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

[kimmiejs]

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

[SoldierNurse]

[cougarnurse]

Too, too much! I love it!

'Cat'

[LTC LPN 2006]

Sadly I fit very well into the "graduate nurse" steriotype....

[Mom-n-More]

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]

Originally Posted by Mom-n-More

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]

Originally Posted by FrIgHtNiGhT

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]

: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

[ravenpaperdoll]

I know its nursing humor but is it really like that?

[nursinghumor]

Yes. There's a lot more truth, than fiction in this case.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.com