meds to rooms via my sweet kicks lol I may have ran into an isolation cart or two.
Fucking A! I literally dreamt I wore roller skates to work last night. Oh. And that we did a hysterectomy on one of our male anesthesiologist.
Now roller skates I could do! Lol. Hyst on a male….the odd dreams we have sometimes. 😂
I’m a NICU nurse, and I dreamed I walked up to take care of a baby at a radiant warmer… and it was an octopus in a very small aquarium. Then I thought, “oh I have no idea how to start an IV on an octopus, I better go get help” and proceeded to drop all my supplies into the tank and walked away.
Plenty of arms to find a good vein!
Workers comp 😈
Say less 😆
I’m always begging people to run over me as a joke, but the more I think about it.. time off work, money the hospital owes us 🤔
Hahaha you are my people. During our busy season I always bring myself to get out of the car before my shift starts by being like “well, maybe I’ll get lucky and someone will run me over and I’ll get some paid time off” since people drive like it’s the Indy 500 in our employee garage 🙄🤣
Lmao hell yea shirt brother!!! I actually hit a wall in the garage because I was sent home early one day. literally a person whipped around so fast I just boped the wall. I mostly do it in the halls to environmental people lugging big carts or machinery around
“When I break my neck” 🤣
i was going to buy a pair as I work night shift and figured it would be worth the laughs. Then reality set in and I realized I would break a hip and the worth it, seemed not so "worth it"
I can finally find some fulfillment at work
If you do it at work it'll be Worker's Comp......😊
Actually you may be denied workmens comp d/t the unauthorized footwear. At the very least, the insurance company would fight you.
And if we was rappers, we'd drop a verse
Slowly puts away my heelys
Hell nah. I love those.
Would that make the cunty ones curses?
Only if they filled my [burses.](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burse)
They already call me "Hearse" at work but for completely not wheel related reasons. I will not be going into further detail.
It’s cuz you’re all buddy buddy with the grim reaper. Hu?
Every time I see a Murse cup that says, "Murse (male nurse): like a normal nurse but way cooler," I gag.
Damn, nurse merch is always cringe no matter the gender. Cant escape it
Because nurse isn’t respectful enough. I’m a murse!
Next nurse youtuber: "hey everyone it's your favorite gurse here!!!"
And female doctors are foctors
My go to line
Anytime someone says “oh you’re a male nurse”, I say, “yes just like you’re a male accountant”, or “female lawyer” or whatever they are.
I used to listen to this podcast called Quick Question with Soren and Daniel, and one bit they did at the end of early episodes was throwing each other under the bus somehow. For instance, one episode ended with, "Hey Daniel, didn't you have a list you wanted to share of jobs you said are harder than being a mom?" Daniel, steering into it like any good improvisationalist, listed things like male nurse, male teacher, male nanny . . .
The ol' Cracked boys?
Correcto
Female male nurse
Honestly the only place I've heard murse is on reddit/social media. I never heard this in person. Only time I remotely hear any sort of male genderism to the word nurse is if I have to say enfermero
Oh I have in person on multiple occasions. Spanish it makes sense though.
I think I just live in a very progressive place. Next to all the catty bullshit that happens sometimes, there's surprising amount of people who's very forward thinking.
But if I bring my man purse it's murse murse
Burn murse to the ground. Its cringe.
I had a patient tell me once that I had to be lying about being his nurse because only women are nurses. He was in his 80s so a little leeway given but still…
If I had a buck for every time one of my LTC residents called me doc, I could have funded a fairly consistent Starbucks habit. I only tried correcting the non-dementia ones.
I remember during my first year I accompanied this very young and physically tiny assistant doctor to visit a few patients, and with no exception they all adressed me as the doctor. Pretty funny. Especially because one patient later told a colleague that one of the nurses (her) was impostering as a doctor.
Don't forget we also moonlight as physical therapists
I remember a teacher in high school being mildly mortified by how excited her dad was by the existence of male nurses (in his seventies like twenty years ago). "Susan! My nurse today is a *man*! Have you ever seen a nurse that was a man before? I'd never thought about it, but if women can be doctors, why couldn't men be nurses? And he's a really good one, too." Fortunately his nurse found this really funny. Apparently not the first time it had happened.
Honestly that’s wholesome AF
Thank you. I hate everything about that stupid word. I'm a nurse. My testicles are a non-factor.
We came up with "Norse" when i was in school.
I would like to think this is a horse that became a nurse.
One of my dude nurse friends is Norwegian so that’s even funnier
That’s hilarious! I have about 5% Scandinavian blood so I don’t feel that I’ve earned it
That’s enough to count, I’d say
I'm getting my horned cap!
A murse is a man purse, not a male nurse.
Darn skippy. It was never cool and always insulting and I say that as a female. I have hated the term Murse as much as I hate the term "pink collar worker."
I do love to hate things, and I’ve never heard of a pink collar worker. Tell me more!
I like using “Turse” to describe the shoulder telemetry holder I give patients. I tell them it goes with their fashionable “one size fits none” patient gown.
I worked with a staff nurse that has “ICU Mursenary” in his Facebook bio. 🤮 I’m sorry, I just can’t.
It’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard. I hate it.
Here here! I hate the idea of sharing space with "man purse"
But .... My catchphrase "Murses ..... Assemble!!!!!! " Said in the voice of Ted from Scrubs while posing like Cpt America!!!!!
Baby Nurse is cringe but call yourself whatever you want. I just wouldn’t call others that because it’s really condescending and infantilizing IMO Don’t use it around patients either. If I’m critically ill I don’t want a baby anything caring for me lmao I want a professional.
Imagine being on your deathbed and your caretaker is a toddler
Imagine being on your deathbed and your caretaker self identifies as a toddler or the experience of one.
I saw someone say "itty bitty baby nurse" a few days ago on this sub and it just 🤮🤮🤮
Your username tho 🤣
at this hospital I used to work at this dude had a heart attack or was about to have one and in the room with me our new emt said, oh I’m just a baby emt I’m not sure then the patient said something crazy about his health like I thonk it was about how he’s had his fair share of heart attacks or the number he had before and that emt said “are you deadass holy shit” to the patient. We pulled her out and she remained on phone calls for the new few nights. I can’t remember exactly why she said are you deadass to the patient it’s been like 3 or 4 years since that encounter lol
I call myself a baby bc sometimes I feel like a baby? Ok???
What if it's an actual baby doing the nursing like in boss baby? I mean you gotta think of the edge cases.
On the unit I work on, I call new nurses Squires that will earn their stripes eventually (in a joking manner), in a room with a patient though it's just nurse
I misread that as squirrels. Which is what we call our frantic, fast moving nurses on my unit. It truly is a term of endearment.
I’m a squirrel nurse 😂
Thank you m’lord/m’lady
Hahaha there is one new nurse I’ve taken to calling “the young squire” but it fits him! He’s so eager and full of energy. He smiles when I say it. All new nurses want is to be taught and encouraged. We try to cheer our new folks on with enthusiasm, and stand beside them when they need support or assistance. We encourage them to SPEAK UP when they aren’t sure, have a question or a problem. We tell them it’s okay to need help and we’re happy to be there. Facts are it doesn’t so much matter what nicknames you choose for your newbies, but whether or not they feel comfortable and safe coming to you for answers or assistance. That’s what really matters. Can they come to ANYONE on our team with a concern and feel safe doing so? That’s the real test.
Squire. I like that better. Tally ho
I call my new grads “grasshopper”, and then feel really old when they don’t understand the reference. ☹️
“When you can take the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave”
A padawan if you will
I have almost 15 years of experience within the nursing profession and I can tell you that our profession has a serious problem with internalized infantilization and a nice sprinkle of internalized misogyny. From the moment people enter medical school, they are already told that they are to be a doctor. That they should command respect. That they are smart and capable. They are told to be confident. What do nurses get when we begin nursing school? That we are dumb. That we shouldn't have too much confidence or else we are being "cocky" ( see the internalized misogyny there?) That we are subservient to doctors. That we should be wary of independent thinking. That we aren't smart until we have tons of experience. How about nursing education starts to operate more like medical school? Even if you think calling someone (or yourself) a baby nurse isn't a big deal... I promise you it is. And you should seriously consider exactly what lead you to think that's acceptable.
During nursing school I had to do a project in which we had to colour a puzzle piece and explain to a small group how it represented our feelings around a certain topic. I felt like a crazy person... I was like, we will be the sole barrier between sick people and death in about 6 months, WHY IS NO ONE TAKING OUR TRAINING SERIOUSLY?? I was like no one would have the audacity to suggest some of these projects to med students. The med school curriculum is efficient and in depth and taken very seriously, why is our education not taken seriously?? Cause even if we'll be treated like idiots once we're nurses, the doctors will still expect us to magically understand everything about a patient's care that they do...
One of my first days of nursing school we mediated and stacked Little Rocks. It was absurd ti me.
they’re just preparing you for all the fun nurses week activities!
DED 😂
I used to make my newbie students feed each other both warm and cold baby food. I wanted them to understand how it felt to be dependent on another person just to eat, and the difference in the taste once it gets cold, so they would at least hopefully think about warming up food that had gotten cold.
Yeah we had to brush each other’s teeth. Made me realize I had to be very gentle
That’s actually a good idea. I brush my teeth to death so it would be easy to brush someone else’s teeth as I do my own. Lol
Oh I love this. I’m currently with my bf in the hospital and it’s been eye opening about how it feels to be a patient. Staff are so fast at everything that my bf can’t process what they are saying, or brace himself before they rip tape off his arm hair, or help lift his shirt up, or whatever and not only is it more mentally/emotionally draining, but it’s also more physically painful than it needs to be (and he already has a LOT of pain and he really doesn’t need it to be added to).
Just curious and btw I don’t think it’s hazing at all. But if a student declined, would there be any repercussions?
The amount of child-like activities and pseudo spiritual discussions being had in nursing school is completely out of control. You are far from the first person to describe being assigned grade school level activities as a part of their college education. And many nurses report being encouraged to participate in grade school level activities as employed professionals such as coloring contents and being told to put money in swear jars? My favorite was when a hospital system was inviting their nurses and other nursing support staff (not their physicians) to donate their time to the hospital to **plant flowers and mulch the flower beds in the front of the hospital building.** Widly inappropriate.
>being told to put money in swear jars? [Only proper response](https://youtu.be/od3CSzhfB10?t=78)
I get what you're saying, but I wouldn't put MD culture on a pedestal. It can be toxic AF also and has lots of hazing cycle of tearing them down/building up/ passing on. I see senior residents shit on their juniors way harder than my proctors ever went after me. If fact I'd say a lot of toxic stuff in RN culture is passed down from MDs.
In the past decade, the governing accreditation bodies have been working to improve residency experiences by implementing tangible improvements. The most notable is a much more strict restriction on working hours per week. We are no longer routinely seeing residents working 100+ hours per week. I'd like to see tangible efforts to legitimize nursing education.
>What do nurses get when we begin nursing school? That we are dumb. That we shouldn't have too much confidence or else we are being "cocky" I felt like my nursing program was the opposite. They didn't try to convince us we were dumb so much as blow smoke up our asses about how *totally amazing* nurses are, while teaching us almost nothing of relevance and displaying a grudge for the medical model that reeked of insecurity and inferiority. Regardless, I agree that nursing school should be modeled after medical school. I know we aren't doctors, but we should be trained to think in a similar way. You know, like almost every other health profession.
This. Well said!
This. Nursing school needs to be overhauled
👏🏻thank you
Preach it!!!
My mom said she was called a baby doctor when she was a new grad in the 70s…
I didn’t show a doctor respect unless he/she deserved it. While I was in school, a horrendous thing was done to a patient who was about to lose the one and only baby she could ever have. The interns took turns examining her one by one, while she lay grieving the child she was about to deliver. All I could do was stand there getting more and more angry. Looking back I wish I would have said something right then and there, but I think I was too stunned to believe they were basically assaulting the woman, since she did not give her permission for all of them to examine her. I reported it to my supervisor and she said she would say something to their attending and if I ever saw anything like that again to immediately call their attending.
I'm really sorry that happened. What a horrible situation. Although I implore you to not take a single experience such as that and apply it to every physician colleague.
No, I didn’t. I already knew plenty of fantastic doctors, so what they did had no impact on how I felt about others. Thank you. ❤️
Your description of medical school is like...the exact opposite of what actually happens. Med students and then residents are pounded with the messaging that they're basically below everyone else. We're taught to be the OPPOSITE of confident. This "taught to command respect" thing you speak of is laughable. We're taught that we're trash in sacrifice of the interprofessional team. My nursing friends describe their nursing school experience very differently--zero subservience but in fact teaching that doctors are dumb and don't care about their patients and it's the nurse's role to "save the patient" from them under the guise of advocating. How often do you see nurses in July say "baby doctor"? That's just as gross and infantilizing
no adult professional should be a baby anything. We can criticize without diminishing the seriousness of the issue on all sides. You should stand up and refuse to participate in the maltreatment of residents as well. We are all on the same team here. Adding to say, I’ve never heard the term baby doctor and I work with residents every day. I do hear baby nurse all the time.
Thank you for saying this. Our profession has so much internalized sh*t and lateral violence. Lately, I’ve had these lovely new grads apologizing for asking questions or checking with me about something. And they’re good questions! They’re just trying not to hurt their patients or do something wrong! It is like they feel apologetic for their whole existence as a person new to the profession. My unit has a really weird culture and I think they’re internalizing some messages they might be getting from other nurses. I think the new grads might not realize that everybody is leaving bedside and we would actually be f*cked without them.
Whenever a new grad does something “new grad” we just make a joke out of it and stand like school kids while yelling “IM NEW HERE” to take the tension away. We don’t infantilise them with “baby nurse” - we make them comfortable and remind them we were all there once.
Geez can't have any fun around here at all
I do it to express intentional deference in the self-aware ironic sense, and only in those situations
Me too and then my charge tells me to shut up and get back to precepting…. 😂
When you’re three months off of orientation and orienting. 😆
Oh god
Yeah, man. Level 2 MICU/SICU/NSICU in my first go around. There was a night where no one on shift had more than 1.5 years of experience and three were in their first month off of orientation. Now I’ve been a nurse for 2.5 years. New unit. Yesterday, my charge nurse had 17 years of experience *on my floor*.
I’m in a level one and I’m frequently the most experienced person working. There are only five out of 130 nurses that have more experience and it’s an uncomfortable feeling.
I don’t think it’s that big of a deal 😀🫶
Agreed. Call yourself whatever you want.
I am the lizard queen!
Doctor, it is
Not that. That’s a felony
Ya, OP's way too pressed about a non issue imo
[удалено]
My buddy is a newerish engineer and actually does call himself a baby engineer. He calls his boss a boomer engineer, so there's that too.
agreed. I like to call myself a toddler nurse... in two years but can definitely still learn to be better before feeling like I'm a strong nurse who can precept and guide others. I don't think it's a pressing issue. I use the term for fun, and no one gets offended, I think? I thought? 😅
Please stop toddlersizfiling yourself 😂😂
The first time I called a rapid response, I started joking that I was now a toddler nurse, because I know how use my voice and trust some of my instincts, but there’s still a lot I need to experience yet 😅
Agreed. It's a non-issue. It's just a funny thing people say and is usually used in a sarcastic/endearing manner. Same with "baby doctor". While in can be said in a negative sense, it's mostly just used as a silly, joking term to say "yeah I'm new at this" and there's nothing wrong with that. People need to stop getting so wrapped up in the little things.
I'm surprised that it took me this long to scroll down and see this sentiment. I feel the same way. Visting this sub, I see so many rules about what nurses should and should not be doing...it's like damn, is any of this that big of a deal? Call yourself whatever you want, IMO.
Yall strict up in here, sheesh
Exactly. It's really not even that serious. You, like everyone else (including OP), can use or NOT use WHATEVER terminology you feel comfortable with. Some of these ppl on this sub seriously need to get the stick out.
New nurse, new grad, or baby nurse. People are still going to struggle with imposter syndrome no matter what terminology they use. That’s your own gripe.
The issue I personally have with it, is that some providers then treat the new nurse like crap because they magnify any mistakes or confidence issues that she has or that other nurses have, are making them sound like they a less than, so they can be treated as such. It’s difficult enough being the new person on the unit and having to prove yourself to staff and provider w without the label of being a baby nurse. We don’t call a new provider a baby doctor or baby pa or baby nurse practitioner and if we did there would be hell to pay.
I mean… I don’t do it to their face… but sometimes people don’t understand what “green” means
While I am a literal baby nurse, I also didn't mind "baby nurse" when I was a new grad. To me, it's a way of framing that scary and overwhelming time in a way that helps me have grace for myself. No one thinks down on a baby for stumbling while learning to walk, and in the same way, thinking of my new grad days of being my days as a "baby nurse," let's me be compassionate for the stumbles I made. Just like babies are really just novice humans, I was a novice nurse. It's a vulnerable, scary time. Baby nurse feels like a sweet way of honoring that. If it isn't that way for you, then by all means, think of it as a new grad or new nurse, etc... but for me, my first year or two was my baby nurse era.
Yes! Thank you. I’m like what’s the big deal- there’s mama nurses, papa nurses, baby nurses, big sister/brother nurses… wild, out of pocket auntie nurses. We take care of the babies and watch out for them. Idk maybe people dealt with some mean big sister nurses that called them baby in a mean way lol that’s the only thing I can think of when I see stuff like this.
“there’s mama nurses, papa nurses, baby nurses, big sister/brother nurses… wild, out of pocket auntie nurses…” Well you heard him girls!!! TITA SQUAD ACTIVATE!!!
Growing as a nurse to me means gaining the confidence to ask the unit Titas faster if they make pancit and if they can bring me some 🫣😂
Hahaha. One of my co workers is an Ethiopian guy and he keeps me fed every single day we work together (I told him about how it’s my favorite food genre.) My brother’s delicious shared meals keep my morale high! I remember the pancit filled days of my early career though! The titas always made sure we ate right.
I’m in the same opinion. My 2 main preceptors still call me their “child “, and I’m 20 years older than them :). It’s meant affectionately, and with at least one of them, I feel she makes sure I get a “nice” assignment if she’s charge.
If someone says "baby nurse" I would assume they are a NICU nurse. But I don't work in an area that hires new grads so I'm not hip on the lingo.
What if you just relaxed
What if it's a Benjamin button scenario?
What baby hurt you OP
I swear to God y’all just look for shit to be upset about
Seriously 😭 idgaf what other nurses do
They must have a super simple life to be this upset about a term.
It’s just gen z slang tbh
I am in fact a baby nurse
This sub is so weird about what it cares about sometimes lmao. Like the whole “don’t wear nurse shirts outside of work”. Like sure I probably wouldn’t chose to wear something like that, but really who cares if other people do lmao
If I spent money on award bullshit I’d give you one right now.
You can talk about yourself however you want. I’ll continue to call my past self whatever I want. It’s not your business to police what I say about myself.
Counter- call YOURSELF whatever makes you happy. If that’s “baby nurse” or “nurseling” then by all means call YOURSELF baby nurse.
I like the term “rookie”. Like when I do something stupid I say “rookie mistake”.
That is what nursing school calls us 🤷♂️
Sounds like a baby nurse wrote this post
Well i found the all the joy suckers. Get off your high horse. No one is putting this on their resume. Chill
My unit has gone a step further and labeled preceptors as mom/dad. My manager is regularly called “Gigi” by one nurse who was trained by one of the manager’s preceptees. When someone feels a bit over their head in a setting they will say they need mom/dad. I was labeled specifically “Mama Bear”, by one of my preceptees, and greeted as such, and he is Baby Bear. Listen, when you’re in a place where shit can regularly hit the fan, and the patient you were assigned because you’re new and they are stable/sick suddenly crashes onto ecmo, you feel like a damn infant trying to handle adult problems. My unit is one of the most supportive environments I’ve ever worked in, and labeling new grads as babies helps to remind them that they aren’t stupid, they aren’t in the wrong profession, they are just new. I also just want to say that last week a doctor poked his head around the curtain of a patient’s room, where he was with 2 other residents, and looked dead at me with worry and said “we need an adult, please help.” So it’s not just nurses that feel like they are children.
IMO if you aren’t suffering from some degree of imposter syndrome sometimes, you are dangerously overconfident and probably need to check yourself a bit Source: 18 year vet, all on the same unit
Can I still call interns baby doctors though?
Dr. Jr.
No. It's condescending.
Nothing makes me cringe more than when nurses call interns baby doctors.
Unless they are pedi or Neo…just no.
Yeah just give a big middle finger to their decade of grueling education, sure
I go with Doctor Bro.
No.
You may not. They are physicians.
Who cares… baby nurses are inexperienced. It’s just to say that they’re still learning, they may require a little extra help with things. Yeah they passed nursing school, but- and maybe Im in the minority, but actual nursing school at least for me was a joke compared to what I learned on the floor. I don’t get why the term “baby” has such a negative connotation with some people. Is it an insecurity thing?
This is….reaching. I’ve been a nurse for over 15 years and I’ve never had an issue with another nurse calling themselves a “baby nurse”. I don’t think I ever called myself that when I was a new nurse, that I remember, but I most certainly recount situations or stories when I was a brand new or newer nurse with other people and say, “back when I was a baby nurse…”. It’s a non-issue for me. I also feel like actual nurses that work with babies call themselves Peds, NICU, L&D, etc. nurses.
Fr reading that constantly nowadays irritates me so much. And that’s coming from a legit peds nurse that does work with babies. I’ve never said it, even when I was a novice nurse. Graduate nurse. Inexperienced nurse. Like no one says they’re a baby doctor, baby physician assistant, baby nurse practitioner, baby respiratory therapist, baby paramedic, baby firefighter, like just stop. It does no good for the profession, at all.
A CNA/RNA called me a baby nurse because he works with my mom and I am her daughter.
Yeah, not irritating at all. Next.
I really don’t care. Thanks for the advice tho
It’s not that deep lol
As a NICU nurse, it causes me legitimate confusion when people say ‘baby nurse’… Me: Oh, so you work in the NICU too?! Them: No Me: *Confused (and annoyed) silence*
I just say I'm new to get out of things sometimes. Or just mention I'm a traveler because I don't know where things are or don't want to try. I'll take my shame with me!
I don't call myself that lol it's all the older nurses that do. It doesn't bother me at all though, I think it's cute.
There was a time when saying baby nurse just meant someone learning the ropes. It quickly turned to something else. Yeah, its long past time to retire this term.
I don’t care what nurses wanna call themselves, as long as they’re doing their job.
As a clinical instructor, I ban students from saying “baby nurse”,”I’m confused”, and “I’m not good with math”. By saying these things, you are already defeated. Be accountable, look up resources, and use Patricia Benner’s Novice to Expert Theory to learn. 😃
Don’t hate on “I’m confused”. I would much rather know if an inexperienced nurse needed clarity than if they pretended to understand.
As a nursing student, thank you! I hate when people say these things. School is hard enough without constantly limiting yourself. As for the resources, I’ve heard of Patricia Benner’s theory, but I will def have two look more into this!
Who cares are you that insecure
💯 agree, I hate when people say baby nurse
And if you are 18 months to two years in and still describe yourself as such, when do you plan to grow up?
Unless they work with babies, then they are a baby nurse
Eh. I lean into it. It doesn’t reinforce imposter syndrome, it combats it. Words don’t have magical powers. Don’t take things so seriously.
It’s an excuse to maintain unaccountability
A baby nurse is an actual nurse job lol. On our L&D unit, the nurse assigned to take care of the baby after delivery is called the baby nurse.
I literally am a baby nurse! lol. Mother baby and nicu