Got Told I am Slow in Receiving Report

[jes07]

Hello, I am a new grad and just got off orientation for about a month now. My manager told me today that she heard from other night nurses that I am slow in receiving report. I was surprised by that comment because I thought I was doing fine. I don't know why the other nurses told her that. We all use the same sbar sheet to fill out during reports and we go through the form from top to bottom. Makes me feel like I am not doing good and it has been a difficult couple of weeks for me since now I am on my own and this comment makes me feel worse. I have been stressed out at my job in trying to manage my time and handle caring for 6 patients. I hope things will get better in the future but I don't know. Any advice on how to adjust after orientation and how to develop better as well in my critical thinking skills as well as tips in how to handle those comments?

Thanks,

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

My first thought was the OP was slow to give report, but then I reread it...slow to receive?

If the original poster is asking the off going nurse to go slow enough so she can write things down verbatim,

If she isn't ready to receive report at the crack of 7,

Etc... Then these may be a problem. It would be nice if her supervisor would have given her specific, constructive feedback.

When I float to a particular unit at my job, the regular FT nurse waltzes in a few minutes after the shift begins. She Starts her coffee, settles in, them when she finally allows me to start shift report, she asks for report on not only my shift, but the prior 2 shifts. She asks the most trivial questions about things that didn't occur on my shift, so she can write them down. I have to restrain myself from saying, "can you read?" Because she can read the same 24 hour log I'm reading from.

I'm pretty sure it's some kind of power struggle to try to ask me a question I can't answer (from a shift I didn't work)

I think she thinks she's making me look dumb by asking lots of weird random questions, but I think it makes her look foolish, not me.

I wanted to mention this because it's not necessarily a "new nurse" thing, though it could be.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Asks too many questions about information that would be given later in report? Insists on having the off going nurse repeat everything over and over so she can write everything down word for word? Isn't ready for report at the crack of 7? Doesn't listen well, asking questions that have already been answered?

I've known plenty of new grads guilty of all of the above. I was one of them, probably.

Oh, I definitely was one of them.

OP: do not take such criticism as a personal affront. Instead, see it as a chance for self-improvement. Take an honest look at how you are at report and see what can be improved. Or ask someone that you are comfortable with to give you their feedback. Because their POV will be more objective, they may see something that you are missing/overlooking.

Trust me, in the grand scheme of things, being a little slow in report as a new grad is minor. No one's going to care or even remember 6 months down the road...provided you've addressed any issues, of course :)